Newsletter March 19th

Dear 4b Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We had beautiful weather again!  The teachers had an excellent inservice day last Friday—-both inspirational and packed with great ideas that will benenfit the students.  The newsletter will be short this week; just main reminders for the week.

Reconciliation: The students in 4B will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Friday from 9:10-10:10. I will be reviewing the sacrament and sending home an examination of conscience on Monday.  Please look for the purple paper in your child’s filer. Thank you for reminding your child to take time to thoughtfully prepare for this sacrament.  Those students that are not Catholic or have not yet received this Sacrament are welcome to receive a blessing from Father Oakland.  Even if they will not be receiving the sacrament, all students should take part in the examination of conscience.

Lenten Outreach:

  • Collecting for Uganda. Please send in at least a dollar (or more).
  • Rice Bowls
  • St. Martin de Porres Friday lunches.  These can be perishable as they will be distributed same day.  This Friday’s extra item is men’s gloves.
  • Grade 4 is also supporting the St. Vincent de Paul Society.  This year we are collecting socks (Men’s, women’s and children’s) and blankets. Blankets can be gently used.  These items need to be to school no later than Wednesday, March 27th.  Thank you for your support.

This Thursday and Friday we will have our first Oral Biography Presentations by Zooey, Grant, and Sophia, (Thursday) and Truwe, Walter, and Paula (Friday). I know the students have been working very hard to prepare. These oral biographies are such a wonderful experience for the students, involving a great variety of skills. The students will all be proud of themselves as they complete this challenging and rewarding assignment. Students should bring in their bibliographies on the day they present. Sources can be included on a note card or lined paper. Parents, please let the students write these citations themselves. This is a skill they will be using more and more often as they move up the grades. You can assist/support as needed.   Keep in mind that the speeches need to be a minimum of 5 minutes and a maximum of 10. Students always talk a lot faster at school—so it should be longer than 5 minutes at home to be safe. Please let me know if you have any questions related to the presentation.

Spelling/Homework: There is a spelling test this Friday for Unit 20. There will not be a spelling test next week however. Preparation for reconciliation, spelling practice and possible completion of math homework will be the only homework this week other than preparations for the Oral Biographies.

Report cards will be coming home this Friday. I will ask the students to wait to open their report cards until they are with a family member. Grades should be personal and there will be an additional insert in the report card that I do not want to get misplaced. Thank you for supporting this at home as well. The students are making such good progress and they all have much to celebrate. Please return the empty envelope with your signature before spring break.

Keeping it short this week!  Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about the Oral Biographies…