Dear Parents,
This Friday, October 4, we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals and the environment, and our city’s patron saint! As St. Francis loved and cared for animals and nature, let us be models to our children to be stewards of God’s creations. Continue to examine habits that might harm our Earth and take action towards caring for all of God’s gifts. St. Francis is also remembered for devoting himself to a life of prayer and for his generosity to the poor.
Although the identity of the author of the following prayer remains a mystery, it is often referred to as The Peace Prayer of St. Francis. It is one of my favorite prayers to reflect on, and I hope that you will take the time to share it with your family.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN.
--Mrs. Sandra Jimenez
LIFETOUCH SCHOOL PICTURE DAY
Tomorrow—Thursday, October 3—is school picture day. All children will take their photo in their complete uniform, and it is optional to order photos. Photo order forms were sent home last week, and you can also place your order online at mylifetouch.com using the picture day ID: BY419451Q0
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
If you pre-purchased your Family Movie Night tickets for this Friday, we’ll see you on the schoolyard at 6:00 PM for a screening of Aladdin! (Tickets are now SOLD OUT!) For movie night, you may bring your own blankets and chairs. Thank you to Mr. Suarez and the Sports Committee for coordinating this fundraising event.
SCHOOL ACCREDITATION UPDATE
The teachers spent this past Monday continuing their work on an extensive self-study document entitled “Improving Student Learning,” where we have been examining different data and evidence (such as last year’s parent and student surveys), and how our practices impact student growth and learning. We are also setting critical goals that will help keep our school community moving forward. The completion of this document is an important requirement to our school’s accreditation. The latest draft of the self-study will be shared with the Associate Superintendent in mid-October. Please continue to hold the school community in your prayers as we undergo this important process for our school improvement and Accreditation!
SCHOOL UNIFORMS
Please ensure that your child is following the uniform policy as stated in the Parent and Student Handbook. Also, several students have already reported missing school sweatshirts, so check that your child’s sweatshirt is labeled with his/her name and grade.
IN THE CLASSROOM
KINDER - Happy October! Mother Mary pray for us all as we continue to grow and learn! Starting today, you will receive a Blue Folder containing the previous work from the last week or two. Please remove all work, find your child's best and put it on the refrigerator! If there is any unfinished work, then please complete at home for extra practice. Then, return the empty blue folder on Thursday with your Que Pasa signed!
1A - This week in English Language Arts the topic is “Where We Live.” We are discussing our own neighborhoods and communities, as well as those of others. In religion, we are discussing the different ways we can praise God. In math, we are continuing to work on sequencing and ordinal numbers. In science, we are continuing to experiment with air and its effect on different objects.
2A - We're reading “Families Working Together” (expository nonfiction). We'll continue working on addition, place value, and subtracting within 100. We are also working on Lexia and STMath.
3A – This week in Religion, we will learn about St. Francis of Assisi. His feast day is this Thursday, October 4th. We will read stories about St. Francis, watch a video about his life, and discuss facts that we have learned. On Friday, we will take a comprehension test to see what we remember about this great saint. In Language Arts this week, we will review homonyms, suffixes, and punctuation. We continue to work on our tablets and iPads using them to increase our knowledge of math and grammar.
4A – Happy October! This week, the students will be focusing on the Corporal and Spiritual works of Mercy. We will learn how to become closer to Christ by helping those who in need. In Reading, we will conclude our Story Elements unit and begin focusing on the author's purpose. We will also be checking for understanding when we read, a great way to practice our comprehension skills. In Math, we will begin our Eureka Math series focusing on place value in word problems, addition and subtraction. In Social Studies, we will be learning about the four geographical regions of California. In Science, we will be learning about San Francisco's water. Thank you for your help and support!
5A - In math this week, 5th graders are going to expand their place value reasoning by naming decimal fractions in expanded, unit, and word forms. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we'll be using mentor texts by a variety of Latinx and Hispanic authors to practice making inferences. As always, check Class Dojo for photos and daily updates.
6A Religion – Students will be continuing with the Second Step Social Emotional Learning program with the lesson: Grow your Brain. Language Arts – Students are continuing their analysis of short story elements by focusing on an author's point of view. They'll examine why authors use certain types of narration and how it affects a story's development. Math - Students will be working with finding equivalent ratios. Social Studies – Students are continuing with the beginning of their Ancient Mesopotamia Unit. We will be defining the term 'civilization' and learning about details of one of the earliest known civilizations. Science – This week we will start to learn what is in the atmosphere's air. Scientists will discuss and investigate the properties of air and use a model to interpret observations of air.
7A Religion – Students will continue with the Second Step Social Emotional Learning program with the lesson: Making Mistakes. Language Arts - Students have begun reading Walk Two Moons and are responding to comprehension questions, text connections and vocabulary. The material thus far has provided very thoughtful and lively discussions. What is in store for Salamanca Tree Hiddle? Math – Students will be making graphs from tables and determining if they are proportional or not proportional. Social Studies – Students are continuing with their Islam and Christianity Compare and Contrast Five Paragraph Essay. Science - In order to help explain this phenomenon, students will begin their creation of a photosynthesis or cellular respiration model!
8A Religion – Students will finalize their discussion on disagreements that arose in the early Church and how these have affected Catholic beliefs today. They will also focus on the Marks of the Church and how they are essential for maintaining unity and variety within the Church. Language Arts - Students have begun reading Mockingbird. In addition to their reading, students have created a Character Study Notebook to record their responses to character transformation. This will serve as the main focus of the novel, while also participating in mini lesson activities to aid in further comprehension. Math - Students will work with negative exponents this week. Social Studies – Students will begin to practice using primary sources to answer essential questions with Document-based Questions (DBQ packet). Science - Students have begun creating models of atoms. Now we connect the periodic table to the structure of the atom.
REMINDERS:
Oct. 3 LifeTouch School Picture Day
Oct. 4 Aladdin Family Movie Night, 6:00 PM on the Schoolyard
Oct 8 School Mass, 8:10 AM
Oct. 8 4A Field Trip to Garden for the Environment
Oct. 9 Free Dress for No Tardies in September
Oct. 14 No School—Indigenous People’s Appreciation Day
Oct. 17 3A Field Trip to Petaluma Pumpkin Farm
Oct. 18 No School—Archdiocese Elementary Educator Day
