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Our snowy Monday morning began with welcoming our First Grade guests, Grandpas who were Veterans of our country’s Armer Forces. They each shared their personal experiences of their service to our country and then celebrated a special St. Francis Veteran’s Day Mass with us. We are very grateful to our guests for helping protect our country. RELIGION We completed Unit 1, God is our Good Father.  The childre

The first grade will be hosting our annual “Veterans Day breakfast” tomorrow. This is open to first graders and Veterans who they know and have been specifically invited by a first grader. The students look forward to listening, learning, and asking questions! There will be donuts and coffee provided. Thank you to our room parents who have organized the treats! If you have a family member who is a Veteran

RELIGION Our week began with our teddy bears Baptisms. Children shared the stories of their Baptisms with the class, talking about their godparents, and the the religious symbolism of Baptism.  Children learned that being a Christian commits us to spreading God’s love, we should share the light of Christ received at Baptism. LANGLUAGE ARTS The objective this week was reading fluently, many of our readers have b

RELIGION Through Baptism we become children of God and Christians. This was our focus as we prepared for our “pretend” Teddy Bear Baptism. Children learned that water is a gift from God and it is important to all of us because it does so many things for us. Water has a religious symbolic value. Children learned that in Baptism we receive a new life and we are given our names. We received a name like the n

RELIGION Our week began learning the Biblical story of Joseph and the importance of trusting God to guide us, like Joseph did, even though Joseph didn’t know what God’s plan was for him.  The “coat” the children made for Joseph helps remind us that God is watching over us, no matter where we are and what is happening in our lives. Our new chapter presented to us that the Our Father is the pray

Our School Library is growing a Storybook Pumpkin Patch, and we need your help! Families with students in grades 1-4 are invited to decorate a pumpkin to look like a favorite storybook character, and bring it to the library to “plant” in our Storybook Pumpkin Patch. Download a flyer with directions here. Students who choose to submit a pumpkin must fill out the entry form at the bottom of the flyer and br

RELIGION We listen and God listens, children learned  about the Old Testament story when God communicated with Samuel and were reminded that God continues to speak to us.  We recalled that God talks to us in the quiet of our hearts and through other people.  We reviewed the different types of prayer: praise, asking, thanks, and sorry. Children practiced ways of saying “I’m sorry” and remembered that

RELIGION Our new Chapter is God Speaks to Us.   The focus was to learn that God speaks to us in silence, in the Bible, and through helpers. We learned to examine wonderful things in nature that take place silently, things like flowers growing, caterpillars changing into butterflies, and we grow in silence too.  Our mind, bones, and muscles all grow without a sound.  We learned that when we are quiet  God can speak to

RELIGION Chapter 4 GOD OUR FATHER reminded us that we worship God in church by words and actions. Children learned to describe how Jesus is present in the church building in a special way and to identify some of the holy objects in the church building and  understand their purpose. We thought of holy things in church, which helps us pray and remember that church is a holy place. Oct. 4th was the feast of St. Francis

RELIGION Our class prepared for leading the all school Mass this week. Students participated in rehearsing the petition, gifts, readings and songs. The First Graders acted and sounded like perfect angels! Children learned that each person is unique. They determined their own special qualities and wrote and colored pictures of themselves. The children expressed ways that they are special. MATH We wrapped up our first

Thank you all for attending the SFX Back to School Night! I was delighted to meet new parents and greet familiar faces. We are off to a fabulous start and with our partnership and I am confident it will be a fabulous First Grade experience for all of the girls and boys. Please remind First Graders that they should not bring any toys to school – this includes all balls! An afternoon “Working Snack” h

RELIGION Students learned the biblical story of Creation and related the beauty of creation to God’s goodness.  Learning to care for God’s world is our responsibility.  Our God designed a beautiful world for us.  It took six days to form our earth and on the seventh day God rested. We celebrated each day with a project called “Creation on a Stick” to help the children retell the story of creat

We are off to a great year in the library. Classes have been visiting our wonderful library space and we are learning/revisiting library routines and beginning to checkout to students in 1st-8th grade. Kindergarten students will begin checking out later this fall. I am excited to share that our first author visit of the year will occur this month. In partnership with the Book Stall in Winnetka, award-winning author M

RELIGION We started our text book CHRIST OUR LIFE. In the first Chapter titled Jesus is Our Friend, the children learned a story of Jesus and his love for little children. Students learned that the stories of Jesus are found in the Gospels, which are read by the Priest during  Mass. Learning about saints and, in particular, Saint Gregory who is the patron saint of teachers kicked off our periodic study of the many sa

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First Graders had a busy final week of school. Our week started with our last Art Class and a walk to Maple Park for our fun class picnic. Children created Memory Books, Thank You Books for our wonderful Room Parents, Father’s Day Books, cleaned up the classroom, read favorite books, danced at a Fiesta with Senorita and enjoyed each other as First Graders! We concluded our short week by praying together with th

RELIGION We completed our Religion Book CHRIST OUR LIFE this week learning about the Holy Spirit who helps us give glory to God in words and deeds. The students learned that kind words and good deeds bring happiness to people and give glory to God. We prayed at Mass with the SFX School community. The class  learned a  sign language version of THE OUR FATHER, which was on the video for Father Sheridan’s retireme

RELIGION Learning objectives this week began by introducing the children to the Church as a community of baptized people. This guides them to experience a sense of belonging and to appreciate the holiness of the Church. Children heard the story of how Jesus chose Peter to lead the Church and that the Holy Father, our pope Francis, leads and serves  the people of God as Jesus’ visible  representative on earth. L

RELIGION Our learning objectives  this week were to tell the story of Christ’s visible departure and entry into heavenly glory, to describe the Ascension as a pledge of our glory, and to explain that although Jesus Christ has physically departed, he is still present in the Holy Spirit, We attended the all school Liturgy and prayed the Rosary together in thanksgiving  after our wonderful, sunny Field Trip to Lin

RELIGION In our final PROMISE isSue Jesus compares himself to                            a good shepherd who cares for and protects his sheep. We learned           that a shepherd  is an image of God’s care and we identified Jesus as the Good Shepherd.   Children discussed the many people who care for them and how they show they care.  Special Person Day was a wonderful example of sharing the Mass with people w

RELIGION The Risen Jesus helps his friends make a great catch of fish and then invites them to come and eat with him. This Easter appearance story is also a eucharistic story, Jesus’ friends  recognize him in sharing the meal together. Jesus is with us in a special way when we gather together and  celebrate at Mass. Our PROMISE focused  on celebrating Jesus’ presence among us in Word, sacrament, and in ea

RELIGION The objectives this week all led up to our Friday Mass and May Crowning. They were to learn that Mary  is Our Mother and Queen.  Mary helps us be good Christians. The Church honors Mary and we honor Mary by trying to be like her by asking her to pray for us, and by singing to her. We learned about the Rosary and  our class prayed the Holy Rosary led by a class Mom. LITERACY The objectives this week were  to

RELIGION Easter celebrates Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. This is the core of Christian faith – God raised Jesus, who was crucified, from the dead. Jesus’ Resurrection was a powerful event in the life of the early Christians so they recorded their experience for us. Easter is a season of joy and new life. God is always present in and around us, we can meet Jesus in Church, reading the Bible and

RELIGION Children learned about the events of  Holy Week. We learned to make crosses with the palms from Palm Sunday Mass. The children recognized  the story of Jesus’ entry  into Jerusalem. They learned the meaning of Holy Communion and Mass. We learned that Jesus died so we can go to heaven. Jesus loves us so much that he died on the Cross and rose to new life so that we can go to Heaven. We prayed,”Dea

Please check out the April 18 edition of the Wilmette Beacon! An article on page 13 is about the First Grade trip to Cradles to Crayons. One correction is that Cradles to Crayons served 80,000 people this year. We are so grateful for your donations and to chaperones for helping the first graders help others. This was a meaningful Lenten service project for all.