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Weaving Our Way Into Summer Our last hands-on project was a hit!  We decorated paper plates and turned them into looms.  Then we started to weave…over, under, over, under, over….  I couldn’t believe how much they all seemed to LOVE it, some kiddos completed multiple projects.  They weaved away as I read aloud.  Hopefully this fun project made it home to share. Field Day Activities On Wednesday morning we

STEAM Projects This week we completed some fun Science Technology Engineering Art Math projects.  On Tuesday we made Cotton Ball Poppers out of cardboard tubes, skewers, rubber bands, and duct tape.  The class did a great job of problem solving and tweaking them to make them launch longer distances.  Students suggested tightening the rubber bands, adjusting the length of the inner tubes, and even taping up the cotton

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears…OH MY! On Friday students brought in their self designed and advertised zoos which included construction dimensions of perimeter and area.  I hope to go and see the nine tailed fox, or a banana sloth! Sunshine Fun Beautiful weather calls for fun picnic lunches with friends PE outdoors! Reminders Please make sure your child has a water bottle to use at school as the temperatures begi

Pop Into Summer I hope your child came home excited about the newest addition to our classroom, POP Into Summer!  This bulletin board “pops” out a name each morning.  The lucky person gets to be the Line Leader, Prayer Leader, Teacher’s Pet, as well as have Special Seating, and No Shoes in the classroom for the day.  The board also acts as a countdown till the last day of school. Conquering Dog Gone Ar

All Kindergarten through 3rd grade students met earlier this month with Jahkil Johnson, a school-aged activist from Chicago. Jahkil founded Project I Am, a non-profit organization designed to help the homeless in Chicago through the distribution of blessing bags to our local homeless population. Jahkil is living out God’s call to serve the poor and less fortunate.At Jahkil’s invitation, we continue t

Outdoor Fun We will have recess on the blacktop next week and I am looking for donations of sidewalk chalk to change things up.  If you have any old or new chalk at home, please send it in!  Thank you in advance for your donation! Library Books As our school year comes to an end, Ms. Sawyer would like to ask that all library books be turned in no later than Friday, May 28th. Water Bottles As the temperature

Poetry Pals This week participated in our final Poetry Pals session on Wednesday.   We started off by reading Thank You notes written to us from our friends of other faiths.  Next, we reflected on our experience through a cool review game.  Finally, we watched a “Congratulations” video put together by the teaching artist to celebrate the end of our journey.  The entire hour was capped off with rec

Week of April 26, 2020 Poetry Pals This week we began wrapping up this interfaith experience. This session focused on compassion.  We spent some time reviewing all that we have learned and then wrote a thank you note to our team mates of other faiths, thanking them for sharing with us and explaining/answering questions we have.  Students also completed and submitted a post-survey to show off all that they h

Poetry Pals In continuation with Poetry Pals, this week we reflected on our guiding question, “How can I build a world that values all human beings?”  and discussed “leading by example”.  We also learned about writing couplets by using perfect rhyme and near rhyme.  By the end of the session each student wrote a “Vision of the Future” poem. Some were funny, while others had a more serious tone. Imagine

Week of 4-16-21 Welcome Back!  It was so good to see all the smiles roll into the classroom this week.  You could tell the students missed one another.  They spent a good part of Monday morning sharing about all their experiences over Spring Break.   Earbuds All students need earbuds or headphones in the classroom for both Poetry Pals sessions and upcoming testing.  Please ask your child if they have a working p

Reconciliation Last Monday we all participated in Reconciliation. We reviewed that Reconciliation is a time to say sorry to God for our sins. For many of us, it was our first trip back to Reconciliation since last year! Thank you to Monsignor Mayall and Father Watts for offering the sacrament for us. Science This past week small groups prepared and presented presentations about the different climates across the globe

St. Patrick’s Day We had an amazingly fun St.Patrick’s Day!  Our class was dressed in green from head to toe with flags, shamrocks, hair paint, fun socks, and scarves!  During Spanish the class made hats and danced an Irish jig!  Then, we ended our day with a warm hug from the HSO with a school wide game of BINGO and a yummy treat. Poetry Pals This week we participated in session #6 of Poetry Pals. The first half of

Good-bye and Good luck, Mrs. Halaburt! We honored our wonderful principal yesterday with a personal Clap Out! We wish her all the best in her new journey as a mom! Thank you! It was wonderful to meet this week for conferences. Please remember that we are always an email away with any question or concern. 3rd Grade Calendar March 12 – No School March 30 – Stations of the Cross Project due April 2 – S

Poetry Pals This week we got to hear from Habeeb Quadri, the principal at Muslim Community Center Academy, and virtually toured the masjid at Muslim Community Center Academy. We were so excited to hear from Mr. Quadri and see the masjid!  We made a list of similarities and differences between Islam and Catholicism. A few similarities we found were…. -We both have holy books. -We both pray. A few differences we f

Poetry Pals This week we got to hear from Rabbi Josh Warshawsky at Solomon Schechter Day School and virtually toured the synagogue at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School.  We were so excited to hear from Rabbi Josh and see the synagogue!  We made a list of similarities and differences between Judaism and Catholicism. A few similarities we found were…. -They have Jewish laws and we also have the 10 Commandmen

Week of February 8, 2021 Poetry Pals week we had the opportunity to read the “ I Am” poems from the first week written by participants from other faiths.  The kids were asked to find commonalities between themselves and the other participants.  Students then wrote “Ode’s” about the commonalities they found and posted to share them with their teammates.  It was a fun day!  The favorite Ode written

Catholic Schools Week We had an amazing week celebrating Catholic Schools!  The kiddos looked amazing in PJ’s, dressed up for picture day, wacked out in red, white and blue, and then throwing it back on Thursday!  We had a fun filled week of trivia, art projects, and gratitude.  I would like to send a huge THANK YOU to all the families that made my week perfect.  The small gifts, flowers, wine, Uber Eats gift card, n

Poetry Pals This week we started Poetry Pals with a LIVE session on Zoom.  The class got to meet our two teaching artists, Adam and Laura.  We started writing I Am poems and learned about two poetic devices, imagery and anaphora.  The purpose of this exercise was to help introduce ourselves and share about our families and culture.  Next Wednesday, February 3rd, we will have another LIVE session w

Welcome Back It is so nice to be in the classroom!  We are quickly settling back into our daily routine and work load. It has been a hard transition for a lot of us, but so worth it to get to see our friends everyday! Music is BOOM-TASTIC This week Mr. Pancratz taught our class how to play another fun instrument, Boom Whackers.  The class played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on Wednesday, and they sounded TER

Week of January 11, 2021 E-Learning I hope you are all ready to return to the classroom on Tuesday, January 19, I know I am.  This past week I spoke with your child about packing up and provided them with a list of items that need to be returned to SFX on Tuesday.  I know it is a bunch of stuff, so please make sure it is packed securely, especially your child’s chromebook. If your child is not returning to

E-Learning Wow!  I can not compliment you and your children enough on a successful return to e-learning this past Monday. The kids joined in on zoom this week eager to learn and happy to see their friends.  I also wanted to thank you all for all the kind and complimentary emails.  I love my job, but e-learning is hard, thank you for all the encouragement! I know they kiddos are excited, as am I, to ret

St. Nicholas Day On Monday we walked into shoes filled with a surprise from St. Nicholas. Door Decor The Student Council set up a Holiday Door Decorating Contest.  The third grade pulled all three doors together and came up with this…. Warm Hugs This past Thursday we enjoyed a “warm hug” of hot chocolate from the HSO.  I mean, just look at these happy faces! Bartering We had the most amazing lesson on barte

E-Learning Reminders E-learning may look a little different in your house this time with all your SFX & SJ students at home. As this quickly approaches, please be thinking of a learning space for all children.  I would love my 3rd graders to be seated at a desk or a table in a secluded location.  I will be sending the daily schedule to my kiddos (and you) each day through SeeSaw.  (Please make sure

It feels so good to be back on the SFX campus! SEESAW If your family has not yet signed up for SeeSaw, please do so as soon as possible.  When we go remote (the two weeks after Christmas Break), this will be the main source of communication.  This will also allow you to see some fun videos we post in the classroom and work your child is submitting. Winner, Winner….Dinners for Others! Our class won the food

On Thursday, our 3rd and 4th grade students participated in an author webinar with children’s book authors Kate Messner and Traci Sorell. Ms. Sorell is one of the authors of the book Indian No More, which is our Global Read Aloud book for 4th grade. The webinar was titled “Rethinking Thanksgiving,” and offered a thought-provoking author visit based on their books about the real histor