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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

Hello Families This week we greeted one another during the morning meeting with a traditional Tibetan greeting by sticking out our tongues! According to Tibetan folklore, a cruel ninth-century Tibetan king had a black tongue, so people stick out their tongues to show that they are not like him (and aren’t his reincarnation). Religion This week we started a new chapter entitled, God is Powerful and Loving. 

Amazing Job I first want to start off with a HUGE compliment for my entire Cummings Crew, parents and students!  Everyone jumped right into e-learning without missing a beat.  Thank you for quickly adapting and following along with my crazy plan.  We got a lot of solid learning in this week, although it looked very different!  We have three days next week and then back to the classroom on Thursday

Happy Halloween We had so much fun celebrating Halloween in our costumes on Thursday.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween that is masked and socially distanced. Crazy Hair Day Door Decorating Contest Our class put together an amazing entry for the SFX Student Council door decorating contest based off the book There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed A Bat! Conferences Thank you for a great Fall Conference

Starting this month, during my weekly designated library time with our 1st-4th grade students, I have launched the 2020 Global Read Aloud initiative. Information about Global Read Aloud can be found at https://theglobalreadaloud.com. The program allows schools throughout the world to connect through designated children’s books that raise awareness. I am happy to share we are connecting with schools in

Fun Run Our class participated in the Boosterthon Fun Run on Friday.  We had a blast running, dancing, and earning those laps!  Overall, our class raised $51.67 per a lap.  We have earned Crazy Sock Day, Crazy Hair Day, extra recess, and time to read outside. Not too shabby!  Thank you to all the parents, students, families that donated and made this Boosterthon a SUCCESS! Brier the Brave Thank yo

Boosterthon FunRun Boosterthon helps us raise money for our school, and it has also been teaching us some character traits.  This past week we learned about teamwork, care,  and courage. Thank you to all the families that have logged onto funrun.com and shared their child’s video with family and friends.  Currently our class has raised $7.67 per a lap.  We have earned a dance party where we

The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state and I have been fortunate to serve on this committee for the last three years. Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of the 20 Bluestem nominees by May 1st and turns in this Bluestem Reading Challenge form to me on or before May 1st will get to attend a

Wear Pink We had a large turn out of friends that donated a $1 to dress down on Friday.  Thank you for your support!  The money goes to a great cause, so close to so many of our hearts, The Colleen Pope Vitu Haiti School Memorial Fund. Recorders The recorders finally arrived and were sent home this past week. (You’re Welcome!)  The kids were so excited, almost giddy, when Mr. Pancratz walked into the classroom with t

Math This week we learned mental addition strategies for larger addition problems. All of the strategies were about having good number sense and breaking numbers apart.  In class I showed the kids multiple mental addition strategies.  The kids then choose what strategies make sense to them and what strategies they find easy.  Hopefully a few of these strategies will stick with them throughout this chap

The last two weeks I have been speaking with all 3rd-5th grade students  encouraging them to take the Bluestem Challenge. The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state and I have been fortunate to serve on this committee for the last three years. Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of the 20 Blue

Back To School Zoom Thank you to all the families that joined me Wednesday night for our Back to School Zoom.  It was nice to connect with all of you and show you a little bit about what our days at SFX look like.  If you missed the zoom, or if you have any follow up questions, please feel free to reach out to me by e-mail. I am looking forward to conferences, in about a month, to really talk about your chi

This week was a success!  We have moved on from learning rules, procedures, and routines to hitting the books. Math Over the past two weeks we have been working on place value of numbers up to 10,000.  We have reviewed the different forms that numbers can be written in, we have compared and ordered numbers, as well as rounded to the nearest 10 and 100.  We will be having our Chapter One math test next

Wow, it has been a GREAT first two weeks at SFX in our classroom!  The first week we spent a lot of time getting to know all our new classmates.  We played games, shared our “All About Me Bags” and had time to create bioglyphs (a picture consisting of symbols to show someone’s life) and self portraits to decorate our space.  We also spent a lot of time learning and practicing the new safety proce

You have been subscribed to receive classroom news through our SFX blog system. Please note what this looks like, by grade, below: 1 – Kindergarten will use See Saw to share classroom news and updates this year across both the SJ and SFX campuses. Watch for an update here soon! 2 – Grades 1-4 will continue to share weekly updates and overviews through the SFX blog system. You are automatically subscribed