Specials Spotlight

Sixth graders turned milk jugs into sugar skulls this month in preparation for Dia de los Muertos (not the same as Halloween.), a tradition celebrated in Mexico and all over the world in Latin American communities. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd to remember and honor our loved ones who have passed on. These days emphasize the joy of life rather than the fear of death and are connected to our Catholic faith through All Souls and All Saints Days. Sixth graders learned the history of the Day of the Dead (Halloween is different.) and how it to came to become connected to our faith. They also learned the symbolism in the colors used in traditional mexican art and the meaning behind traditional symbols like the marigold, monarch butterfly, candle, papel picado, and the sugar skull itself. They used Studio Habits of mind such as Understanding the Art World, Observation, Envision, Develop Craft and Engage and Persist. Students could choose any inspiration for their sugar skulls. It could be someone in their life who was special to them who had passed away. If they did not have anyone in their life who had died, they could choose a theme personal to them. Artists could also choose any orientation they liked. It was cool to see what parts of the milk just they chose for the eyes and nose, so many options! I'll never pour milk the same way again.

This past week, the library was transformed into a laboratory of creativity and imagination! Students dove into spooky and silly stories, letting their ideas run wild to invent new characters, costumes, and story endings.

• Kindergarten students listened to The Good, the Bad and the Spooky by Jory John and Pete Oswald. They put their design hats on and came up with fantastic new costumes for the beloved-but-bad Seed!

• A wonderful collaboration saw First and Fifth Graders team up to enjoy The Little Shop of Monsters by R. L. Stine and Marc Brown. Using a mountain of construction paper, glue, yarn, and other odds and ends, they worked together to create their own unique, marvelous monsters!

• Second Graders had an absolute blast developing another hilarious alien to try and scare the Star Wars characters after reading Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex.

• Third Grade enjoyed the delightful rhyming of Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler. They tapped into their inner artists, drawing a brand-new page of creatures to add to the end of the witch's adventurous broom ride!

It was a truly inspiring week, full of reading, art, and boundless ingenuity!

What book-related fun is your child talking about at home? We'd love to hear about it!

Our middle school choir is open to all students (no audition necessary!) and sings for liturgical events throughout the year. We don't have much rehearsal time but are gearing up for a busy season. In addition to singing at some normal school Masses, the choir will be singing at 8th grade confirmation on November 16th along with members of the Cathedral Choir. We also have several new opportunities coming up. We have been invited to sing at Joslyn Castle for their tree-lighting ceremony. This will be taking place on December 7th. We have also been invited to sing at the Flower Festival in January. I hope you are able to come to some of these performances and if you have a middle school student, encourage them to join the choir. They sing very well and have a lot of fun doing it!

Volleyball is coming to an end in Physical Education. There has been an incredible jump of improvement, not only in skills (bump, set, attack, overhand serve, and underhand serve) but also teamwork. PreK students have been able to volley a balloon consecutively and over the volleyball net. Kindergarten and 1st Grade students have progressed from balloons to beach balls while working as a team get it over the net. 2nd through 5th Grade are or are getting close to in cooperating a volleyball lite or even a volleyball in gameplay. The amount of volleys and rallies as a class have been impressive! Middle School students are engaged in competitive sets while focusing on sportsmanship and positive encouragement.

Next week 2nd through 5th Grade will be completing their second round of Physical Assessments. The PACER Test will be during their first day and the Timed-Lap Test the second day. 4th and 5th Grade will also complete their Push-Up Test. A great night sleep and staying hydrated can be a huge help striving for improvement.

Middle School Digital Citizenship Projects

• Sixth Grade is all about design: they are creating informative posters in Canva focused on information like internet safety, sharing online, and peer pressure. They're making sure their posters are eye-catching and get the point across quickly to their friends.

• Seventh Grade is making a Google website: The seventh graders are creating a Google website filled with digital citizenship information. They're creating a permanent, shareable resource for the whole school on topics like their digital footprint and online conflicts, and making sure they're taking care of their digital health.

• Eighth Grade is creating podcasts: using the information from our classroom discussions and their own research, the 8th graders are creating podcasts. This is a fun project that covers a fair amount of tech skills.

• Kindergarten and First Grade Geometry: Our youngest students are building geometric shapes with toothpicks and playdough. They use the little balls of playdough as the corners (vertices) and the toothpicks as the sides (edges). This simple activity is fantastic because it's a great workout for their hands and brains:

• Fine Motor Fun: Rolling the playdough and sticking the toothpicks in is a great way to strengthen those small hand muscles.

• Shapes in 3D: They're learning hands-on about the difference between flat (2D) shapes and solid (3D) shapes like cubes and pyramids by physically putting them together and counting all the parts.

• Future Engineers: It introduces them to early concepts of STEM—like why triangles are the strongest shape!