TUESDAY (1/24):

Science Fair: Grades PreK-3 have completed class science projects and grades 4-8 have completed individual science projects. Parents are invited to see all the experiments during the day. They will all be on display in the upstairs hallway. The Kindergarten class did a project with marshmallows and predicted whether the large or mini marshmallow would fly further. Pictures can be found below.

CPK Fundraiser: The 8^th grade class will be holding a fundraiser to raise funds for their musical. Families are invited to order from California Pizza Kitchen all day and a portion will be donated to their musical. This fundraiser is for the CPK on 207 Beverly Drive.

WEDNESDAY (1/25): The students will be going to mass at 10:15am in O’Ryan hall. Girls must wear their jumpers.

THURSDAY (1/26):

Science Day: All students will participate in different Science related activities throughout the day. We will need parent volunteers (VIRTUS trained) for this day. The activities will begin at 10am. They will participate in DNA extractions, parachute testing, a pinwheel lab, trivia, and creating Lego bridges.

VIRTUS training: There will be a VIRTUS training class the Good Shepherd Church at 7pm. Please call (310) 285-5425 if interested.

FRIDAY (1/27):

100th day of school: We will be celebrating with grades 1 and 2 from 10:10am – 12:30pm. We have many activities planned for the day. We will need parent volunteers (VIRTUS trained) and each student will need to bring in one box of fruit loops. Please let me know if you can volunteer that day.

Report Cards: The office will be sending home report cards this weekend. Grades can also be found on Gradelink (www.gradelink.com). A form with your child’s account and login information was sent home last week. If you did not receive one, the office can print you out a form.

7th grade fundraiser: The 7th grade class will be hosting a fundraiser on Fridays.  They will be selling ice cream (for $1) every Friday for the 8th grade breakfast. 

SUNDAY (1/29):

Catholic Schools Week Mass: Sunday is the beginning of Catholic Schools Week. Each class will be represented in each mass beginning with Saturday at 5:30 mass. The Kindergarten class will be represented at the 5:30pm mass on Sunday with our 5^th grade buddy class. This is not a requirement, but it would be nice to see a presence of our students at the mass.

Alumni Day: Good Shepherd alumni are invited to the Parish Center after the 12:30pm mass. The children’s choir (featuring Good Shepherd students) will be performing. This event will kick off the national Catholic Schools week activities.

Photo Exhibit: Looking to the Extraordinary in the Commonplace

Please visit the Parish hall after mass on Sunday to check out the photo exhibit.  Each of the students in the school took a picture of their favorite place in the school and titled their photograph.  The pictures have been framed and will be on display in the Parish Hall.

MONDAY (1/30):
Our first school wide activity for Catholic Schools week will be collecting baked goods for our community helpers.  Each student is asked to bring in a store bought, pre-packaged baked good.  It does not need to be anything big.  We will put all the baked goods into baskets and pass out to the local library, fire station, police station, post office and Good Shepherd Church.  We will also include Good Shepherd brochures and thank them.

HOMEWORK:

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING:. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you. Don’t forget to mark your January reading calendars.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Appreciate being God’s children

Understand Jesus is a friend

Learn how friends of Jesus gather at church

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:

Identify a 1 cup measuring cup

Identify full, half-full, and empty containers

Cover a design in more than one way

100^th day of school!

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: phoneme isolation

High frequency word: me, for

Phonics: Bb, Kk

Comprehension: details

Writing: questions

Social Studies:

Seasons

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT PICTURES
   

THURSDAY (1/19):

VIRTUS Training: VIRTUS training will be offered on Thursday in O’Ryan hall. Sign up is in the main office.

Book orders: Scholastic book orders are due on Thursday.

FRIDAY (1/20):

Report Cards: Friday, January 20^th is the end of the second quarter. The Kindergarten class will be receiving their first report cards. A hard copy will be sent home the next week and grades can also be found on Gradelink (www.gradelink.com). Gradelink is an online report card. Each student has their own account. A form with your child’s account and login information will be sent home this week. If you do not receive one, the office can print you out a form.

Irish Step Dancing sign up: Irish step dancing classes will begin on January 23^rd through March 19. Sign up in the main office by Friday, January 20^th.

FRIDAY (1/27):

100th day of school: Our 100^th day of school will be on Friday, January 27^th. We will be celebrating with grades 1 and 2 from 10:10am – 12:30pm. We have many activities planned for the day. We will need parent volunteers and each student will need to bring in one box of fruit loops.

Baby 2 Baby: The second grade class is collecting baby gear for the organization baby2baby. Baby2Baby supplies Los Angeles families in need with essential baby gear and clothing for their children 0-4 years old. Baby2Baby is happy to accept the following NEW and VERY GENTLY USED items:

clothing (ages 0-12 years) ~ shoes ~ toys ~ books ~ DVDs/CDs ~ blankets/bedding/towels ~ infant tubs ~ back and front carriers ~ bouncy seats ~ baby proofing items ~ baby monitors ~ diaper bags ~ baby room accessories ~ strollers ~ maternity clothing

Baby2Baby accepts the following NEW items:  diapers ~ bottles/nipples/teethers ~ formula ~ baby food ~ hygiene products ~ stuffed animals

HOMEWORK:

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING:. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you. Don’t forget to mark your January reading calendars.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

People everywhere are God’s children

Discover that Jesus loves children

Appreciate being God’s children

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:     

Combing sets by counting on

Identify the numbers 0-20

Identify before, after and between

Identifying the numbers 10-20

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: phoneme isolation – medial

High frequency word: review – to, like, he, come, here, this

Phonics: word building, phonograms –it, -ip

Comprehension: beginning, middle, end

Writing: poems

Science:

Identify deserts and plains, compare with local landforms

Social Studies:

Seasons

TUESDAY (1/10):

Parent Club Meeting: The Parent Club Meeting will be at 8:15am in O’Ryan Hall.

MONDAY (1/16):

No school.

FRIDAY (1/20):

Report Cards: Friday, January 20^th is the end of the second quarter. The Kindergarten class will be receiving their first report cards. A hard copy will be sent home that weekend and grades can also be found on Gradelink (www.gradelink.com). Gradelink is an online report card. Each student has their own account. A form with your child’s account and login information will be sent home this week. If you do not receive one, the office can print you out a form. There are currently no grades on the accounts.

FRIDAY (1/27):

100th day of school: Our 100^th day of school will be on Friday, January 27^th. We will be celebrating with grades 1 and 2 from 10:10am – 12:30pm. We have many activities planned for the day. We will need parent volunteers and each student will need to bring in one box of fruit loops.

HOMEWORK:

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING:. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you. Don’t forget to mark your January reading calendars.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Signs remind us of special people, events or things

Jesus is the greatest sign of God’s love

Understand they can be signs of love like Jesus

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:     

Assessment: patterns

Comparing sets of objects

Weigh objects using nonstandard units

Combing sets by counting on

90^th day of school

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: phoneme isolation – medial

High frequency word: review – to, like, he, come, here, this

Phonics: word building, phonograms –it, -ip

Comprehension: beginning, middle, end

Writing: poems

Science:

Compare soils

Social Studies:

Seasons

I hope everyone had a great vacation!!

TUESDAY (1/3):

Parent Club Meeting: The Parent Club meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 10^th.

WEDNESDAY (1/4):

School Mass: We will be attending the school mass at 10:15am in O’Ryan Hall. Girls must be in their jumpers.

THURSDAY (1/12):

100th day of school: Our 100^th day of school will be on Friday, January 27^th. We will be celebrating with grades 1 and 2. We have many activities planned for the day. We will need parent volunteers and each student will need to bring in one box of fruit loops.

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING: Please return the December reading calendar. The January calendar will be sent home on Tuesday. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Community helpers

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:

ABB pattern

Count dimes to 50 cents

Pay for items using dimes

90^th day of school

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: phoneme isolation – final

High frequency word: here, this

Phonics: Gg, Ff

Comprehension: conclusions

Writing: posters

Social Studies:

Seasonal work on a farm

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!  Enjoy your holidays and have a great vacation! See you all January 3, 2012!

Here’s a short video about the Nativity told through technology:

How social media, web and mobile tell the story of the Nativity.
Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon…

The students need to be at school on time!  We will start walking to the church at 8:15am for an 8:30am mass.  This is a family mass and parents are encouraged to join us.  Parents can drop thier child at school and then meet us at the church. 

After mass, we will walk back to school to begin our Christmas party.  We will first pass our treats the students have brought for each other.   Then, we have games and crafts planned.  The students will also get pizza at the end of the day.

MONDAY (12/12):

Buddy activity: We will be having a buddy activity with 5^th grade. We will be making gingerbread houses. The Kindergarten students will need to bring in one bag of candy each. The students will also need to bring in a container to carry their gingerbread houses home. We will be making the houses at 1:30. Parents are welcome to volunteer (need to be VIRTUS trained).

TUESDAY (12/13):

Christmas program practice: We will be walking to the church after lunch to practice for the Christmas program. Please practice the song with your child. We will be singing the first verse twice. I have included a youtube video at the end of this post.

Toy Drive: The 3^rd grade class is holding a toy drive to donate to St. Thomas the Apostle church. The gifts need to be wrapped. We will take the gifts to church when we walk over for the practice. Please label the gift with the age/gender the toy is suitable for.

WEDNESDAY (12/14):

Christmas program :

• Wednesday, December 14, 2011
  
• The Christmas program will be at Good Shepherd Church.
  
• The students will need to be at the church by 5:45pm. The program will begin at 6:00pm.
  
• This year, the Kindergarten class will be singing “First Noel”. I have posted a youtube video of the song with lyrics at the bottom of this post. Please practice with your child.
  
• Students will dress in nice clothes (no jeans, tennis shoes).
  
• The Kindergarten class will sit together as a class before their performance. Please look for Mrs. Twersky and myself at the front of the church.
  
• The Kindergarten students will be dismissed to their parents after their performance.
  

THURSDAY (12/15):
Secret Santa Shop:
There will be a Santa’s secret shop set up in O’Ryan hall. The students are invited to purchase small gifts for family members/friends. If you would like your child to participate, please send money with the students. Flyers and an envelope were sent home last week. Please let me know if you need another one. The following link is to the Secret Santa Shop. There are many different gift items that are priced under $6, with a large assortment under $2. http://www.funservicesinc.com/santa_gifts.php

FRIDAY (12/16):

Family mass: We will be walking to the church for a mass at 8:30am. Students will need to dropped off at school at the regular time. Parents are invited to join us at Church for mass. After the mass, we will be walking back to school for a class Christmas party. Parents are welcome to walk to and from church with us (need to be VIRUS trained).

Christmas party: We will be having a class Christmas party. We will be decorating gingerbread cookies, making ornaments, eat pizza and many more.

Christmas treats: Students are welcome to bring in holiday treats/gift bags for their classmates (There are 26 students in the class. We will pass them out on Friday before the party. Students can begin bringing in the gifts any day during the week and I will hold onto them.

DECEMBER 19- JANUEARY 2: Winter break

Homework

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING: Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Advent

Christmas

Nativity

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:     

Assessment: sort and identify the sorting rule

80^th day of school

Estimating collections

Identify dimes

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: phoneme isolation – final

High frequency word: here

Phonics: Gg

Comprehension: conclusions

Writing: posters

First Noel video (only practice the first verse):

MONDAY (12/5):

Toy Drive: The 3^rd grade class will be sponsoring the service learning for this month. They will be holding a toy drive. Students are asked to bring in a new, wrapped toy by Tuesday, December 13. Please label the gift with the age/gender the toy is suitable for. The gifts will be dropped off at church on the 13^th when we walk to the church for the Christmas program practice.

TUESDAY (12/6):

Parent Club Meeting: There will be a parent club meeting at 8:15am in O’Ryan Hall.

Hearing/Vision Testing: The students will receive a hearing and vision test on Tuesday. It is only a preliminary test.

WEDNESDAY (12/7):

School mass: The Kindergarten class will be attending the mass in O’Ryan hall at 10:15am. The girls will need to wear their jumpers.

THURSDAY (12/8):
Virtus Training: Michelle will be holding a VIRTUS training at 9am in O’Ryan hall. Parents need to be VIRTUS trained in order to volunteer in the classroom

MONDAY (12/12):

Buddy activity: We will be having a buddy activity with 5^th grade next Monday. We will be making gingerbread houses. The Kindergarten students will need to bring in one bag of candy each. The candy can be brought in any day before the 12^th. The 5^th grade students will bring in the graham crackers and frosting. The students will also need to bring in a container to carry their gingerbread houses home.

CHRISTMAS:

Journey to Bethlehem: This show is a hand on experience to walk through the city of Bethlehem during the time of Christ’s birth. The show/experience runs from December 7-11 in Manhattan Beach. The following link will provide more information.

www.journeytobethlehem.org

Program: The Christmas program will be on Wednesday, December 14 at 6pm at the Good Shepherd Church. Parking can be found on the street or across the street in public parking. The students will need to be at the church by 5:45. The program will begin at 6pm. This year, the Kindergarten class will be singing “First Noel”.  We will be singing the first verse twice. I have posted a youtube video of the song with lyrics at the bottom of this post. Please practice with your child. Students will dress in nice clothes (no jeans, tennis shoes). The Kindergarten class will sit together as a class at the front of the church before their performance. The Kindergarten students will be dismissed to their parents after their performance.

Homework

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING: Turn in the November reading calaneder. The December reading calendar was sent home last week. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Advent

Christmas

Nativity

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:

Assessment: sort and identify the sorting rule

Cube

Match number card to a set of objects

Copy designs on a geoboard

Estimate collections

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: onset/rime blending, phoneme isolation – inital

High frequency word: he, come

Phonics: word building, phonograms –ap, -an, short vowel Ii

Comprehension: characters, conclusions

Writing: caption sentences , lists

Social Studies:

Different bodies of water on Earth

Science:

How do plants change as they grow?

First Noel video (only practice the first verse):

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

MONDAY (11/28):

Literature Day: We will have a special story time at the end of the day. We will have 8^th graders come in and read Christmas stories to the class. The students are invited to bring in blankets or special pillows. They will also get to enjoy some juice and cookies.

FRIDAY (12/2):

Book Fair: The Scholastic book fair will be begin Friday afternoon at the Parish Hall. If you are interested in volunteering for the book fair, please contact Charlotte E. at gsbookfair@gmail.com.

Homework

MATH: Review or complete the math sheet your child is bringing home daily.

PHONICS: Complete phonics worksheets your child is bringing home.

READING: Complete the November reading calendar. Please read with your child for 10 minutes or let your child read to you.

This week students are learning:

Religion:

Engage in prayer for good neighbors who show God’s love by helping them

Advent

Discuss Sunday’s gospel

Math:     

Make shapes on a geoboard

Graph

pennies
70^th day of school

Language Arts:

Phonological awareness: onset/rime blending

High frequency word: he

Phonics: word building, phonograms –ap, -an

Comprehension: characters

Writing: caption sentences

Social Studies:

Different bodies of water on Earth

Science:

How do plants change as they grow?