Weekly Update

This was a very special week with our visit to Shepherd's Way. The girls impressed me so much with their cheerful attitude and kind demeanor. As Pastor Collins said they not only fed the guests with food but fed their souls with their friendliness and positive attitudes. I hope the girls will carry this memory with them! Here are some great pictures taken by Jennifer Harter, who works in our Marketing and Communications office.
Here are some curriculum updates.

Math: We are working through this first unit about fractions. We worked on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators, continued to practice simplifying fractions, and ordered and compared fractions. The girls watched two cute EdPuzzles to practice these skills. Next, we will move into mixed numbers and improper fractions.

Language Arts: The girls had a homework assignment to read a Newsela article, take the comprehension quiz, and then highlight five adjectives. Many girls did this correctly but many had a hard time recognizing adjectives in context. I plan to review this with them on Monday and assign a similar activity with Newsela next week. On Thursday, we started a writing lab on how to write a persuasive essay. The girls will choose from six "controversial" topics for their age, such as wearing uniforms and writing in cursive. I look forward to seeing how well they will convince their readers on their opinion.

Social Studies: We started a fun project where the girls work in pairs to research the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and create a movie to share their findings. I will post them when we finish. We also started a project about Martin Luther King, Jr. where the girls explored his life through a web quest. They will also create a portrait of him and participate in a reader's theater about his life.

Reminders and upcoming events

• In the event of a snow day, I will post some work for the girls to complete on the blog. It will not be super time consuming but will help to keep us going. 
• In today's folder, I sent home a Scholastic Book Order that is due by Friday, January 25
• Scavenger Hunt
• From Mrs. Irving: Author Russell Ginns is coming to St. Catherine's School on Monday, January 28th. He is visiting to celebrate both the paperback release of Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans and the upcoming March release of the next book in the series, Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs. bbgb, our local bookshop, is offering the opportunity to purchase autographed copies of Russell's books.
  
  
  Order online to pay with a credit card at  http://bbgbbooks.com/book-buzz/. We are receiving a 15% discount on the books. When ordering online, use coupon code cat15.  Please place your order by Friday, January 18th. Note: the new Samantha Spinner book (Samantha Spinner at the Spectacular Specs) releases on March 12th, so Russell will sign customized book plates during his visit and these books will be delivered to your child's classroom on release day. You may call bbgb with any questions at 804.353.5675.