New Years Eve!

Spirit Store!

Distinguished Alumni/Grandparents and Special Friends Day

Feast of Saint Stephen

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Have a Happy Break!

Christmas Program!

When: Tomorrow, (Thursday) December 21st

Time: 10:30 - 11:30

Where: 3A Classroom

Christmas Reminders!

Christmas Program!

Don't forget that our Christmas Program is Wednesday, December 20th at 67:15 p.m. in the Church! See you all there!

Third Sunday of Advent

Reconciliation: December 18th

Sometimes, when we think of the word mercy, we picture someone throwing themselves on their knees before a cruel villain, pleading to be spared some punishment. This is not our understanding of God’s mercy. We do not ask for God’s mercy because we are afraid of incurring his wrath as punishment for our sins. Rather, when we call on God to have mercy, we are calling on God in the only way we know him—as one who responds with compassion to those in need. When we show mercy to others, we are responding as God responds, with compassion.

 

This is such an awesome thing to remember as we prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation this coming Monday at school. Each Advent and Lenten season, the students have the opportunity to receive this beautiful Sacrament that reminds us of God's mercy and compassion. Sometimes we may feel anxious or nervous to confess our sins, but it is important to remember that God longs to forgive you. Remember, God knows that you are much more than the worst thing you’ve ever done. Knowing this amazing thing, a few things that you can do to prepare for the Sacrament:

1. Recall the Act of Contrition.

2. Examine your conscience. For example: When I make choices, do I sometimes forget about what God wants me to do? Do I pray everyday? Do I pay attention at Mass? Do I try to see God in others?
Do I listen to my parents and teachers or do I ignore them? Have I made fun of my brothers and sister or my classmates? Do I say, “I’m sorry” to the person I have hurt and “I forgive you” to the person who has hurt me? Do I play fair or do I ever cheat at school or games? Have I taken something that does not belong to me? Do I tell the whole truth? Or do I lie about things to not get in trouble?
Am I jealous of what other people have or do I appreciate all that God has given me? Do I try to do my best in school? 

3. Remember, the priest will never tell anyone their sins.

Multiples

Commutative Property of Multiplication

Fact vs. Opinion

Mass Tomorrow: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 9, 1531, a 57-year-old Aztec, Juan Diego, saw the Blessed Mother on a hill in Mexico City. She told Juan to have a church built in her honor. When Juan went to ask Bishop Zumarraga about this, the bishop did not understand the Indian dialect—and he did not believe in the vision Juan described.
Three days later, on December 12, Mary appeared again to Juan Diego, and this time she gave him a sign for the bishop. “Take these roses to the bishop,” she said, as she arranged in his cloak beautiful roses she had Juan Diego pick from the hillside although it was winter. When he was admitted into the bishop's room, Juan Diego opened his cloak, and out dropped the roses. On the cloak there remained an image of Mary as she had appeared to Juan Diego.
The image of Mary on the cloak is known as Our Lady of Guadalupe for an interesting reason. On that same day, Mary appeared to Juan's uncle and cured him, giving him a message for the bishop, saying that she would “crush the serpent's head.” The bishop did not understand the Indians' language. The Indian word for “crush the serpent” sounded to him like “Guadalupe,” the name of Mary's shrine in Spain. Thinking that the Virgin wanted the new shrine to have the same name, the bishop called her Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Mary appeared to Juan Diego dressed as an Aztec woman to show her love and compassion to an oppressed group of people. Mary had heard the prayers and pain of these people, and she came to give them hope.
Mary's visit to Guadalupe is a reminder that God will remember his mercy for all people. In Mary's song of joy, the Magnificat, she praised God because he has put down the mighty, exalted the lowly, filled the hungry, and sent the rich away empty. People honor Our Lady of Guadalupe because they recognize her motherly concern for them.

Second Sunday of Advent

Spelling Next Week:

Mass Tomorrow: Feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Many people mistakenly believe that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ conception was most assuredly immaculate, but the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus at all. The Immaculate Conception is in regards to Mary, Jesus’ mother. “The blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” Essentially, the Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary was protected from original sin, that Mary did not have a sin nature, and was, in fact, sinless.

In observance of this Holy Day of Obligation, we will have our weekly liturgy tomorrow, December 8th, instead of Friday. Hope to see you all at Mass tomorrow.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Feast of St. Nicholas

The Marks of the Church

Please Join Us...

3A is so blessed to lead liturgy on Friday for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We would love for you to join us at Mass at 8:30.

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Pronoun Adjectives

Advent Candles

First Sunday of Advent

Santa's Coming to Town!

Advent Sacrifices

We have been talking about Sacrifice this week in our daily Advent Prayer Services. Here is a list of suggested sacrifices your children can make during Advent. You can use this list in several ways. You may want to select a sacrifice for all of Advent, something to give up or an extra job to do. Or you can cut these ideas up into strips of paper and place them in a jar, and then everyone can take out one or several every day or week to do.

Ideas for sacrifices we can do to prepare our hearts, minds, and wills to serve God:

• Give up a special treat or snack. 
• No snacks, no dessert, no favorite food. 
• Give up TV, video games, computer time – at night, during the week, on weekends, you choose! 
• Do an extra chore without being asked. 
• Only drink water to become “thirsty for Jesus.” 
• Say an extra prayer like the Hail Mary or Our Father (especially good to say this prayer for a special intention). 
• Make a bowl of sacrifice ideas and pick one every day to perform. 
• Clean your room without being asked. 
• Help your parents the next time you see them cleaning. 
• Don’t complain about what is served for meals. 
• Give one of your siblings the choice of game or toy you are going to play with. 
• Serve younger children first at mealtimes. 
• Do a chore for someone else. 
• Let someone else choose the bedtime story. 
• Read a saint book (or two!) 
• Go to bed right away when you are told. 
• Say prayers every night for particular people – the Pope, friends, and family. 
• Add more family prayers – or learn a new prayer by heart by praying it at every lunchtime/every meal/every morning/every night (a great way to learn a Latin prayer or a song). 
• Kneel and say prayers after Mass. 
• Put your own money in the Poor Box. 
• Don’t push “snooze” when the alarm goes off in the morning! 
• Light a candle, pay for it yourself, and pray for someone. 
• Make a card for a sick person and mail it. 
• Go through your own toys and give some away to another child or to a thrift shop. 
• Everyone give away something nice to St. Vincent de Paul so that another child can have a Christmas gift. 
• Help your Mom cook dinner and clean up afterwards. 
• Gladly go to confession or to Mass when the time comes. 
• Go to daily Mass more – especially on feast days that are special to our family. 
• Say a prayer for your parish priest. 
• Instead of watching your favorite TV or video, do a job around your house. 
• Do your homework without being told. 
• Help a sibling. 
• Make a present for someone. 
• Help clean up after a meal. 
• Give cookies or small gift to someone that serves you (like your mailman). 
• The next time someone says something mean to you, say nothing in return. 
• Say a prayer for your family.
• Read a story to a sibling. 
• Tell your parents how much you appreciate all their work and love. 
• Call a grandparent or close relative who is lonely or who lives far away and tell them about your day. Pray for your deceased relatives. 
• Don’t yell for someone in the house to come to you, but instead go find them to talk to them quietly.

December News!

Toy Drive Tomorrow!

Don't forget that tomorrow is the St. Ann's Toy Drive. If you'd like to participate please bring a new, unwrapped toy to school tomorrow. We will bring it to church to adorn our altar. At the end of weekend masses, the toys will go to families in need. Thank you for your generosity the season!

Toy Drive/Christmas Concerts

Children's Choir

Looking to Practice Multiplication?

Check out http://www.fun4thebrain.com for some games and timed quizzes. Also, check out my Resource section for some other practice areas.

Remember, we will be working on this skill throughout the remainder of the school year to prepare for 4th grade math concepts. We are using this as an incentive in class. Have fun with this skill. Cheer each other on and have fun with multiplication!!!

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Here are some notes that highlight what we are working on in English class. To identify prepositional phrases, students should utilize their  They may use their Prepositional Phrase Jingle to help identify prepositions to start with. They should then find the corresponding noun that will serve as their object of the preposition. They should label each word with the correct abbreviation and put their prepositional phrases in parentheses. Hope these notes help!

Holiday Open House: Glory Be Gifts

Interactive Periodic Table of Elements

Interactive Periodic Table of Elements

Celebrating Advent with the Family

When we think of New Year's celebrations, we usually think of party time. It's time to let the old year go. We anticipate the new year by making resolutions, promising changes in behavior.

As Christians, we celebrate the arrival of a new liturgical year differently. The new year that begins on the first Sunday of Advent is a quiet one. In the readings for the four Sundays of Advent, we remember the time when people waited in anticipation for the coming of the Messiah. And while we know that the Messiah has come in Jesus Christ, and we have remembered his life, death, resurrection and Ascension many times, we can still reflect on and celebrate the newness of his coming once again.
What is great about celebrating the coming of Jesus with children is that they help us approach the season with fresh eyes and insight. They present us with a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge they present is the way they soak up the values of the culture that has had them anticipating Christmas since the beginning of November. The opportunity they present is that we can introduce them to the timeless rituals celebrating the coming of the Messiah that will add depth to their spiritual lives.
There are a number of ways families can celebrate the season of Advent:

Make an Advent wreath and place it in the middle of the dining room table. An Advent wreath consists of a frame holding four candles placed inside a circle of evergreens. The greenery in the wreath symbolizes the promised new life in Jesus. The four candles denote the four Sundays of Advent. There are three purple candles and one rose candle. Purple is a sign of penance, and rose is the color denoting the anticipation of joy. Light a candle on each Sunday evening of Advent, saying a short prayer or singing a verse of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The light of the candles represents the light coming into the world as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth.

Advent calendars are available at many gift stores. The calendar consists of two pieces of cardboard on top of each other. Twenty-four doors are cut out of the top layer. One door is opened each day from December 1 through December 24, revealing a picture. 

There is a long tradition in Christian art of depicting the Jesse Tree, a symbolic tree or vine with spreading branches on which there are images depicting the genealogy of Jesus. There are several variations of the Jesse Tree. In one variation, each ornament has a picture on one side and a Scripture passage on the other. An ornament is hung on the tree every day during Advent.

With the celebration of Advent each year, everything old can be new again. Each year gives ourselves and our family an opportunity to remember and anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Toy Drive

Enjoy Your Break!

Give Thanks

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Break

Word Problem Solving Strategies

No Afterschool on Friday

There will be no Afterschool this Friday, November 17th. 

Author's Purpose

Periodic Table of Elements

We have been studying the Periodic Table of Elements in Science class. Here is a great like to learn more about the Elements on this chart. 
Periodic Table Link

The Early Church

We have been discussing how the Church began in Religion classes. This week, we will talk about the difficulties that the early Christians faced. Many students had a Saint that they studied in their project that faced persecutions. The ICHTHUS was an important symbol for the early Christians. We will discuss the importance of the symbol this week and why is it still a prominent symbol in Christianity today.

Thank You Veterans!

We're Almost There!

Regrouping with Zeros

Veteran's Day Program Tomorrow!

Please join us for a special program to honor all of our amazing Veterans! Please join us after Mass. If you have served our wonderful country we would love to honor you after the liturgy!

Pentecost Events

We've been going over the beginning of the Church this week in Religion: Pentecost (Also nicknamed as the "Church's Birthday") Here is a brief graphic that shows the events we discussed in class.