Academic Newsletter
St. Timothy Catholic School
Welcome to the 2015-2016 School Year
- our expanded Advanced Academics now includes programs for first and second grades
- additional instructional assistants were added to support enrollment growth
- math remediation specialist was hired to support Middle School math
- New program Understanding and Participating in the Liturgy was added to Middle School Religion
K-2
Boys and girls in kindergarten are settled in and are learning new things! After practicing good hand-washing and agreeing on class rules, students practiced rhyming words and in writing students brainstormed ideas for what they can make from a box. In math, students demonstrated mastery of position words, and in religion students discussed that God made the world and all the beautiful things in it.
First Grade
First graders are hard at work mastering handwriting skills and working on reading. They were busy getting ready for the Pope's visit to our area by comparing their lives to the Pope's and discussing ways Pope Francis models Jesus. In their Traits Writing class, boys and girls created a hometown travel brochure. Maybe someone could lend it to the Pope!
Second Grade
Second graders are working on identifying and labeling states located in the northeastern section of the United States. Additionally, boys and girls distinguished between the main idea in a story and sentences that provide details. Students also discussed the Pope's visit as well as his mission and importance to us as Catholics.
3-5
Boys and girls compared numbers to the hundred thousands, using greater than and less than symbols. In Religion, students discussed current events such as the Pope's visit and the goals of the visit. Students created original "comic strips" of the Pope's life. Boys and girls also worked in writing and identified the different modes of writing and gave examples. In science lab, students conducted experiments on volume.
Fourth Grade
Students wrote letters to Pope Francis, making sure to use correct spelling and punctuation! Boys and girls also talked about Pope Francis' love for nature and they took a prayer walk outside, and wrote a prayer to the Holy Family asking for blessings on their family at school and at home. In science, students defined refraction, concave and convex lenses, and in math they added and subtracted whole numbers and wrote their own word problems.
Fifth Grade
Boys and girls studied Pope Francis' coat of arms and the meaning behind it, and were introduced to Saint Junipero Serra as the saint that was canonized by the pope on Wednesday. Students then wrote a poem about Pope Francis, focusing on how the Pope spreads the Kingdom of God, and brings everyone to Christ. In math, boys and girls reviewed properties of addition and multiplication and in science, students now understand the relationship between mass and force exerted on a load.
Middle School
Sixth grade students started the year estimating, comparing and ordering decimals, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals, and working with the order of operations. Student's also had a special visit from Mrs. Venafro's Dear Aunt Sally.
Seventh grade students converted within the metric system and demonstrated understanding of and an ability to use the Order of Operations and the Distributive Property.
PreAlgebra students evaluated variable expressions, added and subtracted integers and used the Distributive Property with algebraic expressions.
Math 8 students graphed rational numbers on a number line, identified and used the additive inverse and practiced adding rational numbers.
Algebra students translated expressions, used opposites and absolute value, added and subtracted real numbers and solved one-step equations using multiplication and division.
Geometry students began the year with a discussion of undefinable, but describable terms, discussed definitions for conditional, hypothesis, conclusion, converse, counterexample, biconditional, deductive.and learned how to plan a proof.
Language Arts
Sixth graders began the year identifying proper nouns and proper adjectives and their capitalization rules, and then wrote questions they would like to ask Pope Francis. Seventh grade students wrote, edited and proof read for spelling errors descriptive essays and differentiated between common spelling rules.
Seventh graders also discussed the Pope's visit and wrote questions.
Eighth graders worked on descriptive essays, reexamined rules for capitalization and proofread essays, completing the Explode a Moment assignment.
Literature
Sixth grade students identified forms of fiction and read Gold Cadillac, as an example of a novella. They also learned about plot and setting in a story while reading All Summer in a Day, which takes place on the planet Venus. Students then moved on to focus on characters and conflict and discussed reasons why they identify with certain literary characters.
Seventh grade students focused on forms of prose and read Song of the Trees, reflecting on the question, "How far would you go to protect something you were passionate about?" Students also created character maps of their favorite characters.
Eighth graders focused on plot and setting and read Flowers for Algernon. Students also used this story to explore the ways authors develop their characters.
Social Studies
Sixth grade students learned the importance of maps, types of maps, human migration, world land use and the five themes of human geography. Students then learned the advantages of settling in one place and factors affecting the growth of early cities and the spread of civilization.
Seventh graders learned how the Native Americans lived in harmony with nature, and did not believe in land ownership, and wasted nothing. Additionally, students were able to compare and contrast life in the various colonies in North America.
Eighth graders discussed how the settlers changed the West and effected the Native Americans, including the effects of ranching and mining, and also discussed the life of the American cowboy and rancher.
Science
Sixth graders planned and conducted investigations in which observations are made involving fine discrimination between similar objects, and precise and approximate measurements are recorded. Additionally, students studied chemical formulas as a way to understand that compounds result from different combinations of elements and that the properties of a compound result from the combination of elements within the compound.
Seventh grade students planned and conducted investigations in which variables are defined, models are constructed to illustrate and explain phenomena, and an understanding of the nature of science is developed and reinforced.
Eighth graders planned and conducted investigations in which variables are defined, metric units are used, and models are constructed to illustrate and explain phenomena. In addition, students calibrated an ungraduated thermometer, and investigated the relationship between heat, thermal energy, and temperature.
Spanish
Sixth grade students practiced making proper introductions in Spanish, in the morning, afternoon and evening, and then recited the alphabet in Spanish, along with days of the week and months of the year.
Seventh graders learned proper pronunciation for months, days, weeks, and alphabet, and then identified classroom objects and useful phrases.
Eighth grade students focused on proper pronunciation of Alphabet, Days, weeks, and months. Students then introduced themselves and asked where someone is from.
Religion
Sixth graders studied the Order of the Mass, discussed how to show reverent, active participation at Mass, and know the proper Mass responses. Students also reflected on knowing God through Creation, and on God’s communication with His people through oral tradition and Holy Scripture. Students studies the Book of Genesis, in particular the story of Creation, and reflected on how God’s attributes or characteristics define the dignity of human beings as made in the image and likeness of God.
Seventh graders, through reflection on Divine Revelation, appreciate that faith, which is reasonable, is a gift from God by which we believe in him. Man is created in God’s image and God has revealed himself out of love for man. The Blessed Trinity is a mystery of faith. Students also learned that God reveals Himself through Sacred Scripture, that Scripture is the living Word of God, and the importance of Tradition and the Magisterium in coming to know the Word of God.
Eighth grade students reviewed that the Church was born on Pentecost through the power of the Holy Spirit, that Christ entrusted the mission of his Church to the apostles and that the Church is to manifest herself to the world and bring all men to Christ. In addition, students reviewed that Jesus suffered, died, and rose from the dead as an act of love for them, and that the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit for the life of the Church, which continues Jesus’ mission in the world.
St Timothy Catholic School
Email: drutledge@sainttimothyschool.org
Website: sainttimothyschool.org
Location: 13809 Poplar Tree Road, Chantilly, VA, United States
Phone: (703) 378-6932