From the Desk of Miss Foyle
Week of January 11, 2016
Top 5 Things to Know
Parents Pre-k through grade 12 - http://www.advanc-ed.org/survey/public/0346778
2. Happy Ordinary Time! Sometimes this liturgical season gets lost in the shuffle - here's a short and sweet reflection on the importance and purpose of the season. Also, check out the faith/religion resources compiled for school and parish parents/families. (Most/all of the resources included are FREE and easy to access.)
3. MARK your calendars: Join the ICSJ school and parish community for our next Family Mass, which will help us kick off Catholic Schools' Week 2016. Mass will be at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph's church on January 31st.
(And please keep those 8th grade Confirmation candidates in your prayers!)
4. Please review and sign your child's red folder for the following assessments this week:
*8 Religion: rubric from DP 5 reflection (completed over Christmas break)
*6 Religion: none
*6 Language Arts: grammar quiz (appositives), Word Study Unit 2 quiz
5. We have passed the halfway mark of the trimester. Should your child wish to check his/her scores in any given class, now is the time to do so. (This would require your child making a brief appointment with his/her teacher(s) outside of the actual class period such as lunchtime or before/after school.)
This Week In Photos
6B Advisory
8th Confirmation Doves
6A RAP (Read Any Place) Time
6th graders share free writes in LA
6A spelling champs
Kindness matters...and our bulletin board reminds us
Classroom Updates
6 LA
Take some time to ask your child about what he/she is learning from his/her nonfiction book. They are gaining all kinds of new insight!
Writing Workshop: This week's workshop focused on generating ideas for essay topics as well as reliable sources to use. Over the course of the week, students took an expository essay statement and crafted it into an argumentative essay claim, all the while learning the subtle differences between argumentative and persuasive essays. In the coming weeks, students will be selecting topics and brainstorming claims for topics generated from their nonfiction texts. These are sure to be thoughtful, well-researched projects, and we look forward to the upcoming challenge!
Grammar and Word Study: Our focus in grammar this week was on pronouns. There are so many different ways to categorize them - you'd be surprised! In Word Study, we moved into our next mini-unit on common prefixes. This week's prefixes included pro-, re-, sub-, and super-.
6 Religion
Lessons in Family Life this week focused on ethnicity, genetics, and identity. Students spent time discussing special family traditions, their heritage, and how they can best use their strengths to help others.
Students were very interested in traits being passed down from generation to generation, and they asked a lot of great questions. Consider using this time to encourage your child to reach out to grandparents and relatives with whom your child doesn't usually speak to discuss some of these topics. It would be a meaningful experience for all.
8 Religion
As students continued working their way through the Decision Point Confirmation prep program, they spent time on important aspects of the faith: the Holy Spirit and their own roles in the Church. Within the coming weeks we will dive into the actual Sacrament itself and what their immediate preparation will look like.
Please remember these dates (required for all receiving Confirmation):
*Sunday, January 24 (10-4pm) = Confirmation Retreat (DePaul Prep)
--> Students only; parents/families/sponsors are welcome to join us for Mass at 3pm
*Wednesday, February 3 (7pm) = Confirmation Vigil & Practice (St. Joseph church)
--> Sponsors & families are welcome; students and at least one parent are required to be present
*Friday, February 5 (7pm) = Confirmation Mass (St. Joseph church)
Contact Info & Social Media
Email: kfoyle@icsjschool.org
Website: icsjmiddleschool.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/icsnorthpark
Twitter: @icsnorthpark