Spelling Bee Finalists!

Congratulations to the four finalists that will compete in the upcoming MiniBee next week:
~*Sarah Tupy*~
~*Ryan Zimmerman*~
~*Hope Beegle*~
~*Jolie Beegle*~

I must say we have a great group of spellers in our class! I had to break out the "dreaded" HARD CARDS with words like difference, scientist, and exciting! Great job spellers!

Geo-Fun!

Last week, students explored congruent shapes. We learned that congruent shapes have the same size and must be the same exact shape. The students worked with their desk buddies to make congruent shapes. I extended the lesson by teaching children about other polygons and what their prefixes mean - an OCTAGON has eight sides because OCTO means 8 (just like and OCTOPUS has eight legs). Students now call a "diamond" it's official name, a parallellogram, because it has a set of parallel lines. We had a great time! Here are some photos of the kids in action!

Nothing makes this teacher happier than seeing kids helping each other learn! :)

Think Like a Paleontologist!

On Tuesday, the students learned all about fossils and the importance of them to tell scientists about the past. We read from our book, discussed, and used a graphic organizer to help us remember all about fossils. On Wednesday, we put on our "Paleontologist Hats" and dug for "fossils"!

Here are our young paleontologists at work!!

 Our paleontologists used a pointed popsicle stick as their pic to help dig up as many chocolate chips or "fossils" without breaking them.

 All of the students worked so patiently and carefully to avoid damaging their precious fossils, just as a paleontologist would do if he or she were on a dig.

 Many students found over 40 chocolate chips fully entact!

Many cookies were left nearly entact as students dug out the chocolate chips.

We had so much fun during our dig! The kids learned so much and were so excited. I was so thrilled to hear them exclaim how much they wanted to do this again! Great job young paleontologists!

Great American Spell Check

Hi Parents!
It's been a while. The holidays were such an exciting time in our classroom...but now we're back to the daily grind.

The Great American Spell Check pledges are due on Wednesday. If every student submits at least one pledge, the students will be awarded no homework for an entire week! Wow! What an incentive! Please have your children find supporters other than their own parents. Thanks!

I will also pledge for each student in the class if he/she brings in a different pledge.

Our spelling test will be broken down into 2 tests of 25 words each. Students have had some of these words before. Once the test is completed in its entirety, students will take their tests home and collect the pledge money.

The student with the most pledges will earn a special reward!

Weekly Announcements

Happy Monday Parents~



Just a few announcements for the upcoming week:


there is NO mass tomorrow due to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Holy Day of Obligation) on December 8th. Please have your children wear UNIFORM DRESS on WEDNESDAY, regular uniform tomorrow. Be sure to pack a PE uniform for students to change on Wednesday!


At the staff meeting on Thursday, we were asked to have the children write letters thanking our servicemen and women over seas. The children wrote sweet letters of thanks to our dedicated military. If you have the time or inclination, we are also having a small collection for care packages to be put together (I am not facilitating this, however I will be happy to pass on any donation). Some items of need/want are: gum, loofah (the "plastic" ones), candy (no chocolate) like licorice, slim jims, instant individual packs of coffee, and chapstick. Thank you in advance for any donations, and please don't feel obligated as this was last minute information.


Please remember to have your child do ONE spelling activity per night. A couple of kids are coming on Friday with no spelling homework completed and are receiving incompletes in my gradebook. The children are now free to choose any activity they'd like. They should not be doing the same activity every night or every week for that matter. Please make sure they mix it up.


Please check back for important emails from our room moms regarding upcoming Christmas activities in the classroom.


I will be sending home First Reconciliation packets with activities/booklets inside. Please complete these at your leisure over the next few weeks, but please be sure to do them. You are on the honor system! :) It's really important for the kids to see that their Sacramental year is important to you. Take a few minutes each night to complete the activities/discuss the major points. Thanks!


Finally, I apologize for the look of the report cards from the first trimester. The school had some issues with Cornerstone, the online gradebook company, and long story short they were not prepared for us to enter O, G, S, NI for the work study/behavior areas. I am going back this trimester to fill those in so that Trimester 2's report cards will look like last year's. They will show the missing grades in those areas. As for now, if there is an area of need, you will see a check (more like a "square root sign" as my husband pointed out) and if you see a + it means an area of strength. If you don't see anything, your child is doing fine in that area.






Have a great evening!


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2nd Grade News!

My goodness!! It's been a long time since I've posted and so much has happened in the world of 2nd grade!!

Well, BIG NEWS for our class! (Though I suppose old news, too, given it happened last week!)

The 2nd graders can now officially say they have met an ASTRONAUT! How cool (dead word) is that?? As you already know, we took a field trip to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana.  The kids got to experiment with science in a very hands-on way... making clouds, climbing walls, a bed of nails, and so much more! We explored two whole floors of science excitement... but we had a special treat waiting for us inside of the theater. Astronaut Danny Olivas was there to talk to us about his adventures in space. He told us all about zero gravity in the International Space Station, as well as his thrilling space walks. Astronaut Olivas told how vital re-entry into Earth was and how important it is to land perfectly. He told all about how science and math are vital parts of space discovery and research. It was such an awesome experience!

Now, when I was younger, my mom ALWAYS forced me to take pictures and would be rather pushy trying to get "the perfect shot" with whomever it was that was so important. I swore that I would never, ever be like that. Well, never say never. ;0) Astronaut Olivas was not scheduled to take pictures with the kids, but I used my mom's "skills" and tried to get a picture as best as possible. Please excuse the poor lighting and the trashcan right in the middle of the shot, but at least we got something!

Here are some more pictures from our field trip...

2nd graders "digging" for fossils...



 Letting water vapor gather and working together to make a cloud!

Building dams and experimenting with erosion...

My sweet students doing an awesome job representing St. Rita School!

Students and Chaperones tired on the bus ride home... :0)

Thank you to Mrs. Gorocica, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Beaton, Mr. Householder, and Mrs. Lovano for being many extra eyes and ears!

Halloween Excitement!

On Friday, we had a great party in the classroom! Our wonderful parents put together a beautiful (and healthy!) breakfast spread. The kiddos ate while decorating their pumpkins! Thank you to all of the moms who helped out!!

 Moms ready to take on Halloween!

 Farmer Cash hides the bonus spelling word: February!

 Sister Grace working praying for a great day!

 Kids lined up perfectly to take some small bites for breakfast.

 All smiles from Table 4 as they wait for the festivities to begin!

Let the pumpkin decorating begin!

Thank you Mrs. Cargal for the documenting this day with your great photos!