Our Lenten Journey

On Ash Wednesday, the second grade class began to mark the path of "Our Lenten Journey" in the hallway outside of our classroom. We started that day by answering the prompt: " For Lent, I am giving up..." Each of the student had to write down a food, game, or bad behavior that they would give up for the forty days of Lent. This is one way to show God that we can make a sacrifice for Him in preparation for Easter. Everyday we have added one rock to the path, marking each day. On Sundays, there is a purple cross instead of the rock. On these days, the students must finish another sentence. The last three Sundays have dealt with how them will be kind to someone else, how they will make sure to say extra prayers, and how they will give something to someone. There are two different ways here at school that the students are able to give during Lent. One is a coin collection box on my desk that will be donated to the organization Operation Rice Bowl at the end of Lent. The second way your son or daughter and family can participate is through our drive for the Women's Center. Any baby clothing or supplies are welcome! We have already collected so many wonderful things and the student seem eager to give.

Now we are almost halfway through the Lenten season! Discuss with your son or daughter what they wrote on the purple sheets that are along the Lenten Journey path and make sure they are sticking to those promises!

Terra Nova Testing Completed

The second grade is officially finished with their Terra Nova tests! Everyone worked hard and listened carefully, and hopefully that will shine through in their results. Thank you to the families who sent notecards of inspiration. Your sons and daughters often looked to them or even touched them during testing to remember you were thinking of them. When we would completed testing each day, the whole class would partake in some activitiy to stretch our bodies or our minds in a way that they hadn't been that day. First, many of the students enjoyed reading the book, My Daddy is a Pretzel. The book describes all different yoga poses that the narrator's father can do. After reading, the second graders tried a few of the poses out - Mountain Pose, Tree Pose, and Triangle Pose, just to name a few. Ask your son or daughter to show you what they remember at home. Another fun activity was putting together puzzles in groups. Working together and trying different strategies was a fun way to spend our afternoon after a morning of testing. Thank you second grade for all of your hard work!!

Citrus Tasting!

Susan Taylor from the Good Food Project came to St. Sylvester today to conduct a citrus tasting with our students! She arrived with a couple of assistants and a few different types of citrus fruits for the whole class to try. Ask your son or daughter about the steps to a citrus tasting: first smell it, then lick it, and finally chew and savor it. Each student chose their favorite variety of citrus on a ballot and included any other comments. Many students were excited to try the "blood orange" that is deep red inside. Also, the student devoured the "Cutie" Mandarin oranges that were given out. Ask your son or daughter which citrus fruit was their favorite. We all learned a lot about citrus fruits, how to describe their various flavors, and how great they are for us! Look in your son or daughter's folder to find a letter about the activities along with a coupon for Cutie Mandarin oranges!

Reconciliation: February 16th

Please remember that the celebration of first Reconciliation will be this Wednesday, February 16th at 7:00 PM. Please bring your son or daughter to the church at 6:45 so that the service can start on time. Also, make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for such an important sacramental event (this means no jeans please!). Here are a few key concepts that you should review with your son or daughter:

contrition: being sorry for your sins and promising to not sin again
confession: telling your sins to the priest
penance: a kind act or prayer we do to make up for our sins
absolution: the priest's forgiveness of your sins in God's name

Lastly, practice, practice, practice the Act of Contrition! Each second grader has done a stupendous job readying themselves for this special occasion. I am already so proud of all their hard work! See you on Wednesday night!

Award Winners

This morning, the whole school came together to honor different students' achievements for the first half of the school year. First, the winners of a national handwriting contest for grades one through four were announced. Yohali Sandoval was the winner for the second grade classroom! Her manuscript writing is very nice and always legible. The second awards that were given out were for the Catholic Schools Week poster contest that everyone joined. Isaac Rodriguez's poster won because it really displayed his own careful thought and work about why St. Sylvester is great.

Lastly, the Peacemaker and Effort awards were given out. Kristina Mazon was the winner of the Peacemaker award for always being so kind and patient with her classmates, as well as including everyone at lunch and recess. Abalus Awudu won the Effort award for working so hard at learning English after moving to Chicago from Cameroon this summer. His reading and writing have improved tremendously since the beginning of the year and he continues to do awesome work! Congratulations to all the winners in second grade!

All-School Olympics

Today, most of the students in our school came together to play in the All-School Olympics! After two days off due to the snowstorm, everyone was excited to get back togethertoday with their classmates. The second grade class was divided into twelve separate teams to play all sorts of silly relay races and games. Their teammates were students ranging from preschoolers through eighth graders. Everyone worked together with their teams to complete the activities and cheered on others. Some of the games we played were: the crab walk, moving a cotton ball with a plate, and a hula hoop circle. Ask your son or daughter to tell you about the other games we played and which was their favorite! Also, look in their folder to see when the rest of the Catholic Schools Week's activities are rescheduled for in the next couple of weeks!

Catholic Schools Week: Pajama Day!

Yesterday, we began our celebration of Catholic schools with an all-school Mass. Many of the students dressed down yesterday in their favorite sports team gear. Also, everyone turned in posters that looked awesome! They will be judged and the winner will be announced on Thursday.

Today, the students wore their pajamas to school! Everyone got comfortable this morning during an extended D.E.A.R.(Drop Everything and Read) time. They shared blankets and pillows as they laid around and read books from our classroom library and home.

In a Minute!

Today the second grade class began their unit of study on time in math class. We started by exploring just how long a minute is and what can be done in that time. First, the students put their heads on their desks and raised their hands when they thought one minute had passed. Everyone's hands were up after only twenty seconds! Then, each child located the second hand on the clock and watched along with me as it made its way around the clock one time - in order to time out one minute. Next, every student guessed how many times certain activities could be done in one minute. The students hopped on one foot, wrote their names, and touched their toes several times in one one minute. Ask you child which they were able to do the most of in one minute!

Our Lady Of Guadalupe

This past week the second grade class has been learning about Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We looked at different images of Our Lady of Guadalupe including the one in our front hallway. Thursday's Mass was the feast day of St. Juan Diego, so the students were able to hear Fr. Paul talk about his life as well. Over the week, the children practice putting on the play of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Earlier today, they performed the play for each other in costumes and with props. Everyone did a wonderful job learning about this incredible story. Look in your child's folder for an Our Lady of Guadalupe prayer card and rose from the play.

Animals

A couple of weeks ago, the second grade class began their unit of study on animals. Here are some of the main ideas from this science chapter:

-Many different kinds of animals live in our world. These are separated into five groups: mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish.

-Animals change as they grow. Young frogs and butterflies look different from their parents.

-A place where an animal lives is its habitat.

-Some animals eat plants, other animals eat animals. This is called the food chain.

-Animals protect themselves in many different ways.

In order to better understand the meaning of animal life cycles, we have focused on frogs and butterflies. The best way to observe the life cycle of the butterfly is to watch one happen before one's eyes - so that's what we are doing! Last week two jars of young caterpillars arrived in our classroom. Over the last nine days we have watched them grow and change. Today, half of them are forming their chrysalis. Every student has been recording the changes they observe in their own Caterpillar Diary.

Also, today the students made clay models of the life cycle of a butterfly. Even though we have only seen three of the stage so far, everyone knows what the final stage will bring - a butterfly! Discuss the changes that your child is seeing everyday here at school with them at home.