• ELA
  • Reading
    • cause and effect
    • words with multiple word meanings
  • Language Arts
    • research writing
• Math
  • Multiplication strategies
    • multiplying 3 and 4 digit numbers by 1 digit
    • multiplicative and additive comparisons
    • using tables to solve word problems
• Religion
  • Beatitudes: their meaning and how to live by them.
• Social Studies
  • British rule on the American colonies
  • taxation and boycott
  • beginning events of the American Revolution
• Science
  • Respiratory System
  • Circulatory System

Midterms:

Monday: Social Studies

Tuesday: ELA

Wednesday: Math & Religion

Thursday: Science

Friday: NO SCHOOL

January

• January 4th- return to school virtually
• January 8th- 12pm dismissal
• January 11th- return to in school learning & Social Studies midterm
• January 12th- ELA midterm
• January 13th- Math & Religion midterms and Virtual HSA Meeting
• January 14th- Science midterm
• January 15th- NO SCHOOL Bishop's Holiday
• January 18th- NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• January 21st- Dress Down Day $2
• January 22nd- End of 2nd marking period
• January 31st- Beginning of Catholic Schools Week

• SCRIP Program (gift card sales)
• Calendar Raffle 

Specials Schedule (Schedule due to change depending on circumstances):

Monday: Music 11:30-12:10
Tuesday: Gym 12:50-1:30
Thursday: Art 12:50-1:30

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and that you have remained safe and healthy during this time. December was a crazy, but festive month! Fourth grade did a spectacular job for the Christmas pageant, the Nativity, and our school mass. The students worked so hard and I was very proud. We were very productive in December and covered so much despite other responsibilities and holiday traditions. 

In ELA, students learned the process of researching and writing reports. These skills will be used in correlation with our Genius Hour project. Students also practiced skills in finding the main idea and supporting details, analyzing story characters, drawing conclusions, and using context clues to understand unfamiliar words. In January, we will be focusing more on cause and effect, comparisons, and building vocabulary with multiple meaning words.

Mathematics has focused on multiplication properties and working with word problems using bar models. This month students will be learning multiple strategies for multiplying. Students will use area models, arrays, distributive method, and regrouping strategies. 

In Science, we have wrapped up our focus on plants and animals and their different ecosystems. Students found adaptations of animals and plants as well as defense mechanisms to be quite interesting. In January, we are moving our focus to the human body discussing the different systems of the body. Students are already excited about our upcoming PBL project where they get to be a physician’s assistant and help diagnose 3 different patient files. 

Religion during December incorporated discussion about Baptism and it’s symbols, Advent, and Christmas. In the New Year, we are discussing the difference between the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. Students will be able to examine each Beatitude and how we can live these guidelines in our everyday lives.

Social Studies was very interesting with our focus on Lenni Lenape, the first settlers of New Jersey, and how their differences led to a fall out that caused Native Americans to move westward. We are now beginning our examination of how our government was formed. Students will be discussing the Bills of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and how our country found its independence from British rule. 

January will be a busy month with our midterms and end of marking period, but also a time where we really see students growing in their work ethic and learning to take responsibility for their own success. Cathiloc Schools Week ends our January month with many fun activities for our students to celebrate what makes Saint Joseph so special. Please check your ClassTag daily and check student grades on Powerschool weekly. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to personal message me on ClassTag.