Happy Thanksgiving!

Our students have worked on many projects this month to express their thankfulness for the many blessings in their lives.  In the primary hallway, the first graders have filled the walls with gratitude, including this prayer:

Thank you for the world so sweet.
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you, God, for everything!

So many reasons to be thankful.

We will take a break from posting during the school's Thanksgiving holiday.  The OLS community wishes you and your family a happy Thanksgiving!

A Day in 8th Grade

Social hour: the 8th graders take a break from their studies to enjoy lunch together.

Follow an OLS eighth grader for a day, and you will find them working in small groups in science, playing in the school band, studying and researching independently in the computer lab, performing various jobs throughout the school, and socializing as a large group at lunch.  These students lead the rest of the student body by their example, and what a fine example they provide!

Spirit Saturday #7

Today, our parish will be assembling Love Baskets, Thanksgiving dinners to deliver to those in need.  The OLS preschoolers and their families contributed to this important project.  The children brought in canned vegetables and cranberry sauce and then decorated them in their art centers.  Once complete, the preschoolers donated their artwork and canned goods to the Love Basket Committee.  While working on this project, the students learned about the importance of doing for others.

These cute canned goods are sure to bring joy to their recipients.

Schoola Clothing Drive

Last month, the OLS Home & School Association invited all school and parish families to clean out their closets and donate their gently used, name-brand clothing to a Schoola clothing drive.  Schoola sells the donated items in their online store and sends 40% of the profits back to OLS.  Clean closets + cash for our school = win-win fundraising.

Packed and ready to ship: 16 boxes of clothes donated by OLS families.

If you missed our clothing drive, don't fret!  You can donate items to Schoola at any time.  Follow this link to request a bag for OLS, fill it with your gently used clothes, and send it back to them - all at no cost to you.

Boo-tacular Book Reports

Mrs. Banahan's third grade reading class displays their Boo-tacular book reports.  Each student had to read a mystery, and they were very excited to keep reading until they solved the problem!

Plant and Animal Cells

The fourth graders working diligently on their cells.

In science, the fourth graders learned about the structures and functions of an animal and plant cell.  They made a model of the cell using clay and incorporated various items to represent the structures of the cell.  The students enjoyed this hands-on lesson and learned a great deal about cells while doing this project.

Samples of both animal and plant cells created by the fourth grade.

Superhero Stories

 In English class, the sixth graders have been working on a creative writing assignment.  They've been charged with the task of creating a story about superheroes.  Last week, they headed to the computer lab to get their creative juices flowing.

Stay tuned: we'll post an excerpt or two from the stories when they are completed later this quarter!

Bellarmine Speech Team

Our Lady of Sorrows participated in the Bellarmine Speech Meet on Saturday, November 8th at OLS.  Our team did an awesome job!  In the humorous category, Matilda W. received a red ribbon.  In the duet category, the teams of Amy D. & Faith K. and Maggie M. & Hannah H. all received blue ribbons.  Natalie K. & Francesca D. received a gold ribbon-perfect score for their duet.  We are very proud of the way our team represented OLS!  We would like to thank the teachers, students, and parents for their hard work before, during, and after the meet.  OLS is a wonderful place to be!!!

The next meet is February 7th.  Do you want to join our team?  If so, please contact Ms. Schweiss to choose your speech!

Spirit Saturday #6

The OLS Girls on Track and Girls on the Run participants collected leftover Halloween candy for the troops serving overseas. They will ship it to the servicemen and women as part of a care package to thank them for their service to our country. 

Spooky Stories

The third graders share spooky stories that they wrote for Halloween. They turned off the lights and read them in spooky voices while holding a flashlight.  Boo!

Primary Math

Mrs. McGrath shows her primary math groups that numbers can be fun!  After a week of hard work, her first, second, and third graders often celebrate on Friday by playing math games on the SmartBoard.

Eagerly waiting their turn at the SmartBoard.

Egypt Day

The OLS sixth graders recently completed a unit on ancient Egypt.  To fully explore the interdisciplinarity of this topic, they examined Egyptian culture and history from many perspectives, including social studies and art.

Students create sarcophagus designs in preparation for Egypt Day.

They then shared what they learned with the kindergarten students on Egypt Day.  The sixth graders helped the younger students create Egyptian-inspired art projects and taught them some of the history behind such uniquely Egyptian elements as the pyramids, sarcophagus, and Sphinx.

The kindergarten and 6th grade enjoy learning about Egypt together.

Student Reporter News: Family Group Lunch and Recess

This edition of Student Reporter News recaps a recent family group activity.  Eighth graders Sam S. and Samantha L. explain family groups and describe their recent event.

Mrs. Ryan's family group poses for a picture before the kickball game.

 On Wednesday, October 29, 2014, the kids at Our Lady of Sorrows got together with their family groups.  Family groups are groups with kids from every grade in the school, except preschool, led by almost every teacher in the school.  We got together with our family groups to eat lunch and go out to recess together.  It was a fun time to interact with other kids from different grades.  I learned more about each kid in my family group which was really fun. -- Sam S.

Gathering up for some kickball.

This recent Wednesday, October 29, our school had a Family Group Lunch.  This luncheon was very fun and all students took part in the games at recess.  I really enjoyed this luncheon because it allowed even kindergartners to play the same game as kids my age.  I heard from lots of kids that they had a great time and really enjoyed their lunch and recess.  I am in Mrs. Siekerman's family group and as one of the two eighth graders, I helped all the little kids get set at lunch and also have a great time playing kickball at recess. -- Samantha L.

One of the older students pauses the game to help tie her teammate's shoes.

Science Band

The seventh grade has been learning about waves, what they are, and the different types of waves.  They learned about the properties and behavior of waves.  Students were given an assignment to make a musical instrument that was capable of playing three distinct notes and a song.

They created instruments ranging from water glasses to rubber bands, carrots and cucumbers to soda bottles and straws.  In all the instruments, they observed the results of the sound waves.  The students used their instruments to play Hot Cross Buns, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Mary Had a Little Lamb, as well as some tunes they composed themselves.  Take a listen for yourself!  Check out the last 25 seconds to hear the full band improvising together:

What an impressive Science Band!

*******

Editor's note:  Low video quality due to the size restrictions of the blog hosting site.  If you want a better quality video, send us an e-mail at olsorrowsblog AT gmail DOT com.

Spirit Saturday #5

At the beginning of the school year, the eighth grade class selects a theme for the academic year.  This year's theme is emblazoned on a banner that hangs in the main stairwell:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Short Vowels and Curious George

In Mrs. Hodgson's first grade reading group, the students have been learning about the short vowel sounds of a, i and short u.  They also learned the digraph th and sh.  They finished their first reader, reviewed material since the beginning of the year, and took the Unit 1 Test.  It was long, but the children did great!  They filled in the dots for the multiple choice questions, just like the big kids.  There was a writing portion of the test where the students wrote statements, questions, and exclamations!  They have also been reading lots of Curious George books, by H. A. Rey.  They now know that an author writes the book, and an illustrator makes the pictures.

The first graders practiced these short u words for their spelling test.

Hallway Art

A glimpse of some student artwork on display this month:

STEM skills: Cat Alarms

A first grader explains the project and shows the finished cat alarms to his mother.

The OLS primary teachers participate in a grant program sponsored by Monsanto that focuses on teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills to their students.  As part of the program, the teachers attend regular workshops during the school year, host a science night at school, and receive equipment for their classrooms.  Recently, the first graders put their STEM skills to work on a project they called "Cat Alarms".  Their process was as follows:

• Step One:  Students listened to the story "Cat and Mouse."
• Step Two:  They discussed the problems that the mice were having with the cat that wanted to eat them.
• Step Three:  They discussed ways that the mice could engineer a device that could be put on the cat so that when the cat was very close, the mice could run and escape.
• Step Four:  Students gathered materials from home and from Mrs. Mongan's lockers that could be used to engineer such a device.  The device had to fit on a stuffed animal from home.
• Step Five:  The students worked on creating their devices in the classroom.  Many times, they had to change their plans and start over again.
• Step Six:  The students shared their engineering projects with each other and answered questions about their designs.

Top 20

The 7th grade class takes a special course called Top 20. In it, students learn ways to think, learn, and communicate effectively. One of our first lessons this year concerned their “roadblocks” to success.

Students identified and devised methods of overcoming the common pitfalls of junior high life.   Ask a 7th grader if they are above or below the line today!

Letters to Pope Francis

The fourth graders work on their letters, focusing on proper punctuation, grammar, and penmanship.

 In Religion class, the 4th graders are learning about the Church and those who lead the Church,  in particular Pope Francis.  The students wrote a letter to the Holy Father, thanking him for his dedication to the Catholic faith leading us in footsteps of Jesus.  They used their grammar skills in making the letter their best work.  They are patiently waiting a for a response from him!

Spirit Saturday #4

Each year, the kindergarten students treat the rest of the school to a costume parade.  They walk the halls, singing their Halloween songs and preparing everyone for the Halloween classroom parties that follow.  Happy Halloween!

Kindergarten on parade!