Broadway at St. Cat's....Fourthies are the Stars

Next stop...Broadway!  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory had everyone humming the songs and dancing like an Oompa loompa!  Didn't the girls do a fabulous job...whether you were a dancer or you had speaking lines...everyone was able to shine. The Seniors loved the play, and there wasn't a dry eye when the lower school sang  "I Saw a Ship a Sailin".  It seems like yesterday that the Seniors were Fourthies in my class...it does to them also!

Here are a couple of pictures of your Thespians!

Next stop Grandparents' Day!  Get ready! It's next Friday!


Meanwhile, Strings has a concert tonight at 7 at St. Chris.  Congratulations, Girls!  That shows a lot of hard work, and we are proud of you.

The girls are learning about Probability in Math.  It's a very cool unit.  They are making spinners and predicting the results in mathematical terms.....a lot of fun, but some great learning also.  This leads right into the next unit on designing an efficient kitchen...okay, no correlation...YET!  You can tell we need the updated version of this book because this unit is designed for a smaller kitchen, not the uber large ones of 2017!  Anyway, it is all about efficiency, so find your tape measure because your daughter will be needing it soon.  This is one thing that they can't Google!

We have also started learning the Northeastern States and Capitals.  The girls will learn the states by region, so we will slowly make our way across the continent.  By the time we are finished they will be able to correctly place them on the map and spell them correctly also.  The Fourthie Website has some great sites to help them, and I have posted one on my blog also.  Try them all and see which ones you like best!  We'll be playing some good old "Travel" in the classroom also!

Graduation Form! Yes, it's true!

Hi Everyone,

It's that time of year!  Please click on the link to fill out a graduation form for your daughter!

https://goo.gl/forms/LBdSSSRZgLmmMB9g2

We will have more information coming over the next few weeks, but this is the first one.

Thanks, Everyone!

Pam

Guess what? Bike Day is on its way....

March 2017

Dear Parents,

On Monday, April 3rd, 3rd  and 4th grade students will go to our Goochland campus to learn about helmet and bike safety. To participate in bike day, your daughter will need to bring a helmet to school. Any helmet with the CPSC, Snell or ASTM stamp of approval is a perfectly safe helmet. To help ensure that all students have a helmet on bike day, please send helmets in by Thursday, March 30th.

The 3rd grade will leave St. Catherine’s at 9am and return at 12:30pm. The 4th grade will leave St. Catherine’s at 11am and return at 2:30pm. The entire group will eat lunch together from 11:30-12pm.

Please make sure that your daughter wears appropriate clothes and that she packs a lunch, water bottle, and sunscreen on Monday, April 3rd.

Before bike day, please take some time with your daughter to review biking and helmet safety by going to www.youtube.com and searching “NHTSA's Bike Safe, Bike Smart” for a short video.

We look forward to teaching your daughters about biking skills and safety.

Laura Horn

Chair, Physical Education Department

If your daughter would like to bring her bike...

• Please bring it to the Goochland Fields between 3:00 & 5:00pm, April 2nd.
• If you bring a bike, please pick it up on April 4th or 6th between 4-6pm.
  ***There are some good games out at Goochland on April 4th and 6th!
• Gate will be unlocked, and a teacher will be present
• Unload at the upper parking lot
• Bikes should not have training wheels
• Bikes should be labeled clearly with a first and last name

BIKES PURCHASED by St. Catherine’s and available for student use:

7 extra small Felt 7 Eighty bikes          10 Felt Q24 24 inch bikes

3 Scott Voltage 20 inch bikes              3 small Felt 7 Eighty bikes

**Bike Day for 3rd and 4th graders is April 3rd!

Pack a bag lunch to be eaten at the fields. Water bottles are welcome!

Innovations Galore

You can certainly tell that these fourth grade girls have been involved for four years in the true aspects of STEAM.  They understand in a unique way how the design process works.  The reason?

They have so much experience with designing and building a variety of structures. Not only can they build, but they also can articulate why they made certain structural changes and so forth!

Here are a few pictures and videos for you to enjoy!  The first graders you see are from Miss Saffelle's class!

Just another day at St. Catherine's...

Just another day at St. Catherine's...........

....when some Upper School girls and former students come to visit with their teacher, the amazing Frances Doyle.  Why did they venture into our classroom?  They have just returned from New York, where they saw Hamilton and visited his grave at Trinity Church, among other things.  This part of an exciting study of the lives of Hamilton and Burr, will include a visit to Yorktown and the Valentine--all places tied to aspects of the musical.  Our class loved it! At the end of the presentation, which included songs from the musical, the girls were allowed to ask questions.  Zhenya summed it up for everyone. "When do we get to learn about this?" she asked.  Isn't history fun...especially when an incredible musical is based on it?

Just a few more days....

Spring Break is almost here!  A few reminders about Friday--it is a half day and school ends at 12:00.  Lunch will not be served on Friday.  

We are having our STEAM DAY on Friday.  Our class is paired with Miss Saffelle's first grade for another day of creativity and engineering. We asked the girls to bring the top to a shoebox to school.  If you have an extra one, we would love to have it. We have some, but we could use a few more.

I'm proud of what the girls have accomplished in math.  We are concentrating on division and decimals. In spite of having just learned the algorithm, most of the girls are dividing with a great deal of accuracy, and they are beginning to understand the concept of a decimal, as well.

The class had a wonderful time with their latest Book Hug. Everyday they begged to have reading, and they had a wonderful time planning which book they would read next.  We concentrated on identifying certain traits and supporting those with details from the passage. As well, we worked on inferences, which has been a focal point all year.  We have been writing every day--all types of writing.  You should ask your daughter about it. Soon, you will have a chance to read what they wrote about you...some great stories. This assignment was the most fun of all!

Let's pray for good weather for next week!  Have a wonderful break from school!

Immigration Field Trip

March 1, 2017

Dear Parents,

        We are excited that we will be going to a Naturalization Ceremony at the United States Federal District Court on Wednesday, March 15.  This will be a wonderful experience for the girls and a perfect way to introduce our study of Immigration. While we are there, we will have an opportunity to visit a courtroom with Judge Hannah Lauck and then see the newest American citizens sworn in.

We will leave school by bus at 9:00 and return by 12:30. When we return, the girls will have a picnic lunch at school.  Everyone will need to pack a lunch and a drink that day.  Please be sure that your daughter remembers to wear field trip attire.

Don’t worry! We will remind you of this trip after Spring Break!

                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                    Pam