Week of February 7-11
It's hard to believe we just celebrated Catholic Schools Week! It was a special week for all of us at SJCA who feel blessed to be teaching at our Catholic School. The all-city Mass was a beautiful celebration, and our school activities were enjoyed by all until the snow hit! Oh well, we finished our week with bowling which was a huge hit! The students were quite impressed when team Phillips/Kaeppeler alternated frames and bowled close to 190! ( I might add that each lane had bumpers!!)
The days get so busy, but I promised the class that we would fine tune our Boston Tea Party play and fill you in on our performance date which will be within the next few weeks. We will be "heading South for the winter" in Social Studies and learning about slavery and the Civil War. Look for a cereal box project to come home this week honoring famous African Americans as we celebrate Black History Month in February.
Mrs. Kaeppeler's Math students have started long division. Ask your son/daughter how their dad, mom, sister, and brother help them solve each problem?!
We will begin composing a personal narrative on someone we consider our "hero."
Accelerated Reader is about to begin! Each student took a STAR placement test and will soon pick out books that are "just right" for their individual reading level. When each book is completed, an online test will be given. Kids will receive points for successful answers and will be in charge of their reading goals. This will be a fun way to motivate kids to read for enjoyment, and help with comprehension as well.
Week of January 3-10
Happy New Year and welcome back to the second semester!!I hope all of your Christmas memories were special ones. I would like to offer a HUGE thank you to all of my great parents who assisted at the children's Christmas party. The treats and craft were enjoyed by all! Your special class gift to me (a beautiful silver cross necklace) is very much appreciated. Heartfelt thanks for making me feel so loved. I will wear my cross with fond memories. Extra thanks to my head room parents...Tom and Julie Steiner. May God Bless You abundantly this upcoming year.
We are back to a week full of activities! On Tuesday, (Jan. 4th) we were lucky enough to have Alice in Dairyland visit both fourth grades. Alice (aka Christine Lindner) shared information on agriculture and Wisconsin in the form of an interactive Smart Board presentation. The kids left school with a cheese snack and a poster of Alice herself! Lots of good learning going on!
In Religion this week we will finish the movie "The Nativity Story." We're also publishing our Nativity stories so we can share them. (Hopefully we'll read them online and get a link for you to be able to hear them.)
No Spelling Test this week as we did not complete the last Spelling pack before vacation.
In Science we did an EEEP on Monday morning with milk, food coloring, and dish soap! (Ask your kids what happens when food color molecules get bumped!?) We'll be getting into some more plant activities later in the week.
We'll be finishing our American Revolution poster presentations this week (which were AWESOME!!) and our foldable booklet. We'll try to squeeze in some time to practice our "Boston Tea Party" play too.
More algebra equations and games in Math, and we'll read a story about Chinese New Year in Reading.
Week of December 12th
Dear Parents,
It sure was a busy week last week, and I am sorry my newsletter was not updated. First of all, congratulations to all the students and Mr. Robinson, for making the Christmas concert last week such a special one! The songs were so upbeat, and the children looked like they were truly having such a great time!
We are counting the days until Christmas, and I am amazed that the first part of our year together is half over. Unbelievable! I hope your son/daughter is busy doing acts of kindness during Advent. Hopefully they are putting the leaves on the wreath as they do something special for someone.
This week we are having two guest speakers visit our classroom. On Monday, Mrs. Diana Sauter will be dressed up like it's 1775 and sharing lots of good information about what it was like in the colonies during the time of the American Revolution. She'll be equipped with things from that time period, and I'm sure the weapons she brings will be of special interest to the boys! Speaking of the Revolution, I'll bet you heard about the short play we will be performing about the Boston Tea Party. Watch for a performance date to come out real soon!
On Thursday, the kids should be excited to see pictures and hear stories about Mrs. Collins' recent trip to the Holy Land.
You will enjoy our Writer's workshop stories this week. They are memories of Jesus' birth as seen from an animal's point of view. They are currently typing them and getting them ready to publish.
Following that story, we will research different countries and find out how they celebrate Christmas. I hope to have the kids create a class power point and share!
I hope you all had a chance to look at the information sheet entitled, "ixl.com" It will be a great Math support site, and the kids will enjoy practicing Math skills with technology. Soon we will begin "Reading a-z!
Stay warm, and have a great week!
Mrs. Kaeppeler
P.S. Watch for "Flat Stanley" information to come home on Tuesday. Your son/daughter will need to select a state where Stanley can be sent to for the holidays! Please send back two stamps, as well as the name, address, and zip code of where your Stanley will go!
IXL IMPORTANT UPDATE!!
I gave the kids a username and password last week. I may have omitted the crucial numbers "406" which needs to be typed in after your user name. (ie. mrs.kaeppeler406) The password is "lancer..." with a number. Let me know if you are experiencing difficulty logging on the the ixl. website, or if you can't access your password/username!
Week of November 29th
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. When I count my blessings, I am sure to include all of my students and families at SJCA! The kids sure enjoyed their short week before our vacation. The adorable turkey cupcakes made by Laura Steiner's family and juice boxes provided by Kennedy Wilker's family were a huge hit, as well as watching the adorable kindergarten "First Thanksgiving" play.
Last week was a special one, as we welcomed my friend Mary, who came to help us make our Rosaries. The kids were so proud to have them blessed by Father Stephen before Mass on Tuesday. I am very grateful to all of the parents who were able to help us assemble them!
This week we will get into the Christmas spirit when we attend the Christmas show at the upper campus. Speaking of Christmas, it sure is hard to believe Advent is here. Please take time to look at the Advent wreath your child is bringing home today. It is an opportunity to bring joy to others during this time of preparing for the birth of Jesus. Each day the kids can pick a "good deed" to do and add it to the wreath. Hopefully by the time Christmas is here, there hearts will be filled with "giving" rather than "receiving."
One last thank you to our SJCA students for making Christmas cards to the soldiers stationed in Iraq. I know how much our prayers and well-wishes will mean to them at this time of year.
Week of November 8th
Dear Parents,
I'm a few days behind with my newsletter this week! What a hectic weekend! Between Auction and writing report cards this weekend, I needed more hours in a day!
This week will be a special one as we celebrate Veterans Day at SJCA! Please join us for Mass at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 11th if you can! Special music, a powerpoint, guest speakers, and a visit from four Veterans to grades 4 & 5, should make it a memorable day!
We took advantage of the nice weather this week by going on a nature hike, and collecting things to put into our terrarium ecosystems. The kids had a great time assembling their special bottle! P.S. I did remind the kids that our bottle was a "NON-LIVING" ecosystem, complete with plastic bugs and other critters. They are anxious to see if you will let them put anything living in the bottles when they get home!!!
This week we complete our Mysteries of the Rosary. Next week we'll practice learning the prayers of the Rosary and practicing a decade or two,, and then our long-awaited visit from Mary, the Rosary maker will be here. Don't forget to tell me if you can help on Monday, November 22 at 9:00 a.m.
I'm looking forward to Conferences next week!
Mrs. Kaeppeler
Week of November 1st
Dear Parents,
Thank you so much for all of the special treats you provided for Halloween last Friday. The kids were really well behaved during the day ( in spite of the excitement!)and enjoyed a wonderful party at night!
This week starts off celebrating All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. Please remember we have been invited to attend Mass at the upper campus on Monday, November 1st. Speaking of All Saint's Day... I am very grateful for your help with the "pop-up" Saint projects. I can't wait to hear what each student will share with our class!
CALLING ALL PARENTS: If you are able to help us make Rosaries on Monday, November 22nd at 9:00 a.m. please let me know. A friend of mine enjoys sharing her devotion of Mary with others by helping make Rosaries. Parents are needed to help tie the "knots" in between each decade. No experience necessary... on the job training will be provided!
Just a reminder that this is a short week with a half day on Thursday, and no school on Friday. It is hard to believe that report cards and conferences are right around the corner.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kaeppeler
Week of October 25
Dear Parents,
A very special thank you to all those parents in my room who accompanied us on the trip to the Crane Farm...Mr. & Mrs. Steiner, Mr. Krause, and Mrs. Parker. It was an experience I'm sure the children will always remember. Feeding baby calves, touring the farm, and learning more about the cows our State is famous for was a very worthwhile adventure!
We also had a theatrical opportunity last week to go to the SJCA Middle School production of "Hollywood Hotel." Who knows...maybe we have some future actors and actresses in our midst!
I can hardly believe it is the end of October already. Of course the children are excited for the Halloween festivities! Don't forget the Pizza Hut Book-It incentive is due the last day of October. Just send your signature slip in on Friday or Monday.
November 1st brings All Saint's Day and a special Mass at the Upper Campus. Just a reminder that the Saint "pop-up" project is also due on the 1st, and oral presentations will take place on the 1st and 2nd.
We are in the final stages of our" Persuasive essay" to Mrs. Santarelli. We hope she will listen to our reasons for wanting our water bottles back in the classroom. Stay tuned for a verdict!
Just an extra thank you to all of the families for the wonderful Halloween spookhouses. Your child "beamed" when he/she got to share their story and house.
Encourage your friends to attend the SJCA Open House at both campuses this Wed. Oct. 27th.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kaeppeler
Weekof October 18th
Dear Parents,
We had an exciting week last week! Special thank you to grandparents and special friends/family who came to visit our school.. It was fun to share the morning with you!
WOW! Last week the fourth graders experienced a historical event as the rescue team pulled up the miners from Chile after a long 69 days of being trapped. Their recovery was nothing short of a miracle! We sure are grateful to SJCA Home & School for the gift of a projector and laptop computer for each teacher. Much of our day was spent watching the rescue, and the kids were truly amazed. With each miner that was pulled to safety, there was a chorus of cheers from the children. They will never forget watching the expression on the faces of those family members and miners so grateful to be reunited with their loved ones.
This comes with a huge THANK YOU to all of the fourth graders and families who worked so hard on the wonderful spookhouses. I wish you could have heard the great presentations and seen the proud faces of the speakers as they excitedly shared their house. The projects were simply "SPOOKTACULAR!"
We are eager to tour the Crane Farm in Burlington. See the "fieldtrip" blog for more details!
Week of September 27th
Dear Parents,
This week I am excited for the class to participate in our first Fourth Grade Mass. All of the children will be involved in various ways. Hope some of you are able to attend.
It will be another busy week! Some of the things we are doing include: learning about Wisconsin as our Dairy State and making homemade butter, studying fossils and making one out of plaster, blending iron fortified cereal with water and watching a neodymium magnet extract the iron filings, working with counting money and making change, making renewable and non renewable resource wheels, reading about the lost city of Pompeii, learning the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, speaking Italian, being artistic, but most importantly....PLAYING AND PRAYING TOGETHER AS A SJCA CLASSROOM FAMILY!
Mrs. Kaeppeler
Week of October 11-14
Dear Parents,
Thank you for your patience as I perservered through losing the information on my webpage. Imagine my excitement when I realized I could retrieve it with the click of a button. I intend to update daily, so stay tuned!
Last week was filled with exciting Homecoming activities and the students sure showed off their SJCA Lancer spirit. We were blessed with a beautifully warm weekend which sure made the parade, tailgate party, and game so enjoyable! Thanks to all who helped with Homecoming events in any way!
This week is a short one...early release at noon on Thursday, and no school on Friday due to Teacher's Convention in Milwaukee for the teachers.
Just a few important reminders... SPOOKHOUSES are due on Thursday, October 14th. Hope you enjoyed your mystery genre story and house building. We are anxious to see them all on Thursday!
NO SPELLING TEST this week. The kids received words today, but the test is not until Thursday, October 21st.
Mrs. Kaeppeler's Math group has a Chapter 2 Test on Thursday. We'll review in class and send our books home to study as well!
