We invite you to take a peek into our classrooms to see some
of the many things our teachers have been up to!

Mrs. Flynn's Preschool
This month in Religion class we began our study of the five senses.  It is through seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting that children are able to discover and experience the world that God has created.  So far we have covered the senses of seeing, touching, hearing, and smelling.

Many stories are read throughout the Preschool program.  Stories contain lots of information and concepts.  A few of the stories of the stories that we read this month included The Three Bears, The Rainbow Fish and La Tortuga.   After reading the story of The Three Bears,  the children developed a better understanding of the concepts big, medium and little.  In The Rainbow Fish the children better understood the importance of sharing with one another and from the story La Tortuga the children learned that La Tortuga means The Turtle in Spanish.

In Math class the children are learning to sort, count and make patterns with various materials in our classroom.

October was Fire Prevention month.  Through the use of our Scholastic News and several stories the children learned 3 important things about Fire Safety.
·         If there’s a fire, call 911.
·         If your clothes catch on fire---STOP, DROP AND ROLL.
·         Don’t hide, go outside.

Our Science lessons this month focused on the growth of pumpkins and life on the farm.  We concluded our studies with a field trip to Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm in Crest Hill, Illinois.  It was a glorious day.  The children rode the Dwarf Pumpkin Mine Train, took a hayride through the pumpkin fields, visited the farm animal area and fed the sheep and the goats.  Farmer Paul spoke to the children about where food comes from and what life on the farm is like.  As we left the farm each child received a special pie pumpkin.  The children enjoyed the trip, especially the bus ride.

In preparation of Halloween we carved two pumpkins in our classroom.  The children were able to look inside the pumpkin, smell it, and touch the pulp and seeds.  The children described it as “cold and slimy.”  On Halloween we all dressed up in costumes, visited the classrooms and sang songs and had a Halloween Celebration.  It was SPOOKTACULAR!We are now preparing for Thanksgiving.  A time to give thanks to God for the many gifts he has given us.

Ms. Howard's Kindergarten
Our trip to the pumpkin farm went very well. It was had a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. The students rode a train, went on giant slides, walked through a corn maze, took a hayride through the pumpkin fields, fed some goats and learned a little about life on a farm. They also learned how bees pollinate the pumpkin flowers and how pumpkins grow. Then they learned the difference between hay and straw. By being with our eighth grade buddies made our trip even more fun! 

In Math they continued to make graphs. Students learned about various patterns and how to follow them. Also they learned counting, comparing and putting items into groups.  They worked on position words, ordinal numbers, number recognition and practiced writing numbers.

In Religion, they learned more about the Holy Bible. Students learned more about creation and whatever God does is special. Also they talked about Baptism and why it is such a special thing for each child. They thanked God for all the wonderful things He made and made a tree showing some of these things.
 
In Language Arts and Social Studies, they learned several new words. Students practiced with the letters Cc, Oo, and Gg. Also they learned how to use pictures and words to help predict a story. They worked on learning rhymes and beginning sounds with letter recognition. Also they learned how to make predictions and see if the right choice was made to complete a story. They learned the difference between just words and sentences. They began the reading unit “Alf” and did many things with the letter Aa. Also they started to work with our new Super Kids friend “Doc” and many words that either start or end with the letter Dd.

The “Book It!” program sponsored by Pizza Hut has begun. All students are encouraged to to read or be read to for 20 minutes every day of the week including weekends. “Book It!” runs from October through March. Each month each student that turns in a reading log will receive a certificate for good for a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza at Pizza Hut. 

The students had a wonderful Halloween party. Mrs. Jurczyk wrote an interactive story for us. After the story they played Freeze Dance, Hot Pumpkin and Halloween Bingo. Then along with our Preschool friends they watched a special Halloween movie. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed a lot of “treats”. A super big “Thanks” goes out to our Halloween committee – Mrs. Jurczyk, Mrs. Mora, Mrs. Ortiz, Mrs. Erb and Mrs. Vaccaro.

Congratulations to all those who received “High Fives” this month. Several students received multiple “High Fives” for various things during the month. We also want to congratulate our “Called To Be Extraordinary” recipients Juan and Emily.  Be sure to look for us and our many activities next month!

Mrs. Pasnik's First Grade
October has moved very quickly here in first grade. We have learned what it means to be a Christian and a follower of Jesus. We need to show respect and kindness to all God’s creatures.

In spelling we have gotten off to a good start.  Students practice the words in class, study at home, and have a pretest every Wednesday.  Sometimes we use our homemade pom-poms to cheer out our spelling words.

The first graders are making very good progress in reading. We have already read several selections in our new reader and our skills are improving every day. We are learning how to predict and order events in a story.

We read “Go Away Big Green Monster” and afterwards made our own monster.  We wrote sentences describing our monster and shared our writing with the rest of the class. We are learning to be a good speaker as well as a good audience.
What a great time we had at the pumpkin farm!  We especially enjoyed the hayride, riding on the pumpkin train, feeding the goats and taking home our very own pumpkin.

This month Jayda is recognized for her kindness and patience toward a classmate in need and Justin is recognized for his eagerness and excitement about learning.
 
Ms. Reidy's Second Grade
October has been a busy month for 2nd grade. In Math, we have been learning about counting money and making change. We have also been learning about how to use clues to find secret numbers. We have learned about estimating to the nearest 10, and being able to group objects into groups of 10’s. The students have been doing a great job on each of these concepts and will be tested on them on Thursday. Students should still practice counting coins. Whenever you have a moment pull out the change in your pocket and have you student count the change you have.
 
In Religion, we have been talking about different ways that we can give God thanks and praise. We also talked about King David’s psalms and read a few of them. Students discussed how the psalms are incorporated into the Mass. Now when we go to church they listen to see what psalm they will hear. We focused on the story of Moses this month and how God chose him to be a leader to God’s people. Students learned that it was not easy for Moses and that there were times he was unsure of what he was doing but he believed in God and knew that he had a plan for him. We also learned a song about the 10 Commandments!
 
Dinosaurs have been October’s Science unit. We have been learning about how dinosaurs defend themselves and about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Students have discussed how fossils are formed and what we can learn from fossils. We will end this dinosaur unit by going to the Field Museum on Friday, November 11th. Students are to wear their gym uniforms and bring a brown bag lunch with their names written on it. We will have the opportunity to take part in a fossil dig and learn about how paleontologists look for fossils. We will learn more about Sue before our trip to see her.   
 
In Social Studies, we have learned about the world. Students have been discussing what a continent, country, city and state are and where we live. We have also learned about where the North and South poles are and what the different hemispheres are. Also we performed the story of Christopher Columbus for the school at the United Nations Mass. The students did a phenomenal job!

Mrs. Potempa's Fourth Grade
4th graders have finished their study of ecosystems in Science and have moved onto the human body systems.  We have listened to our hearts with stethoscopes and found heart rates by taking our pulses.  We also tracked how easily pathogens can pass to each another by dusting our hands with flour, shaking hands, and then slapping our hands onto black paper.
 
In Social Studies, we have been learning all about U.S.’s Eastern Region. We finished our study of the East by creating a travel brochure about visiting the New England and Mid-Atlantic States.  In addition, 4th grade recently had two guest presenters.  Mrs. Allison Bartels, Compliance Officer from Leaders Bank, taught students about finance and banking.  Mrs. Dunn,
representative from the Cook County Farm Bureau, instructed students about agriculture in the state of Illinois.
 

Multiplication and division have been the focus of our current Math lessons.  4th graders have continued to study basic algebra with the use of variables, algebraic expressions, and equations.
 
In Language Arts, we have been working on our writing skills as well as learning about types of sentences and parts of speech.  These skills are put to good use with our continuing pen pal program with our friends at Bethesda.  We are looking forward to meeting our pen pals and spending time with them before Thanksgiving.
 
We have been reviewing the meaning of our Baptism in Religion. We have also discussed how Jesus is our best role model.  Students contemplated what they believed Jesus looked like and then drew the face of Jesus.  These images are now on display in the hall outside Room 313.

To discover more of what is happening in 4th grade, visit Mrs. Potempa's 4th Grade.
 
Mrs. Colletti's Fifth Grade


Fifth grade students have been actively involved in studying religion.  Each student chose a saint that interested them and researched important facts about this person.  Students compiled their research learning how to use note cards and following the writing process.  They created a model of their saint which now resides in our classroom prayer corner. Everyone enjoyed hearing the stories of different saints during the class presentations.

Fifth graders have been learning many new things.  In science labs they learned various facts about plants such as the parts of plants, reproduction of flowers, and the process of photosynthesis.  The beautiful plants and flowers around St. William provided a wonderful learning lab on warm autumn days.  In art class students followed the style of Van Gogh and created their personal renditions of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”.

Thank you for the support you have given to our school.  Please mark your calendars for the St. William Open House during Catholic Schools Week at the end of January 2012.  Come and see the many things we are doing as well as celebrate Catholic Schools Week with with us.

Mrs. De La Peña's Computer and Spanish Class
Kindergarten has been busy learning in their first software, Kidpix. There are so many different tools to learn about. First and Second graders have been practing their Kidspiration skills by completing several activities. Third grade is moving along with practicing their keyboarding (and phonics skills)using All the Right Type. Fourth graders have been exploring Word to learn the skills that they will need for the upper grades. Fifth graders have been working on their Inspiration project that has allowed them to be poets without knowing it. Sixth graders have been exploring the ALICE software. ALICE teaches the students the fundamentals of computer programming while creating 3D stories. Seventh and Eighth graders have completed their Inspiration projects which are proudly displayed in the hallway.  

Fifth and Sixth graders have been hard at work learning los numeros, or the numbers. We have watched videos, learned songs and played games all aimed at enforcing the skill. Seventh grade has been hard at work learning basic conversation skills such as greetings and how to ask someone their name. We also have gotten hooked on watching Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life). These interactive videos tell the adventures of a journalist named Merche. Each segment highlights key phrases and words that help students increase their vocabulary and conversation skills. Eighth grade has been working on learning the various members of la familia.

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