What is your prediction? Will Punxy Phil see his shadow? If he does, legend has it, we will have 6 more weeks of winter! The students enjoy Groundhog Day celebrations today on the eve of the 127th prognostication by Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous groundhog! The annual event takes place tomorrow in Punxsutawney, PA, where the forecast is calling for temperatures to hover just above 0 degrees. The children are warm and toasty here they enjoy groundhog burrow krispy treats, make groundhog puppets, explore light and shadow, make predictions and much more!
Did you know that even before dinosaurs roamed the earth, more than 350 million years ago, there were sharks? Amazingly, sharks of long ago looked eerily similar to the sharks that rule the oceans today. In line with the new common core standards, students in second grade are ending their current unit in Reading by working on non-fiction selections about sharks. These students in 2A wrote Shark Acrostic Poetry to share their knowledge of shark facts, with a few opinions thrown in for good measure. You can see these ferocious creatures in the main lobby outside our classroom. Lift the jaws, if you dare, and read the poetry within.
Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. Here at St. Philip, we will celebrate with a week of "Seusstastic" activities. Check back for SPS Green Grinches, Cats in Hats, silly slipper wearing students and much more fun!
The Foot Book Day
Green Eggs and Ham Day
Grinch Day
Fox In Socks Day
Students in Mrs. Ravenstahl’s second grade class at St. Philip School in Crafton spent the week learning about the customs and traditions of the beautiful state of Hawaii while reading the story Luka's Quilt by Georgia Guback. Language Arts lessons on vocabulary, spelling, phonics and sentence writing were woven throughout enjoyable and multi-sensory activities such as making leis, exploring island geography, learning Hawaiian language and even hula dancing. School principal, Sr. Geri Marr, S.C., visited the classroom to bring Hawaii to life by relating her personal experiences and sharing mementos from her time spent there. Use of the classroom SMARTBoard and Internet connection proved to make the lessons exciting for students as they were able to "visit" the island without leaving the classroom. Using the interactive features of the SMARTBoard, the students worked with maps of Hawaii and learned about volcanoes and other landforms. Topping the week off was "luau" with a snack of fresh pineapple and dancing the hula!
The stars were shining on Friday night when our youngest students performed their special talents for a very appreciative audience. From magic tricks to skits to singers and dancers, the acts showed confidence and a love of performing. Below are some pictures from the dress rehearsal. Congratulations to the performers and thanks to the First through Fifth grade teachers who gave many hours of their time to make this night so special.
What fun it is to be a good listener!!! Kindergarten students demonstrated patterning and listening skills as they made Easter Bunny necklaces yesterday. Children did a great job and are now enjoying the necklaces for the Easter season.
First and seventh grade prayer partners also enjoyed the fruits of their labors as they shared student-made and illustrated Holy Week story books, Easter crafts and a snack together. The seventh graders are great mentors and examples of the ANGEL Way virtues for their first grade prayer partner. What a blessed friendship these students share!
Read Around the Planet
Our kindergarten, first, and second grade classes participated in Read Around the Planet, a special program sponsored by Polycom to connect classrooms all over the world to share the joy of reading. The event coincided with Read Across America sponsored by the NEA and the celebration of Dr. Seuss week. Our students prepared a program which they presented to another classroom via the school’s Polycom Distance Learning equipment and in turned viewed the reading event planned by their collaborating classroom.
Mrs Ravenstahl’s class shared a program on bats while Mrs. Seitz’s Kindergarten and the two first grades celebrated Dr. Seuss stories. The children really enjoyed meeting the classes from faraway places and learned that children everywhere enjoy reading.
Dr Seuss Week
All of our K- 3 classes celebrated Dr. Seuss week with fun activities such as crazy hat and socks day, Grinch day, and green eggs and ham day – all based on the Seuss classics.
St. Philip 1st and 3rd graders took part in America's Biggest Bed Time Story in a Webcast presented by Pizza Hut and the BookIt Program. Popular Pop Star Justin Bieber read the Dr. Seuss classic Cat in the Hat over the Internet. The children used their SmartBoard to see the event in life size mode. It was a great prpepartion for the upcoming celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday coming in early march.
It's the 100th day of school and the classes found lots of ways to represent the number 100. The teachers gave the students 100 ways to combine learning with fun!
