trapezoids, rhombuses and hexagons

I think of all the high tech toys, videos and movies that kids have at their fingertips today and then I get the biggest kick out of how fascinated and creative they are with handfuls of wooden pattern blocks...kind of makes me smile!  Reminds me of the hours I spent as a child with a card table, sheets and blankets and the beloved empty packing boxes major appliances got delivered in.

Karsten

Johnny and Alaina

The girls
Stella and Kirsten

speak no evil, see no evil and "duh?"

This is a "picture of a picture" (sorry for the glare) of my three girls, Emma, Lily and Nellie (alias Tina).  I had asked Molly to do a studio shot with the three of them (preferably after getting them glammed at the beauty shop) but she decided to surprise me for my birthday so they were secretly whisked away to her studio for this shot...according to her they are lucky to be alive, as they in no way cooperated.  However, they will be at the BLESSING OF THE PETS this coming Saturday, October 1st at St. Christopher's (along with Malcolm the Bunny...God help us all!).  The blessing will take place at 11:30 by the Last Supper sculpture west of the rectory.  Even if you are not a pet owner it should be a fun experience...last time I went, a boy brought his pet rooster...plus you can make fun of me and my "unschooled" girls!

Speak no evil (Emma), See no evil (Lily) and "Duh?" (Nellie)

"do good and try your best"

This past Friday (September 23) St. Christopher had their annual 4th, 5th and 6th grade Charity Kickball game.  Each year the Student Council decides what charity we will be playing for and money is raised by charging everyone a dollar to be out of uniform (we Catholic kids LOVE to be out of uniform!)  This year the Student Council chose Breast Cancer as their charity and the over $400 went to the Susan G Komen Foundation.  The lower grades do their part by cheering on the teams (kind of!) and generally just enjoying the afternoon out of class.  I loved this sign that Lauren Mertz made because it says EVERYTHING about who we are as a school and church community.  She didn't say anything about stomping the opposition or making fun of anyone on a different team than the white team her brother was playing for.  That's who she is and who we all should be...do good and try your best...a life's lesson for all and taught by a first grader!  Well done Lauren!

Lauren and Makayla cheering on the white team with
a sign Lauren had made (I am assuming Lauren's brother
Justin was playing for the white team?!?).

bell ringing

Fun and weird sounds seem to be an important motivating factor in my classroom!  Perfect Phonics papers deserve recognition and we have seven funky sounds to choose from...

Another reason for a big "shout out" is a 4+ on the beloved Phonics readers which requires a whole different sound machine (very low tech).  Come join the fun for this one!  P.S. None of the actors were paid...they just got to ring the darn bells!

hard at work

More letter writing to our Marian University KDP pen pals!

I love that Makayla has all the tools of the trade
right at her fingertips (paper, pencil, green
dictionary and colored pencils)!  ...and
Kleenix!

Mallory making the all important colored
pencil choice!

Mr. Focused (momentarily!)

Simeon signing off on his correspondence.

tooth fairy and k backs

There is not a much more exciting event in my room than getting your name up on the "lost tooth" sign.  As you can see,  I got to add mine today after an emergency extraction this morning!   This was very exciting for me on soooo many levels as that pesky tooth is gone PLUS I have been hearing about the generous amounts the tooth fairy has been leaving these days...the bar has been set high Miss Tooth Fairy so don't disappoint me tomorrow morning when I look under my pillow...there better be something besides dog hair!!!










K backs!
Yesterday the kids leaned that the letter C pretty much comes to us "naked" with no sound of its own and has to "borrow" from either the letter K or the letter S.  In order to identify which letter it is borrowing its sound from the C has to be coded.  If the C has the /k/ sound we add a line in front of it to make it look "kinda" like a k..."/c".  This line is called the k back.   Let's say that it was a difficult lesson for a few so back to the drawing board we went today and when I asked the kids if they remembered what we called that line, one VERY enthusiastic soul about waved his hand off to get my attention.  When I called on him to name this line he very proudly announced "It's called a BAR CODE!!!"

These are definitely children of the 21st century!

luke adams

Luke's "Elvis" hair is back!

I love how intense my kids were in writing their letters.  They really took it to heart and 

did such an awesome job. 

Luke took his letter writing assignment very seriously...now time for some embellishments!  Who knew he was such a flowery kind
of kid...maybe he will grow up to be a landscaper.

Job well done Luke!

kelly lyon

Mrs. Connor's class just started a pen pal correspondence with KDP at Marian University...the members of this group are all educators-to-be and what a diverse group it is...we even have a religious Sister from India!  I think Kelly's first letter is fabulous!!!  Stay tuned for more...

If you could see up close, her tongue might
actually be hanging out...we call it
concentration!

The letter from her pen pal and Kelly's
response...way to go girl!

The folder that will contain all these precious letters.

molly + makenna + bella= surprise!

My daughter, the photographer, was in Santa Claus, IN to shoot a wedding and imagine her surprise when,  at the "getting ready" shoot... in walk two of her clients and one of my students...Makenna and Bella Drake along with Mom Tina...anxious to see the flower girls in action! 

Surprise all around!

sam and alex sgroi

Welcome to another future St. Christopher kid...congrats Maddie, Chris, Austin and Sam Sgroi!

Is this a proud Sam or what...welcome to the world Alex Sgroi.

Alex Sgroi...another reason to keep on keeping on!

this is how we behave in church...final

Amen!

Thanks Fr. Dave

Aren't they the best!?!

things we know not to do...part 4

Discussing the Word of God?
Doubt it.
...to be continued!

uh?

They're called kneelers...not standers!
I can always tell when kids are standing on the kneelers...
that, or they grew 6 inches over night.  Oh yeah, the sounds
of kids crashing down is also a dead give away.

We are near the end of our documentary on

what not to do in church...hope you have all enjoyed it as much as we (Team Connor) 

enjoyed putting it together!

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...these are some hard-core
talkers!

things we know not to do...part 3

First graders are not "normally" considered leaders of the school,  but we think our daily Mass behavior is pretty exemplary and hopefully we don't lower our standards during Sunday Mass...remember, we are capable of rising to the occasion when the bar is set high!

I like to tell the kids these books cost $180
dollars each so KEEP YOUR FINGERS OUT...
might be a slight exaggeration...not for sure.
Simeon (in the background) is very worried for Johnny's bank account...
Johnny, less so!

We go to the bathroom before church... 

...not during.  Vomiting is a whole 'nother issue!

things we know not to do...part 2

Shrinking before our very eyes.

Honestly...I didn't say anything about looking like
we were being nailed to the cross!

I don't even have words for this one!

Sitting correctly, being alert, and focusing on the altar, the readers and THE PRIESTS is a huge part of Mass.  We have this pretty well nailed but here are our interpretations of how "not" to sit...enjoy!

"wrong way Adams"..the action is the opposite way!

...and your bed time is???

things we know not to do...part 1

Since our Catholic Identity Goal this year includes more reverence during church, I am so very pleased to say that your children have been pretty "picture perfect" since the first school Mass of the year. They have received many compliments on their behavior...even from the big man himself...Fr. Mike!  So...in order to let you know what we don't tolerate (so you can translate our good Mass behavior to Sunday with the family) we did a little pictorial on things we know not to do!  Pics by Mr. Van Vertloo with directorial comments from Mrs. Allspaw and Mrs. Connor.

You're not 62..kneel up straight!
(only Mrs. Connor can do this!)

They've been caught...no hands in pockets!
(only Johnny looks unafraid)

Arm wrestling...not exactly a peaceful
sign of peace...some of the meaning may(??)
be getting lost here!