More Than a School, It's a Community.
November News
Dear SPSL Families,
Thank you to the families of Blessing, Xavier, Lucia, Emilia, Misael, Louie, Luke, Brianna, Bah Bludoh, Arrow, and Kamila who supplied the 4C classroom with food, party supplies, and decorations!! The Halloween Party was a blast!
A huge thank you to Addy’s family who sent 4C some Soft Seats from Lakeshore and some fidgets!! The Soft Seats are seat cushions that help keep students warm and comfortable on the metal chairs. We have been using some Wobble Seats too, but as winter sets in, the Wobble Seats become harder and less comfortable. We need 5 more Soft Seats to have a complete classroom set. The 4C parents are the most generous parents I have ever worked with. I have never had so many items from my Wish List granted before Christmas. Thank you!!
Congratulations to October’s Student of the Month, Brianna!! Brianna participates in class, listens, is helpful and kind to all of the 4th graders, and returns her homework on time. Brianna’s work is neat and complete. She follows directions, uses her time wisely, and never argues. Brianna is a great example for her classmates! Way to go, Brianna!!
With Winter coming soon, please remember to check the forecast. We go outside every day when it is not raining and the wind chill is over 10 degrees. Be sure that your child has their coat, jacket, sweatshirt, leggings, etc., for the weather. Remember that shorts are not a uniform option after Nov. 1 until April 1, 2026.
Mrs. Preston is looking for help with Junior Achievement. We are looking for Junior Achievement Volunteers for each kindergarten through fifth grade classroom. JA’s purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy in the core content areas of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. (Junior Achievement Facts)
The lessons and materials are all provided for you, as is online training, so everyone is welcome! The time commitment would be five, 20-45 minute sessions in the classroom during the school day in the second semester of the school year. If you’re interested, please contact Mrs. Preston, assistant principal and SPSL JA coordinator, at [email protected].
Please also remember that all volunteers must be Safe School Certified. It takes 2-3 weeks after the class before the certification is complete. So before you can help at a school party, chaperone a field trip, or be a Junior Achievement Volunteer, you must be Safe School certified.
Below this newsletter, you will see photos of this month’s altar servers and our latest Preschool Buddy visit. Ministering at Mass and being mentors for our Preschool friends brings out the best in us. We prayed with our younger friends, read books to them, and colored a picture together. The 4C students are so adorable!
Thank you to all of the parents who made time to come in for Parent-Teacher Conferences. It was nice to chat face to face and talk about all the ways that the 4C students can be supported. Thank you for making such a difference in your child’s life.
Sincerely,
Monica
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Dear SPSL Families,
Congratulations to our Godfather Student of the Month for September, Arrow Sutton!! Arrow has been quick to follow instructions, eager to help others, and quiet in line. She does neat work, follows directions, and turns her work in on time. Arrow uses her time wisely, is always respectful, is a good listener, and she is a great example for her classmates. She has earned a coupon for Godfather’s pizza, a refrigerator magnet, and our thanks. Way to go, Arrow!!
A huge thank you to all the moms who came in to help with our project for the SPSL Fundraiser BOLD 25! We could not have done it without you! I think the photo cubes turned out really well. I hope that you will be able to join us on October 25, at Creighton Prep to see them all.
The class has enjoyed being altar servers at Mass. Our 4C students take turns serving about once a month. Each students serves a couple times a year. See the photos posted below. They have learned quickly, and I am very proud of the respectful way that the students have been serving at Mass.
If you have an Instagram account, check out the short clips of 4C singing and learning. We have two songs under the Music and Learning section on the SPSL Instagram account. We sang part of our Beautiful Nebraska song and our Subordinating Conjunctions song. Subordinating conjunctions help us find the dependent clauses in complex sentences. They help us to be better writers and readers. I think we sounded great!!
The class also did a great job being mentors to our Preschool Buddies this week. They read their Summer Stories to them along with a picture book. They drew pictures together and really enjoyed being together as you can see in the photos below. I was really proud of them for being such good examples.
Thank you for your help studying for the Neb. Symbols Test!! We had awesome scores!! I think those symbol names are in our long term memory now.
Thank you for all of your support!!
Sincerely,
Monica
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Dear SPSL Family,
I hope you are enjoying the lovely fall weather. It was the perfect time to go outside last week for the extra recess that 4C earned with their bonus word points on their Spelling Tests. We are already looking forward to our next class reward.
Be sure to check out our class photo from Grandpanthers’ Day and our altar server photos at the bottom of this newsletter. 4C students serve once or twice a month as altar servers. Our entire class will serve as Mass ministers on Nov. 12. Our next batch of altar servers will help with Mass on Oct. 1. We love having our friends and family celebrate Mass with us!!
We are getting much better at writing all of our assignments in our planners. Keep checking our assignment notebooks for deadlines and other important information. Each student’s username and password for Xtra Math and Prodigy is written in their planner. Using Google Classroom will be the easiest way to get to these websites to help practice math facts and math concepts. We are working on Place Value and Rounding to the nearest 10, 100, and 1,000. You will also notice that the website for 99Math is in 4C’s Google Classroom. 99Math does not require a username or password. It is set up to jump right to multiplication for our class so that students can practice their math facts. Please limit your student’s total screen time to 60 minutes a day. To facilitate deeper sleep, avoid screen time two hours before bedtime.
Thank you to Carroll’s family for the Bouncy Bands for our desks!! These bands help us focus by giving us a quiet outlet for our energy. Our feet can bounce and help our brains focus. It has made a huge difference in our concentration.
Thank you for the many, many ways that you support the fantastic 4th graders!!
Sincerely,
Monica
Dear SPSL Families,
Welcome to September! A special thank you to all the parents who were able to attend Parent Night last Tuesday. I hope I was able to answer many of your questions. Remember that email is the best way to contact me. Please try to check assignment notebooks and expandable files daily to help keep your student on track. We are making progress.
It’s been so nice to see so many of my former students when they stop by to say hello. They are so tall now!
Thank you to Lucia’s family and Addy’s family for bringing donations for the Classroom Store and for our classroom. We use the ROAR tickets that we earn for following ROAR Expectations to buy items from the store during Friday’s Study Hall.
I sent home the login information for Xtra Math last Friday so that students could practice their facts at home. Our emphasis this week is on multiplication facts. Just 20 minutes a day makes a difference.
Here is a summary of what we are working on this week.
In Spelling, we are working on long ‘e’ words. The test will be on Friday. The class did a great job on last week’s test!
In Reading, we have been reading about natural disasters and how we can prepare for them. We are using text features and learning new vocabulary words. I’m very glad that Nebraska doesn’t usually have earthquakes.
In Math, we are learning about place value. We will be working with numbers up to a billion. Paper money is fun!
In Writing, we are making a picture book about our summer vacation using similes and metaphors. We are using our senses to describe our memories. We will read it to our preschool buddies when they come for a visit in October. The books are going to be amazing!
In English, we are working on writing complete sentences with compound subjects and predicates. This will help us be better writers.
In Science, we will be learning about how waves function.
In Religion, we are studying God’s creation story and learning about saints. In January, we will pick a favorite saint and draw their portrait. These will be beautiful!
In Social Studies, we have been learning about Nebraska symbols and the Nebraska state seal. We are making a booklet with all the Nebraska symbols and learning fun facts about our state. Did you know that Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska? I’ll send home a study guide when we are ready for our test.
Classroom Wish List
Several parents have asked for an updated Wish List for our classroom. Our classroom Wish List is for those who can bless our room with some additional helpful items. I am searching for Bouncy Bands to attach to the desk legs to help with focus. I haven’t found the right size yet, but I will post an Amazon Wish List as soon as I do.
Here are some other items that are not so specific:
I have enjoyed getting to know this year’s fourth graders, and I am looking forward to a great year! Here’s a photo of the class with their Library books. We were so glad that we could check out books today!
Sincerely,
Monica Stromberg
Hello,
I wanted to share a few photos from Christmas. The 4th graders performed a wonderful musical. This class can sing!!! We also had a special visit from Santa.
Hello,
I just wanted to share a few photos of our Godfather students of the month. Each student was selected for being a good listener who is great at following directions. They are good examples for their peers. Thanks for being such excellent role models Maddie, Rosie, Dan, and Ava!!
Hello,
We’ve had a great week in 4th grade. I have enjoyed getting to know all the different personalities in 4C. We had a dress down day to collect funds for the Jimmy Moran scholarship. 4th graders love dress down days!
4C did a Book Tasting this week. We talked about the different genres, and then we sampled several books from each category. The 4th graders then wrote book reviews for each book that they read. Several students found books that they liked, and they want to check them out of the library next week.
Friday, the students took their first spelling test. They will come home next Friday. I am really proud of my students who studied this week and did their very best.
We have starting writing our picture books to read to our preschool buddies. The 4th graders picked a special memory from their summer and described the memory with all of their senses. Then they illustrated their books. They look really nice. We can’t wait to share them.
Sincerely,
Monica Stromberg
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