Happy New Year!

A new year often brings resolutions and thoughts of how we can improve during the year ahead. I am sure for many of us, 2011 brought the same. At SPX, we began 2011 with an opportunity to discuss how we can im-prove our school with a ―Strategic Planning Meeting.‖ I want to thank the many people who joined us Wednesday evening and shared their thoughts as to where we are as a school and where we would like to go. In the coming weeks, I will be compiling the discussions from the meeting and will share a ―draft‖ Strate-gic Plan with the School Advisory Board at our January Meeting. The Strategic Plan will be shared with the Diocese in February. Of course, as we prepare for the future, we celebrate our past. Our Catholic School Week 2011 celebration will culminate in our 50th Anniversary Mass, Saturday, February 5 at 5PM at Saint Pius X Church. Bishop Fredrick Campbell will be our celebrant and homilist. We are honored to welcome him to celebrate this Mass and this momentous occasion in our school’s history. Please plan to join us! A reception will follow in the gym. We are all so blessed to be a part of a dynamic, faith filled school community. Please take the time to read through this month’s ―Panther Pen.‖ I guarantee you will be impressed with all that is going on at SPX! Catholic Schools Week 2011 Catholic Schools Week 2011 will be celebrated January 31,2011 through February 5, 2011. Please plan on joining us for our many events throughout the week! Catholic Schools Week 2011 will be highlighted by an evening Open House from 6:30-8:30PM on Monday, January 31, 2011. Mr. Sharpe has been working hard to prepare the students and select works for our Art Show. Ms. Sinagra will lead performances of our Junior High Choir throughout the evening. More details will be coming. The schedule of events is as follows: Monday, January 31… Opening All School Liturgy, 8:30AM Knights of Columbus Essay Awards, following Mass Donuts and Juice for all students Friends Activity, Bingo Open House, 6:30-8:30PM Tuesday, February 1… 50th Anniversary ―Balloon Launch,‖ 1:00PM Blue and Gold/Saint Pius X Spirit Wear Dress Down Day Wednesday, February 2… Beach Day ―Special Persons Lunch,‖ each family is invited to bring two guests Beach Attire Dress Down Day (Hawaiian Shirts, Summer Clothes, etc. Thursday, February 3… COSI On Wheels, Grades K-4 Friday, February 4… Chris Bradley from WBNS-10TV Assembly, 10AM Annual 8th Grade vs. Staff Volleyball Game

Saturday, February 5… 50th Anniversary Liturgy, 5PM Saint Pius X Church Bishop Fredrick Campbell, Celebrant Reception to follow in the gymnasium Student council will also be holding their annual ―Sucker Sale‖ throughout the week.

Dear St. Pius X Families:

St. Pius X School

January 2011

Volume 10, Issue 5

The Panther Pen JANUARY 2011

Special points of

interest:

1/7Spelling Bee 1:00

1/17 NO SCHOOL

1/21 Candid Photo Day

1/21 SCAAP

1/21 Progress Reports

1/24 Yearbook Sale

Begins

1/27 Conferences

Catholic Schools Week

Begins

1/27Open House 6:30-

8:30 pm.

2/5 50th Anniversary

Liturgy & Reception

Notes from the Prin-cipal’s Desk

2

Conferences Conference Loca-tions

3

Progress Reports Kindergarten Regis-tration

3

K of C Freethrow Championship

4

Pizza w/ Pastor 4

January Calendar 5

Class Updates

6-26

Inside this issue:

Page 2 The Panther Pen

A few notes from “The Principal’s Desk…”

Registration for the 2011-12 school year will begin at the end of the January. If you know of any families looking for Kindergarten for next year, or who are looking for an exceptional faith based education in grades 1-8, please advise them to call the school office at 614/866-6050. We are planning for three full day Kindergarten classes, with a total enrollment of 70 among the three classes.

I cannot stress enough the importance of applying for financial assistance through the Diocese of Columbus for the 2011-12 school year. The Diocese works very hard to raise funds to support families who need assistance. Application for assistance can be found at www.factstuitionaid.com. Applications are only accepted online, and you must file your 2010 taxes before applying. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2011. In addition to Diocesan assistance, tuition assistance from SPX is determined based on this application. All applications and information will be kept in strict confidence. Please contact Mr. Cuniak with any questions. If you received assistance for the 2010-11 school year from Saint Pius X School, you must apply to be considered for assistance during 2011-12. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

A second “School Picture Day” is scheduled for Monday, March 7, 2011. Lifetouch will return to Saint Pius X for individual and/or sibling photos in a more relaxed setting than our formal Fall yearbook pictures. Spring pictures are very popular and allow for a more “expressive” photo, but are in no way obligatory. Delivery is expected in time for Mother’s Day. Going forward we will have two picture days each school year, formal Fall yearbook photos in September and casual Spring photos in March. Each morning begins with Morning Prayer as a school over the announcements. In addition to the Gospel reading for the day and a psalm, we pray a traditional prayer each month. For January, we will pray “The Prayer of Saint Francis.” Thank you so much for your support of our “Box Top Wars.” The wars end on January 14 so make sure you send in all you have to put your child(ren)’s class over the top! Of course, “Box Tops” are always accepted! The last submission date for the 2010-11 school year is February 14. Please check “Box Tops” expiration date to make sure they don’t expire. Thanks to Mrs. Lorrie Croswell for her hard work organizing this and our many other “mini-fundraisers.”

Keep in mind that the Giant Eagle “Apple for Students” program for this year runs through March 4, 2011. Please check www.gianteagle.com to make sure your Advantage Card is registered. Our code is 4884. Please spread the word to your friends and family to help our school.

A huge thanks to Mrs. Stephanie Donley and her “elves” for an amazing job on our “Festival of Trees” during our Christmas shows. The “Festival of Trees” raised over $1,500.00 for our Home and School Organization to benefit the educational programs at Saint Pius X. Also, thanks to our good friends at Rees Flowers and Gifts in Gahanna for donating the trees. We are so fortunate to have so many committed parents and parishioners who assist us in many ways, with time, treasure and talent! The giving spirit of many helps make SPX the special school that it is!

Volume 10, Issue 5

Parent—Teacher conferences for grades K-8 will be held on Thursday, January 27th. A sign-up form was included

in last month’s newsletter and was due back in the office December 10th.

Conferences are only ten minutes. Because of time constraints, conferences were only scheduled with the home-

room teacher. Conferences with your child’s other teachers were scheduled on a space available basis. Specialist

and auxiliary teachers were scheduled in addition to the homeroom teacher.

You will receive a call notifying you of your scheduled conference time. If you have any questions regarding confer-

ences, please contact the school office.

Progress reports will be distributed January 21st. If you do not receive your child’s report, contact your child’s

teacher.

Please discuss your child’s progress with him/her at whatever level is appropriate for his/her understanding,

and then sign the report card and return it to school promptly.

Page 3

PROGRESS REPORTS

CONFERENCES

Mrs. Shoemaker—Modular

Mrs. Rogich—Modular

Mrs. Sullivan—210

Mrs. Canfield—Gym Office

Miss Fobes—Music Room

Mrs. Kilpatrick—Conference Room

Mrs. Adzima—Computer Lab

Mrs. Signoracci—PEP Room

Mrs. Yeary—Library

Mrs. Gonzalez—Gym

Mrs. Ledford—Gym

Mr. Sharpe—Gym

Miss Sinagra—Gym

Mr. Cuniak—Office

Mrs. Winkel– Office

All other teachers will be located in their classrooms.

CONFERENCE LOCATIONS

Kindergarten Registration Kindergarten registration begins the end of January with a final deadline March 1st.

We send out a registration packet to active parishioners of St. Pius and Seton par-

ishes.

Only siblings of current school students or graduates whose parents are active pa-

rishioners are guaranteed a priority seat. If you have a child you wish to register for

the 2011-2012 kindergarten, and you do not receive a packet by early February,

please call Mrs. Phillips in the school office.

Kindergarten packets will be mailed the end

of January 2011

1061 Waggoner Road

Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068

Phone: 614-866-6050

Fax: 614-866-6187

St. Pius X School

www.spxelementary.com

Pizza with the Pastor

February Panther Pen

will be available online

February 4th

Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship Boys & Girls Ages 10—14

January 15th in the St. Pius X Gym

7:00—8:00 pm

For entry form and registration infor-mation contact: Mike Bauman

614-286-9592

Page 4

103 None- FT Andrew Huffman Charlotte Chamberlain

105 None- FT Curt Williams Faith Stinson

101 Caroline Berger Resse Barker Megan Luallen

102 Ben Kurgan Timmy Zack Joelea Kelly

213 Bryan Ferryman Tory Garey Lauren McFann

214 Nathan McGlone Helena Donaghy Leah Herbert

211 Danielle Cassanos Diego Pena Angela Heaney

212 Justin Barnhart Audrey Smith Nathan Lee

207 Naomi Redden Kevin Gallagher Madeline Collins

209 Maggie Kelley Christian Craig Emily Lucas

205 Katherine Croswell Danny Hopkins Jacob McFeeters

206 Olivia George Christian Iulianelli Emmie Viers

203 Jacob Hunold Mara Potter Kennedi Jones

204 Sarah Fogus Zack Collins Rae Ann Cassanos

201 Timmy Hopkins Camilia Robalino Kylie Casmir

202 Emily Rahe Molli Powers Jared George

Congratulations to our students chosen for ―Pizza with the Pastor‖ in December.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 School Resumes 4 5 6 7 Newsletter online

Spelling Bee 1:00

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 K of C Freethrow

Championship

7:00—8:00 pm Gym

16 17 No School—

Martin Luther King

Day

18 19 8th Grade Boys to

St. Charles

20 21 Candid Photo Day

Progress Reports

SCAAP

22

23 24 Yearbook Sale

Begins

25 26 Pizza w/ the Pas-

tor

27 Conferences 4:00-

8:00 pm

28 29

30 31 Catholic Schools Wk.

Begins

Open House 6:30—8:30

8th Gr. Sucker Sale Begins

February 1 50th Anni-

versary Balloon Launch

Blue & Gold Spirit Day

Dress Down

2 Special Persons Lunch

Beach Day

3 COSI on Wheels K-4 4 Chris Bradley Assembly

8th Grade vs Staff Volley-

ball game

5 50th Anniversary

Liturgy and Reception

January 2011

Kindergarten Panther Pen

It seems we are always very busy down in the Kindergarten building!!

Our learning NEVER stops!! December was spent preparing for the

birth of Jesus. Our Advent celebrations were centered on Mary and

Joseph and their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We attended our

first “all school Mass” on December 20th

. We will be going regularly

for the rest of the school year. Many thanks to all of you who donated to

the Adopt-A-Child Christmas program and also to those of you who

purchased gifts for the Firefighters Toy collection! During this season,

we have seen such generosity in each of your families, thank you so

much.

Looking ahead to January, we will be reading our own “book-in-a-bag”

reader! We will all finish the alphabet and either begin or continue our

“sight words”. These will come home to you on large rings and you will

practice them each night with your student. We will begin our unit on

winter and complete many fun winter activities.

First Grade News We have been working on graphing and addition and subtraction facts in math. We will also be working on learning to count money!

We are growing so much as readers and writers as the year goes on! Students really enjoy reading to themselves or to a buddy and writing in their personal journals.

We are looking ahead to a new church year. Room 103 is planning a school Mass for January 11th and Room 105 is planning a school Mass for January 25th.

We are learning lots of new skills in computer class. Recently, both classes made books in computer class using Microsoft Paint and Powerpoint.

We will also be learning about Martin Luther King Jr. this month in Social Studies. We are working on solving problems peacefully with each other as well.

New Year News from Second Grade

Ask a second grader what time it is? They learned how to tell time to

the five minutes and quarter hour. Currently they are learning to explain

elapsed time. Second graders also worked on calendar skills. Room 102

made personal history timelines that are displayed in the hallway.

Students studied the Ten Commandments and are preparing for the

reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are saying the “Act of

Contrition” everyday in class. We know the difference between a mistake,

an accident and a sin. We are learning about free will and conscience.

Take home books for partner reading will go home

this month. Parents and kids can snuggle up together

with a good book. Our reading program has increased

our stamina for silent, independent reading. We also

have been working on journal writing and friendly letter writing. Room 101

wrote postcards and Room 102 wrote letters to their Grandmas.

Third Grade News

Multiplication! Multiplication! Multiplication! In 3rd grade math, we will be very busy learning our Multiplication

facts. There are many good links to math games and practice

activities on our 3rdgrade homepages. Please visit.

We continue to work on

building reading fluency, comprehension and

independent reading. Children have been

enjoying reading with self and others.

In Social Studies we will be studying communities and their physical changes over

time.

Our focus in Religion will be

learning about the Church Year and how it

celebrates the life of Jesus.

We would like to thank everyone for their very generous donations of decorations

for our Christmas trees, canned goods, box tops and shaving cream!

Rooms 211students have created a mural of Bethlehem for our Christmas Party. We are excited by

waiting for the birth of Jesus on our journey to Bethlehem.

Room 212 just finished the book Frindle. This was such a great story about a mischievous 5th grader who

stirred up some excitement when he tried to rename an ordinary word. Everything seemed to get out of

control after that! All of the students really enjoyed the book! Afterwards, we worked on vocabulary,

sequencing of events, and created a “sandwich” book report.

The students have begun division. They are learning how multiplication and division are

related.

In Science they have begun the Unit on Light and Sound. The students are having fun

being scientists and performing small experiments!

We have been working on the many changes which had occurred between Columbus’ voyages in the late

1400’s up to the frontier wars. Our country has such a beautiful heritage and it is unbelievable how so

many battles have been fought to make us as great as we are today! Students are beginning to see that

history is constantly changing and being made this very day!

Students are becoming familiar with God’s covenant to the Israelites and to us! His commandments are

our guide to obtain true happiness on Earth and in heaven. These commandments are just as important

and relevant today are they were thousands of years ago. We must observe them in everything we do!

WHAT’S HAPPENING

IN 4th GRADE

5th Grade Happenings

Fifth grades students continue to be busy people! Each student worked hard to make a beautiful

Christmas wreath for their families.

In Religion we have learned about the season of Advent and Christmas. We are now learning about

Baptism. Next we will study Confirmation.

In Math the students have learned how to divide by two digits. That is quite an accomplishment! Next we

will study graphs and data collection. We will take some fun surveys to make into graphs.

Chemistry is the topic in 5th grade Science. There will be many fun and interesting projects for our students

to do.

In language arts, we continue to integrate social studies with our R.A.F.T.S writing pieces (Role,

Audience, Format, Topic, Strong verb!) This week we wrote persuasive letters to the king and queen of Spain

as if we were Christopher Columbus asking for money to fund our expedition to Asia! Our last R.A.F.T.S.

consisted of taking on the role of a Native American writing a ‘thank you’ letter to a natural resource for which

they were thankful. The students have been very creative writers and have had fun doing so!

In social studies, we are learning about various European explorers that came to the New World.

There will be a fun project involved in this coming up after the new year!

In Math A & B, the students have started working on decimals. In Science, the students

finished plants and after break they will start to learn about waves, light & sound. In

Health, the students have started to learn about diseases, communicable & non-

communicable. They will have a disease report to complete. In Religion, the students

will start to discuss the desert wanderings and the Ten Commandments.

In Language Arts the students finished reading “The Watsons go to Birmingham.” They

should now have picked a book from the Science Fiction or Fantasy genre. They will be

reading this over break. The game board assignment packet will be going home with

them over break to go along with their book. The students will present their game

boards and have a game day the second week of January. We also will start research

on a topic from Social Studies to write a Five-Paragraph essay. The research will be

done at school and at home, however, the writing process will be done in school only.

We are studying Ancient Egypt in Social Studies! We are currently reviewing Egypt’s Old Kingdom. Students are researching Ancient Egyptian beliefs associated with their rulers, religion, and the pyramids. We will also be studying their Middle Kingdom and The New Kingdom. We are gathering information on the Wonders of the Ancient World! Congratulations to December’s Pizza with the Pastor winners – Jacob Mc & Emmie V.

Congratulations are also in order for our six spelling bee contestants. The students in

room 206 are Anthony, Maggie and Olivia. The students in room 205 are Adrienne,

Natalie, and Sam. The contest is to be held on Friday, January 7th.

Panther Pen

7th Grade News for January

We hope you celebrated a Blessed Christmas with your family and are looking forward to a

prosperous and productive 2011. Please continue to look for grade sheets that are sent home with your

students twice a month. This is a helpful tool to monitor your student’s progress.

Our religion classes for 2nd quarter were focused on traditions and doctrines of our faith. We

studied the Communion of Saints, Marks of the Church and the Liturgical Calendar. For 3rd quarter the

students will be studying the Mass, types of prayer and the sacrament of Penance. This sacrament is

misunderstood by many Catholics today. The students will have an opportunity to receive Reconciliation

before Easter.

Our debate research papers were completed before Christmas break and provided many hours

of riveting reading. The debate teams are collaborating and planning their persuasive speeches for the

great debate. The language arts classes watched segments of the movie The Great Debaters which is a

true story about a college debate team starring Denzel Washington.

Eighth Grade Panther Pen

Science Recently, we began a study of genetics. The processes of mitosis and meiosis will be introduced and sequenced. We’ll use craft supplies to model DNA molecules and Punnett squares to predict traits of offspring. Students are really interested in how traits are passed on from one generation to the next. They may have asked you who in the family they look like, or where their blue eyes come from. It is helpful to know about genetic traits that run in families, like heart disease or cystic fibrosis, so this might be a good discussion opportunity for you.

Religion On the Church-history timeline, we are up to the Protestant Reformation. We started

with Acts of the Apostles and the Diaspora and have worked our way forward. Recently,

students role-played serfs having to barter for their families’ needs, and blogged as

Crusaders. This week, we are exploring the topic of tradition. Perhaps your child has

asked you about the origins and meaning of your own family traditions. Our Church is full

of history, ritual and tradition. A good way to understand the traditions of our faith is to

understand tradition within our own homes and schools. After the new- year, we will

address the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the reforms that strengthened the Church.

Language Arts and Social Studies The American Revolution was a defining period in our country’s history and the eighth grade students have been immersed in the actions of the Patriots, Loyalists, and British. In addition to studying the important people and events in Social Studies, students chose a historical fiction novel set during the Revolution to read in small literature groups. Then groups of three to six read, discussed, acted, researched, and analyzed their novel. Each student was

responsible for individual assignments and contributing to the group’s projects throughout the unit. The opportunity to read literature about Nathan Hale, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and the turmoil of a country fighting for its independence allowed the students to view the Revolution from a more personal perspective. Some culminating activities included creating greeting cards from the characters, a period newspaper, an alphabet book representing the Revolution, and writing a persuasive essay convincing others to be a Patriot or Loyalist.

National Geographic

Geography Bee

Congratulations to the entire Jr. High for competing

in the preliminary round of the Geography Bee.

Twelve finalists (three from each homeroom) have

advanced to the final round of the school bee which

will take place in January. The winner of the school

competition will take a written exam to attempt to

qualify for the state level Geography Bee. Good luck

to our finalists – study those states, countries, and

continents.

Brandt G. Heather H. Andrew L.

Sara C. Chika O. Andy T.

Jacob H. Michelle T. Madison W.

Vince D. Mackenzie B. Ashley H.

Physical Education News

The 8th, 7th and 6th grade classes were able to meet Mr. James Cotton, a former

OSU football player and professional football player, on December 15th. Mr. Cotton was

very generous to come in and speak with the students about football, playing as a team,

commitment, and making good choices. It was a wonderful assembly and I would like to

thank Mr. Cotton for taking time to come to our school and meet our wonderful students!

Ms. Sinagra and I will be starting the rhythm and dance unit with grades K-2. They

will be learning how to use rhythm sticks and how to create a routine to music. The

students will have time to practice the routines in P.E. class and they will learn how to take

the routine they created and put it into notes and beats in Music class. We are very

excited!

3rd-8th will be starting basketball this month. The 7th and 8th graders will play in

more game like settings, learning how to play man-to-man defense as well as a zone

defense. 3rd-6th grade will be learning and mastering various basketball skills to use in a

game like setting.

The students are being assessed each week on the skills they have learned as well

as their participation and sportsmanship. If they have not yet met the standards by

interim, I will send home an interim stating what needs to be improved on by the end of

the quarter.

Music Notes

Kindergarten did an excellent job at their Christmas concert on December 17th! For the month of January, they will continue learning new songs while we focus on keeping the beat and moving to music. They will also begin learning about a new classroom instrument, the rhythm sticks, as they begin to learn about rhythms. 1st and 2nd grade did an excellent job with their Christmas program Guess Who’s Coming to Bethlehem? Working in both gym and music class, they will start focusing on creating rhythms and notating them onto paper. 3rd and 4th grade are working hard on playing recorders for Recorder Karate. 3rd grade will begin learning the song Gently Sleep for their yellow belt and 4th grade has begun learning Merrily We Roll Along for their orange belt. 5th grade will continue playing recorders and percussion instruments. At the start of the second quarter, they will begin learning more about singing and creating instrumental and choral ensembles. 6th grade visited the Ohio Theatre on December 10th to see Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker performed by Columbus Ballet Met. This was an excellent opportunity to see a live performance as they start their unit on dance and music. 7th and 8th grade are continuing to play the keyboard. They have been learning basic skills, like how to play scales and chords, songs for the left and right hands and reading treble and bass clefs. If your child currently takes piano lessons, they are invited to bring in the books they are working from to practice during class time. Jr. High Choir sang beautifully at the Zoo Wildlights and at their Christmas Concert! They will start learning new music as well as learning how to build up their sight-singing skills. The choir was asked to sing at the Catholic Schools Week Open House at St. Pius on January 31st in the evening, so please join us! Performances still being worked out include an All Diocesan Choir Concert led by Hartley, as well as sharing their talents while visiting nursing homes. The Spring Musical will be announced this month! It is open to any 6th, 7th and 8th graders who are interested. Look for details on my teacher webpage as well as sent home about auditioning and additional information. Any questions or concerns please contact me at ksinagra@cdeducation.org Miss Karen Sinagra

Noticias de español

January

Kindergarten: We have been continuing with practicing pets and farm animals

through different activities, including a computer game. We have also read some

stories about Christmas traditions with Spanish-speaking characters.

1st Grade: The first graders have been continuing with the Spanish alphabet. We will finish up

our Spanish alphabet books in the new year and will begin learning new vocabulary. We have

also spent some time reading about Christmas in Spanish-speaking places.

2nd

Grade: The 2nd

graders have begun learning body parts and days and months. We will be

continuing with this vocabulary in the new year. We also read stories with Spanish-speaking

characters and set in Spanish-speaking places.

3rd

Grade: The 3rd

graders have been learning body parts in Spanish and have been practicing

them through Simon says. We have also been reading stories about Christmas traditions in

Spanish-speaking countries.

4th

Grade: The 4th

graders have been working on learning body parts in Spanish and we have

been practicing through “Simón dice” or Simon says. We will be creating and drawing silly

monsters using our knowledge of body parts vocabulary in January.

5th

Grade: The 5th

grade has been working on learning clothing vocabulary. We will be

continuing with the –ar conjugation verbs and we will be learning a little about food in Spanish

and we will be expanding our verb knowledge used with food.

6th

Grade: The 6th

graders have been working on expanding their vocabularies with clothing.

They have also learned a new verb to use with clothing and have added on to the list of verbs that

they can conjugate and use in sentences. We will continue with these –ar verbs and will move

on to talk about food and new verbs related to this.

7th

Grade: The students have been working on the verb estar and place vocabulary. We will

begin working on verbs with –ar conjugation and on food vocabulary in the new year. We will

be putting this new food knowledge to use through practice in various activities.

8th

Grade: The students have been working on perfecting the verb estar and place vocabulary.

We will be moving on to learn –ar verb conjugations and food vocabulary. We will be creating

menus and practicing restaurant etiquette in Spanish.

PEP News

Spelling Bee

Congratulations and good luck to the following students who will participate in the St. Pius X

Spelling Bee on Friday, January 7, at 1:00 in the PAC Room.

Room 201 Room 204 Room 207

Brandt G. Jared C. Rachael G.

Camila R. Vincent D. Hannah M.

Jack Z. Allison M. Onyekachi O.

Room 202 Room 205 Room 209

Emily H. Sam R. Andrew B.

Michaila L. Adrienne S. Madison M.

Eric M. Natalie Z. Carla P.

Room 203 Room 206

Meghan M. Maggie F.

Mara P. Olivia G.

Emma W. Anthony M.

COSI on Wheels

COSI on Wheels Current Conditions will be coming to St. Pius X on Thursday, February 3 for

grades K-5. Please contact Heather Kohl at 861-5946, or Bubblz@insight.rr.com to volunteer

for this special activity.

Summer Enrichment Programs

There are many summer enrichment programs, locally and out-of-state, available for talented and

gifted students. These programs are for students who have very high standardized test scores and

are mature for their age. Application procedures, requirements, deadlines, costs and dates vary.

The following websites will provide information about just a few quality, established programs.

*Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2011 OWjL camp for gifted 6th

-8th

grade students

http://owjl.owu.edu.

*Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth

http://cty.jhu.edu/discover

*Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/numats

Grades 2-4 Enrichment

Second grade PEP students listened to The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns as an extension of

their exploration of shapes. They formed various polygons using a Chinese rope. The students

are using geoboards to model 5-10 sided polygons, and recording these on dot paper.

The second group of third grade PEP students recently worked with Dr. Mary Bendixen-Noe to

make fabric quilt squares using tangrams. Look for this next tangram quilt on the cafeteria

bulletin board later this month. Pentominoes are currently being used to study geometry.

Students have been selected for the fourth grade math enrichment program. This group will meet

weekly until the end of the year and focus on creative problem solving.

Advanced Math Grades 5-7

You can view a slide show of a fun December fifth grade math activity by going to Mrs.

Signoracci’s SPX web page. Designing and building “Geobread Houses” is an annual tradition

that helps students connect geometry to the real world. The next two months students will study

fraction operations.

The sixth grade students will finish their extensive study of fraction, decimal and percents this

month. During the third quarter, students will be learning integer operations and solving

equations. These are concepts their teacher learned in high school!

Algebra is the focus for the seventh grade students this month. Solving and graphing equations

and inequalities, functions, slope, rate of change, writing linear equations and solving systems of

equations are just a few of the challenging concepts they will study to help prepare them for the

Algebra placement test in May.

Library / Media Center News

Kindergarten students will be looking for the signs of winter by

participating in an interactive reading of the book, Stella ,Queen of the Snow, The

Biggest Snowman, and Snowman All Year.. Students will look for books with

snow and winter themes to check them out to practice their emergent reading. As

a special treat, guest reader, Laura will be sharing some of her favorite winter

books to encourage family reading at home. Both first and second grade

students will be utilizing drama strategies and authentic conversations with winter

stories. These students will be participating in an interactive reading of the

books, Osbert, the Penguin and The Snowman. Seasonal and wordless books

will be explored regarding the weather affecting the setting and various story

plots. In addition, drama strategies will be incorporated into authentic

conversation with students creating and constructing meaning inside and outside

the storybook text. Catholic Schools’ Week theme will be included in these story

collections.

Third grade students will be learning more about Caldecott picture books

and multicultural books. Fourth grade students will be learning about Internet

searching skills, summarizing and note taking skills. Fifth grade students will be

compiling their own choices for the Newbery Award that will be awarded to a

2010 young adult book by American Library Associations.

2nd Quarter Service-Learning Project Update:

As you can see, our collection boxes are overflowing with soap, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner and

combs!! A warm, heartfelt thank you goes out to the St. Pius students and families for your support of this service-learning project organized by the 8th and

1st grades. Your generosity has made it a success! Our collection for Joseph’s Coat will continue through the end of the quarter (January 14th.) Just a reminder,

any size product, along with items for any age or gender will be accepted.

Each grade is collecting the following item:

Kindergarten – Soap 1st Grade – Toothpaste

2nd Grade – Toothbrushes 3rd Grade – Shaving Cream

4th Grade – Conditioner 5th Grade – Shampoo

6th Grade – Deodorant 7th Grade – Combs/Brushes

8th Grade – Lotion

Memory Skill Strategies

Among the many skills and strategies needed to be successful in school, perhaps two of the most important

are memory skills and test taking strategies. In the interest of time and space, I’ll cover memory skills this month

and test-taking strategies next time. While it sounds like common sense advice, students need to first select exactly

what they need to know. Many times, students jump right into “studying” without any kind of plan for how to

“attack” the material. Make no mistake…successfully studying for and taking tests are a form of battle tactics! I’m

sure both you and your child would agree…it can be an actual WAR!

For this reason alone, it’s never a good idea to wait until the night before the test to begin studying. Daily

review sessions can help your child become familiar with the content and, with your help, create a plan of attack.

Use the textbook to help your child lay out the material, paying special attention to the headings, subheadings and

arrangement of the material. This helps your child to make logical meaning of what may look like a lot of

disconnected facts. In other words, it’s important to find a way to show the child how it all makes sense and follows

a logical pattern. Use the plan the textbook publishers created to start with the forest (the main topic) and then

move in gradually to help your child to see the trees (the details).

Select the appropriate information to study by:

Asking the teacher exactly what will be covered

Examining class notes

Reading the textbook, especially noting key terms, people, events

Studying the handouts

1. Remember… choose specific memory techniques that have worked in the past (if nothing has, it’s

time to find some that do):

Visualize (use graphic organizers to study, i.e. Venn diagrams, T-charts, organizational webs).

Google graphic organizers and then, take your pick.

Associate new information with previously learned information (Build from what is known to

make logical connections to the unknown.)

Apply the knowledge by making up other examples and using the new information to see if it can

be applied (also called practice)

Repeat (drill and practice)

Use mnemonic devices (see below for more information)

2. Review, Read, Recite, Rewrite

In other words, go over and over and over the information. Use as many senses as possible to

review (verbal – say it, recite it, sing it; visual – read and re-read, draw pictures, memorize;

tactile/kinesthetic - write it down, make up a dance or other body motions)

Mnemonic Devices

As mentioned above, memorization skills will always be necessary to provide a base for building greater

and deeper knowledge of subject matter. Students need a full bag of tricks to turn to for help memorizing material.

These are some of the tried and true methods:

Song or rhyme – The only way I can remember which months have thirty vs. thirty-one days is to

say the rhyme my grandma taught me when I was young. Remember…. Thirty days has

September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one except February which has

twenty-eight? Lots of us still use this.

Acronym – Again, the easiest way to remember the great lakes is the word, HOMES, which uses

the first letter of each of the lakes to make a word (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior).

Abbreviation – If you watch TV shows like CSI, you’re familiar with the abbreviation for Crime

Scene Investigation. Abbreviations are so commonplace that it should be easy to come up with

quick abbreviations to memorize. (Ex., FBI, ATF, IRS)

Acrostic – A phrase or sentence using the first letter of each word to be memorized. How about,

“My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” to memorize the planets? (Mars, Venus,

Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto…I know that may no longer be accurate, but

you get the idea.)

Repetition is key to remembering information so be sure to teach your child how to orally recite

information, practice it by closing their eyes and seeing it while they say it aloud, write the information down on

paper or key it in to the computer, and to do these things repeatedly. If they have other tricks or techniques to help

them, by all means use whatever works.

Next month, test taking strategies. As always, if I can be of help, please don’t hesitate to call, or email.

Shelley Shoemaker

Intervention Specialist

St. Pius X

(614) 866.6050 ext. 430

sshoemaker@reyn.org

For these and other great academic support tips, go to: http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/209.HTM

Mrs. Rogich’s Reading Room

Book Picks

Pinkalicious/ Purplicious/ Goldilicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann Grades K-3 3 different picture books staring the most colorful girl around!

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper Grades 4-8 This book was one of the many that topped the list of the 20 best books selected by the Columbus Dispatch panel of readers. This story is about eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory and there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. She has cerebral palsy.

Skill of the Month: Writing/ The Write Stuff

Why is it important to encourage children to write? Writing allows children to explore their creativity and share events, ideas, and thoughts with others. Writing also develops reading skills along with self confidence. You can bring out the writer in your child with these simple low or no cost activities that will make writing practice fun!!

Mouthwatering Menus o Your child can practice creative writing with this scrumptious family menu. o Materials: cookbooks, magazines, paper, pencil, crayons or markers o Help your child create a menu for your family’s “restaurant.” Start by looking through cookbooks and

magazine for tasty dishes. Have him/her choose foods your family might like for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fold one or two pieces of paper in half. Let your child decorate the outside. On the inside, have him/her write tempting descriptions of the menu items. Example: “These golden pancakes are so fluffy, they might float up to the ceiling.”

Rainbow Writing o Help your child make writing a colorful experience. o Materials: crayons, two sheets of paper, paperclips, ballpoint pen o Have your child use crayon to heavily color a blank sheet of paper. (Hint: Use several different colors.)

Place the crayoned side of the paper on top of a blank sheet of paper. Use paperclips to hold the two sheets together. Let your child write anything he/she would like on the clean side of the crayon paper. Ideas: Spelling words, the alphabet, a short story. Tell him/her to press firmly with a ballpoint pen. When he/she is finished, separate the sheets. The blank sheet will be covered with his/her writing- in rainbow colors!

What Should I do? o Almost everyone likes to give advice. With this activity, your child can create her own advice column. o Materials: paper, pencil, stapler o Think of several problems for your child to solve. Have each one end with the question, “What should I

do?” Examples: “My cat is shedding. What should I do?” Ask your child to write down the answers on sheets of paper. Encourage funny responses, such as “You could gather the fur and make a pillow!” Collect the papers, and staple them together into a book. Then, when you need a laugh, read a few of the questions aloud together. Variation: Younger children can answer the questions aloud, and you can write down their answers.

Super Survey o How well does your child know his/her family? He/she can take a survey to find out! o Materials: paper, pencil o Together make a list of questions. Examples: “What is your favorite food?” “Which animal is the perfect

pet?” Help a young child make a list of yes or no questions, such as “Do you like French fries?” After everyone has answered, let them guess each person’s likes and dislikes- the results might surprise them!

Mrs. Rogich

Diocese of ColumbusTuition Assistance

for the 2011-2012 School YearALL APPLICATIONS

MUST BE DONE ONLINE(www.factstuitionaid.com)

AND SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLYBY MARCH 15, 2011

If you do not have internet access,please check with your local library

or see if you can make arrangements with your school.

To be considered for theDiocese of Columbus

Tuition Assistance Program:1. You must be registered in one of the Diocesan schools by March 15, 2011.

2. The Diocese will only accept ONLINE APPLICATIONS (www.factstuitionaid.com),the application must be submitted by March 15, 2011 and supportingdocumentation must be postmarked by March 15, 2011.(Please file early in case additional documentation is requested by FACTS.)

3. Payment of the $25.00 application fee must accompany the application.

4. Only one application per family is required.