St. Christopher School

After a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation spent with family and friends, we are now preparing to celebrate the season of Advent.  Each student decorated a Jesse Tree with the symbols of the members of the family tree of Jesus.  Our classroom looks beautiful! Thank you to the family members who contributed their talents to each student's tree.

Christmas is the theme for many  of our activities this month. We will study Advent traditions in religion class. The entire sixth grade will narrate and re-enact the story of The Nativity in the annual Christmas Pageant to be held in the church. A unit on Christmas Around the World is the main focus of our social studies classes during December.  Students will research the Christmas customs of their assigned country in Europe as part of their ongoing project work during the first semester. Additional information will also be presented in class. Round Two of Social Studies Jeopardy will include questions from this unit. We are reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in literature class.  This is a play written in six scenes.  Everyone enjoys having a turn playing the role of Scrooge! We will watch the movie with 6E after reading the play.  It is always a treat to be reunited with the students from 6E!

There are many celebrations of the season on the schedule as well.  Everyone loved Shopping with Kids, an annual event put together by the parents.  Students had the opportunity to get some great deals on Christmas presents for family and friends.  They even bought a few things for themselves. There are some very colorful hats that can be seen outside in the schoolyard!  Each classroom decorated a huge stocking from Mrs. Clarke.  We chose to decorate ours with symbols from A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore, the poem we studied last year in Grade Five Social Studies as part of our Christmas in America unit.  Our bulletin board is decorated with signs that say "Merry Christmas" in the language of our assigned countries in Europe.  We will also decorate our classroom with stockings and other Christmas symbols.  Candles and angels decorate the windows of the whole school.  Some people might remember them from Christmas Past! We are all looking forward to getting together with our Buddy Class, 2T, for a movie and treats.  The final celebration of fun will be our Christmas party on December 22.

Congratulations to the newly elected Student Council members.  Thank you to all of the students who participated in the elections by making campaign posters and writing a speech that was presented to classmates in each homeroom.  We have some new voices on the air with Mrs. Clarke, helping her with the morning exercises by leading the entire school in the School Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Two students have been chosen to represent the student body of St. Christopher School at the installation of the new Bishop of Manchester.  They will travel to the cathedral with Mrs. Clarke on December 8th to participate in this important event.  Congratulations to Michael and Samantha for being chosen for this honor. This week Student Council members will be making posters to announce Red, Green, and White Day on December 23rd.  They will also be meeting with Mrs. Clarke soon to share their ideas about school activities.

Two other important subjects will also be covered this month.  We are currently studying about the new changes in the Mass and reviewing the parts of the Mass during religion. The upcoming election for President of the United States and New Hampshire's First in the Nation Primary will also be part of all social studies classes in both Grade Five and Grade Six.

Each student is preparing an oral book report about the character in the biography that they read last month.  They will be presented to the class this week.  They do not have an assigned book for December.  We will resume this program in January.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a New Year filled with love and happiness, and a wonderful vacation.  The big project news comes in January!

Mary Lou Wefers