Our aim is to provide a safe learning environment for all people in our school Community. To support this, SJCS is designating your child’s classroom as “nut-free”. This policy aims to increase our community awareness in order to minimize the risk for children with documented allergies to nut products. Our school has developed and will maintain a whole-school action and implementation plan when dealing with students who have critically life-threatening allergies.
WHY? Anaphylaxis is a severe form of allergic reaction which is potentially life-threatening. It can be fatal within minutes; either through swelling that shuts off airways or through a dramatic drop in blood pressure. There are many causative agents for anaphylaxis with nuts often being the precipitative factor. Anaphylaxis is preventable. Avoidance of specific triggers is by far the best option. Management is via immediate injection of epinephrine and emergency transport to the hospital.
Allergy to peanuts appears to be on the rise in children. According to a FARE-funded study, the number of children in the U.S. with peanut allergy more than tripled between 1997 and 2008. Studies in the United Kingdom and Canada also showed a high prevalence of peanut allergy in school children.
Based on recent studies, an estimated 25-40 percent of people who have peanut allergy are also allergic to tree nuts. In addition, peanuts and tree nuts often come into contact with one another during manufacturing and serving processes. For these reasons, allergists usually tell their patients with peanut allergy to avoid tree nuts as well.
Trace amounts of peanut can cause an allergic reaction. Casual contact with peanuts, such as touching peanuts or peanut butter residue, is less likely to trigger a severe reaction. Casual contact becomes a concern if the area that comes into contact with peanuts then comes into contact with the eyes, nose or mouth (for example, a child with peanut allergy gets peanut butter on her fingers, and then rubs her eyes).
What does this mean for me?
Thank you for your continued support with keeping our students safe.
Mrs. Blake
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Mrs. Sharon Shute
First Grade Teacher
St. Joseph Catholic School
 2009 and 2017 National Blue Ribbon Recipient
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Week at a Glance: March 30- April 2, 2026
Highlights of this Holy Week:
Reading- Continuing with our current story:What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Whole Class Lit Circle- Megabat
Writing- March Journal
Trivia Quiz with Kahoot and Megabat
Fundations- Conclusion of Unit 8 Glued Sounds-
Math- Continue with Data Graphing
Social Studies: Concluding Women’s History Month
Mystery Science: Focus on Women’s contributions to Science
Religion- Holy Week
** Tuesday- First graders will get to wave to Cole Kmet from the Chicago Bears-
** Wednesday- The Fire Department will speak the students about safety.
Math: New Chapter! Chapter 7: Organize and Use Graphs
Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.
Math vocabulary: tally chart, survey, data, graph, picture graph, bar graph
Monday- Lesson 5- Check my progress- Review of Lessons 1-4; Lesson 5- Make Bar Graphs Students will use data to make a bar graph.
Tuesday- Lesson 6- Read bar graphs- Students will read a bar graph and interpret the given data.
Wednesday- My Review- Chapter 7 Review- Students will demonstrate their learned skills in this chapter by completing the chapter review assessment.
Thursday- Chapter 7 Assessment and IReady Math lessons
Reading: We are beginning a new story with animal facts.
Learning Goals: Generate and answer questions about What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? Using key details from the text Lessons 21, 22, 23
Focusing Question: How do animals use the same feature in unique ways?
This is a review from before Spring Break-
Whole Group Reading- Megabat- Chapters 10-13
Students take turns reading Megabat and answer questions in a comprehension packet. This is done by the whole group right after recess. We haven’t had Lit Circles with whole group reading due to time constraints but everybody is still getting a chance to read aloud and participate in comprehension activities/ discussions.
Every afternoon students participate in Kahoot- a group trivia game reviewing Megabat details- So much fun! A great way to assess the students on story comprehension.
Writing:
Phonics: Conclusion of Unit 7 with an assessment on Thursday:
Students are working on Uni 7- with the following word families:
---onk,--ink, -_ank, --unk;--ing, ---ang, ---ong, --ung
We are working on writing sentences with these “glued sounds” and word families.
Students will also be working on a packet that coincides with Unit 7 word families.
Religion: Holy Week discussion
Social Studies: Women’s History Month Continues
Students will learn about the following amazing and historical women and conclude Women’s History Month. Here are the women we will learn about this last week.
We will review all the amazing women we learned about upon conclusion.
Students will explore a short biography of each woman’s life and answer comprehension questions that go along with each person.
Mystery Science: This week we’ll examine some fascination women who made amazing contributions to science:
Week at a Glance: March 16-20, 2026
Highlights of the Week:
Reading: New story about animal facts
Trivia Quiz: Kahoot- Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Megabat, and Math questions
Writing: informational paragraph
Phonics: Unit 7 is here!
Math: New Chapter: data and graphs
Social Studies: March is women’s history month
Religion: Lenten activities- St. Joseph Day on Thursday!
Mystery Science: Continuing the Sound unit.
Math: New Chapter! Chapter 7: Organize and Use Graphs
Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.
Math vocabulary: tally chart, survey, data, graph, picture graph,
Monday- Students will make and read a tally chart; Lesson 1- Tally Chart
Tuesday- Strategy Make a Table- Lesson 2- Students will make a table to solve problems.
Wednesday- Make Picture Graphs- Lesson 3- Students will make a picture graph.
Thursday- Read Picture Graphs- Lesson 4 Read Picture Graphs
Friday- IREADY Math progress growth monitoring, Math- SeeSaw activities, IXL lessons
Reading: We are beginning a new story with animal facts.
Learning Goals: Generate and answer questions about What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? Using key details from the text Lessons 21, 22, 23
Focusing Question: How to animals use the same feature in unique ways?
Whole Group Reading- Megabat- Chapters 6-9
Students take turns reading Megabat and answer questions in a comprehension packet. This is done by the whole group right after recess. We haven’t had Lit Circles with whole group reading due to time constraints but everybody is still getting a chance to read aloud and participate in comprehension activities/ discussions.
Writing:
Phonics: Students are working on Uni 7- with the following word families:
---onk,--ink, -_ank, --unk;--ing, ---ang, ---ong, --ung
We are working on writing sentences with these “glued sounds” and word families.
Students will also be working on a packet that coincides with Unit 7 word families. Additionally, we will work in our Fundations practice book.
Religion: Continue with Lenten Activities and St. Joseph Day on March 19!
Social Studies: Women’s History Month Continues
Students will learn about the following amazing and historical women:
Students will explore a short biography of each woman’s life and answer comprehension questions that go along with each person.
Mystery Science: Lesson 3 on Sound- did not get to do this due to my absence
Lesson 3: What if there were no windows? Lesson 3 of 6-
Vocabulary words: opaque, transparent, light, materials-
In this lesson, students consider materials from the perspective of how much light they let through. In the activity, Paper Stained Glass, they use these materials to create a work of art.
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
Highlights of the Week:
Monday is our Fieldtrip to Wagner Woods, a real live dairy farm! We leave school at 8:30 and return to school by 12:00. Kids can wear gym uniforms/ gym shoes.
Tuesday: No Mass-
Wednesday: Food Pantry Collection
Thursday: Station of the Cross Service a Church 12:30
Friday: Grandparents Day Mass at 9:30
Math- Final work in Chapter 6; Begin Chapter 7- Graphs
Vocabulary words for Chapter 6: difference, sum, addition, subtraction, ones, tens
Chapter 7 Vocabulary words: graph, bar graph, data, picture graph, survey, tally chart
Chapter 7 Essential Question: How do I make and read graphs?
Monday- Students will take a practice test for Chapter 6 reviewing all necessary skills we have learned thus far.
Tuesday: Chapter 6 Assessment
Wednesday: Begin Chapter 7- Organize and Use Graphs: Lesson 1: Students will complete a tally chart with given information on a survey.
Wednesday: Lesson 2- Problem Solving- Strategy Make a Table- Students will plot data into a table graph by using a diagram to help.
Thursday: Lesson 3- Make Picture Graphs: Students will ask classmates questions on surveys to gather information to put on a chart. Students will use the data to compile information.
Friday- SeeSaw Math Activities and IXL math lessons and IReady math lessons.
Reading: Wit And Wisdom: Seahorses are the Shyest Animals in the Sea: last week!
Writing: Final week for Seahorse Story!
Fundations: Unit 7: Unit- Focus on Word Endings- Glued sounds: -ank, -unk, -ink, -onk
Social Studies: Women’s History Month Continues
Students will learn about the following amazing and historical women:
Students will explore a short biography of each woman’s life and answer comprehension questions that go along with each person.
Mystery Science: Lesson 3 on Sound
Lesson 3: What if there were no windows? Lesson 3 of 6-
Vocabulary words: opaque, transparent, light, materials-
In this lesson, students consider materials from the perspective of how much light they let through. In the activity, Paper Stained Glass, they use these materials to create a work of art.
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
Religion- Lenten Cross, Heart Promises to Jesus, Stations of the Mass service on Thursday at 12:30.
Week at a Glance: March 1-5, 2026
Academic Highlights of the Week:
Reading:Continue our Seahorse story
Writing: Write an informational story about seahorses
Fundations: Begin Unit 7 with word endings
Math: Continue Chapter 6 Addition and Subtraction
Mystery Science: Where do sounds come from?
Social Studies: Women’s History Month
Religion: Lent activity
Math: Continue Chapter 6- Addition and Subtraction Strategies up to 20
How can I add and subtract two digit numbers?
Vocabulary words: adding, add, subtract, subtracting, sum, difference, tens, ones
Monday- Add tens and ones with regrouping;Use models to show addition.
Tuesday- Check My Progress- Half way through check; Review of vocabulary words
And Lesson 6- Subtract tens; Model with drawings how to take away tens
Wednesday- Count Back by 10s; Students will use a number line to count back by tens- no ones; Students will also be practicing vertical subtraction.
Thursday- Lesson 8- Relate addition and subtraction on tens; Students will put addition sentences together to make subtraction sentences for related facts with tens.
Friday- Catch up on IXL lessons, IReady math lessons, and SeeSaw math activities.
Reading: Wit and Wisdom: Creature Features: Seahorse: Shyest Fish in the Sea. Focusing question: How do seahorses use their unique features?
Lessons 16, 17, 18
Reading:Lit Circles:
Whole Group Lit Circles:
We will also continue reading Good Dog by Cam Higgins- We are on chapter 8 of this sweet beginner chapter book. After each chapter, we review the following elements to make sure everyone is understanding the story.
This really helps with comprehension and making sure we are all on the same page.
Science: 2nd lesson out of 6 related to Sound
We will also do lesson 1 about sound/ vibrations, as I was absent last Friday and wasn’t able to complete with the class.
Mystery Science: Where do sounds come from?
Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.In this Read-Along lesson, Lin explores the sounds made by different kinds of instruments, and discovers what happens when vibrations start—and when they stop. The lesson includes a short exercise where students experiment with a piece of paper to make the connection between vibrations and sound. You can extend the lesson with the optional activity, Head Harp, where students make simple musical instruments using only their heads and string.
Social Studies: Women’s History Month:
Our first graders will begin to learn about famous women who have done amazing things like: Jane Goodall, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Amelia Earhart, and others. Students will learn characteristics of these women to use in their own lives such as: courage, determination, fortitude, bravery, hope, and patriotism.
Religion: from last week- continuation
Religion: Color a Cross for Lent that has Lenten intentions such as:
We will discuss intentions and color in the intention when the deed is completed. We will challenge ourselves to complete all the intentions before Easter.
