St. Joseph Catholic School

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I am so excited to be a part of the St. Joseph School community as a first grade teacher!  I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area and attended National-Louis University where I received my degree in education with a concentration in psychology. I am also a certified Orton-Gillingham tutor and teacher, a multi-sensory approach that is very explicit in teaching reading to beginning readers.


I have spent the last 23 years teaching at a Catholic school- the last 16 years in first grade! I fell in love with teaching at a Catholic school because of the loving family atmosphere it provided. I enjoy inspiring children to learn and strive for their goals.  I am committed to ensuring each child feels successful, capable, and celebrated while they are in my class.  I love and enjoy learning, and I want to share, with my students, this passion and show how fun and exciting learning truly is!


When I am not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our two sons (ages 13 and 17). I love to read, spend time outdoors, and relax at the beach.

 

Posts

Week at a Glance

Please join us at the 8:30 mass on Tuesday with Bishop Grubb as presider.

ELA 

  • To decode -er, ir, ur words
  • To read a decodable story
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: both, again, laugh, cold, does, know
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated reading of a story
  • To understand and use the suffix -ful
  • To read and discuss a grade-level text
  • To understand characters and character feelings
  • To understand synonyms
  • To recognize and understand job names ending in -er and -or
  • To listen to an informational text
  • To identify topic of an informational text
  • To connect texts: Reader and Super-Duper
  • To connect character feelings to problem and solution plot
  • To discuss realistic fiction versus fantasy
  • To discuss characters and settings
  • To understand and use Unit 13 Words to Know: vast, fear, report
  • To complete a crossword puzzle
  • To encode pattern words

MATH

  • To use symbols to compare numbers
  • To write numbers to 120
  • To count to 120
  • To read and write numbers to 120

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain how supply and demand affect what people buy

RELIGION

  •  To tell that Jesus wants us to love one another as he loves us
  • To explain that the sacraments are signs of Jesus’ love for us



Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode -er, ir, ur words
  • To read a decodable story
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: both, again, laugh, cold, does, know
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated reading of a story
  • To understand and use the suffix -ful
  • To read and discuss a grade-level text
  • To understand characters and character feelings
  • To understand synonyms
  • To recognize and understand job names ending in -er and -or
  • To listen to an informational text
  • To identify topic of an informational text
  • To connect texts: Reader and Super-Duper
  • To connect character feelings to problem and solution plot
  • To discuss realistic fiction versus fantasy
  • To discuss characters and settings
  • To understand and use Unit 13 Words to Know: vast, fear, report

MATH

  • To make groups of ten and some more
  • To make groups of tens and ones
  • To make a table to solve problems
  • To write numbers to 100 in different ways
  • To identify numbers that are ten more and ten less than a given number

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain how supply and demand affect what people buy

RELIGION

  •  To tell that Jesus wants us to love one another as he loves us
  • To explain that the sacraments are signs of Jesus’ love for us



Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode -ar and -or words
  • To read a decodable story
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: both, again, laugh, cold, does, know
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated reading of a story
  • To understand and use the suffix -ful
  • To read and discuss a grade-level text
  • To understand characters and character feelings
  • To connect text to self
  • To read Memory Words fluently
  • To connect character feelings to problem and solution plot
  • To discuss realistic fiction versus fantasy
  • To discuss characters and settings
  • To understand and use Unit 13 Words to Know: vast, fear, report

MATH

  • To look for a pattern to solve problems
  • To combine three-dimensional shapes to make a composite shape

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain what it means to be a producer and a consumer

SCIENCE

  • To explain the stages of metamorphosis of a butterfly

RELIGION

  •  To explain that God wants all people to be part of his Church
  • To describe how the Holy Spirit is with us


Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode -aw words
  • To determine the number of syllables in words
  • To decode difficult words from an informational text
  • To spell Memory Words: come, coming, they, our, put
  • To read a story with expression
  • To read Memory Words with automaticity
  • To listen to an informational text
  • To connect ideas: cause and effect
  • To compare and contrast two texts
  • To identify main idea and retell key details
  • To understand antonyms
  • To understand and use Unit 12 Words to Know: puzzles, collapse, steep, system

MATH

  • To look at attributes to identify cubes and rectangular prisms
  • To look at attributes to identify cones and cylinders
  • To look for a pattern to solve problems
  • To combine three-dimensional shapes to make a composite shape

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain what natural resources are
  • We can name goods that are made using natural resources

SCIENCE

  • To discover how butterflies’ colors can help them blend into their habitat or scare away predators. In the activity, Paper Butterflies, students design their own paper butterflies by choosing colors that will help the butterflies survive.


Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To determine syllables by counting vowel sounds
  • To decode -all words
  • To read a decodable story with -all words
  • To understand and use precise verbs
  • To understand and use Unit 12 Words to Know: puzzled, collapse, steep, system
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: come. coming, they, our, put
  • To understand text structure: beginning, middle, end
  • To categorize words related to basketball
  • To review adjectives
  • To add adjectives to descriptive sentences
  • To combine sentences using and
  • To use prepositional phrases to add details to sentences
  • To identify main topic and retell key details
  • To listen to and discuss a complex informational text
  • To recognize aw spelling patterns
  • To encode aw words
  • To read a story with expression

MATH

  • To partition shapes into two or four equal shares and identify how many parts there are in the whole
  • To partition shapes into two equal parts
  • To partition shapes into four equal parts

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain the difference between goods and services


SCIENCE

  • To make observations and to construct an explanation of why camouflage is helpful to animals. In the activity, Moth Hide and Seek, students test their ability to spot camouflage moths, and then design a camouflage pattern for a moth of their own and hide it in the classroom!

RELIGION  

  • To tell that Jesus wants us to love one another as he loves us
  • To explain that the sacraments are signs of Jesus’ love for us
  • To describe how Jesus welcomed and blessed children


Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode long-vowel trickers
  • To read an informational text
  • To decode difficult words from a text
  • To spell Memory Words: their, now, always, because, been
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story
  • To compare and contrast two Reader stories
  • To listen to an informational text
  • To discuss the main ideas and details of a section
  • To identify main idea and retell key details
  • To give and support opinions 
  • To understand and use Unit 11 Words to Know: soar, control, depend
  • To use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words
  • To identify synonyms

MATH

  • To use defining attributes to identify and describe two-dimensional shapes
  • To use 2-d shapes to make a composite shape

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain the difference between needs and wants

SCIENCE

  • To understand teeth and their functions
  • To demonstrate how to care for teeth

RELIGION  

  • To tell that Jesus wants us to love one another as he loves us
  • To explain that the sacraments are signs of Jesus’ love for us
  • To describe how Jesus welcomed and blessed children


Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode contractions with pronouns
  • To read a decodable story with contractions
  • To decode homophones
  • To decode speech balloons
  • To recognize spelling patterns for contractions
  • To encode contractions with pronouns
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: their, now, always, because, been
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story
  • To read a story with appropriate volume
  • To identify the lessons a story teaches
  • To recognize plot: problem and solution
  • To discuss setting
  • To identify key details
  • To identify topics of a grade-level text
  • To listen to and discuss a complex informational text
  • To identify main topic and retell key details
  • To understand and use Unit 11 Words to Know: soar, control, depend
  • To determine the meaning of idioms
  • To understand figurative language
  • To discuss opinions
  • To write a response to an opinion question
  • To use because to connect opinions and reasons
  • To discuss giving and supporting opinions about a whole text
  • To write and support an opinion about a favorite character

MATH

  • To tell and write time to the hour and half hour using digital and analog clocks

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain the importance of a variety of jobs in a community

SCIENCE

  • In this Read-Along lesson, Juan Carlos visits his grandmother who has a backyard full of ducks. The lesson includes a short exercise where students get moving by acting like ducks. If you want to extend the lesson, you can try this optional activity, What’s Going On?, where students watch videos and discover ways that animal parents help their offspring.

RELIGION  *HOLY WEEK*

  • To tell that Jesus served his friends
  • To explain that Jesus wants us to follow his example

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode final y words with -er and -est endings 
  • To read a decodable story with final y words with -er and -est endings
  • To decode adjectives 
  • To read a decodable story with -ay, -ier, -iest words
  • To decode ai and ay words
  • To read an informational text
  • To decode difficult words from an informational text
  • To encode comparative and superlative adjectives
  • To encode Memory Words to complete sentences
  • To encode ay, -ier, -iest words
  • To spell Memory Words: down, too, work, many, first
  • To read and discuss a grade-level informational text
  • To identify topic of an informational text
  • To connect texts: Reader and Super-Duper
  • To identify picture-text relationships
  • To use context clues to understand words

MATH

  • To read and write time to the hour on an analog clock
  • To use a digital clock to tell and write time to the hour
  • To read time to the half hour on an analog clock
  • To use a digital clock to tell and write time to the half hour
  • To tell and write time to the hour and half hour using digital and analog clocks

SCIENCE

  • Students discover how water acts like a prism, splitting white sunlight into all the colors of the rainbow. In the activity, Chasing Rainbows, students create their own rainbows using cups of water, sunlight, and plain white paper.

RELIGION

  • To tell that the Church is found around the world
  • To explain the importance of being a good friend
  • To tell how Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his followers
  • To define catholic, Church, and guardian angel

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To associate y with long e and long i
  • To associate ay with long a
  • To decode words with y
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: down, first, too, work, many
  • To encode adjectives ending with y
  • To encode Memory Words to complete sentences
  • To understand the homophones: to, two, too
  • To understand and use -y as an ending for adjectives
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story
  • To read Memory Words fluently
  • To understand how-to text features
  • To discuss the sequence of steps
  • To identify key details
  • To identify topics of a grade-level text
  • To listen to and discuss a complex informational text
  • To identify main topic and retell key details
  • To identify cause and effect
  • To understand and use Unit 10 Words to Know: produce, plenty, disturb

MATH

  • To compare the lengths of objects using indirect measurement
  • To compare and order the lengths of objects
  • To measure the lengths of objects using nonstandard units
  • To guess, check, and revise to solve problems
  • To read and write time to the hour on an analog clock

SCIENCE

  • Students discover how water acts like a prism, splitting white sunlight into all the colors of the rainbow. In the activity, Chasing Rainbows, students create their own rainbows using cups of water, sunlight, and plain white paper.

RELIGION

  • To tell that the Church is found around the world
  • To explain the importance of being a good friend
  • To tell how Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his followers
  • To define catholic, Church, and guardian angel

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode n’t contractions
  • To read a decodable story with n’t contractions
  • To decode adjectives
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: boy, girl, two, four, about, over, before
  • To form contractions with Memory Words
  • To form compound words
  • To use sequence words to explain the order of events
  • To understand characters
  • To understand character feelings and traits
  • To discuss beginning, middle, and end
  • To identify key details
  • To identify topics of a grade-level literary text
  • To read and discuss a grade-level informational text
  • To understand and use Unit 9 Words to Know: audience, talent, explain
  • To discuss personal narratives
  • To discuss and select topics for personal narratives
  • To plan the beginning, middle and end of a personal narrative with a story planning chart

MATH

  • To identify similarities in related addition and subtraction sentences
  • To identify similarities in fact families
  • To subtract to find missing addends

SCIENCE

  •  In this Read-Along lesson, Gabrielle sets sail with her aunt—the captain of a tugboat—and discovers how the sights and sounds on the bay can help boats find their way. The lesson includes a short exercise where students get moving by pretending to be boats. 

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To learn about past presidents (Washington and Lincoln) and compare them

RELIGION

  • To identify the number 40 as important in the Bible
  • To tell that Lent, including Holy Week, is a time to grow closer to God
  • To explain that we are called to care for others as Jesus does
  • To define Alleluia, Holy Week, and Lent

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode CVVC words with -ing  and -ed endings
  • To read an informational text
  • To decode difficult words from an informational text
  • To review and decode short- and long-vowel patterns
  • To review spelling patterns for short and long vowel words
  • To spell Memory Words: would, could, some, one, new, were
  • To connect texts: Reader and Super-Duper
  • To understand and use homophones
  • To determine the meaning of key vocabulary words: dab, fangs, antennas, vanished
  • To review good listening skills
  • To use Unit 8 Words to Know: exactly, create, category

 MATH  

  • To use subtract using the make 10 to subtract strategy
  • To identify similarities in related addition and subtraction sentences
  • To identify similarities in fact families

SCIENCE

  • Students practice using light to communicate information. In the activity, Secret Signals, students work in pairs to build a device that solves the problem of communicating over a distance. They send secret messages to one another using light and colored markers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To learn what the president does and who can become president

RELIGION

  • To identify the number 40 as important in the Bible
  • To tell that Lent, including Holy Week, is a time to grow closer to God
  • To explain that we are called to care for others as Jesus does
  • To define Alleluia, Holy Week, and Lent

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode and encode CVVC words with ue, ie
  • To read a decodable story with CVVC words
  • To decode CVVC words with -ing and -ed endings
  • To decode difficult words from a grade-level text
  • To decode adjectives
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: would, could, some, one, new, were
  • To use describing words to compare and contrast settings
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story
  • To read a story with appropriate rate
  • To recognize and understand dialogue punctuation
  • To identify speakers in a play
  • To review spelling patterns for short and long vowel words
  • To discuss settings
  • To understand and use Unit 8 Words to Know: exactly, create, category
  • To plan an opinion paragraph
  • To write an opinion paragraph

 MATH  

  • To count back by 1, 2, or 3 to subtract
  • To use a number line to count back to subtract
  • To relate doubles addition facts to subtraction facts


SCIENCE

  • Students practice using light to communicate information. In the activity, Secret Signals, students work in pairs to build a device that solves the problem of communicating over a distance. They send secret messages to one another using light and colored markers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain that families have different cultural traditions
  • To show respect for families and cultures that are different than ours

RELIGION

  • To tell that Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer
  • To pray the first half of the Lord’s Prayer

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode and encode CVVC words with ai, oa, ea, ee
  • To read a decodable story with CVVC words
  • To decode difficult words from a grade-level text
  • To decode adjectives
  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: would, could, some, one, new, were
  • To use describing words to compare and contrast settings
  • To develop fluent reading with repeated readings of a story
  • To read a story with appropriate rate
  • To read and discuss a grade-level literary text
  • To discuss settings
  • To understand and use Unit 8 Words to Know: exactly, create, category
  • To categorize toys
  • To form and support opinions
  • To discuss opinions
  • To plan an opinion paragraph
  • To write an opinion paragraph

 MATH  

  • To count back by 1, 2, or 3 to subtract
  • To use a number line to count back to subtract
  • To relate doubles addition facts to subtraction facts

SCIENCE

  • Students practice using light to communicate information. In the activity, Secret Signals, students work in pairs to build a device that solves the problem of communicating over a distance. They send secret messages to one another using light and colored markers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain that families have different cultural traditions
  • To show respect for families and cultures that are different than ours

RELIGION

  • To tell that Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer
  • To pray the first half of the Lord’s Prayer

Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To recognize and spell Memory Words: oh, any, day, good, very, want
  • To understand and use Unit 7 Words to Know: speedy, swiftly, distance, skilled
  • To encode CVCe + -s words
  • To complete sentences using good, better, and best
  • To read and discuss a grade-level informational text
  • To listen to and discuss a complex informational text
  • To identify main topic and retell key details
  • To recognize patterns
  • To understand vocabulary
  • To read dialogue with expression
  • To discuss the parts of a friendly letter
  • To discuss ideas for a friendly letter
  • To write a friendly letter
  • To decode CVCe words with -ing and -ed endings
  • To identify CVCe base words
  • To understand and use interjections
  • To understand and use abbreviations

MATH  

  • To use counters and a ten-frame to make sums greater than 10
  • To identify related addition facts
  • To add three numbers by looking for doubles or making a ten


SCIENCE

  • Students practice using light to communicate information. In the activity, Secret Signals, students work in pairs to build a device that solves the problem of communicating over a distance. They send secret messages to one another using light and colored markers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain that families have different cultural traditions
  • To show respect for families and cultures that are different than ours

RELIGION

  • To tell that the Beatitudes are ways to live in the world
  • To tell that Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer
  • To pray the first half of the Lord’s Prayer
  • To explain that being kind to others is doing God’s will
  • To define Beatitudes, heaven, Kingdom of God, and prayer


Week at a Glance

ELA 

  • To decode CVCe + -s words
  • To read a decodable poem
  • To decode difficult words from a grade-level text
  • To introduce Memory Words: oh, any, day, good, very, want
  • To discuss meaning of -s when added to nouns  and verbs
  • To review adding -s to nouns to form plurals
  • To add -es to nouns to form plurals
  • To understand and use good, better, and best
  • To recognize and understand text features
  • To understand and describe characters
  • To understand picture-text relationships
  • To recognize and discuss patterns
  • To identify key details
  • To identify topics of a grade-level text
  • To understand and use Unit 7 Words to Know: speedy, swiftly, distance, skilled
  • To create a sign as a class
  • To write a short message to a classmate

MATH  

  • To use strategies to add numbers
  • To make a 10 to add

SCIENCE

  • Students practice using light to communicate information. In the activity, Secret Signals, students work in pairs to build a device that solves the problem of communicating over a distance. They send secret messages to one another using light and colored markers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

  • To explain that families have different cultural traditions
  • To show respect for families and cultures that are different than ours

RELIGION

  • To identify psalms as songs and poems of prayer
  • To explain that Ordinary Time is a time to show our thanks for God’s creation and for the gifts God gives us
  • To discuss the images of God’s creation- especially wheat and grapes that become bread and wine-displayed during Ordinary Time
  • To define celebrate, liturgical year, and Ordinary Time