During Catholic Schools Week, students learned about their class’ patron saint while participating in activities involving the STREAM curriculum. Over the next week, we’ll be sharing a look into our exciting CSW lessons at St. Laurentius. Up first is fourth and fifth grade!

 

Fourth grade spent Catholic Schools Week learning about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Fourth grade teacher Miss Nicholas shared, “I loved that St. Kateri found God and encountered peace in nature.” One of the fourth grade’s favorite lessons was dissecting flowers to identify parts of the flower and their functions in pollination. Miss Nicholas explained, “Students were so excited as they were able to have a better understanding of how all of the parts work together in an actual flower.”

 

Miss Nicholas’s class also enjoyed constructing their own hydroponic gardens from recycled materials and bean seeds. She wanted to emphasize the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Caring for God's Creation, and she said, “Both St. Kateri and organizations who are utilizing hydroponic growing systems are examples of this Catholic Social Teaching.” In class, fourth graders learned that a steward of creation is a caretaker of the environment and all created things. Together, they brainstormed ways in which their own families could be better stewards of creation. Miss Nicholas was especially proud of her class for making these connections to their own lives.

 

To learn more about St. Kateri herself, fourth graders read aloud a Reader’s Theater of key events in her life. To Miss Nicholas, the most important takeaway was for her students to see St. Kateri's “dedication to God, despite the challenges she encountered in life.” She reflected, “With everything going on in the world, it is important to show students that God is always there for them.”

 

Pictured below are fourth grade students dissecting the parts of the flower.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, fifth graders studied St. Jerome - the patron saint of translators - and delved into language and manuscripts. Fifth grade teacher Mr. DeFelice decided St. Jerome was important to study because without his translation of the Bible into Latin, we wouldn't have the English or Spanish Bible that we have today. Of course, St. Jerome was the perfect fit for a group of students who enjoy learning languages and for a teacher who also teaches Spanish at St. Laurentius.

 

When asked about the highlights of his Catholic Schools Week lessons, Mr. DeFelice himself particularly enjoyed transcribing Psalm 23. He said, “Students had to work together to compare the accuracy of their translations. They also had to come to an agreement over the final details of their verse prior to transferring it over to paper.” However, the fifth graders’ favorite part was making parchment paper with the use of tea bags. Mr. DeFelice said, “It was fun to paint with the tea bags and see how it permanently stains the paper.”

 

Mr. DeFelice plans to continue this lesson beyond Catholic Schools Week. In the near future, he’s hoping to recite the psalm to the students, alongside a few other teachers. He said, “We’ll be switching between five languages (Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French). I think the students will think the final product sounds really cool.”

 

The most important qualities of St. Jerome’s that Mr. DeFelice wanted to convey to students were perseverance and hard work. He took pride in his class’ work this Catholic Schools Week and reflected, “I’m proud of seeing the students' efforts pay off.”

 

Thank you so much for keeping up with our Catholic Schools Week activities at St. Laurentius. Check back shortly for more updates!