September: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5
Sept. 11, 2026
First and foremost today, we prayed for the victims of 9-11, both the people who perished on that day, their family members and friends who still miss them, and the rescue workers who got sick in the years that followed. Miss Salvati has a beautiful flag in our classroom with all of the names of those who died in the attacks listed on it. We prayed this interdenominational prayer today and yesterday:
Interdenominational Prayer for Sept. 11
Then, both classes spent some time learning about what the Beatitudes are in general, and specifically about the Beatitude for the month of September. The 5th grade will be making a Beatitudes booklet this year. We'll do one page each month and I plan to use it as a small classwork grade each month. (They need more time to work on this month's page next week. Since this was new to them, we spent more time talking about what the Beatitudes are in general and still need to delve into "Blessed are the poor in spirit..."
6th grade already learned about the Beatitudes last year (and made the booklet), so we'll just be doing a review each month and taking some notes on the Beatitude. They'll be expected to know the Beatitude, and have a general idea of what it means and how they can live it out. (Expect it to turn up on our next test!) Here are my notes. The 6th grader's notes might not match up exactly. They were allowed to explain what the Beatitudes are and what this month's Beatitude means in their own words. (Many of them remembered well! I loved their explanations!) Beatitudes Notes
6th grade parents: I know you've been made aware of some behavior issues already from Mrs. DiIorio. I let them know in my class today that I will be keeping close track of both homework - who follows through and who doesn't - and behavior this year. You may want to touch base with your child this weekend and ask how they are doing. NOT how their fellow classmates are doing! There are times that they are very inclined to point out each others' wrongdoings, and I've been trying to impress upon them that:
shushing others (loudly!)
calling out about something someone else is doing
laughing at something someone else is doing
encouraging someone else to do something they're not supposed to in any way
....are all causing far more disruptions than if they were to ignore other's misbehaviors and focus on what they were supposed to be doing themselves. Each student is responsible for his or her own actions -- and each student can make a difference for the better!
I think it's important to stay on top of behavior and have consistent expectations at the beginning of the year so that we can proceed through this year to come focused on what we're here for -- LEARNING! Thank you for all you do at home to encourage your child's best behavior and to support us middle school teachers.
Sept. 10, 2026
Grade 6: If you didn't finish the prior knowledge paper, please finish it tonight and bring it back tomorrow! (Don't ask anyone or look anything up! I just want to know what you already know!)
Grade 5: If you brought home your nametag to finish decorating, please bring it back tomorrow!
Parents: It was nice to see so many of you last night! For any parent who needs them, here are our hand outs from last night. I have plenty of extra copies in school; just send me an email or ask your child to take one tomorrow if you'd like one!
Back to School Night handout (6th Grade parents, please read the part about Confirmation at the end!)
Parent Survey ("Returning" 6th grade parents don't need to do this unless anything has changed since last year! But it's helpful to have an idea of the background of any new-to-me students, especially for non-Catholic students.)
Sept. 9, 2026
5th Grade: If anyone didn't finish copying their notes today and need to finish at home, here they are: Introduction to the Liturgical Year and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I warned them that the times we'll take the most notes will be the days when we're learning about something that's in our curriculum but not in our religion book. (Today was one of those days!)
Tonight: Back to School Night 6 PM. Hope to see you there! 🙂
Small candy reward still available to anyone who remembers to have their religion book covered in clear contact paper! 😉🍭🍬
Sept. 8, 2026 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This afternoon, we celebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation. Here are some prayers to say after confession in case you'd like to pray any tonight at home!
Please cover your religion book with clear contact paper if you didn't yet!
Grade 6: If you didn't have a chance to finish the religion class survey in class tonight, please finish in your free time and bring it back to me on Thursday. Thank you!
Grade 5 - 5th Grade missed religion today due to going over to church, so we'll cover today's feast day tomorrow, in addition to some vocabulary related to Catholic feasts that we'll be using throughout the year.
Sept. 3, 2026
Please have your religion book covered over the weekend! See below for "how to" video clip if needed! PSA: In both my 5th grade class and my 6th grade class, I had a student tell me that they cover their own books. I think that's a fantastic life skill, so parents can feel free to assign this task to their children, especially if your child is also good at things like gift wrapping and origami. 😉
Looking forward to meeting the new-to-me parents and seeing familiar faces at Back to School Night this coming week! Have a good weekend! 😎
Sept. 2, 2026
Welcome back to school!!
I'm looking forward to teaching you all! Check back here frequently for homework, study info, links to notes, etc.
Your first item of homework this year will be to have your book covered in clear contact paper! Sorry, parents, I know it's a pain. But the books get pretty beat up being carried around in the switch bags all year. The ones that are covered last through the year in far better shape! There are prayers in the insides of the front and back covers, so we need those covers in tact! Please have the books covered by Tuesday 9/8. Thank you for your help! We won't be using the books tomorrow, so it's okay if you want to keep it at home and send them back in at the start of next week. I overheard Mrs. Blithe telling her class that she sent their parents this link and asked her to pass it along to me. For whoever needs it, it's a very helpful how to cover books video! (My only edit would be to say to make sure the book fits widthwise. You will occasionally have books like the fat math book or wide handwriting book that need to be turned in the other direction to fit.)
(6th grade started Spanish today, so I won't see them till tomorrow!)
Here is our prayer for a new school year in case you'd like to pray it with your family at home: Prayer for a New School Year
At the end of class today the 5th grade and I started talking about our class rules. They can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/mrscunnane/home
PSA for anyone who's interested in Reading Olympics this year! We got the new book list! You can start reading at any time! :) We'll do a kick off meeting before too long. (See the Reading Olympic tab on my website for more info! I don't have the date for this year's competition yet.)