What's happening in English and Bible?

We have been having a wonderful first quarter so far.  The students are such a delight!  They bless me everyday with their positive attitudes and on-task behavior.  May God be glorified through the fruits of their labor in and outside the classroom!

Sometimes middle schoolers aren't so forthcoming in giving Mom and Dad the details of their school days.  So, here is an update on what is going on in my classes.

7th Bible:  The seventh graders just completed the first Bible unit which included an overview of the Bible as a whole.  We studied the beautiful covenants that God made with His people.  With joy we talked about the New Covenant by which we are all saved through Jesus' sacrifice.  We were assured in seeing God's faithfulness to His people throughout history.  We will continue understanding these concepts through an in depth study of the Jewish Feasts and holidays, which is our current unit.  The students will learn the English and Hebrew terms for these festivals, the significance of each event, and how Jesus has fulfilled them ALL from Passover (Pesach) to The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) to The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and more!  The students are also having group projects to discover more about the individual feasts.  Fear not, parents-- these projects will not cost any money, and each student will be graded INDIVIDUALLY on his or her contribution.  The group won't even have to get together outside of school!  We will have two work-days in class allowing time to collaborate, and each member's part will contribute to the whole.  I have done this assignment in the past, and it is always a wonderful endeavor.  

7th English: We finished The Giver a couple weeks ago and took the test on vocabulary and reading comprehension. (I have given them more time to complete their projects, due September 29th.  I can't wait to see how the lessons on journalistic writing paid off!)  The students loved the novel, and most rated it as a "ten."  Hooray!  Even though the novel was an easier read, we discussed the deep issues that the novel presents and how our Christian worldview affects the way we see the utopian society.  Lois Lowry's work covers the value of an individual's life and the power one person can have to change the world.  How true is this in our Christian lives?  We discussed how our lives are not our own; we belong to God.  How much MORE are we worth, then?  The students were wonderful in having these deep discussions involving the symbolism and themes of the novel.  Additionally, we are covering grammar, and we even have had a grammar relay race which was fun and successful.  The students are great at classifying sentences and seem to have a strong foundation in grammar.  I am looking forward to building on that foundation with the goal to become better writers.  

8th Bible: The students just finished their mini-projects on the Gospel and Epistle writers and books.  In their current Bible unit, we are doing an overview of the New Testament which will lead us into the birth of the early church.  The unit test will be next Tuesday, and their Bible memory passages are the seven last "words" of Jesus.  They have the references in their folders. :)

8th English: Our poetry unit is going wonderfully well.  The students are learning many poems, literary elements, poetry forms, and more!  They are working on a poetry portfolio, which will be due in a month.  I am so impressed with their abilities to discover poetic themes and to analyze poems! In addition to reading, writing, and discussing poems, we have been getting into grammar.  Some of the students LOVE classifying sentences and seem to have such fun during our grammar lessons.  Other students cringe when I say the dreadful words, "Open to the grammar section of your binder."  Like it or loathe it, they will be getting tons of grammar under their belts this year!  I can say that the students enjoy the writing prompts that we have had, and we are looking forward to becoming great writers this year as well.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Love,
Mrs. A

The Sweetest Sweeties

Here is the current seating chart.  Names were drawn at random, and we shall see if I need to put more strategy behind it in the future.  So far, so good!  These students are wonderful! :)