7th Bible: We are learning all about the Book of Proverbs! We are already on Unit 5 in Bible! I pray that we continue to gain WISDOM and understanding in God's Word. The students have chosen their own passages from Proverbs to memorize. The unit test (including the Scripture memorization) is this Friday.
7th English: We are in the midst of our poetry unit. Students are learning to identify and analyze a variety of poetic forms. They are also exploring some of the common poetic elements such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, imagery, meter, and more. We read over a dozen wonderful poems from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. The students are also practicing poetry comprehension and learning to question the texts that they read. At the end of the collection, students will write and present a descriptive essay using sensory details and figures of speech. They also have been writing poems throughout the unit, which is always fun!
8th Bible: We just started a new unit! In our study of church history, we are in first century Rome, and Constantine is the emperor. It's an exciting time in history to learn how God grew His church. The students will learn more about where church traditions originated. We will look to scripture to understand why we believe what we believe. When the students return from break, they will be completing their church reports. Students in the past have loved presenting their own denomination before the class. We have twentyfour students and nineteen different churches represented by the 8th grade! I know that God will bless our time of sharing about the diversity, yet unity, in the Body of Christ.
8th English: We just finished reading the Shakespearean drama, A Midsummer Night's Dream. We had a wonderful time analyzing the witty language and even performing many scenes of the play in class! The current vocabulary lessons have all come from the play as well. The students will have a test on the play this Wednesday. This week the students will also start on their mini-research papers (five pages). They will understand MLA Format much better at the conclusion of their research and paper writing. They students have chosen topics under the umbrella of PLAYS. They could have chosen a particular theater production, a playwright, a drama from our literature text books, etc. I will teach them how to research, create a research outline, document sources, transition from thought to thought, and much more. This will be the last assignment due at the second quarter.
These are just some of the wonderful elements of our middle school classroom in English and Bible!
Keep the students and me (that is correct grammar-promise) in prayer as we, with the Holy Spirit's power, finish strong before Christmas break!
