Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello!

I pray that everyone is enjoying this break! This time has enabled me to catch up on grading, so if you check your student's English and/or Bible grades, they are all in and up to date!   

And here is a brief, little update on what we have going on in my classes...

7th English: We just finished a writing unit covering the thesis, transitions, editing, defensive and persuasive writing, and much more.  I love seeing the students grow in their writing!  On Tuesday we will begin our next unit, a poetry unit, which includes reading and writing poetry.  We will also be covering MLA Format in writing, and the students will be writing research papers on their favorite authors.

8th English: We just completed our short story unit and will be going on a field trip on December 11th, where we will see many of our stories acted out!  (Details to follow.) Our new unit features Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which we will read and act out together in class.  Students will have to write a paper on what Shakespeare was trying to say in this amazing work. In addition to the play, we will also be reading Shakespearean sonnets and will be writing our own.

8th Bible: We have a Unit Test this Friday! Students should be well-prepared and can study using their guided notes/study guides.  We have been learning about the rise of the early church.  Next, we will be discussing Constantine's influence on church history.  (Super interesting stuff!) . I have enjoyed hearing about the differences in our various denominations and congregations.  How beautiful and diverse is the Body of Christ!

FALCON FRAY: We are doing a WINTER COAT DRIVE for our Falcon Fray December Service Project! Please bring in all gently used winter coats that you no longer need (or like).  :)  Additionally, we will be doing our traditional homeroom Christmas door decorating.  You can begin bringing materials in as soon as possible!

Sometimes our friends bring in birthday treats!  Woot!

Randomized seating chart picture for our big Bible class! 

Praise God for this Day!

For a change of pace, we had part of Bible class outside today.  The students were so thankful to be out of the classroom that they worked extra diligently the entire time.  I overheard one student say, "Let's be super good so we can do this again!'  They are too sweet, and they are always (well, 99% of the time) "super good"! It was great to feel the sun shining on us as we studied Scripture together.  I am continually blessed by ALL of your wonderful middle schoolers.

The First Quarter is Over!

Dear Parents and Students,

....And that's a wrap on the first quarter!  (Report cards will go out next Friday!)
Here is a little update for each of my classes...

7th English: We have been working hard on foundations in writing (through grammar, sentence openers, sentence types, punctuation, etc.), and we are about to begin thesis essays next week!  Additionally, we are currently in a short story unit, learning about myths, legends, fables, and fairytales from around the world.  So far, we have read folk tales from Japan, Africa, Native America, Vietnam, and England.  Students are learning themes, motifs, and more from these enriching tales.

8th English: MLA Research Papers are due tomorrow and will go on the report card!  This was a long, step-by-step process, which was needed for the students to understand research writing, citations, MLA formatting, transitioning, and more.  The students did an excellent job overall, and I also enjoyed our Holocaust literature unit.  This all comes to a close this Monday when the students will share their mini-presentations. (They already took their test on our unit.) Our next unit, starting Tuesday, is a short story unit, mixed with grammar and writing practice. 

8th Bible: We are on to Unit Two, and our current memory passage is Galatians 5:13-18, ESV.  I have loved our class discussions, where we have recently learned about law, love, and legalism.  We've also discussed sin vs. conviction. Thankfully, so many of these students do well contributing to class and are excellent participators!  As always, we look to God's perfect Word for all answers! Our next lessons are on the rise of the early church.  Exciting stuff, indeed!

Falcon Fray: Today was our first official Falcon Fray Battle Day!  Please enjoy these shots of our awesome homerooms! 

Agate's Avengers!

Brown's Badgers!

Weaver's Watermelons!

Classroom Update!

Here is what is happening in Room 120!

7th English: The students did an excellent job with The Giver unit.  The students honed their higher level thinking skills and worldview application as we discussed how the absence of God in the novel actually points to His existence and our need of Him.  We also discussed the value of life and what the author was trying to say in writing The Giver.  We discussed how differently Christians understand our lives than how our current culture values life.  I am thankful that we can discuss the themes of a "secular" novel and apply what we have learned to our world and understanding.  We are now in the middle of a grammar unit and will soon be starting a short story unit to finish off the first quarter.  The only homework that the students have in English currently is to work on their Giver projects which they will present on October 3rd. 

8th English: We are more than halfway through The Hiding Place.  Class time has been made up of discussion, reading comprehension assessments, writing prompts, and more.  I have appreciated how the students are staying on top of the reading for this amazing novel. Students have been saddened over what has happened in the book, and certainly some tears have been shed in class.  They are coming to class prepared to discuss, and I am enjoying every moment with them and this book.  Last Friday we read that Betsie ten Boom felt sorry for the Nazi soldiers (WHAT?!) and we talked about what Jesus said on the cross about forgiveness (OH!).  In addition to reading, the students are also in the middle of writing research papers on various Holocaust-related topics.  Class time has also been spent teaching them how to research, paraphrase, cite, and conquer MLA Format. 

8th Bible: The current memory passage is Ephesians 5:1-4, ESV. In light of this passage, we will continue to discuss what it means to "be imitators of God" as we learn more about Jesus' life on Earth.  Parents, if you want to generate some dinner discussion, ask your student what the core truth needs to be as Christians (circle diagram), what our lives mean in the eternal scope of things (line drawing), and how we are called to be fishers of men (comparison chart).  If they are really listening in class, maybe they can tell you what areas Jesus exhibits power over (with examples from each) and what ICHTHUS means!  We will be finished with the first unit in two weeks and will have a culminating test on these concepts and more.  I am so blessed by my students in this Biblical Worldview class each day!

Bonding at the recent TCS Pep Rally! :) I love these sweet faces! 

We went outside for part of Bible class last week!  Sometimes ya need a little recess!
These awesome kids loved spending time together enjoying the beautiful weather.

Several weeks in! :)

Here is a little glimpse into what is happening in Room 120! 

7th English: We finished our first vocabulary unit which included several writing prompts and other vocabulary activities.  The students did a great job with this unit and its 40 words!  The culminating test showed how much they learned and understood the Greek and Latin roots and the English words. We are now in the middle of a literature unit, reading and discussing the dystopian fiction novel, The Giver.  This unit includes various writing assignments, quizzes on reading comprehension, a final test, and a creative project at the end of the unit. The best part of the unit is the Christian Worldview application and deep discussions that we will have and are already having.  Students need to keep up with the reading in order to be engaged and involved in class throughout the next two weeks.

8th English: We completed our first vocabulary unit from our Classic Vocabulary from Greek and Latin Roots curriculum. This unit included several writing prompts and other vocabulary activities.  Due to the challenging nature of our vocabulary curriculum, students were permitted to use their books for a portion of the unit test.  This "crutch" will be removed in the third quarter.  Currently, we are in the midst of a grammar unit, reviewing sentence types, parts of speech, and classifications.  We are also about to begin our Holocaust/WWII literature unit that includes the novel, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.  I am looking forward to reading this masterpiece with my students! It is a beautiful, historical non-fiction story of forgiveness, God's faithfulness, and our call to be witnesses.  We will also be reading poetry written by concentration camp sufferers and watching the Italian film, Life is Beautiful. Students will be writing MLA research papers on an assigned topic that coincides with our unit. This unit also provides excellent preparation for our trip to The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

8th Bible: There are six units in our Bible curriculum, and we are in the first unit which is an overview of the New Testament.  Our current memory passage is Acts 1:8, ESV.  In class we have worked on a Bible Timeline Group Project, highlighting the main events from Scripture.  While some of our students are very knowledgable when it comes to God's Word, some will need to put forth a bit more effort to understand, which would include taking extra notes and asking questions on unfamiliar topics.  It's an honor to discuss The Word of God with these wonderful image bearers.  Please continue to keep us in prayer as we grow in our walks with Christ together.

REMINDER: All students have been given planners / assignment notebooks.  Please help your student to keep track of assignments by checking planners.  Homework is written on the assignment board in each teacher's room.  See example below:

Love in Jesus,
Mrs. Katie Agate

WELCOME BACK to SCHOOL!

Not everyone is as excited as I am to begin a new year!  Know that I have been praying for each of you, and I know that God has an AWESOME year in store for us! Here are some things to look forward to in case you need more glimmers of hope...

1. FALCON FRAY! Our on-going homeroom competition is about to get even crazier!  Details are forthcoming.

2. Making new friends!  You might just become friends with someone you will know for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! Woah...

3. Learning!  Kinda the main point of school, right?  I have awesome lessons already planned for you!

4. Extracurriculars! Sports, clubs, activities, talent show, Fall Fest, Spring Fling, field trips, and MORE make school extra fun and exciting.  Hooray for school spirit!

5. Growing closer to the Lord!  How amazing is it that you will get to know your Creator and Savior better this year?! 

SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW!
Love,
Mrs. Katie Agate

SO THANKFUL!

Dear Parents and Students,

I am so thankful to our Lord, to my students, and to you all for making this an amazing year!  God has blessed me with amazing middle schoolers, and I pray they have been encouraged in my classroom.  My goal is for students not only to strengthen their writing, reading, grammar, vocabulary, and Biblical knowledge, but even more so to grow in their love of learning and their relationship with their Savior.  I thank the Lord that I have witnessed this growth over the last year of middle school.  ALL of your students are prepared to move on to the next level, whether it be 8th grade or high school.  I am SO proud of them!

Students, over the summer, make sure you are in God's Word daily!  Make sure you are reading great books!  Also, try to write once a week or so, at least!  Pray! And HAVE FUN!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks of school.

Love in Jesus,
Mrs. Agate

The 7th grade won the Bible Bowl!  Woot!  The 8th grade was a VERY close second!

Last Falcon Fray Battle!

The 7th graders wrote professional business letters and sent them out.  Who will hear back?  (Very exciting!)

The Homestretch! :)

I CANNOT believe that it is May!

We have accomplished so much, and we have much left to accomplish! We are right on track with the English curriculum, and we are ahead in Bible.  Way to go!  I praise God for these amazing students!

Here is just a tiny glimpse of what is going on in my classes, along with some dates to keep in mind.

7th English

• So much grammar!  (Test on all concepts, reviewed and new, on May 15th!)
• Kindergarten short story writing! (First draft due May 10th; final book due May 24th; presentation day May 29th!)
• Resume Writing and Business Letter Writing
• One more vocabulary unit to go!
• Review of 7th Grade (Vocabulary Units, The Giver Unit, The Hobbit Unit, Short Stories Unit, Myths and Legends Unit, Poetry Unit, Breaking Through Unit, Writing Structures and Writing Units, Grammar Units) 

8th English

• Wax museum presentations May 22nd
• Lord of the Flies Unit! (We have been having amazing discussions and excellent class activities on this novel!  Test on May 14th)
• MLA Research Writing Mastery: Debate Unit
• Papers due May 28th
• Speeches given May 28th-30th 

• Review of 8th Grade (Vocabulary Units, The Book Thief / Holocaust Unit, A Midsummer Night's Dream Unit, Grammar Units, Short Story Units, Flowers for Algernon Unit, Poetry Unit, Writing Formats and Writing Units, Speech and Debate Unit, Lord of the Flies Unit)

8th Biblical Worldview

• Church reports (currently happening)
• We are in the final unit in our books!
• Bible Memory for Unit: Hebrews Chapter 12:1-14, ESV due Monday, June 3rd.

Important Events

• Last Scholastic order of the year, May 14th
• Middle School Luau, May 16th, 7-10PM in the gym!
• Kennywood Day! May 17th
• Middle School Awards Assembly, Thursday, May 23rd at 8:30AM
• Middle School class party at the park! May 23rd, after assembly.  Details forthcoming!
• Final exams May 31-June 5. Schedule forthcoming. 

Fiesta Fun!

Dear Parents,

Muchas grácias (thank you) for sending in food to help with our fiesta!  We had a great time celebrating the end of a wonderful literature unit.

The food was DELICIOUS!  We played Pin the Tail on the Burro, Cactus Ring-toss, and got lots of candy from the Piñata!  Mexican music was playing, including Cielito Lindo, a famous song that was featured in our novel.

Also, the average student rating for our novel, Breaking Through, was a 9.6/10!  So I guess they liked it, which is always a bonus for me!

Blessings!
Katie Agate

Awesome group of kiddos!

Third Quarter, Continued!

This winter is long, and so is this third quarter!  However, the students are doing really well in my English classes and my 8th grade Biblical Worldview class! The last day of the third quarter is Friday, March 29th, and report cards will go out soon after.

Here is a glimpse into what has been going on in my classes.

7th English: The week before break was all about grammar and writing!  The students completed several writing initiatives in class, and we are still working on writing skills including research writing techniques, sentence mechanics, and transitions.  I am especially proud of the students who took me up on my recent bonus assignment opportunity.  Many did a wonderful job implementing the research skills and demonstrating their understanding with this type of writing. In grammar, students brushed up on infinitive phrases vs. prepositional phrases.  We are working on sentence openers and sentence varieties in grammar as well to implement into writing.  I love seeing the students improve their writing skills before my very eyes!  We just started a new novel and will continue with writing assignments as well.  The students already seem to be enjoying Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez.  Reading homework assignments will be put on the homework board daily, and reading comprehension assessments will all be POP-quizzes.  Sometimes we will finish reading in class, and sometimes the students will have to read a couple chapters at home.  Daily, I write the page number that everyone is to be on for the next day.  This Latin American Literature Unit will culminate with a test but also with a Fiesta!  I will be asking for some help with this and will send out an email as the date draws nearer.

8th English: I meant to report that the students did an incredible job on their poetry portfolios, which were due before the break!  The class average for this challenging yet creative project was a 93%!  The students received rubrics back with their portfolios that show where points may have been deducted (mostly for missing certain literary devices and poetry formats).  Right before break we were working on writing and grammar.  Students completed a peer editing assignment where they needed to demonstrate in their own writing and then identify specific writing structures.  Right now we are in the middle of a short story unit which includes wonderful classic tales such as The Monkey's Paw, The Raven, The Necklace, and more!  The students will finish this unit by writing a short story of their own using "parallel episodes," a writing technique that we are currently exploring.

8th Biblical Worldview: We finished a long unit right before break and are now on the second-to-last unit in the curriculum.  We are currently discussing the Reformation and learning about justification, grace, sanctification, and more.  This unit discusses the sacrament of baptism and communion, and it is always interesting to share how each of our churches celebrates these.  The students were also given a handout with the requirements for their upcoming church reports. These are not due until May, but students should start NOW.  They have six Sundays to gather the necessary information.  I am so looking forward to these papers and presentations.

Please scroll down to read some beautiful poetry by Rachel Dutton.  Rachel's poetry portfolio was among the best in the class, and she is a talented writer.  I think her villanelle will especially encourage you as it did me!

We didn't plan this! :)

I just adore these goofballs!

Awesome sonnet by Rachel Dutton

LOVE this villanelle, also by Rachel Dutton

Third Quarter Starting Strong!

Midterm exams are behind us!  And we accomplished SO MUCH in the first semester.  These students are blowing me away with their work ethics and positive attitudes for learning!  During these first two quarters of school, both the 7th and the 8th graders were able to finish short story units, two novel units each, two writing units each ( including narrative essays, literary response essays, research papers, persuasive essays, and more), two grammar units each, and two vocabulary units each! I'm very proud of their first semester work, and I have high hopes for an even more accomplished second semester!

Here is what each class has to look forward to in just the third quarter:

7th English

• Vocabulary: Units 3 and 4
• Literature: Poetry and Poetry Writing Unit
• Grammar: Verbals (Participles, Infinitives, Gerunds), Conjunction types
• Writing: Expository Essay, MLA Format

8th English

• Literature: Poetry and Poetry Writing Unit
• Grammar: Sentence Mechanics in Writing 
• Writing: Speech Writing
• Vocabulary Units 5 and 6 

8th Biblical Worldview

• Church History (Constantine to the Popes)
• Self in Society (Christian Worldview in Culture)

Recent Photos of The World's Greatest Kids

Therapy Dog Visit Before Exams

Homeroom Lip Sync and Dance Battle

Heinz History Trip

Building Rockets!

Thanking our NASA Speaker