Testing, testing... is this thing on?

The first day of testing was today, and I believe it went really well!  The students seemed up to the task and said that it was mostly easy for them.  That is always an encouraging sign. 

Please make sure your student comes to school with No.2 pencils, an eraser, and they are also allowed to bring a snack for the break times.  Also, bottled water is permitted in the classroom.

We only do testing for 2-3 periods of the day, but I still am not giving homework this week to ensure complete rest and focus. 

Enjoy your week!

MARCHing Onward!

Here's a glimpse of middle school happenings in the classroom...

7th Bible: Our current unit is on prayer.  The students will be keeping prayer journals (starting on Monday), and we are learning the various prayers of our Biblical role models to explore what God's word says about prayer.  The students just memorized a scripture passage of their own choosing according to the topic of prayer.   

7th English: Our current unit is on folk tales and legends as we explore literature from other cultures.   The students will also be listening to several speeches along with writing and executing their own persuasive speech.  For grammar, we continue to classify sentences as we become confident with parts of speech and their various roles in a sentence.  Writing and vocabulary are always on the agenda, and we only have ONE lesson left in our vocabulary books!  Way to go, guys!

8th Bible: We continue in our study of church history as we learn about Roman Catholicism and the rise of Islam.  The students just memorized various Bible verses that have the phrase "one another" in them since we are studying the importance of unity and community within the body of Christ. 

8th English:  Our poetry unit is underway, and students are currently reading, analyzing, and writing various forms of poetry as well as learning about a variety of poets. Soon (the end of March) we will begin reading the classic novel, Lord of the Flies.  The students will also be writing PSA's (public service announcements) and creating multimedia presentations.  Grammar lessons continue through the venues of proofreading, editing, and classifying sentences.  In vocabulary, we only have one lesson left, and then we will begin an analogies unit that encompasses vocab as well. 

Keep pushing, kids!

Love,
Mrs. A

 

Help Our Class and School!

 

Dear Parents,

You have probably already heard of our upcoming Trivia Night fundraiser.  All of the classes were assigned a theme with which to create a gift basket for the silent auction.  Our class was given a "Gift Card Basket" theme.

If you can, please contribute any gift card of any amount, or send in a $5 donation to this cause.  You may also ask friends and relatives if they have any unused gift cards they wish to contribute.  Send your donations in to homeroom teachers by March 14th!

What are we up to in middle school?

Dear Students and Parents,

What a crazy last couple of weeks!  Even though lesson plans are a bit out of wack due to cancellations and delays, we continue to be very productive in the middle school. :)  Here is a brief note to give you an idea of what we are up to in each class.

7th Bible: We are in unit five of our textbooks, and we are continuing with our studies of the prophets.  It is so awesome to see how God calls His people to himself throughout history to this very day! 

7th English: This week we will be finishing our novel, The Giver.  The students have been SO excited about this literature unit.  The majority of the class read ahead and is finished with the book.  (I can't be upset that they couldn't put it down!)  The students will be writing a descriptive essay on their very own "utopia," and tomorrow we are holding a Lincoln/Douglas debate on issues from our novel.  For vocabulary, we are in units 9 and 10.  In grammar, we are on track and half way through the Shurley text books. 

8th Bible: What does God's Word tell us about church?  What should our churches do, look like, be about...?  We are in unit 4.2 on church history, and we are exploring some very interesting events and ideas.  Students will be reporting to the class on various aspects of their own churches throughout this unit.  This is an excellent unit to discover and grow in our understanding of the beautiful unity we have in Christ as believers. 

8th English:  Expository essays are on the menu this week!  Proofreading and editing our written work is also happening in and outside our classroom!  We are learning about writing and recognizing various types of essays.  We are cruising along in our grammar lessons, and vocabulary is underway as well.  The students are also in the middle of a classic literature project.  Everyone is reading an amazing literary work and learning about the author.  Each student was given a concise and specific rubric and instructional sheet for this project. 

Thanks for all your prayers and support for our middle school!
-Mrs. Agate

Drivers...

I am so sorry to inundate your mailbox with these emails! I just wanted to confirm the drivers for tomorrow. THANK YOU!

Mrs. Blackburn
Mrs. Weaver
Ms. Unruh
Mrs. Schmidt
Mrs. Yorty
Mrs. Riviere
Mr. & Mrs. Taylor
Mr. Jensema
Mrs. Agate

Again, anyone else is allowed to join us. Just reimburse the school for your ticket.

Important Field Trip Info...

Hello, all!

In the case of a delay tomorrow, we will still be meeting in the school cafeteria as planned.  The movie tickets are non-refundable, so we don't want to lose out!  Please arrive in between 8:30-8:45.  We plan on leaving the school at 8:50, and we must be at the theater at 9:15.

If dropping your student off at 8:30 is an inconvenience, you may drop them off as early as 7:30AM.  The school will be open, and I will be here to supervise.

THANK YOU to all who offered to drive.  As of this morning, we have enough drivers!  We even ended up with more than enough! Yay!  Drivers, please get your group back to the school in between 1:45-2PM. 

If you have still not paid for your ticket, please pay the school office tomorrow morning when you arrive.

THANK YOU!
Katie Agate

 

Reminder! and Help!

 

Dear Parents and Students,

Our field trip to see The Hobbit is this Thursday!

Thank you to all who returned the permission slip with payment!  If you haven't done so, please bring it in tomorrow!

ALSO--
We need more drivers!!!  If you can drive, just send in money to the school for your ticket as well. 

One more thing: The movie theater originally said the cost was $9.75, but they invoiced us for $9.50 per ticket.  So I will be passing out quarters to all the students who paid!  Sorry for the inconvenience. 

THANK YOU!
-Mrs. A