Don't Forget About Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we will be having our second Falcon Frey Battle Day during 5th period (right after lunch).

*Don't forget to bring in cans or dry goods to contribute to the homeroom competition and to support Pitcairn Food Pantry!

*Don't forget to wear your homeroom t-shirt to school!  (They are $3, and you can still purchase and retrieve yours tomorrow.)

*Don't forget to bring in a pie if you want to enter into the contest!

*Don't forget to bring in Christmas decorations for your homeroom's door!

Fun times will be had by all tomorrow! :)

Books! :)

Hello!

I just wanted to let you know that I am placing a Scholastic order tomorrow!  The shipment will be here next week.  If you want to order online, you can click the link below.  You can also go to the Scholastic Website and enter our class's code: JJW7D

Have a great day!
Mrs. Agate

Mrs. Agate's Scholastic :)
https://orders.scholastic.com/JJW7D

Inside Mrs. Agate's Class...

We are almost to the end of the first quarter!  The students are on track and even ahead of the curriculum in some areas.  Woo hoo!  Please look in their English binders and at their Bible study guides for more information on each element below.  Here is just a glimpse of what is currently happening in middle school English and Bible...

7th English

• Short Story Literature Unit: We are in the midst of reading ten classic short stories.  We are learning the various elements and writing techniques of a variety of genres.  We are enhancing higher level thinking skills as we learn what the author is trying to say through discussion of themes.  
• Vocabulary: We are increasing our vocabulary through our current Analogies unit and also through the literature we are reading.
• Grammar Unit 6: We are practicing classifying sentences, and we are learning verbals. 
• Writing: We are working on Persuasive Five Paragraph Essays and learning how to create a strong thesis statement. The students also do written responses to stories which assesses their reading comprehension through writing.  There is a weekly writing prompt as well.

7th Bible

• Unit Three: Job and the Books of Wisdom
• We are learning through Job that we can be refined through trials and tribulations and tested to be made pure, just as gold goes through the fire.  Students also learn to be godly friends in this unit and are encouraged to be a spiritual encouragement to others.  Looking at Job and the other Books of Wisdom also strengthens our faith in understanding that all will be well because God is in ultimate control.  
• Current memory passage is Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 ESV.  This will be a fill-in-the-blank assessment. 

8th English

• Holocaust Literature Unit: We are in the midst of reading The Hiding Place (on chapter 14).  We are also reading various poems from the prisoners held in concentration camps.  We learned about Anne Frank and skimmed the play The Diary of Anne Frank in our literature books.  
• Vocabulary: The next vocabulary unit will begin next week and will coincide with an Analogies unit.  
• Grammar Unit 5: We are continuing to practice grammar sentence classifications and strengthening grammar through writing.
• Writing: The students are writing a thesis paper on why eighth graders across the nation must visit Washington DC.  The format for this writing was explained in class; the students were given an essay outline as well as an example paper.  We are working on organizing ideas in structured writing and supporting thoughts with strong evidence and intelligent vocabulary.  The students also do written responses to assess reading comprehension as well as writing skill.  
• PLEASE NOTE:  Due to the classical poetry we have at the end of the second quarter, call me crazy, but I am extending the Poetry Portfolio due date to that time.  (See website for exact date.)  You will have to trust me that there is a method to my madness.  

8th Bible

• We are just finishing up Unit Two and moving on to Unit Three by next week.
• Students have learned about the start of the early church in terms of how church leaders are chosen to understanding what a believers life should look like even today.
• The current memory passage is Galatians 5:13-18 ESV
• Students are also to be familiar with chapter 11 of Hebrews ("The Faith Chapter") as well as chapter 12 of Hebrews which speaks of how we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.  Students recently turned in a "Person of Faith" mini-report.  

And here is a random sampling of "twin day" during Spirit Week.  :) 

Spirit Day! Go Falcons!

Falcon Frey Battle Day!

This year, the middle school is participating in a battle of the homerooms competition, and we are calling it "The Falcon Frey."  The students have had fun obtaining points for their homerooms for organized lockers, 100% homework participation, random acts of kindness, boxtops, and more.  Last Thursday was our first Falcon Frey Battle Day where we took one class period to compete in relay-type games to earn extra points!  Below you will find pictures of Schroeder's Shredders, Jensema's Jedis, and Agate's Aerial Aces.  These students are the best! :)

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! :)