Sept. 20-24

What happened this past week?

1. In art class we learned an easy way to draw anything made with a box, like presents, Kleenex boxes, desks.... We also found out how to draw cylinder type things.

2. We had our first Spanish class during our Enrichment class. Some of the 4th graders groaned when I said we were having Spanish. But from their reactions, I'd say that they all enjoyed it.

3. We've worked on memorizing our church song for worship on Sunday, October 3.

4. The field trip to Mosquito Hill Nature Center was windy. But we all learned new things about Mosquito Hill and God's creation that we didn't know before.

What's coming in the next 5 days of school…

1. Standardized testing starts this week. We will start on Monday, September 27, by filling in their names on the computer-read answer form. There will be testing spread out over the next two weeks. If possible, it would be great if students didn't miss any school time during testing. Tests can be made-up later, but it's more convenient to have all of the students tested at the same time.

2. Our afternoon devotion time is a mini Bible study each day. Since school began we've been reading the book of Ruth. We will finish with Ruth this week. What a wonderful God we have to include Ruth in the family of Jesus. What a wonderful reminder to us, to be like Ruth and completely trust in God.

3. We sing at the 9 am service on Sunday, October 3.

4. Have a blessed week.

Sept. 13-17 What did we do this week?

For me, the week went by extremely fast. It was the closest thing we've had yet to a full week. I suppose the upcoming week isn't exactly a full week either, since we'll be on a field trip to Mosquito Hill Nature Center on Friday.

Highlights from this past week:
• Our first art class of the year was an exercise in following directions. They all heard the same directions (draw 3 lines that go from the edge of the paper to the other; draw 5 circles; draw 2 curved lines; fill in 3 of the circles; etc). While they all had the same directions, their creations are all unique! Our art classes have a lot to do with learning; they are not usually "just projects".

• We started learning our song that we will sing in church on Sunday, October 3, at the 9:00 service.

•We had our first spelling test of the year. It did not go well. Please encourage your children to study the spelling words at home.

• On Friday, we investigated how to make an earthworm move. We all had fun. When I get "Photo Galleries" to work properly, you'll be able to check out the pictures of our investigation.

•••• Next week ••••

• Things to look forward to:
• Continuing our afternoon devotion, which is a study of the book of Ruth and how we can apply it to our lives.

• Learning about drawing techniques.

• Going to MHNC --- We go rain or shine!

Sept. 7-10

What did we do this week?
• The fourth graders went to the computer lab and did their first KidsBlog entry.
• We had our first assignment in English class.
• PE had us playing with hula hoops. That was fun, and I should have had the camera there to record the activity.
• We started writing letters to Miss Pamperin, who will be the student teacher in our room. She will be coming the middle of October.
• Please check out the Student Work page on the class webpage. After the students read Mirette on the Highwire in reading class, they created three group drawings of the story. They also wrote, revised, practiced, and recorded comments about the story. It's been embedded to our student work page from a website called, VoiceThread. 

What's up for the coming week?
• It will be closer to a full 5-day week. Wednesday is a 1:35 dismissal.
• Monday will be our first art class. Our art classes are usually about learning and not just about doing a project.
• This coming week (Sept. 13-17) will also be our first spelling class of the school year. You can find the words on the spelling link off of the 4th grade homepage.

First Week

The first week of school is done. Everything from my viewpoint went pretty well. With the Lord's guidance, may all of our actions through the rest of the year go well also.

1st Day of School

I'll admit that the first day of every new school year brings a nervous stomach and a dry mouth. Some of the students came in with a few "nerves" of their own. As we got into our day, my nerves dissipated; I'm pretty sure most of the students' nervousness went away as well. At the end of the day I had several children tell me that the day went by quickly. I like to hear that!

Tomorrow, we'll all be back to tackle the second day! There are always a "ton" of directions/procedures/rules that we go through on day one. It always surprises me that the students remember so many of them the next day!

God's blessings!