Happy Autumn

The highlight of the week was probably the trip to the Outagamie County Land Conservation Field Day. It is a yearly trip that ELS 5th graders have taken for years. I couldn't just take them and leave the 4th graders at school. We all enjoyed the day. Pretty memorable was the huge cow stomach. I don't know how they preserved it, but it was pretty cool to look at. The LORD provided a wonderful day that started with a few clouds, but ended with sunshine.

This coming Friday we're headed to Mosquito Hill Nature Center. It's the traditional fall trip for the 4th graders. The 5th graders are also going to the nature center, but since they were there last year, they'll be participating in a different program than the 4th graders. I chose orienteering for them, and they chose astronomy. Both programs sound like fun to me.

The rest of the week will have classes and Terra Nova testing sessions.

God Bless.

Romans 14:8

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Rejoice!

I usually end my weekly blog with a Bible passage. This time I'd rather start with one:

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

 

There's is too much to rejoice about to let anything else worry or bother me tonight as I write this. I have food, clothes, a warm house, a job, and best of all, I have a Savior who forgives my sins. May I never forget.

Noteworthy items from this past week:

* The 5th graders worked really hard and produced well done Zooburst projects based on the story The Kid with the Red Jacket. During the week we viewed each project. I'd like to link those projects to our website, but, at the moment, I'm not sure how to do that.

* The 4th graders worked in groups to draw pictures that went with their reading story, Philippe and the Blue Parrot. That same group also wrote a "conversation" that could be part of the story. Those will be recorded on a 2.0 web tool called VoiceThread this coming Monday. I hope to get these linked to our webpage. I linked this site last year, so I know that I can figure it out again.

Notes for the upcoming week:

* Picture Day is this Wednesday, September 21.

* Thursday, September 22, we take an trip to the Outagamie County Conservation Field Day. I've never been there, but this is their 47th annual. 

 

God bless you and yours. And rejoice!

This past week…

We all did a bit more "settling" in this week. I called them 4th & 5th graders more often than I called them 3rd & 4th graders. They are all getting more used to the routine. Of course, then we threw in Friday, with a mission presentation. When we have a Friday morning mission presentation or All-School worship our subjects get switched around a bit. We will all get used to that, also.

Music is such a wonderful way to praise the LORD for His gifts to us! 

The 5th graders got to hear from Chuck Jahnke on Friday. He comes to New London from FVL to give band lessons to our grade school children. Students get to start band lessons in grade 5. I hope many of them take the opportunity to learn one of those instruments. As it stands, we already have 10 out of 24 taking piano or guitar lessons here at ELS. Last year my students (Miss Schmidt's, too) learned to play the chimes. This could be a very musical class! Now, I just need to get the 4th graders to sing as loudly and clearly as the 4th graders.

Praise the LORD!

2 Chronicles 7:6
The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.”

The First Week

Besides the fact that I called my 4th and 5th graders "3rd and 4th graders" more than once this week, I think that the week went pretty well. We put in four busy days. We got everything done that we were suppose to, although, maybe not within the timing that I had envisioned.

The 5th graders have been a great help "breaking in" the 4th graders. Besides tasks that I've asked the 5th graders to do, I've overheard them explaining classroom procedures to the 4th graders. Thanks!

One of the skills that I teach each year is the Scientific Method. I try to call the activities we do investigations, not experiments. Both grades worked on two investigations in science class this week. On Monday, the 4th graders planted seeds, and they've been checking on them each day. They were amazed at how the seed's size and hardness changed from Monday to Tuesday. I hope by next Tuesday that the seeds will have sprouted. 4th graders also studied gladiolas by drawing and counting the various flower parts such as the pistil, stamen, and petals. Their job was to discover what was the same and what was different about gladiolas.

The 5th graders each have a piece of bread on which they're growing mold. (The bags are sealed, so the mold spores are staying in the bag.) I would guess that by Tuesday, the bread should be pretty fuzzy. The other investigation was looking for signs of life. We had two jars. One with sand, sugar, and warm water. The other had dry yeast, sugar, and warm water. We put balloons on the top of each jar. They thought it was pretty cool that they could see the balloon on the yeast jar fill with air. When we came in from recess, the 5th graders noticed that the balloon was missing. There was enough gas created that it blew its top.

I wonder what next week will bring!

God's blessings,

Psalm 91:1

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.