January 3 Update

Welcome back! I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you very much for the wonderful class gift at Christmas. I will enjoy using the gift cards to Target and Starbucks and the donation to Upper Peninsula Bible Camp (a place I love!) was incredibly thoughtful.

Language Arts
The students received their memoirs back today in class. Overall, I was very pleased with their writing. I have enjoyed seeing the content of their writing improve in wonderful ways throughout this school year. Some students still have been struggling with grammar and language usage rules in their writing. In hopes of the students learning from their mistakes in their writing, they need to make specific corrections on their papers and hand them in again by this Friday. I have encouraged the students to come and talk with me if they have questions about their papers. We will be spending time over the next few weeks covering capitalization and punctuation rules in class. The students will have quizzes throughout the unit and a test at the end.

Wednesday Wars
During 6th grade language arts, I read the book Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt to the students. I recently learned that Calvin College is putting on a production based on the book at the end of this month and they are having special showings for school groups. The 7th grade students will be going on Friday, January 28th to see the play. I'm very excited for this opportunity; it will be a great way for the students to connect things they've learned in class with theatre at Calvin. We will leave at 11:15 and return to school at 2:30 that day. We'll spend time reflecting on the play when we return to school at the end of the day.

Spelling Bee
The spelling bee will take place in the Worship Center on Friday, January 21st from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Students who are interested in participating must sign up no later than this Friday. Mrs. Oren will have a run-through practice in her room on Tuesday, January 18th from 7:45-8:15 a.m.

Miscellaneous
*Please note: we have school on Monday, January 17th (MLK Day). We will have a special Family Time that morning. Feel welcome to join us.
*Reading Log and ELA weekly journal assignments are still happening. Journal assignments must be handed in by Friday morning each week.
*Bible Memory Work (Psalm 89:1-4) is due on Thursday, January 13th.
*Artist Trading cards for art class are due on Thursday, January 13th.
*The students have a quiz in science this Friday.
*Mark your calendars for the 8th grade class play "Snow White" on Friday, February 4th.