Home Notes

6th Grade

Date	Home Note
December 18	To the 6th grade parents and guardians,             Merry Christmas edition!  Since this will be the final home note sent out before Christmas, I want to start out by saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone.  I truly hope that you have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, I pray that you are with people that you love and that you have peace, love, and joy at Christmas time.       This has been a little bit of an odd final week before Christmas break this year, due to the weather and related problems that come with having this weather.  As I write this note to you, I am remembering that if this was a normal week, right now we would all be gathered up the church listening to the kids share their worship service with us.  Speaking for myself, I am missing not having that this year.  It really feels different.  There is something special about sharing the gospel message at Christmas time.  I love hearing that Christ came to earth to save us from our sins, but even more than that, I love the fact that we (these kids!) are sharing the message of Christ with others.  I know that some may only get to be reminded of that at Christmas time and how awesome it is to hear that message, especially at Christmas time!  Sentimental moment warning- (some may wish to skip ahead to next paragraph)  Because of the busy and hectic schedule we force upon ourselves at Christmas time, it is easy to lose sight of this being a "magical season" and the commercial aspects of Christmas can be appalling to some.  I know in the past I have often looked for signs of wonder at Christmas time, sometimes its found in the little things, like the kids singing songs at the Christmas service, or enjoying the lights on the class Christmas tree.  Maybe for me this year, it was walking back to school tonight in the snow as it was coming down pretty good.  I grew up in Montana, and so snow is something I love, but I have to admit, I don't miss the 30 below weather of Montana.  What am I trying to say?  Don't overlook these moments of your life with your kids, you will always cherish them.  As you know, they don't last forever.  Enjoy them while you have them.  Remember that they are gifts from God, not everyone has them.  God gave Himself to us also as a gift.       Well, here's what we have been doing in class this week- at least the part of the week that we've been in school.   Religion   We finished up the kids doing their group lessons on the parables.  The kids each taught one of Jesus' parables to the class and explained what it meant to the class.  There was some very good discussion over these parables.  Anyone wanting to get a jump on January's first Memory Verse, it is Zephaniah 3:17   Literature   The kids finished up their Famous Authors Report and are now sharing with the class the information that they learned about their author and the literature they wrote.  Six kids gave their reports today, and the rest will give theirs tomorrow.  These reports are very interesting, the kids worked very hard on them.    Geography, Vocabulary, and PE Not yet, we haven't had time to do those classes yet this week, although we will get to some of them tomorrow.  The next country of the week for January is Italy.   Please remember to have your son or daughter bring in their gift for their Secret Santa for tomorrow afternoon's Christmas party.    Did everyone get to see the mid-terms that went home on Wednesday.  Please sign and return (or send me a note or e-mail saying that you have seen it) by Friday.  Thank you for all your co-operation as we work at being flexible this week due to the weather.   Lastly, as most of you know, tomorrow is Jingyo's last day with the class before he returns to Korea.  It was very nice getting to know him and having him be a member of our class.  I would like to wish him the best as he goes back to Korea and hope that he remembers his time in America with fondness.  He will be in our prayers and our hearts.   God bless all of you and have a wonderful Christmas break!                Adam Reed
December 15	To the 6th grade parents,        Welcome to the final week of school before Christmas break.  As we approach the end of the calendar year, there are several things that I am suppossed to remind you of about the week upcoming.      In order of events as they happen.  On monday, the students will receive their mid-term reports, please look these over and return a note (or an e-mail) that lets me know that you have seen the mid-term.  Also, you will notice that the students ITBS scores are attached to their mid-term report.  If you have any questions concerning either of these two documents, please let me know.      Then, the next big day is Thursday.  This is when the students present their Christmas worship service.  Please have the students report to the gym between 6:30 and 6:45.  Also, this is the night when we have the responsibility to host the Christmas worship reception.  Thank you to those who have signed up to help.  We are in need of more help.  We do not have anyone signed up to help serve during the reception and only two who have said they would help clean up (the largest need).  Please help if you can.  The school traditionally asks each school family to provide two dozen cookies for the worship reception, so if you could bring these in before Thursday, it would be greatly appreciated. (If the 6th grade student has a sibling in a younger grade, you do not need to provide more than the two dozen cookies, each family provides two dozen cookies total.  This information was suppossed to go home in the last Lion's Paw, but it was left out).       Then we come to next Friday.  The students will be having a Christmas party at the end of the day.  You don't have to do anything for this except make sure that your son/daughter remembers to bring in their gift for their Secret Santa, if they have not done so already.  I do not mind if the students bring in their gifts early.       Here's what we have been doing in class lately-     7th grade classroom report as written by Jimmy Dewey On Monday in Science we studied ocean zones.  On Tuesday in Science we learned about ocean zones, In English we worked on our personal narratives.  On Wednesday in Science we did models of oceans.  In English we had a review.  On Thursday our models were due in science.  On Friday we studied ocean currents.   8th grade classroom report as written by Rachel Dixon In Math on Monday, the blue book did nothing, the red book went over their chapter review.  On Tuesday, the blue book did dividing decimals, the red book took a test.  On Wednesday, the blue book did dividing decimals, the red book learned about exponents, decimals, and variables.  On Thursday the blue book did dividing decimals and the red book did integers and absolute values.  On Friday the blue book did dividing decimals, and the red book did integers.   Religion    The students are grouped up and are teaching some of Jesus' parables to the rest of the class.     Geography    The students are learning about types of energy and the differences between the renewable and non-renewable energy sources.  The country of the week is Iraq.   Literature    This Tuesday, the students Famous Authors Reports are due.  The students then will give oral presentations to the class about what they have learned.   Vocabulary     The students are currently on Unit 9.  Test on Friday.   P.E.    We have not had too much P.E. lately because of the extra practices that we have had for Christmas worship services.  When we have had P.E., we are playing three pin.   Have a great week!  See you at the worship service!