Christmas Break - Dec. 18

God is with us. Emanuel. He sent us a Rescuer. To us. Praising God these words are true. "Because of COVID" may be the new saying of the year. But "God with us" is the truth that brings us true comfort and peace. Forever!  I pray that over this break you may set aside time to read the story in Luke 2. Remember who God is and what He came here to do. God is with us. He is here. 

Tent School International: This class read over 5,977 minutes in 2 weeks. I am not even sure if I have ever read that much on my own! Way to go, 4th graders! Those minutes brought in a total amount of $968.92. WOW. Thank you for your donations and pledges. In this experience, I am reminded how we are blessed to be a blessing. Thank you for being that blessing.

New Student: We have a new joining our class on Monday! Luke Westfall will be joining our 4th grade family. Please pray over Luke and his brother Eli as they make the transition to Rose Park. I am praying they see the love of Jesus through their classmates and feel welcome at RP.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 16 - Dec. 11

We just completed a very productive week!  These kids are becoming masters at long division (just ask them if you need any help!).  They wrote an entire persuasive letter this week - some of you better be ready with your comeback arguments because they've created a pretty strong case for their opinion!  They've learned how to think deeply about the big ideas in their historical fiction books, and almost all the book club groups started their second or third historical fiction book this week!  They have spent time dwelling on God's love that is so evident in this season of advent and the reasons/stories leading up to the need for a Savior.  They've studied the stories of King David - God forgave him for some pretty serious sins, and God will forgive us too!  In fact, he not only forgives us, he saves us from the punishment we should get (here we are back at the Christmas story again - Jesus came to earth to be that Savior!).  And finally, we've explored the geography of our own United States, but also many other countries by looking at their Christmas traditions displayed all through the halls of our school.  It has been a FULL week, and our minds are a bit fuller too as proof of all we've accomplished!

We are also looking at a Bible test on David next week.  Watch for a study sheet to come home soon.

We will have no HOMEWORK next week.

Christmas Celebrations: We'll be celebrating with our class on Friday. We'll enjoy some fun Christmas activities in the classroom, and finish out the day with a Christmas movie and some snacks with the other 4th grade class.  If you are able to help provide any of our store-bought snacks, please follow this link to sign up.  Thanks in advance for your help!  We are also going to encourage the kids to go all out with their wardrobe - all things Christmas!  And that even means if they want to wear some PJs, go for it!  They may also bring ONE comfort item to curl up with while they watch the movie (blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, etc.)

Tent Schools International: On Monday the students will be bringing in their final tallies of reading minutes for the past two weeks.  Watch for an email next week about our totals so you can follow up with the pledges you made for this challenge.  Thank you for supporting this mission!

The Show Must Go On: If you have had a child here at Rose Park for first grade, you likely remember the beauty and excitement of the annual first grade Christmas program as well as the Christmas Blessing experience. If your child is yet looking forward to first grade, they're in for a transformational experience! As with ALL of our learning plans for our students this year, we want to design experiences that are safe and meet the return-to-learn safety measures but also instill just as much, if not more, invigoration and JOY in the learning process. Truth be told, this stretch of creativity has been an exciting endeavor for our staff together! Our first grade Christmas program and blessing experience cannot look like it has in the past with rows of parents and grandparents seated in the gym, but that doesn't have to stop us! Guess what! The Show Must Go On! ....outside in the parking lot! We're moving our risers outside to hold our singing shepherds and angels! A local radio station has graciously agreed to transmit our caroling fleet of angels and shepherds voices right into the listening car radios of parents and grandparents watching from the parking lot! Shoot! This year they might even sing along from inside their car! You are welcome to share the experience and tune into the Christmas joy on December 16 at 9:30 on WHTC. 

 

 

 

Coming to school everyday is such a joy for me!  I truly LOVE these kids.  It seems that they love being here too.  This class is so special to me, and we have a great time together doing the work God has called us to do during our days.  It is looking very probable that we are actually going to make it to the end of 2020 doing full time in-person learning for the first four months of 4th grade (unless you had a personal quarantine, but hopefully you felt like we kept things moving forward for you even during those long days)!  God is so GOOD to us!  We'll pray for the same blessings as we turn the calendar to 2021 in just a few weeks!

Week 15: Dec. 6

Thanking the Lord for Facetime, Zoom, and multiple devices! Because of these items, we can include everyone in a book club discussion.

Thank you for sending in your pledges for Tent Schools International!  The kids should be reading everyday at home to build up our minutes to earn even more money for this worthy cause.  I'll report back during the week of Dec. 14 what our total number of minutes was so that we can calculate our total pledges.

Next week we're excited to spend some time touring the school to view all the Christmas Around the World displays that the other classes put together too.  We're in for a treat!

BIBLE - We're studying King David and admiring his trust and obedience in God, which is resulting in blessings and covenantal promises from God.

MATH - We're practicing long division, and dare I say, actually enjoying it!

SOCIAL STUDIES - We continue to explore the human geography of our country.

READING - We're thriving in our historical fiction unit as we dig deep into the big ideas about WWII that are coming through in the books we're reading.

WRITING - We're enjoy writing persuasive letters about the ideas we have and trying to convince others they are valuable ideas too.

WORD WORK - Two more weeks of word work words until Christmas break!

MATH FACT PRACTICE AND READING MINUTES - Encourage your kids to stay diligent with these!  We'll do two more weeks of it, but then I'll give them time off over Christmas Break. ☺️