Science, Spelling, and Sheep

The Science Fair is this Thursday.  The second graders will have a display of work that we are making at school.  It will be wonderful to see all of the families at the fair.  Please take time to explore the experiments, ask questions of the scientists, and talk to your students about new concepts.  The 2nd graders will especially be interested in the 3rd grade toothpaste commercials and maybe it will help them think of ideas for next year.

The Reading story this week is about sheep shearing, wool carding, wool dyeing, and finally weaving. We watched a video today about sheep shearing.  We learned that the wool needs to come off of the sheep in one piece and a crew of shearers will travel together from farm to farm until the sheep are all cared for.  It can take 3 minutes to shear one sheep.  The record time for shearing a sheep is 45 seconds.
We also have been talking about the way Jesus refers to us as sheep.  Sometimes that seems rather nice to be considered as a sheep until we learn more about them.  Learning more about sheep makes us think that sheep are difficult animals to guide and care for.  Our sin does make us a lot like sheep.  We have learned a bible verse which helps us know that the Lord calms our troubled heart even when we act like anxious sheep.  "My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me."  The Lord truly is a Good Shepherd to all of us! 

Unit 23 Spelling Words

1.    helpful

2.    sadly

3.    hopeful            Vocabulary Words

4.    thankful           1.  yarn

5.    slowly               2.  strands

6.    wishful             3.  spinning

7.    kindly               4.  dye

8.    useful               5.  weave

9.    safely              6.  sharpening

10.   painful             7.  duplicated

11.   mouthful           8.  delicious

12.   weakly             9.  directions

13.   jumped

14.   saying

15.   quickly

16.   wonderful

Look for other “ful” and “ly” words in everything you read.  Will you be the first one to type some new words on the comment section of the blog? 

Weekend Homework

HOMEWORK

Read for AR
Reading workbooks - If your child brought it home they have some old work to complete or fix
I kept the workbooks that were complete and did not have any corrections in them.
Religion books - Finish booklet including the covers & return it to school on Mon. Open Book Test
ART - the students were to complete 3 "faces" for last weeks art project

We cleaned desks.  We deep cleaned desks!  The Desks Are Clean!
Please check over the items your child brought home.  You may find work that is not graded and needs to be completed.  Students need to complete those items and return them on Monday.

It is my prayer that you spend these days with the Lord as you prepare your hearts for Easter.

Preparing for Good Friday

Our classroom has changed.  It is empty, bare, and sad just like churches will be tomorrow.
We spent some time talking today about our Lord and the Lenten Season.
We shared about how Jesus' life ended.
We went into the church to see for ourselves what would be changing for Good Friday (the day Jesus died).  It is a Good Friday for us because the battle for our salvation was being fought for us.  However it is a sad church service, a somber chruch service, and it makes the people attending reflect in their hearts. Those people leave the church in a quiet respectful way.  It is like we have just left the tomb of our Lord and like the women at the tomb it is powerful to see for ourselves that Jesus died.

When we went back to our classroom we finished the last few ideas of making our room like the tomb of Jesus. We thought about how Jesus took care of every last detail before he died.  He even found a disciple to care for his mother.  He promised eternal life to the thief next to him.  He forgave us all.

It is my prayer that you experience the entire Lenten Season with your student.  Please take them to a Good Friday service, help them think through and reread those last moments of our Lord's life, and pray together!  Then the love that comes to us in Easter is even that much more powerful and fulfilling to our Spirits.  God's Blessings on your families as you continue to learn about the Lord together!

Short Week Tender Feelings

We have a short week of school.  We will not have a spelling test this week.  St. John will not have school on Good Friday.  We will be back together for Easter Monday to share the love of our Lord.

Several students had tender feelings today which could mean they are fighting a cold or some sort of health bug that doesn't keep them home from school.  It is also a time in our spiritually lives where our students spend time thinking about the Lord's death and resurrection.  It is "good" to know that Jesus' death saved us from our sins, but as children they normally concentrate on our Lord's Resurrection from that death.  He Lives therefore, We Live!  If your student is more sentimental than usual it would be wonderful to take some time to find out what their thoughts are about this Lenten season.  Their perspective is quite different from ours.  Remind them of how we concentrate on our sins and Jesus' death during Lent, but that by Sunday we will all be celebrating the new life of Easter!

The Lenten Time and the Easter Season are central to the celebration of our faith.  Each part of the history of our faith is very important, but none as important as the Risen Lord.  It is my prayer that each of the students has the opportunity to attend all of this week's church services to help them learn and grow in their faith.

HOMEWORK

Reading Workbook 102 and 103
Memory Work is due Tuesday
Math #103
Spelling Test to Sign and Return
Report Card Slips to sign and return
Easter Cards to color (for Mrs. Fritz to mail)
Read for AR

Happy Birthday, Coloring Buddies, & Wow!

The Wow is for the treats that Nolan's mom brought to school for his birthday!  His favorite caramel brownies, apple slices, and orange slices!  It was enough that we had an afternoon snack!  We all wish Nolan the best birthday ever & we think it is pretty cool that his birthday celebration is on carnival day!

We got together with our PreK buddies today to be their coloring buddies for an Easter Card project.
It was fun to see how well our buddies can color, have time to talk together, and even read stories together once we were done with the project.

All of this excitement is almost too much to take in. We are moving our Spelling Test to Monday.
The students will have the weekend to get those homophones firmly into their knowledge base.
Reviewing with cold spaghetti noodles is a lot of fun if you haven't tried it yet.

HOMEWORK
Reading Workbook pages 98, 99, 100, 101
Handwriting Review Page
Math #102
Read for AR
Enjoy Friday Fun Books
Come to the Carnival
Worship the Lord over the weekend

Anxiously Waiting

We are ready for the school carnival!  Everyone is excited!  We had art with Mrs. Germain and time with Mrs. Samuelson this afternoon.  They both realized how anxious the students are for Friday evening!  It is always good to gather as a St. John Community, participate in the games, eat some food, and enjoy the auction!  The students are all talking about who they want to vote for in the pie in the face contest.  It will be good to see everyone at the carnival!

HOMEWORK
Math #101
Reading workbook 96 & 97
Spelling Words (Test Friday)
AR
Friday Fun books need to be returned in order to get other books!

Precious Carnival Families

Our booth has plenty of helpers! 

I have sent some of your names on to the Mother's Club Carnival Organizers.  They need workers!
All of the help you give setting up the carnival, running carnival booths, and cleaning up is appreciated. The set up is on Thursday, the carnival is on Friday, and help with cleaning up follows the carnival. Your volunteer time all counts for PIP hours.  If you are not listed below please volunteer your assistance with Lisa Casper or contact the school office.  Everyone is welcome and everyone is needed!

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FAMILIES FOR RUNNING THE RING TOSS!

5:30 - 6:00 Gabrielle and the Krueger Family

6:00 - 6:30 Akeela and the Vandre Family

6:30 - 7:00 Laken and the Frederick Family

7:00 - 7:30 Alexa and the VanDeWeerd Family

7:30 - 8:00 Matthew and the Steffen Family

The rules will be posted at the booth.  I will be at the carnival incase you need me!  It is a fun booth to run and the students like to be heckled a bit when they play the game. I hope you enjoy running our 2nd grade booth.  The time passes very quickly!