Tomorrow's Christmas Party

Tomorrow, December 21, will be our last day of school before Christmas break. It's also Dress Down Day and our class Christmas party! We will play games, make a gingerbread house, watch a movie, eat snacks, and exchange our home-made Secret Angel gifts. Then the children will have the chance to guess and discover who their Secret Angel was during the month of December.

Remember, you do not need to buy any gifts for a classroom gift exchange. In lieu of students exchanging gifts and teacher/staff gifts, each child may donate toward the clean water project.  For $500 a well can be installed in a village in a foreign country where there is nothing to drink but contaminated water, resulting in much illness and often death. Our goal is to gather enough Christmas gift donations to purchase at least one well—two would be even greater! Think about how much you would have spent on gifts and donate that amount to the clean water project.  A green envelope is being sent home with your child today. Please put your anonymous donation in the envelope and have your child bring it next week. Please do not put any identifying marks on the envelope.  The children will be hanging their envelopes on our Christmas tree and we will open them during our class party time and count up our donations. Thanks for helping to make it easier for children in a remote village to stay healthy and alive.

Parents are invited to attend our party from 2:00 – 3:00pm to play games with the children. Here is a list of what the children volunteered to bring to build their gingerbread houses. If they wish to bring another snack to share, they may but please do not feel obligated. I will be bringing chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa for the party and popcorn for the movie.

Gingerbread House Items

Logan: 2 boxes of graham crackers

Jack: 2 boxes of graham crackers

Claire: 2 cans of frosting

Cayla: 2 cans of frosting

Emily: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

Jayden: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

Brayden: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

I WILL BRING THE REST! THANKS!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit!

What a whirlwind of activity we’ve experienced in the 3^rd and 4^th grade classroom these last few weeks! In November we said good-bye to Miss Amber Moore, our Junior Achievement volunteer. We so enjoyed having her in class each week and learning from her about what it means to be a member of a community. In honor of Veteran’s Day on November 11th, our students welcomed two members of the armed forces, and also Saint Paul’s alum, into our classroom to speak to us about what they do.  First was Lt. Carolyn Koval recently back from Afghanistan and currently stationed in Germany with the U.S. Air Force. She told us about her travels across Europe, answered our many questions about her job and the various climates, landscapes, and cultures she has experienced in her travels, and read to us from H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet. This children’s book describes the different branches of the military, the special abbreviations used, being an army brat, and other interesting facts related to our country’s armed forces. Two days later, HN Rebekah Schlemer, also visited. She, too, talked to us about her job as a hospital corpsman in the Navy and even brought an MRE (meal ready to eat) for the students to try! We've excitedly awaited the chance to meet both of these young women since we first wrote to them in August, and we are extremely thankful for their dedication in serving our country. Watch for the Troy Lutheran to come out- we have photographs to share with you showing what we have been up to this month!

Now that we are into December, we've studied the accounts of Christ’s birth according to the Gospels. We’ve worked hard practicing our skit entitled Generous which we will perform during chapel tomorrow, Dec. 19. Our skit goes along with the spirit of giving—giving of our time, talents, and treasure—which Christ calls us to share with all of those around us. We so enjoyed serving the congregation through our Children’s Christmas program this past weekend. As a class we've festively decorated our classroom for Christmas and enjoy singing along to our favorite Christmas carols every day. We begin each morning with an Advent devotion and light our Advent wreath. We are learning that during the Advent season, our hearts are waiting and preparing for the celebration of Christ’s coming. We are also sneakily crafting home-made gifts, kind messages, and mysterious clues for one specific classmate throughout the month of December. We are so excited to discover who our own Secret Angel is and to tell who we have been a Secret Angel to! In Social Studies class, we are researching how Christmas is celebrated around the world. This is our favorite project every year and we are excited to learn more about how people celebrate the holiday season in different ways. At our Christmas party this Friday, we will create gingerbread houses, eat cultural foods as part of our Christmas Around the World project, watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, sing Christmas carols, and eat cookies that we made as part of our math lesson. In place of a gift exchange, we will open our Christmas donations toward the Clean Water Project and count up how much money our class is donating toward the mission. It feels good to do the Lord’s work!

Thank you for the prayers and continued support you give us. Each of us feels truly blessed to be at Saint Paul’s. Most of all, we are thankful for the birth, death, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ!

A very blessed Christmas and New Year to you and yours,

Mrs. McLaughlin’s 3^rd & 4^th Graders

Third & Fourth Grade Christmas Notes

Children’s Christmas Program: Tomorrow, December 15, is our last Christmas Program practice from 9:30 – 11:00am in the church sanctuary. Please have your child in attendance so he/she knows when to walk forward, when to speak, etc. Students should meet in the school lobby between 5:30 – 5:45pm on Sunday, December 16, which is the evening of our program. After the program, students can be picked up in the church basement.

Our Class Christmas Party: Next Friday, December 21, will be our last day of school before Christmas break. It will also be the day of our class Christmas party! We will play games, make a gingerbread house, watch a movie, eat snacks, and exchange our home-made Secret Angel gifts. Then the children will have the chance to guess and discover who their Secret Angel was during the month of December.

Remember, you do not need to buy any gifts for a classroom gift exchange. In lieu of students exchanging gifts and teacher/staff gifts, each child may donate toward the clean water project.  For $500 a well can be installed in a village in a foreign country where there is nothing to drink but contaminated water, resulting in much illness and often death. Our goal is to gather enough Christmas gift donations to purchase at least one well—two would be even greater! Think about how much you would have spent on gifts and donate that amount to the clean water project.  A green envelope is being sent home with your child today. Please put your anonymous donation in the envelope and have your child bring it next week. Please do not put any identifying marks on the envelope.  The children will be hanging their envelopes on our Christmas tree and we will open them during our class party time and count up our donations. Thanks for helping to make it easier for children in a remote village to stay healthy and alive.

Parents are invited to attend our party from 2:00 – 3:00pm to play games with the children. Here is a list of what the children volunteered to bring to build their gingerbread houses. If they wish to bring another snack to share, they may but please do not feel obligated. I will be bringing chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa for the party and popcorn for the movie.

Gingerbread House Items

Logan: 2 boxes of graham crackers

Jack: 2 boxes of graham crackers

Claire: 2 cans of frosting

Cayla: 2 cans of frosting

Emily: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

Jayden: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

Brayden: 2 kinds of candy to decorate houses (gumdrops, chocolate kisses, red licorice, hard candies, etc.)

I WILL BRING THE REST! THANKS!

Reminders, Memory & Spelling: Dec. 10-14

Reminders:

• Tonight, 12/07: Kids' Night Out in the gym from 5-9:00pm
• Tomorrow, 12/08: Christmas Program practice 9:30-11:00am in the church sanctuary. I told my students to know their parts by memory for tomorrow. 
• Wed. 12/12: PTL hosts the Advent Dinner in the church basement at 5:30pm. I hope to see my students there helping out! Advent Service follows at 7:00pm upstairs in the church sanctuary.
• Thu. 12/13: Social Studies Chapter 4 test
• Fri. 12/14: Science Ch. 6 test
• Sat. 12/15: Last practice for the Children's Christmas program 9:30-11:00am.
• Sun. 12/16: Children's Christmas program at 6:00pm.
• Thu. 12/20: "Christmas Around the World" research project including written report and poster display are due. Students received the assignment today and began working on it. I will give them some class time. Some may also want to work at home. The assignment can also be found two posts below.

Memory: 

9th Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

What Does This Mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

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Spelling Words-3rd Grade
Week 15:  Nights of the Pufflings

1. hair
2. care
3. chair
4. pair
5. bear
6. where
7. scare
8. air
9. pear
10. bare
11. fair
12. share

Challenge Words:

1. flair
2. farewell

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Spelling Words- 4th Grade
Week 15: My Name Is Maria Isabel

1. shark
2. attack
3. risk
4. public
5. sink
6. question
7. electric
8. jacket
9. blank
10. ache
11. crooked
12. drink
13. torpic
14. track
15. blanket
16. struck
17. mistake
18. junk
19. squirrel
20. stomach

Challenge Words:

1. aquatic
2. comic
3. tropical
4. speckled
5. peculiar

Historical Fiction Book Report

DUE JAN. 8, 2013

Book Report Ideas

Theme: Historical Fiction

Definition: A fictional story with real and invented characters that takes place during a historical time.

Directions: Choose a book that fits the category of historical fiction and have Mrs. McLaughlin approve it (otherwise you’ll lose points). Write a summary of the book and then choose one of the activities below to present to your classmates.

1.     Describe the setting of a scene, and then do it in pantomime (act it out without speaking like a mime).

2.     Construct puppets and present a show of one or more interesting parts of the book.

3.     Dress as one of the characters and act out a characterization (talk about your character as if you ARE the character).

4.     Imagine that you are the author of the book you have just read. Suddenly the book becomes a best seller. Write a letter to a movie producer trying to get that person interested in making your book into a movie. Explain why the story, characters, conflicts, etc., would make a good film. Suggest a filming location and the actors to play the various roles. YOU MAY ONLY USE BOOKS WHICH HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES.

5. Write a book review as it would be done for a newspaper. (Be sure you read a few book reviews before writing your own.)

Christmas Around the World Project

Christmas (and other December Holidays) Around the World

Due Dec. 20, 2012

I am assigning you a project which you will complete on your own. You will choose a country to research online. You will be learning about how that particular country celebrates Christmas or another December holiday—their special customs, or traditions. I am giving you a few websites to help you gather your information. This project will be part of your Social Studies and English grades.

Websites:

http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm

http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/worldxmas/index.htm

http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/index.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20060403042028/http://christmas.com/worldview

Directions:

1.    Include a poster with a picture (hand-drawn very carefully or print pictures from the internet) of your country and pictures showing the customs and traditions of the people celebrating their holiday

2.    Be able to point out where your country is on a map

3.    Write a written report in paragraph form (don’t just make a list of answers) about your country and create a poster to present your research to the class. Use the questions below to help you write about how Christmas or another December holiday is celebrated in your country. For example, some questions you should answer:

a.    When do the people of your country celebrate Christmas or another December holiday? (If you choose to report on another December holiday, tell us what it’s called.)

b.    What kinds of special foods do the people who live there make during the holiday season?

c.    Does your country have any different symbols of Christmas or other December holiday celebrations (like the Christmas card, the star, mistletoe, the poinsettia, holly, the Christmas tree, Christmas carols)

d.    What does your country call Santa Claus? (Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Papa Noel, etc.) How is he different from the Santa Claus we know in the United States?

e.    Do people from your country give gifts during their celebration?

f.     How do people from your country say “Merry Christmas”?

4.    Bring one cultural artifact (anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users) used during Christmas by the people in the country you’re researching (like special foods, clothing, symbols, etc.)

5.    Include any other interesting information about your country’s celebrations that you would like to share.

6.    Write the names of all websites, books, and other resources you used to write your report.

Rubric (How you will be graded on each part):

Written report              ______________ / 25 pts.      Organization                ______________ / 10 pts.                 

Poster                          ______________ / 25 pts.      Neatness                     ______________ / 10 pts.

Presentation                ______________ / 10 pts.      Sources Cited             ______________ / 10 pts.     

Cultural Artifact           ______________ / 10 pts.

Overall Grade ______________ / 100 pts.