We started the new year by sharing stories, traditions and of course, a favorite toy! Show and tell promotes public speaking and a self confidence boost!
Thomas Edison
Students studied the history of the telephone.
We started the new year by sharing stories, traditions and of course, a favorite toy! Show and tell promotes public speaking and a self confidence boost!
Students studied the history of the telephone.
This time of year is always busy, but memorable! We began the month preparing our hearts for the celebration of our Savior’s birth, as we all know as Christmas. Our daily devotions consisted of scripture leading to the birth of Jesus. In addition, students in 1st - 8th grade, performed Candle Light services @St. James Church Texarkana. This beautiful and traditional service always sets the tone for the real reason we celebrate Christmas! You can view the Lower School Candle Light service (1st -4th grade) here: https://youtu.be/lVO8HkFc6ZM
Over a span of 2 weeks, students worked diligently to create their parents gifts. This is my all time favorite DIY gift! Christmas Tree Nail Art! Students sanded their board, hammered nails using a tree template, then strung shades of green yarn in a variety of patterns.
Thank you Ben Mayo, with Mayo furniture for donating the boards and Ms. Denise for safely teaching the students carpenter skills!!
Last but not least, a Christmas party took place to conclude our festivities together! We even had a surprise visitor, The Grinch!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
This year we were thrilled to invite parents on campus again! Each class performed a skit, song, or song. And following tradition, the students concluded with sharing what they are thankful for!
3rd graders studied the history of our American flag and the meaning behind the lyrics of, “The Star Spangled Banner”.
Our students dedicated Chapel on this day to honor of the men and women who have and currently are sacrificing their lives for our freedom.
The aquarium combines age appropriate STEM based hands-on learning with educational talks and up close animal encounters! During our interactive visit, students gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the earth's oceans and the creatures that inhabit them. Our class specifically learned about Axolotls and we were gifted a cute stuffed axolotl that has become our classroom “pet”!
We also learned how to make shark treats! This activity was a “favorite part of the trip” for many!
Beginning day 1, 3rd graders are exposed to multiplication. Arrays, equal groups, factors, and products are just a few vocabulary words they hear frequently. Hands on learning in math is a great visual for the students to understand the concept.
Save Pythias!
In our Open Court reading text, we read “Damon & Pythias”, a Greek legend set on the island of Sicily. The story represents what true friendship means. This gave me an opportunity to throw in a fun STEM investigation, Save Pythias! This activity included building community, engineering design, and Greek legends! Based off of the popular Save Fred activity, this includes a fun twist.
Poetry Cafe is underway!
A tradition every 3rd grader looks forward to is, Poetry Cafe! Within a 3 week study of poetry, students not only read and learn many poetic devices, but write a few poems, too! Last week we read poetry outside a few days while the weather was cool. It’s so nice to escape the classroom from time to time!☺️
We will host a Poetry presentation next week for our parents. We plan to record it and upload to our St. James YouTube channel.