Hello, Grammarland!

I've been blown away by your students' creativity these past weeks!

Here are a few of the 7th graders' fall poems currently adorning my bulletin board:

This week I tried something new with my 8th graders: one pagers. My 7th graders loved them, and now they want to do them too. Here are a couple of the 8th graders' interpretations of "The Raven":

If you are an 8th grade parent, please click on the link below to sign up to work our fall festival game. Thank you to the wonderful parents who have already signed up!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a084eafa822a7f58-fall


SHOUT-OUTS!!! To Taylor, Nathan, and Grayson, because you spoke at my OCC chapel; to Jonas, because you closed in prayer at said chapel; to Erika, for lending me her beautiful highlighter in my time of need; and to McKenzie, for adding a showstopper item to our Fall Festival basket.

COFFEE: PLEASE and THANK YOU - Our basket is looking amazing! You have until October 28 to turn in items. We still need a great big basket. A couple more gift cards will help increase the value of our basket, but any item is appreciated.

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

It’s time to pack Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes! Each year, LCS students send boxes to impoverished children all over the world. To pack a shoebox, simply choose: Boy or Girl,  age 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14, and pack the box with age-appropriate necessities and toys.

 Here are some guidelines for packing shoeboxes:

 Pack: school supplies (some children cannot attend school if they don’t have supplies), small toys, stuffed animals, hair bows, brushes & combs, soap, wash cloths, socks, t-shirts, stickers, tissues, flashlights, fishing kits, sewing kits, hats, scarves, soccer balls, pumps, Slinkies, plastic cups, cars  - anything small, packable, and necessary.

Don’t pack:  food, vitamins, liquids, lotions, shampoo, chocolate, glass,  or any toys that suggest war. No Pokemon and no Harry Potter. NEW in 2017: DO NOT pack any candy or toothpaste.

 Any standard size shoebox is fine. You may wrap or decorate the box in any way, but the top of the box must be removable. Don’t tape the box closed. We will secure each box with rubber bands.

Dollar Tree, WalMart, and the clearance/dollar sections of Target and Office Max are excellent places to shop.

Pinterest is full of craft and packing ideas for shoeboxes!

If you still have a rainbow loom and bands, please make some bracelets for shoeboxes!

One of the most important things you can place in your shoebox is a note from you. You can include a picture and your address; the child may write a letter to you! Your shoebox may introduce a child to Jesus Christ, so do your best to share His love!

You may pack as many shoeboxes as you wish.

Shoeboxes are due by November 22!  Please drop them off in my classroom (room 124). If you have any questions, please email me!

PROJECTS DUE SOON!

8th Grade Narnia - MONDAY, Oct.28

6th Grade Castles: Thursday, October 31

7th grade Narnia: November 4

Word of the Long Weekend:

vermillion: a vivid orange red.

May God bless you!

Mrs. Desjarlais

Happy fall!

This is kind of a lengthy blog, but I am so proud of my middle schoolers!

My 6th graders are learning grammar, which can be a hard job, especially if you've never learned it before. Today I played a modified game of four corners with them. I had them write a list of verbs, then I called out some action verbs and sent them to various landmarks in my classroom if they wrote down the same verb. Whenever I'd call out a verb that no one had written down, several people would say, "That was a great idea! I never would've thought of that!". I was so surprised. Instead of responding negatively because they didn't write it down, they saw it as a learning experience. And it was a great excuse to run around the room during English!

My 7th graders are learning about figurative language - it's what makes poetry pretty,  and it's why you want to keep reading your favorite book. When we get the hang of it, we'll play a game in which students have little cards with snippets from various works of  literature,and they'll match the example to a card with the literary element written on it. I predict more running around my English classroom.

My 8th graders are learning "The Raven". We have listened to recordings of Robert Frost reading his own poetry, but poor Edgar Allan Poe never had the opportunity to do that. So, I found something else for us to listen to this morning: an audio recording of James Earl Jones, Mr. Darth Vader himself, reading "The Raven". Nevermore never sounded so......creepy. 

Some shout outs.....

6th grade: To Khaleb, for learning French so we can converse; to Sidney and Addyson, for keeping my room nice and neat,to Grayson and Jorden, for conquering vocabulary lists;  to my students who are always willing to help a fellow 6th grader get from place to place, and to my new students for working so hard. 

7th grade: To my brand new student, Meredith, for sharing her salvation story; to Jared, who brought a coffee cup for the 8th grade Fall Festival basket; to Tyler, for juggling school and a three-weekend run at Temple Theatre; to AJ for his excellent manners; to Nathan, for being punny - yes, punny;  and to Levi, for his interesting and creative writing. Which he sometimes illustrates!

8th grade: To Grace, who has already recited about half of "The Raven", to Connor, Todd, and Tucker, for being valuable additions to our varsity soccer team; to my faithful prayer group girls, and to Grayson, for steadfastly defending her NC State Wolfpack.

8th Grade: Here's the current state of our fall festival basket. It smells amazing! Please send an item or two if you can, so that we will have a beautiful basket to auction at the festival! I will be emailing a game schedule soon.

 

All middle school: Please get started on your projects! Parents, ask your child for his or her project sheet.

Word of the day: erudite

er-ə-dīt

Possessing knowledge as a result of study.

As in, my wonderful students are erudite.

That's all for now. May God richly bless you.

Poemland!

Hey there, Grammarland readers!

This week, my students recite a li'l grammar poem....but after that, it gets real!

My sixth graders will learn the first stanza of "Rabbi Ben Ezra", By Robert Browning. It's due October 25.

Rabbi Ben Ezra

BY ROBERT BROWNING

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

My 7th graders will re-visit our old friend from 6th grade, Robert Frost. This poem is also due Oct. 25.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

BY ROBERT FROST

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

And my 8th graders.....

I scared myself reading this stanza the other night:

Yes, it's "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe. 8th graders will recite the first half by November 8...or they may really challenge themselves, and memorize the whole thing for a test grade!! This poem is so magnificent that it earns its own vocabulary list. Study it on Quizlet! https://quizlet.com/431529888/the-raven-vocabulary-flash-cards/

Next Tuesday we will have vocab tests in 6-8 grades. Study on Quizlet! https://quizlet.com/join/P7BRFEtkA

Coming soon.....projects for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Last Battle.

This Friday at 4:00 is the last home game for Varsity Soccer. It's also senior night, and we are playing our cross-town rivals, Grace Christian. Come out and support our soccer team!( If you happen to see me and I'm all teary-eyed, it's because my son is one of those seniors, and this will be one of the last few times he'll wear his Falcon uniform. This mom life!)

Please send items for our Fall Festival basket:  COFFEE: PLEASE AND THANK YOU!! Next week I will send a sign up sheet for our fall festival game. It's a soccer shootout...made challenging by using those lightweight playground balls!

Here's a word for your weekend: unperturbed:  not worried, upset, or disquieted. 

It's an adjective. Use it well!

Blessings,

Mrs. Desjarlais