People and Places
In September a new course was launched for the high school international students at Evangel: Intermediate Literature. It is designed to train the students in reading strategies used for deeper understanding of texts and to give the students more exposure to the English language. So far it has done both and more! The Queens Public Library found out about the class and asked if we wanted to participate in their People and Places Program in which thought provoking short stories (mostly written by immigrants) are read and reflected upon. Although each story had to be screened and the program modified for use in a Christian environment, it grew into a valuable experience for all and culminated in a party hosted by Ms. Echols at the newly built 21st Street Public Library. 9th, 10th and 11th grades each divided into groups and created posters for the event. Some groups focused on the symbolism found in a given short story, such as Abalone, Abalone, Abalone, others on comparing and contrasting two stories, and some added the adages, idioms and similes we learned. I was very impressed by the 11th graders who were able to compare given verse from the Bible with the prose poem Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. They did such a fabulous job that Mrs. Echols sent the posters to the founder of the program. I am so proud of those students who participated!
As we wrap up this section on short stories and do review for midterms, I look back at the interesting ways the students showed what they learned; from complex graphic organizers to acting out different parts of a story, from making big books about symbolism to making posters for all the stories, and I am amazed what the students have accomplished. Our next adventure will include nonfiction as we segue into the Academic Fair time of the year.
Mrs. Kemp
Healthy Eating
This month we are focusing on healthy eating in our science unit. We have learned about the food groups, recommended daily allowances for those food groups, and have discussed the need for our bodies to be taken care of. We also focused on propaganda and how advertisements affect our food choices. The students work in pairs to create posters of their own advertisements, to encourage healthy eating habits. I am pleased to announce that I have seen changes in my students eating habits. They are making wiser food choices and those that didn’t eat breakfast are trying to since they understood the importance of starting the day right and the need for energy that we get from our breakfast.
Mrs. Ruiz
Caroling Trip
The month of December has been very busy for 5th grade. We have been rehearsing for the Christmas celebration, and we have also been rehearsing for our caroling trip. This trip was a great success. The fifth graders practice Christmas carols and we sang at two separate places. I can say that we brought Christmas joy to those that heard our students. The students showed their joy and served the community by spreading their joy and ministering by singing carols that mentioned the Joy that we celebrate because of the Christ child’s birth. It was touching to see how the people were blessed. We went out to bless them and in return they blessed us with gifts for each student and even with a donation to our fund for our graduation trip in June. We had fun and thanked the Lord for his blessings.
Mrs. Ruiz
Thankfulness
In bible we have talked about obedience as we learned about Moses and the Judges of Israel. We also took time to thank the Lord for his blessings and celebrated with a Thanksgiving Feast in our classroom. We also enjoyed the harvest fair.
Mrs. Ruiz
Ancient Civilizations
In Social Studies we have focused on ancient civilizations such as the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. As a final project the students created booklets about one civilization of their choice. They did an amazing job!
Mrs. Ruiz
Periodic Table
For the month of November students continued their unit on chemistry and have become experts on reading the periodic table. It is amazing to see their enthusiasm.
Mrs. Ruiz
Memoirs
For writer’s workshop students worked on a Memoir piece and again celebrated with a successful publishing party were they shared their pieces. We held our second bake sale in which we also achieved great success, thanks to all of you who have supported us.
Mrs. Ruiz
Math Strategies
In mathematics we learned new strategies for multiplication such as the area model and partial products strategy.
Mrs. Ruiz
Exploration
In Social Studies we learned about explorers and the reasons for exploration.
Mrs. Ruiz
Chemistry
In October students learned about Chemistry in science class. They enjoyed this hands-on unit and experimenting with chemicals and observing reactions. We also enjoyed the lab in which we constructed molecules with marshmallows.
Mrs. Ruiz