October

Be looking for a NEW website coming very soon to a computer near you...

7/8 Religion

We'll be finishing up the Mass unit during the first two weeks of October.  As part of this lesson, we've been discussing the upcoming (when? we don't know) changes to the liturgy.  We've found out, that the changes are not anything new, we are actually changing BACK to the way it was when the apostles themselves were saying the Mass.  Pretty cool when you stop and think about it.  These were the guys who knew GOD... personally... so going back to the begining (which was one of the explorations begun in Vatican II) can really enrich us today.

Since October is the month of the Holy Rosary, we'll spend some time examining each the Mysteries.  We'll also continue to celebrate the Year of the Priest by praying for our priests each Thursday. Here's a link to a specific rosary meditation for the Year of the Priest.

http://www.usccb.org/yearforpriests/pdf/Rosary%20for%20the%20Year%20of%20the%20Priest%20Print%20Spread.pdf

7/8 Language Arts

We will finish up Unit One in English with a review of direct and indirect objects, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives.

In Lit, we'll have a mini-unit on O.Henry's short stories.   Toward the end of the month, we'll participate in my favorite unit... POE.  By now you should have received a letter about the Poe performance at the Orpheum on November 7th.  This will be the awesome conclusion of the unit.

8th GRADERS NEED TO BE FORMALIZING THEIR TOPICS FOR THE CULMINATING PROJECT.  PLEASE PICK UP A KANSAS LIBRARY CARD AT ANY WICHITA BRANCH OR AT GARDEN PLAIN OR COLWICH.  STUDENTS WILL ALSO NEED A WCHITA PUBLIC LIBRARY CARD FOR OUR RESEARCH DAY IN DECEMBER.  IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OR THE PROCESS OF THE CULMINATING PROJECT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.  I WILL HAVE A FORMAL LETTER GO OUT AFTER THANKSGIVING.

5/6 Language Arts

We are still in the Nature's Fury Unit.  Volcanoes are our current natural wonder, then we'll fly over to tornadoes.  As part of this study, we will be visiting KSN studios to talk to meteorologist, Mark Bogner. He has come to St. Joe several times to talk about weather, but this time, we'll come to him to see just what a meteorologist does and where. 

Please keep reviewing subjects and verbs-we're still a little rusty.

5/6 Religion

Rain, rain, go away... That's probably what Noah thought after even a few days on the ark.  We'll be reading his story this coming week and then sail on to the Tower of Babel.  We'll end the month by studying our great father in faith, Abraham.