Run the Race Set Before Us

Connor led our opening devotions and prayers today. Thank you.
Thinking of the Whistlestop Race this weekend, we looked at the verse
Hebrews 12:1-2: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith... " (interesting this is a "run-on" sentence).
We talked about who is in the "cloud of witnesses"... and then each student wrote down two problems that may weigh us down; they put their post-it notes on the board. We all recognized these sins: anxiety, worry, frustration, anger, jealousy, lying, cheating, etc. We then arranged the post-it notes to make a cross and we returned to Heb. 12: 1. "...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
We wish great blessings and weight-free running for Clare and Mrs. Shields at the Whistlestop. Be watching for these OLL athletes!

For English, students did the weekly spelling test, turned in vocabularies, and shared with the class high-quality sentences. We are practicing how words gain value when used correctly. 8th Grade Students then read to the class their children's books they authored for Mrs. Urling's first grade class. They covered many age appropriate topics and included the word groups and sight words the first grade class is learning. After reading, each students shared his/her joy and frustration of writing a book. I felt our students bumped against some of the challenges, authors feel: who will do the illustrations, topics, keeping sentence length age appropriate, gathering facts for non-fiction. Thank you 8th graders for good work. I am excited to share these books with our reading partners in first grade.

Today in Math we celebrated the good scores on the unit test. Students had a little treat. I showed students how to answer the "extra credit" questions. We are moving into simple algebraic equations for the next unit. Mary was the winner of our weekly drawing.

World History 6th Grade students continue to work on their early "farms". Students are thinking creatively and doing good work. It will take a couple of more class periods before we are ready for presentations.

Thank you Mrs. Marita for broadcasting the aroma of home-baking in our hall today. It warmed our hearts on this cool, blustery day.

Events and assignments to remember: Please support the Knights of Columbus Pancake and Sausage Breakfast this Sunday. Monday morning, 8th graders will do a book talk at Latte' Da; they may want to bring some money for a hot drink. 7th graders, you will present your Amazon rainforest creatures and legends on Monday. Thanks for sharing this race of faith with us. Have a great weekend.