Thank you Brother Tom

Brother Tom, our computer guru, brought a newer and faster computer for our classroom. I have been practicing patience with the old one... so I am celebrating the arrival of updated technology. Thank you, Brother Tom.

For religion today we read an article about the Amish community and their response to this school tragedy. We are learning from their example of "forgiveness." Once again we referred to the Prayer of St. Francis. Students made symbols to help us remember we are called to be "instruments of peace."

In English, students were walked through an assignment to make children's books for Mrs. Urling's First Grade class. Yesterday we had talked about what subjects, font, words, etc. are appropriate for this age group. Our books will include many of the sight words and phonetic word groups the first grade students are learning.

In Geography 7, we read the story ("Lungs of the earth") of Chico Mendez and his fight to save the Amazon Rainforest. We read how he was gunned down in l988. We then looked at profile post of Chico Mendez honoring his life. Students then made "wanted" posters for violators of the rainforest. You would enjoy the creativity and humor of this class.

Grade 6 did 3-digit math multiplication for a warm-up. Students were assigned problems on p. 30 sections C and D (odd numbers). This is due Monday. Two students completed the assignment in class, it is homework for the others. After this mind-bending work, we took a short walk downtown for fresh air (clean the brain cobwebs) and enjoy the beautiful weather. We saw a couple of interesting events: The public works men were pouring fresh cement to secure the stop sign near our school. Yes, we wanted to leave our prints in the fresh cement.... but we resisted the temptation.
Also saw a group of women. They were speaking Russian (I asked them... in English) and were taking photos of our town. Hey, Ashland looks extra good on a warm fall day.

For World History, we looked up dumblaws in other countries and in some of our states. We had talked about this earlier in the week as we talked about how hunters/gatherers became farmers and started to organize as "communities."

At the end of the day, 8th graders used the time to work on children's books, vocabulary due tomorrow, final essays on The Old Man and the Sea, or other work.

NEWS FLASH! 8th graders are off to the Bayfield Apple Festival tomorrow... to celebrate the "fruit(s)" and fun of northern Wisconsin. We will leave at 9:15 a.m. and return by 2 p.m. Students need to return with permission slips and pocket money for lunch. There are two cars going: the school van, and Kehoe van. The weather should be like today... Bring it on, Bayfield!!