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CATECHISM This is clearly one of the most important courses taught here at St. John's. This instruction is the very reason you have chosen to send your child to our school! Pastor Lindemann will provide regular focused instruction in this subject. On Wednesday mornings, I will lead a group Bible study. But as I go through each school day, the truths of God's Word will inform all my teaching. It is amazing to me how much time we spend talking about God and the things of God in all the other curriculum areas. This is, truly, my favorite part of what I do. MATH All students will use Sadlier-Oxford textbooks. This math curriculum is new to me, but what I've looked at so far is terrific. I will actually be teaching four math classes daily. Some 7th graders will be in the 6th grade text, 7th graders will use the Fundamentals of Algebra text, while 8th graders will use Foundations of Algebra. One or two 8th graders will study Algebra 1. SCIENCE Our science curriculum is new this year also. Our text is published by McGraw Hill and consists of four units. We will study earth, plant and animal classifications, matter and atoms, and energy. The text includes many opportunities for lab activities. I'm optimistic this will give the students ample time for hands-on learning. WORLD HISTORY/WORLD GEOGRAPHY Last year, this classroom began using a new world history text published by Savvas Learning Company. This year, we will use the same company's partner text, World Geography. The text is extremely thorough and deals with world history in terms of the formation of countries and current government systems in other countries. Because history is taught in alternate years, we likely will not try to master all the details of each lesson in the geography text. My goal for the year is that the students achieve a good overview of earth's continents and countries. I want them to be able to at least place countries where they belong on the globe and retain some information regarding climate, land formations, and culture. ENGLISH Our English textbook provides an excellent overview of grammar and usage. After we have thoroughly reviewed our grammar, syntax, usage, and punctuation skills, we will complete 2 or 3 writing projects as the year comes to a close. LITERATURE My plan for our upper graders is to have them read, and read, and read, and read! We read daily in the classroom and I ask the students to read another 30 minutes daily outside the classroom. This can be achieved in one stretch or accomplished by reading for 5 or 10 minutes when the opportunity arises. Please ask your student frequently about what he/she is reading. For our actual class time reading, we will focus on non-fiction materials. We'll read informational text, biography and autobiography, true accounts of events in history, and news articles. One goal for the year is to work on the skill of differentiating fact and opinion. MUSIC We will study our new Lutheran hymnal and learn more about worship and the music connected with it. We will also work on our performance pieces for church singing and the Christmas Eve service. I hope to do some listening activities to introduce your children to a variety of musical styles. ART I am using an online art program called "Deep Space Sparkle". This program provides opportunities for the students to create art using a variety of mediums and techniques. Finished art will be displayed in the hallway near the cafeteria. Take a look when you're in the building! PHYSICAL EDUCATION We are blessed to again have Mrs. Randall come in once a week to teach P.E. to our students. She does a great job! She will teach class on Fridays. During our Wednesday class, we will play cooperative games indoors and outdoors, do some fitness activities and study some lessons on personal wellness. SPELLING Each grade will work through a 36 lesson spelling textbook. While we will spend some time looking at the material together, this is almost entirely independent work. By doing the work faithfully and carefully, your child will master dozens of words this year. Please encourage hard work and careful study for each week's spelling test. CURRENT EVENTS We watch CNN10- a daily 10 minute newscast for elementary students produced by CNN. Our school also has a subscription to a service called News-O-Matic. News-O-Matic allows me to assign non-fiction material for the students to read and interact with. News-O-Matic articles are often related to current events and the program allows me to assign the same story written at an appropriate reading level for every student. These articles will be used as part of the literature curriculum. |