Last Thursday, we took some class time to talk about the culture in our classroom.  I explained to the students that I saw a persisting problem with blurt-outs and taking too long to settle down.  The students said they saw the same thing.

We had a long discussion about what causes the problem and then how we might solve it.  Most of the suggestions from students revolved around some form of rewards and punishments.  After they had suggested a number of systems like this, I asked, "So do you want to do good because you get candy, or do you want to do good because it's right?"

I went on to explain that as they mature, they need to become people who do the right thing because it honors the Lord, not because they are avoiding punishment.  Our classroom is a great place to practice honoring the Lord and having self-control by giving our focus to assignments that are sometimes less interesting than our friends.

We decided that instead of names and checks on the board, we are going to try to remind each other that everything we do we do for the Lord.  For my part, I'm going to try to give them movement breaks often and assignments that involve collaboration and moving when appropriate. 

You will be creating one more chapter, based on what might have happened if Joey and Mary Alice visited Grandma once more in the summer of 1936.  You will brainstorm, plan the structure of your story, and then present your story in the medium of your choice.

The school is hosting four meetings to help equip parents in teaching their children about areas of sexuality. We will be watching and discussing a DVD series produced by Relationships With Integrity, the publishers of the school’s sexual education materials. It is critical for all parents to attend this, as parents are responsible for a significant part of the BCS sexual education curriculum. Save the dates of 10/16; 10/23; 10/30 & 11/6. Each night will be a different topic.

Today we will begin a project called Rebranding Canada.  It is a research project in which each student will research a province or territory in Canada and then use the information they collect to create a brand.  They will communicate this brand through a paragraph and a promotional poster for their province.

For the next couple weeks we'll mostly be focusing on the research process, but yesterday we talked about branding.  Ask you child what branding is and see if they can give some examples of strong brands that they know.

History and Spelling were updated today.  Check in now to see how your child is doing!

It will be over chapters 1 and 2 in your History book.  If you know everything in the chapter checkups at the end of each chapter, you will earn 100%.  You do NOT need to know map mastery.