We just started reading The Hiding Place this week in class.  It's written for an adult audience and it's written very well.  I highly recommend it if you haven't already experienced it.  You won't be disappointed.  It encourages and challenges me every year to think about what it means to live a Christian life.

Also, since it deals with some difficult subject matter like the Holocaust, you may want to be reading along with your child so that you can help them to understand what they are reading.

We finally have the details in for how we are going to publish our short stories!

In case you didn't already know, this year each student in the school has the opportunity to get a hardback book published for free!  Here are the details:

1.  We will work in class some, but a large part of the book will need to be done outside of class.
2.  Books will be typed and eventually printed on special paper the publishing company has sent us.  Stories can be up to 14 pages long, and up to half of the pages can be full color drawings!
3.  Stories need to be fully edited and typed by Monday, May 2nd.  After that, we will put them together in class using special publishing kits.

We had a great deal of fun today with all the skits that were presented.  I plan on posting them one at a time over the next few days so that they can each have the full spotlight for a while.  For now, here are some pictures from today.

This Friday from 2:30-3:30, we are having a farewell reception for Ms. Tkacsik.  A table with cookies and a basket for students & families to put in cards will be set up in the foyer.  Families, please feel welcome to show up during this time to thank her for all her service.

Some of the girls gave book critiques today on different books in the series called The Epic Order of the Seven.  Jordan wanted me to point out that more information on the series and the next book coming out is available at the official website.

That's right, we're going out with a bang.  In order to give you as much time as possible to prepare, we will be having our Civil War history test the day before Spring Break.  It isn't ideal, but it's better than forgetting everything over 9 days of break and then coming back to take the test.  Also, I want your break to be a true break.  I don't want you to have to worry about an upcoming test.

If you are leaving for Spring Break early and won't be at school that Friday, I highly encourage you to take your test early.

You know the earthquake in Japan?  Did you know that so far it's actually been not one but 664 earthquakes since March 11th?  Go to japanquakemap.com to see how frequently and how heavily the earthquakes in Japan were striking.  

Some of you may have heard of Kodu as a way of designing your own video games.  You don't have to know code, but you do have to have quite a bit of patience.

If you're up for it, there is a contest for kids 9-17 years old to design the best video game.

1.  Click here to complete you Reading Blog survey.

2.  Create a folder for yourself in the My Documents folder.  
Name is like this: swedberg taylor

3.  Write a 3rd Trimester reading blog post stating your goal and the steps you will take to reach it.

4.  Work on your short story.