Around The Classroom At Danville Lutheran School...
February 2012
www.danvillelutheran.org
Email: dlsimmanuel@comcast.net
Phone: 217- 442-5036
“Securing Each Child’s Future – Equipped” based on II Timothy 3:16-17
From the Principal’s Desk
This month some of the teachers are highlighting what they are currently studying in social studies or history class. The students are learning about our country and other countries of the world. They are studying about different world events and how these events affected people in all parts of the earth. Our world is constantly changing and we have difficulty understanding or keeping up with all these changes.
When it comes to change, people are funny. Some people embrace change and look at it as new challenges to conquer. Other people strongly resist change and can’t understand why we can’t continue to do things the old way. We all have to accept that change is inevitable and use it to the best of our ability.
One thing that never changes is God’s love for us. He sent His Son, Jesus, to live as one of us on earth. Jesus was also true God so He was able to live a perfect life on earth without sinning, even once. Even though Jesus was perfect, He suffered the punishment of death and hell for us. Jesus’ resurrection confirmed His defeat of death and the devil. Through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can now look forward to eternal life in heaven. Because of Jesus Christ, we were changed from a lowly sinner to a perfect man. Preschool 3 – Connie Eisenbraun
We have begun something new for the remainder of the year. This is a ‘Weekly Guest Reader’ program. There is a sign-up sheet is in the classroom or you may call the school at 442-5036 and let Mrs. Ammermann know which Friday you would like to come and read. We would like for parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, family, friends, and church members to come in and read a story or two to the children on Fridays from 11:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. If you need a book, just let us know and we will make sure there is a few for you to choose from. Thank you, for your participation!
Prekindergarten 4 – Jo Robinson & Susan Meyer
The prekindergarten classes have taken several journeys this month. First they traveled from the east, following a star to Bethlehem. The “Wise Men” found baby Jesus and worshipped the new born King. Then they went to Jerusalem to the temple as Jesus did when He was 12 years old. We understood how Mary and Joseph felt when they couldn’t find Jesus when one of our PreK students went missing. (She was safe in the church with Mrs. Meyer!)
Nursery Rhymes have provided many opportunities to practice rhyming words. The children have enjoyed acting out many rhymes. With the recent snowfall, we have appreciated the warmth and comfort of Quilts. Quilts provided many lessons in patterns, shapes and our new word “symmetry”.
Kindergarten – Cathy Huff
This month our Bible lessons will be stories of love as we learn how Jesus walked and talked with people during His time here on earth. We will learn how He showed love to others by healing the sick and caring for the poor. We will hear of His most loving sacrifice that brings healing to all people sick with sin and poor in spirit, including us. We will also welcome our dads for a day of building fun. It is always fun to see what interesting creatures are created that day from all recycled materials. In social studies we will learn about some very famous presidents of long ago as we celebrate President’s Day. It is hard to understand how George Washington worked without a computer, cell phone or private jet. What exactly did Abraham Lincoln keep in that tall hat?
Grade 1 – Linda Boyer
“Oh, I love America!” These are words from a song that the first graders sometimes sing after we say the pledge to the flag. They also love “America Time”. That’s what we call our Social Studies lessons. We are studying each of our 50 states. We learn about the shape and the borders of the state. We find each state’s capital. As we find each state on the map, it gives us a chance to talk about “north, south, east, and west”. We find out about interesting people from each state. There’s plenty of history involved in the state information too. We record information about the states in the “America” books that we are making. We are looking forward to a visit from Mr. Davidson, a Trinity member, who was a pilot. He will give us a bird’s eye view of the U.S.A.!
Grade 2 – Miranda Miller
Lately in social studies we have been skipping around some. We have learned how to read a table and also saw how farming technology has gotten better over time. In the next couple of weeks we will learn about natural resources, natural disasters, and climates.
Grades 3 & 4 – Diana Pratt
This year, in social studies, grades three and four are exploring each region of the United States. With each region, third graders learn the location, spelling, and abbreviation of each state. Fourth graders add to that by learning the capitals as well. We are learning how God provided each area with natural resources to help people survive and how He used explorers to discover each place. Explorers often were the first people to share the words of Jesus in these new places!
Grade 5 – Penny Tibben
Fifth graders are delving into how colonists influenced the development of the New England colonies. Religious freedom, fertile soil, Native American conflicts, and the willingness to work hard all brought about much change in the first thirteen colonies that made up the United States.
Grade 6 – Rachael Kretschmar
6th Grade World History
The 6th grade has just finished a unit on “The Ancient World.” This included civilizations from Greece, Rome, Americas, and the Arab World. The new unit we have started is titled “New Forces in the World.” In this unit, we will learn about civilizations from Africa, Europe, Asia, and New Empires in the Americas. We will learn about the geography, kingdoms, daily living, government, and the religions of the time period and region.
Grades 7 & 8 – Shane Boyer
7th and 8th Grade US History
The 7th and 8th grade have just finished a unit that dates from 1850-1914. The unit was titled “A Growing America.” In this unit the students learned about the westward expansion of the United States, the industrial age, and immigrants and urban life. Our next unit is titled “The Beginning of Modern America.” This unit dates from 1867-1920. During this unit the students will discover how the United States is changing between these years. They will learn about the many reforms that took place in America, America growing as a world power, and World War I.
Music – Mrs. Wells
This month in music, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we have learned a spiritual titled “I’m Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table”. We discussed the history behind the Civil Rights Movement and learned just some of the degrading laws that were in place for African-Americans in the 1950’s and 1960’s. We discussed what a spiritual is, talked about freedom songs, sang and moved to the beat. Students were able to clap on the backbeat while singing, as they would in a gospel choir.
We also talked about music from Greece, and how many music words originated from there, i.e. harmony, melody, and even music! We talked about the irregular time signature that Greek music has (most music is in 7/8 time, which means there are seven 8th notes in every measure), and the students were able to clap a rhythm in 7/8 time. Our song was “Faster, Higher, Stronger” and we sang it with CD accompaniment, and also tried singing it with harmony on the chorus.
The students in 6th grade were asking what a liar was in music. We discovered that (spelled differently) a lyre is a “stand” that holds music for marching band, and it is also an ancient Greek instrument. An ancestor of the harp, it is a small, handheld, U-shaped, stringed instrument. Orpheus played it to calm the Greek god of death, and David played it to soothe King Saul. It is awesome to learn about the power of music, which is a gift from God!
