Country Presentations

These past few weeks our second and third graders have been studying immigration and the countries that their families have emigrated from. To learn more about these countries, each student was given a country to research and learn a little more about. After researching and writing down certain facts, students created a powerpoint so they could present this information to the class.

Not only did students present these reports to the class, students also had their own passports throughout these presentations. So, while students "visited" these many different countries, students wrote down certain facts about the country and got their passport "stamped" after visiting the country.  By the end of the presentations, each student had a passport full of stamps from multiple different countries around the world, along with a bit more knowledge of these countries.

Students did an amazing job preparing and presenting their country projects to the class. Good job students!

Hoyt Nursing Home Carnival

This past week our second and third graders had the opportunity to go along with first grade to a carnival at Hoyt Nursing Home, which is just down the road from our school. It only took us a few minutes to walk the few blocks down to the nursing home, and once there, students enjoyed multiple carnival games and treats that were given by the gracious staff at the nursing home.

Students loved playing the carnival games with the residents. At each carnival game, students earned tickets and these tickets bought them a few prizes from the prize table! Students also enjoyed the many treats that were offered at the carnival. The chocolate bananas and popcorn were a BIG hit with our kids!

This was the perfect field trip for a beautiful sunny day in Michigan!

Mother's Day

Since Mother's Day was fast approaching, our second and third graders started in on a project to celebrate the most important women in their lives. To do this, students created their own People Magazine article, stating the reasons that their mother should be on the cover of People Magazine. Students thought of many creative reasons why their mother deserves to be on the cover. "My mom is the best cook ever!" and "My mom always talks with me and hugs me after I have a bad day." After writing their articles, students put their magazine together and designed a special cover of People Magazine, featuring a picture of their mother. Students worked hard at designing their pictures and making sure that their mother looked amazing on the cover of their magazine.

Happy Mother's Day from second and third grade!

Fowler School

This past Friday our second and third graders enjoyed pretending they were attending school in 1896 at Fowler School. Students came to school dressed in old time attire along with their old time lunches to really put their minds in that time period.

Once we arrived at Fowler School, the boys and girls walked in separate doors and sat on different sides of the room. Students were instructed by their teacher, Miss Lorna (Mrs. Brandt) while Miss Marian (Miss Beery) assisted with multiple activities throughout the day (and took many photos of students in their spiffy outfits). Students had Bible, arithmetic, reading, and social studies lessons, all taught as if our Bethlehem students were students in 1896.

Students enjoyed using slates and chalk as well as their copy books to complete some of their lessons (thank you, Mrs. Sowatsky, for making the copy books!). Students also had an opportunity to experiment with some stereographs, which are 3-D viewing devices that were very popular during that time period. Also, students enjoyed dipping pens in ink and writing with these old fashioned pens (without spilling too much ink).

At the end of the day, groups of students recited poems they had memorized in front of the classroom. They did an awesome job!

Students enjoyed all of these activities, but they especially enjoyed lunch and recess!

Sadly, there were students who were not behaving as they should. These students were disciplined as though they were students in 1896...they were brought to the front of the room, put their nose in the corner, and wore the Dunce cap. (Just an FYI here...this wasn't actually a "punishment" for students, they were laughing hysterically as they all lined up to have a turn to wear the cap) :D

Friday was an absolutely beautiful day to go to Fowler School and have students experience 1896 in a one room schoolhouse. Feel free to ask your child what their favorite part of the day was!