Sunday School - 3rd Grade

Has it really been a whole month since I've posted on here? Wow. I guess I was busier than I thought. Just to catch up a bit, we are now on our 16th lesson - which will be taught next week. I should get all the lessons up to 16 posted on here as soon as I can.

We've just recently started a book called "What Would Jesus Do?" and the kids are loving it so far! We've been putting some of the concepts into action in our every day lives and I hope that the children will learn a lot of things from this book.

I've been making snacks for the children on certain Sundays - so again, please let me know if your child has food allergies.

Other than the Memory Verse recital coming up next month, that's about it as far as updates and announcements go!

Be blessed everyone - and have an awesome April!

If you saw your child carrying one of these (or something similar) on Sunday - that's because they've done well at the memory verse recital. Each child had to memorize Psalm 8 (with the exception of two of the children).

These recent Sundays have shown GREAT improvement in behavior and such. It's amazing to see how willing they are to help each other...

They love taking tests and doing homework. The midterms were a success. Everyone who took them did very well on them!

Please keep encouraging your child... The fruit will show soon =).

We learned about the water that came out from a rock today. We also recited Psalm 8. The three who haven't recited the chapter yet must do so next week.

As far as scheduling goes, next week (24th) the kids have a test on both lessons 9 and 10. Please make sure they study. The week after that (31st) are midterms. This may be subject to change due to insufficient time to properly review. However, Sis. Sally and I will do our best to make sure your child is prepared for this exam.

God bless you all!

Before class started, Sis. Sally went over a few things:
1) The reason why no one received Student of the Quarter (if you'd like to know more - please contact Sis. Sally or the superintendent).
2) Behavior - many of the children have been very disrespectful and not cooperative, thus disrupting the class and causing other children to lose focus. This issue was addressed.
3) Cheating - we've seen a lot of that going around lately - while it is "only Sunday school" - we don't encourage this and the children will be penalized for it, should we catch them cheating on their test. Sis. Sally also talked about how they shouldn't cheat anywhere they go - school and other places.
4) Memory Verse Recitation - Psalm 8 is to be memorized and recited in class next Sunday. This won't be in front of the Sunday school or church. We'll just pull them aside and have them recite it to us.

We learned about manna today and how God provided for His people. We had our own version of "manna" (cookies) and played a review game. The children were very well behaved today (Everyone in attendance gets an A for behavior).

For next week, have the children be prepared for the recitation. After the recitation, we'll be learning Lesson 10 (which will be posted on the blog soon!).

Today we reviewed Lessons 7 and 8 as well as the memory verse for Lesson 7. Because of my mistake on Lesson 8 (I put down the verse in a different version), they don't have to learn it for the test.

Things didn't go as smoothly today due to some distractions. If you are able to, please go over both of the lessons with your child. Some have not been studying their lessons, which makes it difficult for us teachers because while we want them to do well, we can't provide them the answers.

Please pray for the class and us teachers. We all need grace.

We wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Remember Christ.

- Yes, the children were given candy canes today. Though all of them were broken, they received them as well as can be expected. God bless them!

What we did:
Today we learned about the Israelites and the bitter water that became sweet (we had lots of fun with lemon juice and lemonade!). First, the Israelites went to a place called Shur. They had no water there. Then they went to Marah - and found water, but it was bitter. Moses cried to God and threw a stick in the water. The water wasn't bitter anymore. To top it off, they went to a place called Elim - where the Israelites got their paradise: 12 water wells and 70 palm trees.

After that, we reviewed our memory verse from last week's lesson through a game (see above picture). We might do a similar game next week with the memory verse (depending on time) from Lesson 7 and Lesson 8.

Announcements:
- Please have your child learn the memory verses from Lesson 7 and 8.
- Psalm 8 must be learned by January 17, 2010
- If you haven't returned your child's report card to me, please do so immediately.
- If you would like to receive some pictures from class, please let me know

If you have any suggestions for a Christmas project, please either leave a comment or email me. Thank you so much! God bless you all!

Today we learned about the Red Sea and how God did the impossible! He made a way where there seemed to be none! We also learned that God STILL is a God of the impossible.

We also started learning Exodus 15:13 (the memory verse for Lesson 7). Please go over the verse with your child. There just might be an extra credit opportunity for it next week!

Report Cards went out today - those of you who haven't received your child's report card yet, please see either Sis. Sally or myself when you come. The rest of you who have received it, please return it as soon as possible (some have done so already).

Lesson for next week: Lesson 8.

On Sunday, Nov. 22nd, the second half of the class ended with a Thanksgiving game. They were divided into two teams - and each team were given one marker and a pile of paper. They were given one category and a certain amount of time to come up with items in that category, write it down and put into a basket. The categories were:

1. What are you thankful for?
2. What are some foods seen on the Thanksgiving table?
   
3. Give references of different verses of Thanksgiving in the bible.
   

The children were very cooperative - and I've had some awesome answers and thought it would be nice to list a few of them:

1) What are you thankful for?

• blessings
• parents
• food
• church
• children (this one made me smile)

2) Foods seen on Thanksgiving table:

• rice
• grain (hmmm :))
  
• turkey
• apple pie
• corn
• gravy

3) References to thanksgiving in the bible:

• 1 Thess 5:18
• 1 Cor 15:57
• Psalm 107 :1
• Ephesians 5:20
• Luke 2:38
• Philippians 4:6

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As for the scores:

Team A
Category 1 = 3
Category 2 = 5
Category 3 = 5
= 13 points

Team B
Category 1 = 4
Category 2 = 6
Category 3 = 1
= 11 points

The winning team gets 2 extra credit points on their Lessons 3 +6 test.
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The baskets pictured above (I apologize for the poor quality) are homemade (it does take some time, but it is fun!) and the instructions on how to make it are found here: Construction Paper Baskets.