Book Review: Love: Cultivating Spirit-given character

Calvin Miller’s Love: Cultivating Spirit-given character is a six-week study that makes it easy to read the bible and journal in just a few weeks. The text is broken down in such an elementary way that all students of the Bible can easily focus on the themes of the week. Love would be an easy text to use with a small group bible study. It is broken down into simple steps, independent journals, & group discussions.

"All the world is a stage and I am but a mere player..."-Shakespeare

Congratulations to our St. John's participants who participated in the Regional Spelling Bee held today, May 12th at the Mission Parish School in San Juan Capistrano. Justin and Katie represented our school well.

The play is the thing this week at school and thus, there is no Homework due this week for both 7th and 8th grade students. 

Here is a glance at the week ahead:

8th Grade English:

1. Final Dialectical Journals for Banned book projects are due on Monday, May 19th.

8th Grade Writing Workshop:

1. Final Compare and Contrast Essay is due next Wednesday, May 21st.

All Students: Don't Forget: Open House is next Thursday night, May 22nd!

Verb- it's what you do!

This Teacher's Appreciation Week, thank you to all of the students and parents who have enriched my teaching career! This week, the 7th graders are reviewing verbs: check out the Verbs-It's what you do! website at www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign and be on the lookout for yellow verb balls!

8th Grade Homework:

1. Shakespeare Vocabulary Quiz #4 is on Wednesday.

2. Shakespeare Prewriting Packet Part I is due on Thursday

7th Grade Homework:

1. Online Verb Quiz is due on Friday

2. Bring a newspaper article of interest on Friday

"May Day is Almost Here!"

The St. John's community is such a special place! As May breezes into our community, keep in your prayers those teachers who are holding onto their jobs in our local public schools! Again, we at St. John's are very lucky!

8th Grade Homework:

1. Finish reading "The Taming of the Shrew" by Wednesday

2. "Modernizing the Monologue" Final Draft is due on Thursday.

3. Banned Book Dialectical Journal 3/4 is due next Monday, May 5th!

7th Grade Homework:

1. Go online and take your Pronoun Quiz at www.quia.com/quiz/1379231.html

April is "National Poetry Month"

April 14th- April 18th is a Poetry Celebration Week here at St. John's. Our 7th and 8th graders will be turning in their final projects for this celebration.

8th Grade English Homework:

1. Shakespeare Vocabulary Quiz #3 is on Thursday!

2. Banned Book Project Dialectical Journals 1/4 of your Novel is due on Monday!

8th Grade Writing Workshop Homework:

1. Poetry Anthology is due at 8:25 a.m. this Thursday, April 17th!

7th Grade Writing Workshop Homework:

1. Poetry Magazine and Celebration is this Tuesday, April 15th!

Make a difference over Spring Vacation!

I hope all of you are enjoying your Spring Vacation! As our local public schools make significant changes due to possible budget cuts, be informed! Watch the attached video and send it to your friends. Get involved to help make our local schools the best they can possibly be!- A word from Mrs. Hemphill

Now on the Homework Front:

8th Grade English:
1. Banned Book Project Book of Choice is due on Wednesday, April 2nd!

8th Grade Writing Workshop:
1. Your 1/2 Way point Poetry Anthology Check will be on Thursday, April 3rd!

7th Grade Writing Workshop:
1. Final Draft of your "Outsiders" essay is due- no joke- on April Fool's Day (that is Tuesday!)

'Twas the Week Before Spring Vacation and...

the NCAA basketball tournament is about to begin! Please join me this week (Thursday and hopefully, Saturday) in rooting for James Keefe (#13 for UCLA), alumni of St. John's Episcopal School.

Also, we have a little bit of homework:

8th Grade English:
1. Choose, purchase & bring to class your novel for the "Banned Book Project." Don't forget to check out the American Library site at www.ala.org. Due Wednesday, April 2nd.

8th Grade Writing Workshop:
1. Poetry Grade Check on Thursday:
a. Bout Rhyme
b. Sonnet
c. 2 Poems by other authors
d. 2 Descriptive Paragraphs

7th Grade Writing Workshop:
1. Final Draft of "The Outsiders" Essay is due (no joke) on Tuesday, April 1st

Happy Easter!