Thursday, January 7, 2010

Lessons Worth Learning for 2010!

Happy New Year to all the Lessons Worth Learning Families! I am so excited about beginning our new semester and the new year together.
We are going to have such a great time together writing for a real newsletter in the Extra! Extra! Read All About It Class, learning all about WWII and taking virtual field trips to historic sites of the 1900s in our 20th Century History Class, reading and having fun with awesome stories in Treasury of Literature, and doing group work and showcasing what we have accomplished through our reading and projects in Adventure Through Literature. Oh, and we cannot forget the Geography Club that will explore a mystery location together each month and share all kinds of cool projects and research on our Geography Themes. The Creation Science Club has a great line-up of projects that we can display here as well and on our Science Blog for this semester. So much learning going on!!!!!

Thank you to all my returning students for giving me another semester to see you grow and to hear your thoughts and great ideas, and thank you to all of my new families for joining me and giving me the chance to get to know you and share some awesome time with you loving what we are learning!

It is going to be a great year! Mrs. Rhodes

Friday, December 18, 2009

Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas to all my new friends!

Have a Happy New Year, too!!

I hope to see you next semester!!

I really liked the class and I will be here next semester and I hope y’all are, too.

See you next time!

Anna S. in Adventure Through Lit Class

Christmas Memories


Brendan loves what his family does at Christmas....
I remember ever since five or six years ago we would, always on Christmas day, sit down with each other and watch “A Christmas Story”.
This year, Brendan and his family and close friends spent time together in Disney World. Brendan shared this with his Lit Class.
Brendan and Anneliese take lots of Lessons Worth Learning Classes with Mrs. Rhodes!

Christmas Memories

CHRISTMAS MEMORY
By Eliza H. in a Lessons Worth Learning Class

Last Christmas, my family bought a real ever-green tree for our Christmas tree. It was really big and it almost touched our high ceiling! We decorated it with boxes and boxes of big Christmas ornaments. We also put strands of multi-colored Christmas-carol singing lights all around the huge tree! I remember pouring cups and cups of water in the little black pot the tree was planted in. It needed water almost every day until Christmas so it would keep richly-green and pine-smelling. We had a bunch of presents under our tree. They were all wrapped in lively colored wrapping paper. I saw the sparkling ornaments and singing lights all around the tree. I even memorized some Christmas carols for listening to the lights so long. The presents were piling up higher and higher all around the Christmas tree every day. It was a brilliant week before Christmas. Now Christmas was here. It was the final day we’ve all been waiting for. We’ll be ready to open presents, all getting together to see the surprising stuff waiting for us inside the wrapping paper and ribbons. Exited to see the expressions of the receivers of our gift. One by one, the presents get unwrapped and reveal the beautiful gift. We laugh and guess who the giver is. The presents disappear and we have to take down the Christmas tree. After we take down all the ornaments and light strands, we drag the puffy tree down to the side of the road. That one Christmas is over, but I will have the memory forever. And I will have better Christmas’ in the upcoming.

Christmas Memories




Christmas Memories by Evan in Adventure Through Lit Class
A Christmas Memory
By Evan C.
My favorite memory is of my sister and I. For a long time we wanted little motorbikes. I remember waking up, opening up all the presents, and after all that my parents gave us a present to open. It had a clue on it. We had to follow all these clues around the house until the last clue said “Go to the garage.” We looked around and saw them sitting there. I screamed and my sister was speechless!

Merry Christmas!




The Bradshaw Family in Lessons Worth Learning Literature Classes are sending Merry Christmas Wishes to everyone!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Merry Christmas!




Look at what Bren, Shane, Karissa, and Evan have been up to since the Christmas Stories Class! The "McKids" are making cinnamon ornaments! Looking great everyone!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Dec 9 Pioneer Class






The Wood Family Pioneer Patterns! Wonderful Wood Family!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Dec 9 Pioneer Class



Hannah and Denton and Their Terrific Pioneer Quilting Projects!

Dec 9 Pioneer Class





Look at what the Alcott Young Men Made for our Pioneer Class!

Dec 9 Pioneer Class


Aubrey's Handkerchief Doll. Didn't she do a good job?!

Dec 9 Pioneer Class






Hannah's Wonderful Pioneer Projects. Wow!!!

Dec 9 Pioneer Class






Ella's Cinnamon Log Cabin. She worked hard on that!! Great job!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Stories Class

"The onions will be silver and the carrots will be gold" the small girl's mother was saying.
"And the potatoes will be ivory," said the small girl, and they laughed together. The small girl's mother had a big white bowl in her lap, and she was cutting up vegetables. The onions were hardest, because she cried over them.
"But our tears will be pearls," said the small girl's mother, and they laughed and dried their eyes, and found the carrots much easier, and the potatoes the easiest of all.
Then the next door neighbor came in and said, "What are you doing?"
"We are making a vegetable pie for our Christmas dinner," said the little girl's mother.
"And the onions will be silver, and the carrots are gold, and the potatoes are ivory," said the small girl.


This is an excerpt from a beautiful story we read today in our Christmas Stories Class, called "The Candle in the Forest" by Temple Bailey.
What a fun time we all had in this class, reading stories, funny poems, and playing Christmas games together! Some of the families even sent in pictures of themselves taking the class on their computer or of their Christmas projects! Mrs. Rhodes had an awesome time with her students today!!! In our holiday classes, we have had families join us from all over the globe! We had a family in Hawaii and one in Sicily today! They tried to teach us how to say Merry Christmas like they say it where they live! Mrs. Rhodes had a terrible time trying it with her southern accent! So, Mrs. Rhodes says "A Very Merry Christmas" to all of you!

Christmas Stories Class




Rebekah did a great job on her necklace!
Anna's q-tip snowflake is fantastic. That is a difficult craft!!



Christmas in Hawaii
By Anna


Christmas in Hawaii is a great time of year.
One time snow actually came here!

The snow came in a truck
For which we paid lots of bucks!

We brought out our boogie boards and made an ice slide,
Boy were the boogie boards fun to ride.

We had a snowball fight
And I threw the ball with all my might.

I tried to build a snowman
But the sun ruined my plan.

The sun came out and in a rush,
The snow quickly turned to slush!

Christmas in Hawaii is Great!

Christmas Stories Class


Christmas
Written by Tava
 
When I get a Christmas tree
and decorate it with my family,
I feel so happy.
 
When cards are sent and
carols are sung,
All that I hear is love.
 
When lights are lit and snow is falling,
I'm in the snow-throwing snowballs,
making snowmen and angels.
 
During nightfall on Christmas Eve
When family comes,
It's a celebration like no other.
 
On Christmas Day when gifts
are unwrapped and love is shared
I know that I'll always love Christmas.

Christmas Stories Class


Beautiful Candy Cane Vase made by Tava

Christmas Stories Class




Ella had an awesome time making her homemade applesauce/cinnamon ornaments to show in class! Aren't they beautiful!

Christmas Stories Class


What an awesome family!

Participating in the online class...

The McDonald Family enjoyed the Christmas Stories Class!
Mrs. Rhodes enjoyed having them in the class!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A Pioneer Christmas


Olivia's Pioneer Projects

A Pioneer Christmas by Monica Rook

Alice stood on a chair and adjusted the pine boughs on the mantle. Everything had to be perfect for their first Christmas in a new home. Alice and her family had spent the last six months in a wagon train. It had been so much work. They had had to walk for miles under the hot sun. Sometimes there would be no water to drink. It was hard to walk through the tall grasses of the prairies in skirts. Alice’s skirts got heavy with dust, dirt and sweat. Some of the animals died, their carcasses left on the side of the path. The flour would be infested with worms and other bugs. They ate it anyway.
Alice grimaced and quickly concentrated on a happier memory. At night they would gather around the campfire and sing songs. The stars would be so clear in the night sky, shining down on the weary travelers. Other times the children would run out through the grasses and pick flowers to weave into chains. They had competitions to see whose wagon was prettiest.
Alice supposed that it was there that her talent for decorating awoke. She smiled around at the pine boughs that hung over the door, window, and mantle. Their new cabin was small but clean. Mother worked hard everyday to make it a nice home. They had a new beginning here, a clean slate. Father had a job as a lumberjack. The boys were apprenticed to the local blacksmith. Alice went to the school down the lane.
Now they had so much to celebrate. This would be their first Christmas in their new home. They had traveled across the country safely. They had built and moved into their home. Things were starting to look brighter then they did on one of those hot, hard days.

A Pioneer Christmas




The Rook Family Pioneers and Monica's Painted Glass

A Pioneer Christmas



Faith's Butter and Wagon

A Pioneer Christmas



The Gray Family Wagon and Pioneer People

A Pioneer Christmas


Samuel's Log Cabin