Shoeboxes for Soldiers Project

The 2nd graders collected items during the month of October to send to soldiers from DeSoto, Marshall, Tunica, Tate, and Panola counties.  The Shoeboxes for Soldiers project is sponsored by Baptist DeSoto Hospital.  The items they collected were toiletries, candy, other non-perishable foods, and puzzle books.  There were other classes that donated items as well.  

Northpoint Christian School donated 307 boxes to the project!  We were 4th out of the 21 schools that participated.  The students also colored Bible Verses and wrote notes to the soldiers.  Mrs. Ross’s class was interviewed by News Channels 3, 5, and abc24, the Commercial Appeal and DeSoto Times newspapers and the hospital’s film crew, who aired that interview on WKNO.  They came while the students decorated their boxes and wrote notes to the soldiers.  The students got to help load the truck when Baptist DeSoto came to the school to pick up the items.

Not only did the 2nd graders collect things and write notes, but on Veteran’s Day, they went to Baptist DeSoto Hospital to recite John 15:12-13 and sing “My Country Tis’ of Thee” to the Army National Guard guys that were there and to the veterans.  The teachers wanted their students to understand the importance of telling the veterans and current soldiers “Thank you.”  The students wore patriotic shirts and waved flags as they sang.  They also got to hand the shoeboxes filled with items to the soldiers who were present to help them load the truck. 

Christine Ross

2nd Grade Teacher 

Elementary Art and Music

Music:

This past nine weeks the 4th graders worked on coordinated movements with partners in order to understand eight beat phrases that occur in many songs, both old and new.  The pairs of students were challenged to creatively come up with their own movements to fill in the eight beats.  Some pairs were given the chance to perform their movements for the class, which they really enjoyed!  Dance, phrasing, choreography, rhythm, tempo, styles, problem solving, planning, were just some the words discussed in this lesson. 

4th Grade was also introduced to differing styles of Music during a music history lesson.  Students we're shown appropriate video examples of Blues, Rock, Jazz, and Classical music.  Some artists and composers chosen were Igor Stravinsky, Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues (1942), Benjamin Britten, Frederic Chopin, Stevie Wonder, and Santana playing a Blues electric guitar solo. 

3^rd Grade was privileged to once again have Flyin’ Blind, a local Bluegrass band come and talk about Bluegrass music.  They performed a number of songs and talked about the history of the music as well as the history of the instruments they played.  Two of the band members are from our very own Northpoint Christian School parents.

Art:

1st Graders have been learning how to draw vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in art.   After learning about the different types of straight lines, they used this knowledge to create a spider web, step by step.   Mr. Ransom talked about how AMAZING God is, to create spiders that already know how to build their own home and to provide for themselves not too long after they come out of the egg sack.  No one had to teach it how to build a web!  We watched a short video that showed how diverse spiders are, their habitats, their appearances, their homes... so FASCINATING!

After drawing the web on colorful construction paper with bright construction paper crayons, we next went outside and drew the webs on the sidewalks behind the school with colored chalk (Web Design, Ha!)  After drawing on the sidewalks, we played a game that taught unity, teamwork, honesty, following directions, and self-control.  And beyond all that, it was just plain FUN for me and the students.

The 6th Grade art class has been working on drawing the human face this current nine weeks. As part of this unit, every student used iPads to explore an app that developed skills in drawing the human face.  The next lesson we learned a way to systematically draw the human face using measurements that God has already placed on our face.  Spatial relationships, balance, proportion, measuring, and attention to details were some of the concepts and skills that were covered.

The 6th Graders are now working on a self-portrait drawing project where they are enlarging a black and white photo of their face using a grid technique. The overall drawing will be around 16"x 20", twice the size of their 8" x 10" photo.  Mr. Ransom discussed his own mural commissions and how he used this technique to make money.  The artist, Chuck Close was discussed and students were shown his large scale paintings.  Chuck Close uses the grid technique to create his colorful portraits of people.

This just some of what has been going on in the Elementary Art/Music room at Northpoint Christian School.  The students are doing a fantastic job!

Mr. Ransom 

Art Teacher 1^st – 6^th       

Music Teacher 1^st – 4^th 

A Word from the English Department

United in the goal of sending out graduates who love the Lord and who possess strong foundations in both writing and literature, the English department begins its focus with the junior high. In a world of autocorrecting and texting, Mrs. Heun’s students review capitalization and punctuation as they strive to increase writing proficiency.  Moving into literature, which is taught through the filter of God’s Word, pupils extend their range of literary terms and read material from a variety of authors including Kipling, Bradbury, Soto, and O. Henry. Classes participate in writing newspaper articles, drawing comic strips, and creating puppet plays with the use of ipads. While seventh graders produce puppet shows, Mrs. Smith’s classes construct portfolios consisting of original poetry as well as samples of published works by favorite poets. Complete with illustrations, these colorful creations often become a favorite assignment for eighth graders. In Ms. Holbrook’s classes, a different genre is the focal point as ninth graders read Our Town and write research papers relating to various elements of the play. As a wonderful culmination to this unit, Our Town, the theater department’s fall play, will be performed for the freshman class at a special time during school hours.  

 Whether poetry, drama, or novels, literature in its many forms presents the primary component for the upper grades as Mrs. Humble’s sophomores write about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Mrs. Anderson’s eleventh graders construct character analyses based upon To Kill a Mockingbird. In addition to these essays, the juniors utilize laptops to access the new Naviance program for the purpose of submitting resumes toward $500.00 scholarships; these scholarships are available through the Get2College Scholarship Program and are awarded to high school juniors living in Mississippi. College bound as well, Ms. DeFrehn’s and Mrs. Smith’s seniors  study William Shakespeare and present video skits, eulogies, oral reports, cookbooks, cross-stitch projects, essays, and posters relating to Hamlet, Macbeth, and other Shakespearean works.  Ms. Holland’s AP 12 English class engages a more contemporary view as students read The Awakening and produce oral and visual presentations regarding current events. While this information undoubtedly assists in writing scholarship essays for college, the assignment often reveals to students the importance of knowing about their world. The English department prays that our graduates will be fully-equipped to go out into the world, exercising their talents and abilities- for His glory.

Tommie Holbrook

English Department

5th Grade Pinecrest Trip

On Friday October 25, 2013 our 5^th grade class traveled to Pinecrest Conference and Retreat Center. Soon after arriving we gathered at an outdoor seating area for introductions and team building activities.  For one of these activities the students stood in a circle holding hands and had to pass a hula hoop from person to person without releasing hands.  This activity became even more interesting when a second and third hula hoop were introduced.

After our team building activities we divided into groups and began our rotations.  At our first destination my group met Hector, a 45 year old box turtle.  Next, we met an albino king snake named Alvin.  We learned several interesting facts about snakes and how to distinguish between venomous and non-venomous snakes.

After a wonderful lunch we traveled to the ground water institute.  There we learned how rain water either travels into underground aquifers or becomes runoff and flows to the river.  We were introduced to a variety of measurement tools used to monitor the aquifers and runoff water in that area.

Our last destination was fire building.  We learned about the components that are necessary to build a fire.  We gathered the needed materials; then, we constructed and lit several small fires.  We even made a yummy banana, chocolate, and marshmallow treat.

Amy Ray
5th Grade Teacher

Elementary School Technology Integration

This year, we have made several exciting technology advancements in Northpoint Christian's elementary school. We have added an additional laptop cart for 1st-6th grade, added 13 iPads in our library, and purchased a new iPad cart. If you're a parent, I'm sure you've heard about some of the activities that the students have been doing in class. 

                                                                                  

If you don't already know, I'm our teachers' biggest fan, and they are doing some fantastic things in class. First grade teachers used QR codes this week to allow students to watch read alouds on the iPads. Mrs. Saunders is doing a cross-curricular unit on Jan Brett using the iPads and QR codes in the library. Some of the other teachers have been using QR codes to help students independently research animals, self-check math, and self-check vowels that they have been learning. In these activities, the students are working independently, but the teacher is available to give instruction and guide the students. That being said, the technology isn't the focus of the activity, the learning is! 

Another way some of our teachers are using the iPads is by setting up iPad centers. First grade has recently been using the iPads as independent centers by giving students a choice of certain apps they can play to reinforce skills they are learning in class. PK, JK, and SK each have 3 ipads per classroom that are used during center time. Some of the apps used reinforce handwriting skills, sight word recognition, phonics skills, and numeracy skills. Mrs. Saunders has also been using iPad centers in the library classes for some of the lower grades. The students have really enjoyed reading e-books, reading on the Reading Rainbow app, and practicing other literacy skills in the library. 5th graders have also been working on a special Keynote project during library time. 3rd grade has used the iPads for group QR code math activities.

As for the laptops, in our fourth grade teachers have not only been using the laptop carts for IXL math practice, but they have also been using them for interactive science lessons! Mrs. Emerson's class recently learned about precipitation by researching different U.S. cities. Also, the third graders made PowerPoint presentations about vertebrate and invertebrates. The students did a fabulous job! Teachers are consistently checking out the laptops for research projects and for other projects such as presentation creation. 

We are working hard at Northpoint Christian to create a technology rich curriculum that focuses on learning and creates independent, life-long learners. If you have any questions about how we are using technology in the elementary school, please feel free to contact me at ehopkins@ncstrojans.com. 

Emily Hopkins

Technology Integrator

Elementary School 

High School Technology

In August, High School teachers began implementing more technology into the classroom through the use of an iPad cart and a laptop cart. This is very exciting news because it allows teachers to foster a twenty-first century learning environment that will continue our efforts of preparing students for a collegiate environment. Implementing the carts into the classroom allows students to be fully engaged, through technology, in their subject area. For example, Mrs. Pitner has used the laptop cart and Google Drive in Bachelorette Living to allow students to collaboratively create a class presentation entitled “Everything for Baby”. Each student researched specific items relating to babies and the class created a presentation. Mrs. Watson allowed her 7^th grade Social Studies class to virtually walk among the pyramids in Egypt through an app called Google Earth on the iPad cart. Math classes are able to use graphing calculators and interactive websites in class. Teachers are using Socrative on the laptop cart and iPad cart across several subjects. Socrative is a website and an app that allows the teacher and the student to connect wirelessly. The teachers can send questions and the students respond. The teacher can then show the anonymous answers onto the board for discussion. This type of activity produces 100% student involvement in the classroom yet allows the teacher to download a detailed report at the end of the activity to monitor the discussion. 

We are very excited about what technology is doing to help foster a new culture of engaged, creative students and we look forward to implementing more technology in the future!

Kaylah Holland
High School Technology Integrator 

Welcome to the start of the 2013-2014 School Year. After preparing for their classes, meeting their students, and beginning to teach, teachers will commence writing the teacher blogs in October.

Elementary Bible Day at SBEC

What a great time we had at Bible Day 2013!  Every year our fourth grade students study a unit on Biblical culture.  During this unit, they learn more about people who lived during the Bible days and how their lives were much different than ours today.   

 

Our fourth grade students worked for many weeks in their Bible classes to prepare for Bible Day.  They selected a character from the Bible and read an encyclopedia article about him or her.  They wrote a report about their Bible character and dressed up as that character for Bible Day.  They also researched various aspects of Biblical culture and wrote paragraphs and made illustrations about them.  They worked with a team to use these paragraphs and illustrations to create a display board for Bible Day.  They also made an object that would have been used during Bible times like a sling, unleavened bread or even a model of a mud brick house.  The fourth graders took a field trip to the Biblical Resource Center and Museum in Collierville, TN.  During that field trip they got to hold a lamp that was excavated from Jerusalem and was during the time that Jesus lived.  They saw pictures of the modern cities that Paul traveled to on his second missionary journey.  They even participated in a scavenger hunt in the museum’s gallery.

During the morning of Bible Day, March 7, each team of students put their display board, their character reports, and their Bible objects on a table in the Trojan Hall gym and presented what they had learned to other students at SBEC.  For most fourth graders, this was the best part of Bible Day.  The students really enjoyed telling the younger students at SBEC all that they had learned.  They were also able to view a model of the Tabernacle and second Temple during Bible Day.  These items were made possible through a grant.  In the afternoon, the fourth graders participated in various activities to increase their knowledge of Biblical life.  They played Bible Baseball, made Stars of David, and studied about Hanukkah which included playing with driedels.  They also participated in a Passover Seder Tasting and learned more about this Jewish feast.  

Cindy Brassel

Elementary Bible Teacher

2nd Grade Penguin Day!

In 2nd grade we have Penguin Day to conclude our study of penguins.  The students are shown a PowerPoint with facts about several different kinds of penguins.  They also have the opportunity to read books about penguins.   The students then have to choose one kind of penguin and write a 3 sentence report about it.  They use this report to make a “Penguin Booklet.”  This booklet is penguin shaped and the students color it to match the penguin their report is on.  They write the facts from their report on the belly of the penguin.  They get to share these with the class.  On Penguin Day the students get to dress like a penguin by wearing black and white.  They also tasted several different flavors of goldfish, since penguins eat fish, and vote for their favorite flavor.  We use the results of the vote to make a graph.  We also have some special snacks:  blue jello (the ocean) with cool whip (icebergs) and Swedish fish (fish) and a penguin looking treat made out of oreos and other candy.  The kids have great fun on this day and enjoy “waddling” down the hall!

Christine Ross

2nd Grade Teacher