Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Merry Christmas, third grade! Each year at the Heiskell School the teachers have the opportunity to give gifts to their students at Christmas time. This year I decided to give a simple, but important gift to my dear children. The candy cane is a special Christmas tradition that brings joy to people young and old. Do you know the true meaning behind such a delicious tradition? My third graders have learned it and they would love to share this grace-filled gift story with you. We also measured our hands and feet and made our very own, unique reindeer! Look for the picture below. 

 The Legend of the Candy Cane 

A Candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would help us remember who Christmas is really about, so he made a Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. The white symbolized the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus. The hard candy symbolized Jesus- the solid rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. It also represented the staff of the "Good Shepherd".

The candymaker then included red stripes. He used three small stripes and a large red stripe to represent the suffering Christ endured at the end of his life.

The candy became known as a Candy Cane- a decoration seen at Christmas time. Although the meaning has faded, it still gives joy to children young and old.

Hallelujah, I'm Alive!

     As most know, I was out sick the first two days of the week. Unfortunately, a sore throat and fever aren't ideal teaching conditions, so the gracious Ms. Patterson allowed me much needed bed rest. Anyway, the point of my writing this blip are the smiling faces I saw yesterday morning. My dear children greeted me with open arms and bear hugs. My desk soon was cluttered with homemade "get well" and "I love you" cards. I'm so proud of the way these children love the people in their lives. They are not afraid to show their sweetness and they let you know, daily, how much you mean to them. The Lord uses each of my twenty-three students to teach me how to love and minister to others in my life. Thank you, my children, for your sweetness, encouragement, and constant love. Thank you for teaching me how to love better and more like Jesus.

 Matthew 18:1-3 

"At the time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Thank you, Veterans, for your service!

     To celebrate and honor the Veterans of our great country, we attended a school wide chapel service. Ms. Heiskell gave a brief history of The National Anthem, followed by our guest speaker, Master Sgt. Adams. The students learned who Veterans are, why they are Veterans, what they do now, and how we can show them that we are thankful for their sacrifice. 

     We furthered the discussion in the classroom by completing a special project. Each student had the opportunity to research someone in their family, or a close friend that is a Veteran. The students were instructed to interview and listen to the Veteran's stories and then write a brief summary of why they are their American hero. It was such a joy to see the students understand the concept of honoring our Veterans, as well as their pride for their family member's sacrifice! I am daily inspired by my students' sweet and willing spirit. It is my prayer that the Lord continues to cultivate within them an appreciation for selfless giving. May they always be aware and humbled by God's grace in and throughout their lives.

The Lord's Plan

The past few weeks we have been studying the genealogy of Abraham. Each student made a visual representation of the genealogy to map out the relationship between Abraham and his ancestors. This has been a wonderful time of discussing how God always had a plan and how it was set in motion. We also had the opportunity to talk about how the Lord uses both good and bad things for His glory and overall plan. Our God is sovereign and it was brilliant to see how each student understood this! We will be expanding our family trees as we learn more about the family God designed from the beginning!     

We Love Our Buddies!

Since school began, third grade and prefirst have become best friends! Every so often, my students partner with Miss Shannon's prefirst class and read books to each other. This is a sweet time for my students to set a good example and encourage the younger students. Enjoy the pictures below!

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 

~1 Thessalonians 5:11

"Miss Mackie, nature walks are the best!"

In third grade the past few weeks we have been learning about animals and their habitats. The great thing about science is that to really teach it to each student you must let them experiment and experience what you are teaching. Conducting experiments and engaging God's creation is where I see the students' excitement and understanding come to life. A few weeks ago our class took a nature walk around the school's property. We had a list of what we were hoping to observe, but before we set out we discussed the importance of documenting our findings. We created our very own field notebooks and set out with our checklist, ready to discover. In short, I was so proud of my students and how excited they were about the walk. They listened carefully to instructions and were so quiet that we could observe the animal sounds we heard! Enjoy the pictures posted below and stay tuned for more fun third grade adventures. 

Third Grade Loves Chicken!

Every year The Heiskell School celebrates the arrival of the Fall season by putting together a fabulous festival. To take the celebration to the next level, each class designs and creates their own scarecrow. Well, do I have a creative class this year! As you can tell by the picture, my class came up with the idea of the Chick-fil-A cow as our scarecrow. However, what completed our scarecrow were the slogan signs around it. Everyone knows that Chick-fil-A has some pretty great advertisements, but maybe they should call up my students when designing their next billboard. My favorite slogans that my students made up are pictured below.... and of course we included the famous phonetic Chick-fil-A spelling!