Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Switch Day by Bella 5th Grader


Switch this, switch that, switch it like you’ve never switched anything before. “Don’t switch anything anymore. I demand you all to stop what you are doing and go to your classes!” said principal Splitmore in a mean kind of way. If you haven’t noticed then I’ll tell you, we’re in school and everyone loves to switch things around. I’m the only one who doesn’t switch things. Our teacher says to sit on our desks and do our work on our chairs. I’ve never experienced anything like the day that I had yesterday.

So, I’ll tell you what happened, it all started on one happy sunny day. I was going to school and the first thing that I saw was my dog walking my own mother. I asked what was going on and all she said was that she wanted to go for a walk. And I know that you won’t believe me, but you should because I’m not lying when I say this. I saw a John Cena like scaredy-cat fireman in the tree and the cat trying to get him out. It was the most funniest thing that I had ever seen.

After that, I got to school and saw and heard nothing but papers flying around and everyone screaming their heads off. Now when the teacher said to be quiet, she really meant to say get more ecstatic. And when I say ecstatic I mean beyond enthusiastic. And that wasn’t even the start of my opposite, jumbled up, blabled day.

Before we left for the end of the day the teacher said that the opposite day today was just a test. She also said that I was the only person to pass that test. And before we all left the school that day we had a special assembly just for changing things. I got up on the podium and said that I realized you can’t change your school, home, job, and even the world, but you can change some of those things by choosing to take a step back, and even just picking up in the community. I also learned that even though everything was opposite it was still a pretty funny day.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Lego Amusement Parks

We have been studying simple machines in science and we took the new knowledge and made amusement parks out of Legos. Each park had a list of requirements and simple machines that needed to be included. I think the students did a great job and as usual their imaginations and creative minds inspired me!








Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Basketball

What a gorgeous day to play basketball for physical education class!


The White Rabbit by Audra 6th Grader

          Through a slimy, glossy forest, that smelled like pine, as you hear a rustle and whine. Taste the humid air against and under your tongue, you walk a little bit further into the trees. Then you see a fuzzy, white rabbit with a twitching, pink nose. At first glance you see something is off about this rabbit. As you walk closer to the mysterious creature, it has eyes that are a charming shade of blue. You kneel down, the animal comes closer to you, until you were close enough to touch the white ghost. It sniffed your finger and nibbled on your hand, it’s ears swaying in the gentle breeze of the quiet forest. You gently ruffled its aged, soft, white hair. As you get up to leave the forest, you see the rabbit impatiently carrying a brown pocket watch!

 A confused expression on your face, you curiously follow this creature. Over the tall hill, under the thick branch, through the long log you go. The rabbit blasts through a large hole in a clearing in the woods. You hesitate but then you lunge in after the rabbit. The hole smelled like... deteriorating worms! Yuk!! You get out of the ghastly tunnel and awkwardly roll into a checkered pattered room with a brown table in the center of it. Wow! You said.

But wait, I don’t see that rabbit, he tricked me! You carefully walk around the room a little bit. You spot a tiny, blue cake, with the words, “EAT ME.” on the front of it. Tempted and curious you reach for the little treat. Nom, nom, nom. Delicious, but, WOAHH!!!! Wh-what, I’m small, like an ant!!! Ow! You bump into a large bottle with the words, “Drink Me.” On the side of it. Well, I’m already small so what hurt could it do? But, before you reached for the bottle you look up to see a large gold key in the glass see through table. As you look around for a ladder or something to get you up to the table. You see a small door in front of you, you bolt hopefully to the tiny door to see, it’s locked! So, you try to get the key that is on that tall table instead. AHA!!! You howl. Of course, a rubber band! You hooked it to a couple of large sticks, and zing!!! Up, up, up you go and on to the table! Yes! You yell. You quickly grab the key and head for the door.

 Creek!! Oh, wow!! It’s beautiful! You say. Blue, red, green, purple every color you could think of in this astounding land of color! You cheerfully walk down the tan, brick pathway to see a huge, floating smile! Huh? You say in confusion. “Greetings human girl!” Said a purple, striped cat. Who are you? I ask. “I am the Cheshire Cat. Be careful in that forest over there, it’s very dangerous…” The last thing I remember is seeing a lady with a fluffy, red dress. And a crazy guy that always wanted tea!

 “How is your head dear?” Mom? “Yes dear?”  Where am I? “Why, you are at home in your bed.” What happened? All I remember is seeing a rabbit and… I can’t remember anything else. “I found you in the middle of the woods. You were sleeping on the ground!” But I thought I… Did you see a white rabbit? “I did but, why would that matter?” Because I followed him! I know I did! “You must have been a little woozy from the meds I gave you right before I THOUGHT you went to bed in YOUR room.” I gave her a sheepish grin. Well, I wanted to go get some flowers for you before it got cold. So, I thought I could make it back in time for bed. “Well, you didn’t. Goodnight, Alice.” As she closed the door behind her I thought sleepily, “I’ll go find that rabbit tomorrow.” 

Baseball Hero by Collin 7th Grade

      It was the third game of the LLWD(Little League World Series.)It was the bottom of the ninth and my team, the pelicans were down a run. The score was 2-3 and we were losing. We had just ended the eighth inning and were up to bat. Sam Johansson was up to bat. 2-3 today. Sam trotted up to the base and crouched down in his batting stance with a snarl on his lips. The pitcher wound up and let loose a wobbly change up. Sam swung with all his might, but missed. Strike!!! The umpire growled. Sam recovered his dignity and again looked ready to tear the ball apart. The pitcher wound up and let loose a straight fastball right down the plate. With confidence and ease, Sam unwound his arms that gripped the bat and swung with perfect posture. This time Sam Hit a dinger to left center back to the track. The fielders scrambled to get the ball, but by the time they could get it back to the diamond, Sam had already collected a double. Next up to bat, was Riley Tomas. Riley on the first pitch drilled a line past the diving short stop and into centerfield. A single. With a man on first and third with no outs, things were beginning to look up for the pelicans. Up to bat next was Matt. The first two pitches that came towards matt he swung hopelessly at. 0 and 2. Matt’s legs and bat knocked together and sweat poured down his face. As if in slow motion, the pitcher wound up and we all held our breath in nervousness. CRACK!!!!!! The ball ricochet off the bat and ran towards second base. Sam saw his opportunity and took off towards third.

Unfortunately, when the dust had cleared, the result of the play was a line into a double play. With two outs and Sam on third, chances of advancing to the final game of the world series was slim, and we all knew it. Things did start to look up though when the pitcher walked the next two batters. The bases were loaded and it was my turn to bat! There were two outs, and my mouth went dry when it dawned on me that the turnout of the game was fully on my shoulders! Suddenly, right when I was ready to bat, coach called for a time out and  trotted out onto the field. He leaned over my shoulder and whispered,” Son, I now you might not like this, but I am going to have your pitch run for Sam, and Zack hit in your place. Relief washed over me as I made my way over to third. I took a deep breath and a lead off third as the pitcher went into his wind up. I could already see the play coming. His wobbly form and Jelly arm said it all. As if by instinct I sprinted towards home seeing the wild pitch coming. The catcher seeing it to desperately lunged out of his way to try and snag the pitch. In a diving effort, the catcher snagged the ball, and seeing me coming dove for home. Seeing his outstretched glove waiting to touch me I twisted out of his reach and slid for home. As the ploom of smoke rose, the game hinged on the umpire’s call. The stadium went silent, and everyone sat on the edge of their seat. The umpire leaned over the scene at the tangled mess of me and the catcher. With a frown on his face he barked,” YER OUT!” The stadium erupted in groans. I laid on the ground wanting for the earth to swallow me up. It was my fault that we lost!

                                                (One season later)

Again, it was the LLWS. The whole team except for me had gotten over the loss from our last World Series experience. This time we had made it to the final game of the World Series against the Titans, the same team we had lost to because of my poor steal one season earlier. Once again it was the bottom of the ninth, but his time we were down by five runs. Our defense had done a good job cleaning up the batters in the top of the ninth striking them out one by one. But this time things were looking down for us. Our offense had gotten in only one hit all game and the score was 0-5. But, it was the bottom of the ninth and that was a magical innings. You hear stories of games where teams have been down by unmeasurable odds but managed a magical rally and won the game. The whole team was praying that that could happen now. Over the intercom, the announcer called for the first batter. “Up next to bat for the Pelicans, Sam Johansson!” Last game in the World Series, (if you remember) Sam had hit a double to left center. We hoped that he could do the same or better this time around. Sam jogged to the plate and stepped into the batter’s box. His glare of anticipation drilled into the pitcher who was having a great game with 13 strike outs. With a smug grin on his face he wound up and let loose a strong curve ball. As if by reflex Sam unwound his arms and hit a line drive right on the right field line! Sam sprinted around the bases as the right fielder did his best to grab hold of the ball and get it back into play. But before he could get it to short stop, Sam had already made his way to third base with ease. A triple. Obviously unfazed the pitcher got back into a groove and struck out the next two batters. We couldn’t watch anymore. We were going to lose this game. With two outs and a man on Third there was no way to win, because we were losing 0-5. Fortunately, the success got to the pitcher’s head and he walked the next two batters. The next batter who came up to bat was Jeremy Ross. Ross stared down the pitcher and rung out the bat waiting for the pitch. The pitcher let one loose and Jeremy rocketed it into deep center! One run scored, two runs scored! Two runs scored on Ross’ double! There was still hope! Now with someone on second and third, the score was 2-5! Things were looking up just a little bit for the Pelicans. Obviously struggling the pitcher walked the next batter, loading the bases for the second time this inning.

            Over the intercom, the announcer announced the next batter. “Batting next for the Pelican’s, Brain Zinger!” At that name, I turned to Jelly. My mouth went dry and flashbacks of my last humiliating batting experience came to mind. Again, the turnout of the game was up to me. Limp, I nervously made my way to the batter’s box. When the pitcher saw me he let out a chuckle and a grin. I couldn’t do this. The first two pitches whizzed past me and smacked into the catcher’s glove. It was 0-2, with the bases loaded and two outs. In my mind, I saw me sliding home and missing the plate. At that moment, everything went in slow motion. All I could here was the eerie thumping of my heart banging out of my chest. In slow motion, the pitcher went into his wind up and unwound his arm to let by a sizzling fast ball. Slowly the ball made it way toward the plate. I uncoiled from by batting stance and swung with all my might. POW!!! The ball exploded of my bat and all the fielders went for the fence trying desperately to make a spectacular catch. But that ball was gone! Shock smeared the pitchers face as he threw down his glove and glared as I rounded the bases! I had done it, a grand slam! We won the world series! As I rounded second base, relief flooding me, I could see my team mob the plate waiting for me to make it home! As I trotted home, the team mobbed me and lifted me up on their shoulders chanting, “BRI-AN, BRI-AN, BRI-AN” The fans in the bleachers went mad and cheered louder than I have ever head fans cheer! I did it I told myself, I am the baseball hero!

A Kid Who Wants to Go to the Moon By Luke 6th grade


A kid wants to go to the moon when he was reading a book. But there are two problems, the first problem is that it costs 30 gazillion dollars to go to the moon. The second problem is that he only has 10 dollars in his wallet. But he has a one percent chance that he will be called by the TV show name that car. If he is called and guesses the name of the car correctly he will win 30 gazillion dollars.

It was a sunny day when I was reading a book about a man who goes to the moon. Wow! As I thought to myself I wanted to go to the moon. I turned on my laptop and look up how much it costs to go to the moon. 30 gazillion dollars I shrieked! When I went into my room I looked for my wallet. When I looked inside I only had 10$. How was I going to go to the moon with only 10 dollars? Disappointed I went back down stairs and turned the flat screen TV on. The show on the TV was can you name that car? The announcer said that he would dial any number and that person on the phone can guess this car can win 30 gazillion dollars. This was my chance, but it was one percent that he would call my number. Just then the phone rang, so I picked it up and said hello. It was the announcer, he asked me if I was watching can you name that car? I said yes, on the TV a car appeared and he said guess the name of this car. It took me a few minutes but I named the car and it was correct. Yes, it is a 1996 Ford the announcer shouted. The sound of coins dropping was heard on the phone. You just won 30 gazillion dollars!

The next day I was in the kitchen and making some oatmeal when I heard a knock at the door. I walked over to the door and saw a huge box on the welcome mat. I took the box inside and opened it. There was the money that I won. I put the box in the back of my car and drove to NASA. When I got out of my car I walked inside the building and talked to the front desk man. He gave me a space suit and walked with me to the space ship. He told me how to work the ship and what buttons to push. They closed the door to the space ship and counted down from ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five after five the sound of the engines starting let out a big boom. Four, three, two, one blast off! The space ship lifted off the ground and went into the sky.

After two years, I was finally in space. The engines stopped and I was just floating around the ship. Just then I heard a big boom and a sizzling sound. A red button started to beep and flash. It said that a rock had hit the space ship and there was a big dent. NASA told me that I would have to get out of the space ship and fix the dent. So, I got into my space suit and opened the door to the ship. With a little push, I made it to the dent and could fix it. After I fixed it, I got into the ship and then went to the moon.

The moon was a big round ball and it had a bumpy ground. It had the same smell when my grandmother makes egg rolls. When I stepped out of the space ship it felt like I was swimming. I jumped onto the moon and then floated up because there was no gravity. I was up on the moon for a while because I had to find samples. I had a blue, red, and white flag in my hand so I could put it on the moon. I pushed the flag into the ground and went back to the ship. They told me I was coming back to Earth. I was sad to go back to Earth. Because I had a fun time on the moon and I didn’t know when I would come back again, I got into the ship and left.

When I got back to Earth the NASA team told me that they had another place to go. The next place I was going to go was Neptune… And I left with a big smile on my face.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Letting Our Light Shine in the Neighborhood

For art, we took advantage of the beautiful weather, and decided to let our lights shine for Jesus by sharing positive messages and pictures for the pedestrians walking by our school.




End of Year Notes


·       May 22, Field Trip to the Denver Museum – Please let me know if parents or grandparents are coming. We need to order IMAX tickets. They are $5 each. Please turn in money and head count ASAP. Students are being paid for by the school. Remember that we are leaving the school at 7:00 am and students need to bring a sack lunch.



·       May 23, student reading projects are due. If your child is doing the menu and food project, please know that they only need to bring in a small sample of each food for their classmates. It does NOT need to be a full-fledged meal for 10 students.



·       May 24, 6:30 pm Awards Night – All students need to be present to perform the chimes and each student will be recognized. There will be a small reception afterwards. Please invite family and friends to attend.



·       May 25 – NO SCHOOL – school has been canceled for that day – our official last day will be May 24.



·       June 3 – Education Sabbath – Lonnie Hetterle, Superintendent for the Rocky Mountain Conference will be at the Pueblo First SDA Church in support of our school. The students are being asked to perform the chimes. Please have students in church attire at 10:45 am for the main service.



·       Please purchase a Summer Bridge workbook for your child to work on during the summer. If they bring it back completed at the beginning of next school year they will receive a very special prize from Mrs. Velbis! http://www.summerbridgeactivities.org/

Prevent summer learning loss! Summer Bridge Activities is an AWARD-WINNING summer learning series that is an easy and proven way to help children retain their classroom skills. Research shows that on average, children can lose 2.8 months of grade-level equivalency skills over their summer vacation. By using Summer Bridge Activities books students enter their new grades prepared and confident.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Free Country

It is such an honor and privilege and blessing to live in a country where we are free and able to praise our God. May we never take it for granted. Thank you to our veterans and service men who have given us this gift. 

Bible verses for this week are: 
1st, 2nd, 3rd graders:
“A man’s pride will ruin him. But a person who is humble will be honored.” Proverbs 29:23


5th – 7th graders:
“All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right, for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever.” Psalm 111:7-8
Our quote for today is from David Wilkerson, "How quickly we forget God's great deliverances in our lives. How easily we take for granted the miracles he performed in our past."

Math Assignments for the Week of May 15


Monday

1st wkbk 249-250, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F3AycEDksY (use blocks to come up with different combinations)



2nd – 534-536, wkbk 251-252, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klqr15I8U6o&list=PLTbEkp8etz5dWWY2GpT8MW8DppriVqp6V



3rd – 189-190 Mid Chapter Test



5th – 461-462 Mid Chapter Test



6th – 237, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAgfnK528RA&t=122s



7th – 466-469, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGKwdHMiqCg



Tuesday



1st wkbk 251-252, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Qf0qSSJFI



2nd 538-540, wkbk 253-254, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVzlbOK_vhU&t=499s



3rd 195-196, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL60tDVwDSY



5th – 465-466, wkbk 219-220, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldGCoe1H0Uk



6th – wkbk Chapter 6 Fair Game Review



7th  472-475, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXczCSpWqdg



Wednesday



1st – wkbk 253 – 254, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8xEcGfRQQE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qisu9NF1_0



2nd 542-547



3rd 200-202, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTHToQ52cCs



5th – 469-470, wkbk 231-232,



6th – 275, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6jeSuHYhyY&t=85s



7th  478-483, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCAZwxlAI30



Thursday



1st – 257-258, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycPd34cFX64



2nd 549-552 Chapter 11 Test



3rd Chapter 5 Test



5th – 481-482, wkbk 237-238



6th – wkbk Chapter 7 Fair Game Review



7th – 11.1-11.3 Quiz

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Quizzes Tomorrow

Science, spelling, vocabulary and memory quizzes are all tomorrow. Please review with your student. We had a fun time reviewing in science today using different stations and questions and answers. Your student is very knowledgeable about simple machines. Ask your student what they know.

I also sent home a permission slip for our last field trip for the year on Monday, May 22, at the Denver Nature and Science Museum. Please send these back to school as soon as possible.

Our quote for today is from Audrey Hepburn, "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

Monday, May 8, 2017

Come to Pizza Ranch Tonight!

Tonight is our Pizza Ranch fundraiser from 5:00 - 8:30pm. Please come and support Daystar's beautification project for grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers. Invite family, friends, co-workers, neighbors - 10% of the profits plus tips and donations will go to Daystar. 

In science we have been learning about simple machines. Here is a great video that shows examples of each one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvOmaf2GfCY. This Thursday we will have a test over the simple machines. 

Our Bible verses this week are: 



1st, 2nd, 3rd graders - 
“The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” Judges 6:12


5th – 7th graders - 
“My child, do not forget my teaching. Keep my commands in mind. Then you will live a long time. And your life will be successful. Don’t ever stop being kind and truthful. Let kindness and truth show in all you do. Write them down in your mind as if on a tablet. Then you will be respected and pleasing to both God and men.” Proverbs 3:1-4
Our quote for today is from Mattie Stepanek, "Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."



English Assignments for the Week of May 8th


Monday


6th –REVIEW – test each other



Tuesday


6th –Test 10

7th – Test 12

Math Assignments for the Week of May 8


Monday



1st –514-516, wkbk 241-242, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVzlbOK_vhU




2nd –513-516, wkbk 241-242, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPrVAT_x1f4



3rd – wkbk 83 & 84



5th –441-444, wkbk 219-220, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaoZhhx_I9s






7th –10.4 & 10.4 record and practice journal, STUDY

Tuesday

1st – 518-520, wkbk 243-244, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVaxiJB6Fls



2nd –518-520, wkbk 243-244, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRCt9Ch7oR0



3rd –Chapter 4 Test


5th –445-448, wkbk 221-222, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLeNaZcy-hE



6th –Fair Game Review wkbk 79



7th –10.4 – 10.5 Quiz


Wednesday


3rd 182-184, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkNG3-5wUS8&list=PLOJnQwI9yjLAq1tUWtMhqBHTyBuCcx4NM



5th - 451 - 452, wkbk 223-224, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiREqzDsMP8



6th – 190, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxObY5VaorU



7th – 455-457 Chapter Review



Thursday


3rd 186-188, evens, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_cAFPM94w



5th - 459-460, wkbk 227-228, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKjcTZIfG6k



6th – wkbk 101, Chapter 5 Fair Game Review



7th -  Chapter 10 Test





Friday, May 5, 2017

Grand Junction Track Meet

Daystar students showed great perseverance, determination, and teamwork. Lots of great memories and blessings! Thank you Lord for safe travels, friends, and great weather.










Monday, May 1, 2017

English Assignments for the Week of May 1


Monday


6th –write notes on verb tenses (go over in class together)

7th –273 and Take Notes

Tuesday


6th – write notes on pronoun case and agreement (go over in class together)

7th –STUDY

Math Assignments for the Week of May 1


5-1-17

Monday

1st –506-508, wkbk 237-238



2nd –Chapter 10 Test






5th –wkbk 213-214 and wkbk 2019-210, STUDY







Tuesday

1st –509-512, wkbk 239-240



2nd –510-512, wkbk 239-240, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ8Jy1xgqPU



3rd –wkbk 81-82



5th –Chapter 10 Test



6th –Fair Game Review wkbk 57