Walking the Ancient Paths

And finally, for random silliness and/or clever story lines, the following punctuation submissions earn 5 points in the Quarantine Cup. Thanks for making grammar truly entertaining! Though some of you seriously concern me... 😄 😬 He walked into the restaurant and sat down--the menu had the all-important fat-free           plant based vegetarian burger. The manager [Lettuce B. Vegetarian] told me they were a different type of restaurant. The ingredients were plants (potato, beetroot, and asparagus). 😱 Joey ate a fishhook, a glow stick, and a banana peel. The peel made him sick, so he took some pills. The pills, he claims, gave him a headache. His symptoms were: headache, nausea, stomach pain, and green skin. He went online with one goal: to find a cure. His search prevailed; he aimed a fire hydrant and shot it up his nose. It didn’t work -- it made him feel sicker -- so he threw it at the wall. The wall imploded, and his twenty-eight pound bath tub came crashing down on him from 

The following sets of punctuation mark submissions are each worth 4 points in the Quarantine Cup Tournament, mainly due to the subject matter and clever use of story line! Again, color of the text indicates the color of the team): I put flour, chocolate chips, and eggs in the chocolate chip cookies. The cookies weren’t ready yet, so I put them back in the oven. The cookies, which were warm and gooey, were finally ready. I did everything that I needed to to prepare for the baking: put my hair up, put on an apron, and have all of the ingredients.  Cookie making is not for everyone: they have to know what they are doing and not burn the cookies! The cookies that I made were perfect; they had the right amount of crunch.  I went to get the cookies out of the oven-- and I froze. I made twenty-four cookies. She [Jaclyn] made the best cookies in the world.  Jaclyn Brouwer (2006-present) made amazing chocolate chip cookies. To make chocolate chip c

Who knew punctuation could be so funny? Thank you, Eighth Graders, for continuing to entertain me! The color of the text indicates the color of the Quarantine Cup Team. Today's submissions are worth one point each in the randomly funny category: Use a comma to set off a dependent clause: When Mrs. Amen screamed, I jumped almost out of my seat. Use a colon to signal that a list is coming: I like kicking, throwing, and jumping on watermelons.  Here’s what I need: a couple of Doritos, some Chicken tenders, and a Dr. Pepper. He packed things including: an appetite, an attitude, and clothes. Use a colon to signal that an explanation is coming: Food makes be feels good: there isn’t that much to explain other than I’m hungry I am taking this watermelon for an experiment: throwing it off a roof. We need new pipes: our old ones are leaking and now I have to swim out of my room. Well at least I get my daily exercise. Use a semicolon to join two independent cla

(Because we can always use a good scream!) Many more screams to come!

Dear God, I praise you for being my hiding place. You are a shelter where I can go in times of need and a stronghold when the world is unsteady. You are my banner and the King I rally to. You lead and protect me against the evil in this world. I praise you because you are amazing and there is no one as great as you. Thank you for your perfect protection that is guiding me all the time. (Thank you for the beautiful prayer, Clare!)

Just a little more inspiration from 8th Grade as the students reflect on The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. I'm blessed to work with such spiritually wise students! Jesus' will is our hiding place, which means that we should find comfort in knowing that what Jesus has for us is the right and safest thing. (Lydia H) I lesson I learned is to trust in God. Even in the terrible times the ten Booms trust in God and thank him in every circumstance. This has really shown me that I shouldn’t worry because God has a plan for me. I can also trust that God is my strength and that I shouldn’t be afraid of anything, but I should boldly follow what God wants for me in my life. (Jaaron) The main things I learned are that knowledge and wisdom will come with time. I need to trust God, that He will provide me with the knowledge I need. Also that my faith can be stronger than anything and I should never give it up. I should love and care for as many people as I can. (Taylor)

Trust Eight Graders to turn an average grammar assignment into something...well...a little weird! We're studying sentence structure, and when challenged to vary the types of sentences they use in their writing, this is what they came up with. If you are grammatically inclined, you can look for simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences, short sentences, and parallel structure. Or you can just enjoy the view of life in middle school. (Color of type represents the Quarantine Cup color.) Team points are tallied at the end! Honorable Mentions: I have to write a paragraph. It must be good, and it must be clever. I will write out my thoughts when I think of them. If I want a good grade, I should follow the instructions and I should make my story interesting.  Everyone likes descriptions of nature, or legends in sports. What about heroic descriptions of nature games? It's rainy today. I should get some food, and I should watch a movie after I finish this. I think I'

I confess to being crabby and overwhelmed sometimes. And then I read the remarkable words of my students and I am renewed. Thank you, LORD, for shining your light through them! As we wrap up the novel, here are some of their final thoughts on The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom: The Lord is our hiding place and will be our power and shield. He is our assurance and is our joy. The only thing that we need to know in life is that Jesus died on the cross for us and he is our way to heaven. He will give us the strength we need for all the darkness we encounter.  He gives us so many things to be thankful for, and if we look for the opportunities in any situation we can give thanks to him for giving it to us. (Andrew) One important lesson that I will take away from reading this novel is that God always provides perfect protection for those who love and obey him. It may not always come in a way we want or expect, but God will always protect us. I think that I will be able to apply this to

Quarantine Cup Teams were challenged to write Memoirs in Six Words in three categories: Most Colorful Experience, General Mayhem, and Something Uplifting. Because it's the 8th Graders we are talking about, there was some blurring of the lines, with Mayhem breaking out more often than not! Most Color Quarantine Experience Honorable Mention Making tie-dye shirts in the rain (Taylor, Colorful Experience, Team Red) First Place Homemade face paint coating our faces (Ava, Team Red)  Something Uplifting Honorable Mention Not having to do vocab packets (Taylor, Team Red) The 5th meal of the day (Yari, Team Red) Taking walks with friends 6-ft apart. (Jaclyn, Orange Team) The NFL Draft is on Tonight!!! (Jaaron, Red Team) Learn to be patient, it helps! (Juli, Green Team) First Place Nightly campfires with next-door neighbors (Lydia V, Orange Team; Socially Distanced, Of course!) General Mayhem