Mrs. Hallford’s Class Newsletter

January 20th-22

I hope everyone enjoyed their extra-long weekend! Thanks to everyone who came to our El Chico fund raiser – it was very successful from what I understand, and it’s always fun to see everyone at Flint events.

Don’t forgot about Grandparent’s Day this week! Grandparents will meet with Dr. Flint at 2:00 on Thursday, and then come to the upper school hall to see what we have prepared for them!

We very much enjoyed our study of Shakespeare last week, and I was pleased with the student’s progress memorizing sections of “The Quality of Mercy”. They are really doing a great job understanding the language and imagery of the selection.

This week in history, we will wrap up Shakespeare, and begin studying Sir Walter Raleigh. We are also going to be working on finishing our picture study from last semester. The students made wonderful progress, and we want to finish what we started!

God Bless,

~Nicole Hallford

Mrs. Hallford’s Class Newsletter

January 12 – 15

Hello! We had a wonderful first week back this semester, and had a lot of fun becoming re-familiarized with our lessons and routines. I was very pleased with how hard every student worked, and the great attitudes that they brought to our classroom.

Don’t forget: This Thursday (January 15) is the Flint Academy El Chico Night fund raiser at the El Chico on Collins. This was a lot of fun last year – make sure you don’t miss it this time around!

This week we will continue our map collages of the Netherlands, and finish up some information about the rise of Dutch trade. Last week, while completing a nature study of tulips, we had a great discussion about the economic principles behind the Tulip Mania of 17^th century Holland, and thought of some

 modern day equivalents. This week we will also begin our study of William Shakespeare in history, and his place in Elizabethan England. Although we will not begin our Shakespeare literature assignment for the year yet, since we are still reading Robinson Crusoe, we will study the “Quality of Mercy” selection of The Merchant of Venice for recitation this week. If you would like to help your child work on this at home, here it is!

The Quality of Mercy

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.”

Mrs. Hallford’s Class Newsletter

January 5-8

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas Break! I’m very excited to get back into our classroom routine, and I’m looking forward to our lessons this week!

This week in History, we are learning about the Counter-Reformation movement and the Netherlands’ struggle for religious and political independence from Spain. In addition to learning about the inspiring heroes of this story, such as William of Orange, we are also laying important groundwork for understanding why the Pilgrims moved to the Netherlands before turning to the New World. To coincide with these History lessons, we will study the basic geography of the Netherlands by creating a photo collage over a map of the United Provinces as they were formed in 1648.

We will also take this opportunity to take a close look at the composition of tulip bulbs and blossoms for Nature Study, and learn about the Tulip Mania that occurred in Holland.

Our debate this week will be about the pros and cons of placing restrictions on texting in various settings, which should inspire a lot of interesting dialog.

I’m looking forward to a great first week back!

God bless,

~Nicole Hallford