Mr. Carnahan’s Remote Learning Page
Links for Native American Studies
Posted 6-2-20
Good Afternoon Lemon-Lime Families,
I have enjoyed working with our class today both as a whole group and through several Individual Zoom Meetings. If you haven’t signed up for an Individual Zoom yet, please find a time that works for your family at this website:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f44acaf2ca4f85-individual
This week, I am using our Individual Zoom time to complete some short end-of-year assessments. This time is extremely helpful as I work towards preparing your child’s report card.
Between my Zoom meetings today, I have been able to finish my “Washington State Native American Notes” page about the Spokane tribe! I am attaching that as a pdf for you to use if you would like to. You can also go to our remote learning page and explore the links that I found helpful when researching the Spokane and other tribes:
http://www.sunbeamslutheranschool.com/rl/carnahan/native-american-studies/
Finally, I hope to see you at Chapel tomorrow! The Zoom invitation for tomorrow’s 2:00 PM Chapel is the same as last week, and you can find it in our “Class Story” on ClassDojo or your e-mail inbox.
Please send me a “Message” or an e-mail if you have any questions or thoughts to share.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Washington State Native American Notes_Mr. Carnahan Spokane Notes
Posted 6-1-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I look forward to seeing you TODAY at 1:00 PM for our Lemon-Lime Class Zoom. The invitation for our Zoom class was posted on ClassDojo and has been sent to parent e-mails.
If your rainforest animal model is available from our previous unit, bring that with you. One of our friends requested a show & tell time to exhibit those models. If you sent a photograph to me, I’ll have that prepared to show as well. I would appreciate it if you could also bring your Memory Verse and Pacific Northwest Native American Notes pages.
REMINDER: Tuesday morning’s Zoom time has changed to 11:00 AM this week. Tuesday morning’s Zoom will also have time set aside for show & tell! Tuesday, we will be sharing our Native American Totem Poles and coloring pages. We will also spend time briefly reviewing the Memory Verse and thoroughly discussing the Washington State Native American Notes on Tuesday morning.
During grade-specific time, we have three goals: 1. Answer Math questions, 2. Read this week’s story, and 3. Student-Choice Show & Tell. That means the first graders should think about what they want to bring to class before today’s Zoom starts at 1:00 PM. Second graders have an extra 22 hours to decide what they want to bring to the second-grade show & tell tomorrow.
Throughout the rest of the week, we will be enjoying Individual Zoom meetings. This week, I want to complete a reading assessment, story-writing assessment, math skills assessment, and share some summer goals. These assessments will be used along with all the work you have been turning in to inform both my report card comments and teacher notes for next year’s teachers. That is a lot to accomplish in only 30 minutes, but I will keep the assessments short to help us stay on time.
If you haven’t signed up for an Individual Zoom meeting yet, please follow this link to select a time:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f44acaf2ca4f85-individual
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. Here are this week’s Lesson Plans: 1st & 2nd Grade ’19-’20 – Week 37 June 1-5
Posted 5-29-20
Good Afternoon Lemon-Lime Families,
Friday’s are awesome! We only have two left this school year, and this one comes with some important updates. Next Friday has special fun!
First, I want to let you know about some schedule changes for next week. I have new meetings that have been scheduled in the mornings which conflict with some of my Zoom appointments. That forced me to reschedule. This rescheduling includes moving our Tuesday morning Lemon-Lime Class Zoom back two hours.
Tuesday morning’s Class Zoom starts at 11:00 AM (first graders will be dismissed at 12:00 PM, noon, and second graders will be dismissed at 12:30 PM). This change only applies to next Tuesday, June 2nd. We will return to the 9:00 AM time for the last Zoom Class on Tuesday, June 9th.
Next week will also be the final week for our regular Individual Zoom meetings. I would love to meet with every first and second grader next week! Please double-check that you have signed up for a time. If your child doesn’t have a time yet, please take a quick moment to check your schedule and select a time for your child’s Individual Zoom next week. To help you out, I have added time slots on Monday, Thursday, and Friday that weren’t previously available. I’ve copied the link to the sign up below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f44acaf2ca4f85-individual
If you would like one more Individual Zoom during the last week of school, please let me know. We can coordinate those special requests for an extra Zoom time separately.
On a school note, we have some Friday tests to complete today. First graders have the Unit 16 Math Test to show how strong their number sense, addition, and subtraction skills have become. First and second graders both have Spelling Tests. I look forward to seeing even more of those sent in through a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail. Some of you have already accomplished this task, well done!
Let’s talk about some fun stuff! Next Friday, June 5th, we have a 9:00 AM all-school Zoom for Step-Up Day! I hope you have that time blocked out in your schedule. You will get to see the smiling faces of next year’s classmates and teachers. That Zoom will probably last 30-45 minutes depending on the teacher your child is spending time with.
The fun doesn’t stop there! We also get to have Game Night next Friday, June 5th, from 6:30-7:30 PM! I am excited to be the Game Master next Friday night! (I really am the Game Master!)
You should see an invitation to both of those events in your packet from yesterday. Stapled to the invitation is a page that has two BINGO charts and two “Scattegories” lists on the other side. I am very excited for Game Night!
Finally, I want to give you a Mr. Carnahan Challenge. Send in a photograph of yourself being awesome! If you don’t know what it takes to be awesome, think again. Some of you are great readers, others are obstacle-course ninja, still others are Minecraft champions, and all of us are awesome at something! That makes this Challenge simple: ask someone to take a picture of you doing something that you do well, and send that to me through a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail. I look forward to seeing those photographs of my awesome Lemon-Limes! Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. I think Kid President is pretty cool too. Check out his YouTube that went viral years ago. This video is older than some of our Lemon-Limes, but it still matters today. You can find some inspiration right here:
Posted 5-27-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Wednesday means Chapel, Office Hours, and helpful links from Mr. Carnahan. I hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather outside and still succeeding at your school work (which can be done inside or outside with parent permission).
I will send you a ClassDojo “Message” with the invitation for my Office Hours shortly before 12:00, noon. As a reminder, Office Hours are completely optional to sign in for. This time is set aside to give you an option to quickly ask a face-to-face question through Zoom. Of course, you can always send me a “Message” here on ClassDojo or an e-mail at your leisure.
Today is Chapel at 2:00 PM! I sent that invitation your e-mail and through a “Message” on ClassDojo. It is the same connection that we used last week if you have that saved. Today, Pastor Kirk Hulvey is sharing a message with us. I hope to see you then, at 2:00 PM.
I have helpful links for you! As I mentioned in yesterday’s “Class Story,” I have found a way to add a new page which you can connect to above. The link at the top of this page will stay in the same location, even as I add new posts like this one. I hope that makes it is easy to find again and again in the coming days. Links for Native American Studies has several options to choose from: “Great Plains Native Americans,” “Native American Games for P.E.,” and more coming soon. I will be updating those pages with more helpful links as we finish up the school year. I hope you and your child are enjoying this unit as we learn about Native Americans – I know I am!
Finally, I want to remind you that we have our Curriculum Drive-Thru tomorrow from 3:00 – 5:00 PM. That is the time to collect all of your child’s completed work, put it in one of the envelopes, bring it to school, and get the final packet of student work to take home. That’s right, we are just three weeks from the last day of school! I am sad that we have had to switch to remote learning, but I am very proud of the hard work you have all put in. Let’s finish this year strong!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-22-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Friday’s are awesome! This Friday kicks off a three-day weekend! We do not have school on Monday for Memorial Day. That means there are no assignments to complete and no Zoom meetings on Monday.
Today, we all have a Spelling test to complete. Thank you again to everyone who is faithfully sending in photographs of the Spelling and Math tests. Second graders, you get to also show us how much you’ve learned about telling time with your Math test today. I look forward to examining everyone’s Spelling tests and the second-grade Math tests.
I have a covert Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points Challenge for you this weekend: Mrs. Carnahan’s birthday is coming up, so the Challenge is to make a birthday card, sign, or drawing for Mrs. Carnahan and send me a picture of it. It’s covert though, you can’t tell Mrs. Carnahan about it. Please send those photographs to me through e-mail or a ClassDojo “Message.”
Also, you can still earn Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for writing a thankful list for yesterday’s Challenge and all of the other fun Challenges I have shared. If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please send those in as well. Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-21-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
It’s thankful Thursday! During these COVID-Closures, it can seem hard to be thankful. Here is the Mr. Carnahan Challenge for today: write a thankful list. When my 7th grade teacher assigned this task to my class, we had to write 100 things. For today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge, you get to earn 1 Mr. Carnahan Bonus Point for each item on your list! (No repeats) I find that when we take just a few minutes to write down a list of things we are thankful for we quickly realize how blessed we are. Giving this Mr. Carnahan Challenge reminds me of a song I used to hear when I was young, you can listen to the Bing Crosby version and read some thankful ideas here:
First graders, you are working on some next-level math! We’ve made it to renaming ones. When you have too many ones, you need to rename them as tens and ones. Many of our parents will remember learning how to carry, borrow, or regroup. Our curriculum uses the term “renaming” for the same skill. Our curriculum also does a good job of introducing some mental math strategies that I learned as a young math student. These strategies really helped me out! However, it can be hard to understand them without some explanation, so please take advantage of our Individual Zoom times so I can help you to understand those strategies. You can also use online resources like Khan Academy. Here I have linked a video that shows the standard renaming algorithm for addition (The narrator, Sal, uses the terms regrouping and carrying instead of renaming):
Second graders, today you should be wrapping up our Math unit about time. Tomorrow, you get to take the test on time and show us how strong you are with clocks. If you want to practice with an interactive analog clock online, check out this link:
https://www.visnos.com/demos/clock
Lemon-Lime artists, today’s task is to color inside the lines! That’s not very tricky, but I want you to do your best. Please only use colored pencils or crayons because you should be coloring on both sides. Each of you have a unique double-sided page, no one else has the same two animals (if I copied those correctly). I want to discuss those animal drawings next Tuesday, so please keep them in a safe place and finish them before Tuesday.
SPECIAL REMINDER: If you haven’t yet, you need to save a paper-towel tube for next week’s Art activity on Thursday. I’m almost done with my current roll of paper towels, do you have your paper-towel tube yet?
For today’s Native American task, we are writing notes about a Central or South American Native American tribe. I found this assignment to be tricky, even as a teacher. That’s why I uploaded a completed version of today’s assignment on our ClassDojo Class Story from Tuesday, May 19, (Kreen-Akarores Native Americans Note Pages.pdf). If you have the time, energy, and resources to study a different Central or South American tribe, go for it!
Throughout our remote-learning season, I want to help you complete all of our assignments with as little frustration as possible. I know it might not always seem that way. Rest assured, I am trying to keep things simple for your at-home learning while also providing quality learning opportunities. If an assignment ever gets to the point of feeling overwhelming or too hard, just be done with that assignment. No single assignment is going to make or break your child’s learning, so take a measure of grace with our remote-learning work. Please be careful to not take advantage of that grace too much, it can quickly take us down a slippery slope that leads to no learning.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts to share, please send me a “Message” here on ClassDojo or an e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-18-20
Good Afternoon Lemon-Lime Families,
We had another great Zoom earlier today! Your brilliant scholars came up with wonderful answers for our Unit Study task. Attached to this message, you should find two pdf’s that show those shared ideas. Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, our Unit Study assignment is to imagine and role-play how to use various supplies in unique environments. If you have questions or want further guidance, please let me know.
The ideas we shared today were excellent! However, they didn’t fully answer the directions which asked for an explanation of “why” students chose their answers. Therefore, I don’t recommend using everything from the attached pdf’s, but just the answers that your child can explain reasons for. Building those critical thinking skills is essential, regardless of age. I hope this is a fun and engaging activity that helps to build critical thinking skills while leading us into the Native Americans unit.
We have another class Zoom tomorrow morning. You can find that invitation in ClassDojo or your e-mail. As always, if you ever have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or you catch Mr. Carnahan’s mistakes, please send me a “Message” through ClassDojo or an e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
If I Lived There, I Would … #1 pt. 1
If I Lived There, I Would … #1 pt. 2
Posted 5-15-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Friday’s are awesome! I hope you’re all looking forward to a wonderful weekend as well. Thank you so much for your great participation yesterday, bringing completed work and picking up the packets for the next two weeks. It was great to see so many smiling faces, and I can’t wait until Phase 4 of reopening is completed so we can celebrate together in person.
Today, I want to quickly remind you to keep sending in those photographs of tests when they’re completed. That really helps me to stay on top of how students are doing and what I might need to do differently on my side. Of course, if you took today’s Spelling test early and dropped it off yesterday, I’ll look at the real thing soon.
Looking ahead, I want you to keep the next paper-towel roll that comes available. That’s right, when you finish using a roll of paper towels, keep that cardboard roll for an art project we have coming up. It’s no rush though, we don’t need the paper-towel roll for until the Thursday after next week, that will be Thursday, May 28th.
Finally, I have a Mr. Carnahan Challenge! Send me a picture of yourself as a super hero! Maybe you’ll model yourself after the Character Kids that we read about at school. Perhaps, you have a better idea. Whatever the case, send me a picture of you as a super hero. Feel free to get creative! You can use cut outs from an old magazine; you can use various coloring tools including crayons, paint, pencils, and pastels; you could even dress up in real life and have your photograph taken! I look forward to seeing my super students flying into my ClassDojo “Message” box and my e-mail inbox!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-11-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
We have a Zoom class meeting this afternoon! I’m excited to see everyone and work on a few things together. The invitation to our 1:00 Zoom can be found in our “Class Story” on ClassDojo and in your e-mail. Please keep in mind, second graders are going to be in our Zoom from 1:00 – 2:00, and first graders will be in the Zoom from 1:00 – 2:30 today.
During our Zoom meeting, we will be discussing our Memory Verse for this week and today’s P.E. task before working on our Unit Study assignment. If you want to get a head start on these, I have a couple helpful links to get you on your way. First, this is a link to the Seeds Family Worship song for Psalm 20:7 on YouTube:
Next, you may recall that NFL player Whitney Mercilus and American Heart Association Volunteer Dr. Mercedes Carnethon were featured in our cardio challenge video. They are back for today’s P.E. strength challenge video! I used to do planks, push ups, and abdominal crunches when I was a student. Maybe we could have some competitions when we see each other in-person. This video focuses on what planks are and how to do modified push ups:
First graders, we will do some Math practice today from 2:00-2:30. If you need to catch up in your book, try to do so. We should be on page 117 today. Don’t worry if you’re a few pages behind, I can help you catch back up during our individual Zoom meetings. Also, if you’ve run into tricky math questions, write down the pages that those are on and we can work on them together today.
Second graders, we can work together to solve some tricky math problems tomorrow morning as well. You have some time to catch up on your math concepts and get ready for your big Continual Assessment at the end of this week. We will review some math concepts and discuss strategies you can use to make that big test less daunting.
I look forward to seeing everyone at 1:00 PM this afternoon!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-8-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Fridays are awesome! With more sunshine, warmer days, and state parks opening up, I hope you’re looking forward to some outdoor fun this weekend. Before you run off to play, make a plan for how much school work you’re going to finish today and crush it!
Fridays are designed as if we were still following our in-person learning schedule. That’s why there is no Unit Study task, we dismiss at 2:00 on Fridays. If you’re up for it, I encourage you to see if you can say your Memory Verse without any paper, song, or help. Usually, we would test that on Fridays, but that’s optional during our remote learning season.
We have Spelling tests today! I look forward to getting photos of the Spelling tests when you’re able to finish them. Thank you to everyone who has been diligently sending in photos of tests!
First graders, today’s Math concept is all about guessing! We call it estimating. That means it has to be a good guess that you carefully think about. Your estimates should be close to the real number. I always pick a number ending with five or zero. For example, I might guess that there are 75 bottle caps or 60 LEGO bricks in a given pile.
First-grade parents, your child needs your help with estimating. It’s a tricky skill, and the Math book doesn’t have enough estimating practice for your child, in my opinion. I encourage you to have fun with this one and point at groups of objects, challenge your child to first estimate the quantity, and then count them for accuracy. Don’t feel like this is something you have to do all at once, just like the skill of telling time, you can practice estimating as you go through your day. You could point at a group of trees, cars in a parking lot, books on a shelf, or any other selection with a fairly large number.
Second graders, you have a Math test today! Before you jump into it, make sure you feel comfortable with fractions. If you have questions, feel free to send me a message. I have some work going on today, but I’ll do my best to respond back as fast as possible. Yesterday, I posted a link to Khan Academy. That is a great source for tutorial videos on a wide variety of math skills, especially fractions.
I have a Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points Challenge for you and your family to enjoy this weekend! Take an awesome picture of yourself enjoying one of our state parks. They have been closed for weeks, but on Tuesday many state parks were reopened. I’m very excited to get outside and see some nearby lakes. Please, be careful to stay at least six feet away from other park-goers. I look forward to getting those beautiful pictures through ClassDojo “Messages” or e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-7-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I hope you’re starting to enjoy a regular rhythm to remote learning. For some of us, each day is completely new and provides a unique set of learning opportunities and/or challenges. Whatever your situation is, I want you to know that I’m here to help. In this post, I will first share some resources for our “Howler Monkey Notes” page in Unit Studies. Then, I have some links to help first graders with adjectives and second graders with fractions. However, everyone can benefit from taking a peak at all of this information!
First off, today’s task in Unit Studies is “Howler Monkey Notes.” That paper has some good facts on it, I wrote it myself. However, there simply was not enough space to write down everything about howler monkeys. Therefore, I recommend looking at activewild.com. This website has a wealth of great information that you can read through. It does have some advertisements on it, so be mindful of that and click the little “x” in the top right corner when you can to hide them. This webpage also has two short videos, both less than two minutes. The first video shows howler monkeys “bridging” from treetop to treetop. The second is a fun informational video about howler monkeys. If you just want to watch the videos themselves, I posted those two links as well:
https://www.activewild.com/howler-monkey-facts/
“Howler Monkey Bridge”
“Howler Monkeys | National Geographic”
I also want to share National Geographic’s webpage for howler monkeys. This webpage has a great map showing where howler monkeys live in the Americas. It also features some beautiful howler monkey pictures with informative captions. However, there is less overall information on this website.
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/howler-monkey/
Next, I want to share some grade specific help.
First grade gets to go first. Adjectives are tricky when we first meet them. Once we understand the idea though, it becomes much easier. This next link is for “Unpack Your Adjectives,” a video from School House Rock that teaches about adjectives in a fun song. I like to watch this every year with my class, I think it’s a great resource. I often pause it many times to really examine the adjectives and identify what noun is being described. After all, adjectives are words that describe nouns. Keep that in mind.
Second graders are working on fractions right now! That can seem like a very scary concept, but focus on what fractions do. Fractions show us equal parts of a whole. That means, the shape or quantity must be split into equal sized parts, just like division. I have put a link to Khan Academy’s website that does a great job teaching about fractions. The video here is the introductory video, but you can keep exploring this website and learn much more about fractions. If you prefer to just watch the introductory video on YouTube, I copied that link below.
“Fractions Basics | Khan Academy”
I am praying for all of you, and I can’t wait until we get to phase four of reopening from our COVID closures. I want to have a party with you all! What should we do when we can finally celebrate the end of COVID closures? Send in your ideas to earn Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points. Have a great day!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-6-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I’m glad to report that I’m feeling much better today. I will be resuming all my Zoom sessions, and I also hope to see you all at 2:00 PM for Chapel this afternoon. Today, I want to share with you some insights and resources to aid you in the work we have according to the lesson plan.
First off, we have Music on the schedule for today’s special class. I’ve been coming up with ideas that will help students to continue developing some basic and highly beneficial skills. Today’s skill is keeping a beat and developing rhythm. Whether you pick a great dance song or use the memory verse song for this week, I recommend putting on some music and drumming the beat with your child. Now, if you’re like me, you don’t have a drum kit at home. I do have a drum, but it’s broken. That means, I’ll probably be using my thighs, a countertop, a box, or another improvised drumming surface. Of course, you could clap along as well. However it’s done, developing an ear for hearing the beat of a song and the body control to follow the rhythm and stay on beat with that song is highly beneficial. Although music might not be a future your child is looking to, developing basic musical skills has been shown to enhance academic and social development as well.
Next, I want to give you some gorilla resources. These three links all have videos, but the third one also has some excellent reading. This first link is for a short, fun, silly, but still very accurate video with kid-focused facts about gorillas. It was made by Nat Geo Kids and is under 2 minutes:
Another video with great facts about gorillas was made by “Animal facts by Datacube.” This is not a silly and fun video, but it has a wealth of knowledge (much of it I didn’t know myself). This video is longer though, lasting just over 10 minutes:
The last gorilla link takes you to National Geographic’s “Mountain gorilla” page. This has excellent reading, a few pictures with captions, a video halfway down the page, and three very interesting facts at the bottom. The video on this page shows park rangers who have rescued and are now raising orphaned gorillas. It is not spoken in English, but it does have subtitles for you to read along with.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/m/mountain-gorilla/
Lastly, I want to invite you to Chapel today! Pastor Kirk Hulvey is going to deliver a message that reminds us all about Jesus amazing power and the importance of faith in our lives. Join us at 2:00 PM for that All-School Chapel Zoom. The invitation for that is on ClassDojo and in your e-mail.
If you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or ideas to share, please let me know!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 5-4-20
Good morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Today’s Zoom Meeting starts at 1:00 PM. The invitation for today’s Zoom is in our ClassDojo “Class Story” and your email. I’ve also prepared a video this morning that previews this week’s materials. PE today says, “Cardio Challenge,” take a look at this website for ways to complete that challenge: https://vimeo.com/209130963 . If you want to get a head start on your “Jaguar Notes” for today’s Unit Studies task, you can check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsnmh98zmM. Finally, you can enjoy singing along to our memory verse using this video: https://youtu.be/nEQefhqnA1Y. I look forward to seeing you this afternoon!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-24-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Fridays are awesome! They’re even better after having a wonderful Thursday, and you all helped me to do that. You made my Thursday wonderful by doing a great job coming to drop off homework and pickup the next curriculum packets. This Friday is especially awesome as it kicks off our Spring Break! That means we will have no Zoom meetings next week, and the Lesson Plans are designed to start the next Monday, May 4th.
Even though we don’t have class next week, I strongly encourage you to check out the free food program being offered by the Kent School District. Some of the format has changed over this school closure time, but I think it is even easier for parents because children do not have to be in the vehicle. However, pickup is now only on Mondays. That means you will be given a box for each child that contains 5 days of breakfast and lunch! During these difficult times, I think that is something you should all enjoy if you want to. I encourage you to make a plan for who is going to go to one of the pickup locations on Monday during their hours of operation. Different locations have different times, check out this link to find the times and locations that work for you: https://www.kent.k12.wa.us/Page/12176
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Pick Up Free Meals for the Week Every Monday. Throughout the school closure, Kent School District will continue to feed all children in our community, up to age 18, whether they are on the Free or Reduced Meal program or not.
www.kent.k12.wa.us
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If you want to keep working over the next week, I certainly won’t stop you! It might be nice to space out some of the Math pages or read stories that we’re not going to make it to this year. First graders received their final Language Arts textbook, which was a thicker yellow book than the previous one. Second graders already have their final textbook. With only five and half weeks of remote learning left before we break for Summer, I will not be writing in the last unit of stories from either first or second grades’ textbooks. Therefore, if you want to keep reading over Spring Break and don’t have anything on hand, I think those would be some great stories to explore. The final unit for first grade, which we will not complete, is called “Unit 2: Many Paths.” The final unit for second grade, which we won’t complete, is “Unit 3: Starting Now.” Again, that reading is only if you WANT TO. Next week is Spring Break, and I will certainly be taking some time off as well!
On a final note, I want to give you a Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points Challenge for Spring Break. Keep track and document how you spend time being physically active and getting outside every day. Hopefully, you are getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. I’m also praying that everyone spends time outside on a very regular basis. You can earn Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for each day that you document any physical activity and/or time spent outdoors. I know I will be tempted to spend too much time lounging on the couch, so I’m going to be participating in this one as well. I will be tracking my daily 60 minutes of activity (or more) and the ways I’m getting outside each day.
Have a wonderful Spring Break!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-22-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
It’s Wednesday, and that means Chapel! You can find the invitation for today’s All-School Chapel Zoom on our most recent “Class Story.” Pastor Kirk Hulvey is leading us in Chapel this afternoon. I would love to see you there!
We also have all of your Sunbeams teachers available at noon for “Office Hours” today. Check with each of your children’s teachers to find their specific Zoom invitations. You can find the invitation for my “Office Hours” in your ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail.
I have a new Mr. Carnahan Challenge for today! Think about the times when you’ve been trying to focus on your work at home. What helps you to focus? Send me a “Message” on ClassDojo or an e-mail with your idea. Remember, everyone gets Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points when they complete any of the Challenges, even if it’s days or weeks after the Challenge started. Feel free to look back at old Challenges and send those in as well.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-19-20
Good Afternoon & Happy Easter!
I was reminded this week that many of our families are celebrating Easter today. Catholic and Protestant denominations (including Lutheran) celebrated Easter last Sunday. There are interesting historical reasons for these minor differences. I think it’s more interesting that our common day of worship is Sunday to begin with. After all, the seventh day is Saturday, and scripture has always been clear to honor and rest on the Sabbath (seventh day of the week). However, we worship on Sunday. Why is that? We will discuss this during our 1:00 PM Zoom class session tomorrow afternoon. If you know the answer, feel free to earn some extra Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points by sending me your knowledge about this topic ahead of time.
Today, I also wanted to share with you the Lesson Plans for this week. I’ve heard that some families are struggling with specific items. The great news is that I’m available for individual Zooms throughout the week to help each and every one of you! I’m also glad to answer questions every day of the week through ClassDojo “Messages” or e-mail. There is also a third time to ask questions: all of our Sunbeams teachers are in front of their Zoom computers for “Office Hours” at noon on Wednesdays. Any one of these avenues is a great way to get answers for your questions and help for specific concerns.
Finally, I am copying a link for this week’s “Individual Zoom Meeting Schedule” on SignUpGenius (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f44acaf2ca4f85-individual). If you signed up last week, I am keeping your reservation, and you don’t have to sign up again. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, individual Zooms are an excellent way to get answers for your questions and enjoy some extra practice time. There are a lot of openings for everyone who wasn’t able to join me last week. If that’s you, please take a look at your schedule to see if there’s a time that works for your family to join me for an individual Zoom meeting this week. If you don’t see a time that works, please send me a message, and we’ll try to figure something out together.
If you ever have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or ideas to share, please send me a “Message” on ClassDojo or an e-mail. I hope you will enjoy the rest of this beautiful day with your family!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
1st & 2nd Grade ’19-’20 – Week 32 April 20-24
Posted 4-17-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Happy Friday! I hope you’re ready for a beautiful weekend and have some fun plans for the days ahead. It’s still important to maintain our safe physical distancing, but I think we should all try to enjoy some extra time in the sun this weekend.
I’d like to briefly share some quick reminders for school. First, today is Friday and we have a spelling test today. If you could please send me a photo of that when you’re done with it, I would greatly appreciate it. Next week, there is no spelling test, but we all have math tests and a memory verse to work on.
Our next Mr. Carnahan Challenge will hopefully be fun for everyone! Crazy hair photos! Come up with a great idea for crazy hair, make it happen, and send me a photo of your crazy hair through a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail. If you don’t get to it today, send it to me over the weekend. I’d love to see your awesome crazy hair photos. Also, bonus points if you give me a new idea of what to do with my hair. So far, I’ve tried a mohawk, pig-tails, pig-tails with a unicorn in front, worn an athletic headband, and today seems fairly normal. Let me know if you have a new idea for me to try out with my long hair before it gets cut off.
I have really enjoyed the individual Zoom sessions that happened this week. If you didn’t get to schedule one this week, I’ll be reaching out to you again to try for a time next week. Today, work hard finishing what you need to, and then enjoy your weekend! As always, love God, love your family, and do your best.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-16-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
We’re reaching the end of another remote learning week. I hope that as you cross off more assignments and complete more tasks you start to feel more comfortable with your ability to champion your child’s education. I know it’s still difficult. I don’t expect everyone to like this. In fact, I predict that most of you dislike this situation as much as I do, if not more. However, you’re doing it! More than that, your child is learning.
For today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge, I want to encourage you all to be active! There is a wealth of research showing that healthy children should be getting 60 or more minutes of physical activity every day. This research is backed by the CDC, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, The Mayo Clinic, KidsHealth.org, Harvard School of Public Health, and many more. You can search for any of those resources online to find great ideas on what to do, or you can also go to http://www.nfl.com/play60 and check out their kid-focused resources. So what is today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge? Track at least 60 minutes of physical activity that you accomplish in one day, and send the details to me in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail.
When you track your 60 minutes of physical activity, please keep each activity to at least 10-minute sections. For instance, your message could read, “Zedekiah accomplished 10 minutes of playing tag, 20 minutes of bike riding, a 15-minute dance party, and 15 minutes wrestling on the trampoline.” As you can see, 10+20+15+15=60, and that’s the goal! (My mighty mental math minds might’ve noticed that 10+20=30 and 15+15=30 and then 30+30=60. I like making math easier when I can by noticing those convenient connections.)
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or ideas to share, please send me a “Message” on ClassDojo or an e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. Here’s a pdf I made of helpful websites for rainforest research if you’re looking for some assistance.
Mr. Carnahan Rainforest Names Sheet with answers
Posted 4-15-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I’m excited for our first all-school Chapel on Zoom today! If you’re available to join us at 2:00 PM, I would love to see you there. Pastor Kirk Hulvey will be delivering the message. After Chapel is over, feel free to stay on for a few minutes to socialize with all of our Sunbeams family through the Zoom meeting. Check your e-mail and ClassDojo for the invitation and Zoom meeting information.
In our Lemon-Lime Zoom yesterday, we found out that I wrote a typo in the Lesson Plan for this week! I’m so sorry for this error: Unit Study: Rainforests on 4/16 Thursday said, “Research and make a list of 10 or more interesting facts about one of North America’s rainforests.” I meant to write, “Research and make a list of 10 or more interesting facts about one of South America’s rainforests.” Therefore, if you haven’t done this task yet, I ask that you choose a South American rainforest. However, if you’ve already gotten started on a list of 10 interesting facts for a second North American rainforest, I will accept that as well (On Monday and Tuesday, we were working on 10 interesting facts about a different/first North American rainforest). You should have plenty of lined paper in the left side of your purple folder to take notes on these interesting rainforests.
Today, I also want to issue our first Mr. Carnahan Challenge of the week: If you went to a dance party, what is one song you would love to hear at that dance party? Send me the name of a song in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail. If you could also include the name of the artist, that would be helpful.
If you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or ideas to share, please send me a “Message” in ClassDojo or an e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
1st & 2nd Grade Lesson Plan – Week 31 April 13-17
Posted 4-10-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families!
I want to congratulate you on again doing an amazing job coming to our curriculum drive-thru! We had awesome participation, and that is very encouraging to me as your teacher. We did collect homework yesterday, but do not stress about the homework. If you didn’t bring it this time, bring it next time. If you’re not getting it all done, that’s fine! I want you to do your best. I also implore you to accept rich grace and mercy for the rest (don’t stress). Remember, in the big picture, we are never going to even approach being good enough. Yet, God loves us so much that He sent His Son to Earth, and because of Jesus’s love, we are made good enough!
Speaking of Jesus’s love, this is Holy Week! According to me, today and Sunday are the two most important days every year. Because of Jesus’s self-sacrificial death on the cross, which we celebrate on Good Friday (today), our sins have been paid for (Hebrews 9:22-28). Then, Easter morning gives us assurance and confidence that we have eternal life because Jesus defeated sin, death, and the devil when He raised Himself from the grave that Sunday morning, long ago. How powerful is our God!
In celebration of this special weekend, I’m giving you three ways to earn Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points! More than that, you’re even allowed to cash in on two of them if you want to. These are Mr. Carnahan’s Easter Weekend Challenges:
- Sunbeams Butterfly Drawings: Mrs. Pacilli had this wonderful idea to involve our entire student body in making a mural of beautiful butterfly drawings to herald the new life we celebrate on Easter morning. Your job is to draw and color a butterfly and then digitally send it to me so the teachers can combine all the butterflies into a big beautiful mural. You can find downloadable images of sample butterflies on the “School Story” tab of “Sunbeams Lutheran School” on your ClassDojo account. Otherwise, draw your own butterfly and color it. We’re asking that these drawings then be submitted by noon today! Therefore, this Challenge does have a time-limit (though I’ll always be happy to see your pictures). When you submit your butterfly drawing pictures by taking a photograph and sending it in, please make sure that the photograph doesn’t have anyone in it and just features the drawing. Send those photos to me in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail to get Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for this first option.
- Decorate Easter Eggs: Send in a photograph of your decorated Easter Eggs. This was Thursday’s assignment for Art Class. Maybe you don’t have the equipment to die or paint real eggs, that’s fine. Instead, I’ll give full points for drawing a picture or getting creative in another way to show decorated Easter Eggs. Send photos of these beautiful Easter Eggs to me in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail to earn Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for this option.
- Easter Celebration Ideas: Normally, I’m sure many of us would gather with friends and family for an Easter Egg Hunt this weekend. To stay healthy, I strongly encourage you to not gather with friends and family this weekend, at least not in person. Perhaps, you can come up with awesome and fun ideas of how we can still celebrate Easter with the people at our house or even with people in other houses while still staying physically separate for safety’s sake. Share those ideas in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail them to me in order to get Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for this third option.
I hope that between these three choices for this weekend’s Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points Challenge, you see something that you really want to do. I can’t wait to see the beautiful artwork you submit and read the great ideas you can come up with to celebrate Easter. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate Good Friday or Easter with a church service, click here to go to Lutheran Church of the Cross’s website and join us for online worship.
If you ever have any questions, thoughts, concerns, or ideas to share, please send them to me in a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail. I love you all and can’t wait to see you on Monday for Zoom.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-8-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Today, I’m working hard to get ready for our curriculum pickup. Our staff is also meeting through Zoom this afternoon to discuss our long-term plan for remote learning. I would love your input for this. If you haven’t yet, please take just a few moments to complete the “Parent Feedback Survey” that was e-mailed out on Monday.
In fact, today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge is connected to our Zoom meetings as well. To complete today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge, come up with a suggestion for our Zoom meetings. I would like each student to recommend something we should see or do together. Take a few minutes to think about what would be fun, exciting, or just nice to enjoy together. Send those ideas to me through a ClassDojo “Message” or by e-mail. If you have more than one good idea, share them all!
I hope you enjoy learning about rainforests today! Yesterday’s video was a little long, but I thought it was a lot of fun. I’ve attached another YouTube video to this post that will tell you more about the rainforests in our world. Perhaps, you’re finding some amazing rainforest resources on your own, feel free to share those with me as well.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions. I have been very busy this week, but I will respond to each and every message I receive.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-7-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
(This is a long post. If you’d rather watch me read it to you, I made a video of that. Click here to watch it.)
Thank you so much for working hard to keep your children’s learning going! As many of you have already heard, Governor Inslee announced yesterday that all schools in Washington state will be closed to in-person learning for the rest of this school year. Although that is sad news, I want to reassure of the most important thing, Jesus loves you.
“Jesus loves me,” is my favorite phrase and the title of my favorite song. That’s the big picture. With Jesus’s love, all of the problems that this world or the devil try to throw at us are insignificant. God’s love and power are stronger than any problem. However, Jesus makes it clear that the life we live is not going to be easy.
What does Sunbeams have in mind for the next 10 weeks? We plan to continue the remote learning process. The staff is meeting again very soon to work on the long term plan and how we can support student learning best. Part of the support is giving you plenty of breathing room to reduce the stress that seems to be constantly growing.
I don’t want your child’s learning to be a source of constant stress and anxiety. Instead, I would love to turn this learning time into a reason for joy. I would love for you to have fun teaching your children as much as I do; but there’s a reason why I’m a teacher, and you sent your child to my classroom. I understand that, and that’s why the teachers are discussing and developing our long-term plan.
We have received feedback from parents through e-mail and ClassDojo. There was also a “Parent Feedback Survey” sent to your e-mail yesterday. Please, take a few minutes to complete that short survey (9 questions). If you would like to add some written feedback, the last question does have a place for you to write in your thoughts. This is a powerful tool that will help our teachers decide what the best next steps are. Please let me know if you didn’t receive that e-mail, and I will be happy to send it again.
For now, it’s my understanding that we are going to provide curriculum for the next two weeks. We will have sealed packets ready for pickup this Thursday, April 9th. We ask that only healthy individuals who are free of any and all COVID-19 symptoms come to the curriculum pickup. If you don’t feel comfortable making that trip, please let us know so that we can mail your packet.
Finally, many of you have been working very hard over the past three weeks of remote learning (although it feels like longer to me). I would like to safely collect all of the completed student work. Ms. Rumsch and Ms. Root will also be collecting student work. However, Mrs. Eisen and Mrs. Pacilli have decided to not collect work from their classes.
Therefore, if you have students in any of the Kindergarten through 4th grade rooms at Sunbeams, we’re asking you to bring back all of their completed work with you this Thursday, April 9th. The teachers and I will have a drop off system as you approach the curriculum pickup. Volunteers will be on hand to direct you. Please, have all of your child’s completed work in one folder with their name on it. You may use any of the folders that have been sent home for this process.
This was a very long post, so I applaud you for reading it all. If you have any questions, please ask me through a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. I hope you enjoy this fun video with “25 Facts About the Amazon Rainforest” from YouTube.
Posted 4-3-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I hope you’re off to a fantastic Friday and are gearing up for a wonderful weekend! Today, I want to remind all of you to try your best to make the test-taking experiences as focused and genuine as possible for your children. This can be difficult or even impossible, so just do your best. Most importantly, do not give away any answers. In order for these tests to be more reliable assessments, it must be student work completed independently, without any answers from their wonderful helpers.
I have a new Mr. Carnahan Challenge for today. Before I tell you about that, please, remember that you can go back through old posts and complete any of the old Mr. Carnahan Challenges and still earn Bonus Points from them. The first ten people who complete each Challenge get double Bonus Points, and everyone earns points who completes the Mr. Carnahan Challenges.
Now, today’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge is to write a paragraph about a planet you would like to visit and why. First grade Lemons must write at least three (3) sentences in their paragraphs. Second grade Limes must write at least five (5) sentences in their paragraphs. However, I want you to really explain why you want to go to that planet. What would you do if you went there? That could take more than the required number of sentences, which would be great! Also, you can write about visiting any real planet, it doesn’t have to be the planet you researched. This can be done with paper and pencil, then take a picture and sent it to me. If you want to type out the paragraph, that is perfectly fine as well. I look forward to getting those ClassDojo “Messages” and possibly some e-mails with great ideas on visiting other planets.
Remember the five parts of a complete sentence while you’re writing your paragraph:
1. Start with a Capital Letter
2. Subject: who or what the sentence is about
3. Predicate: the verb part which tells us what the Subject is or what the Subject does
4. Make Sense: your sentence needs to make sense when we read it
5. Finish with an End Mark: period, question mark, or exclamation point
During this time of school closure and physical/safety distancing, don’t forget to reach out to your family and friends who miss you. I know I need to make some phone calls, or perhaps I will be coordinating some video calls, with my family. Technology makes it possible for us to stay close to our loved ones even when we’re physically separated.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. I look forward to seeing you on Monday for our Zoom meeting at 1:00 P.M.
Posted 4-2-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
This morning, I want to take a brief moment to remind all of us (myself included) that many of us have the opportunity during remote learning to take a step back from all of life’s details and look at the big picture. Our world is facing a terrible problem that is destroying lives and communities: sin. We are all hearing more than enough about viruses that infect our human bodies, but sometimes our focus on staying physically healthy can block our proper perspective on the bigger picture. The Gospel news is that we already have the vaccine, the cure, and freedom from sin because of Jesus’s death on the cross. God’s eternal perspective is beyond our reach, but He did give us the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and each other. During our school closure, I implore you to take extra time to grow closer to God and build up your personal faith as well as the faith of those in your home.
Today, I have a Mr. Carnahan Challenge: send me a ClassDojo “Message” or e-mail that lists the people you have taught about your planet. For Unit Study, your task today is to teach someone about your planet. Before that, our Art task is to finish the “presentation boards” (whatever they may look like). Once you’ve completed those tasks, you can simply tell me the names or relations of the people that you taught about your planet. That’s how you can earn today’s Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points.
If you haven’t yet, consider taking a drive to your local neighborhood school or pickup location to get some free meals for your children provided by the public school district. That is an awesome resource that you have already paid for with your taxes, this is a time to definitely tap into that resource. Also, please send me a “Message” on ClassDojo or an e-mail if you have any questions.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 4-1-20
Good Afternoon Lemon-Lime Families,
Today’s video is a brief walk through on how you could make a “presentation board” for your planetary project. I have decided to skip writing a rubric for you because each house is so different that I don’t think it’s fair to put a standard set of expectations out there for this project. Instead, I want you to be creative and do your best! Maybe you’ll even end up making a video with your child acting like a reporter. Submit whatever you end up accomplishing when it is done.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 3-31-20
Good Morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Thank you so much to all of you that were able to Zoom with us this morning! It was a great time we shared together. We heard about the planets you’ve been researching, saw some great models, and laughed. We even tried dancing during our Zoom meeting. For dance-time we tried to use GoNoodle, but you may want to watch it again yourself. You can click here to visit the GoNoodle website and watch “Unicorn Noodles.” I apologize for the video being glitchy during our Zoom meeting.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Starting next week, our Zoom meetings are getting special extensions. On Mondays, the second graders will wave goodbye after the first hour is finished, and the first graders will stay on Zoom for an extra 30 minutes with me. On Tuesdays, it will be the first graders waving goodbye after the first hour, and the second graders will stay with me on Zoom for an extra 30 minutes. This chart might help to clarify that for you: Lemon-Lime Zoom Schedule.
To help you work on your planetary project, I prepared a worksheet with questions for you to answer (you can download the pdf here: Planetary Project Worksheet). I hope that helps. I’ll also post a video to ClassDojo tomorrow with some more thoughts on building your planetary presentation boards.
As usual, if you have any questions about our remote learning process, please send me a ClassDojo “Message” or an email. This is a time to be praying for everyone around us, doing our best to stay healthy, and working hard to keep learning. I’m right here to help you in that process!
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 3-30-20
Good afternoon Lemon-Lime Families,
We just wrapped up another great Zoom meeting as a class, thank you to everyone who was able to sign in today. Tomorrow morning, we will meet again at 9:00 A.M. The invitation for tomorrow morning’s Zoom meeting will be sent out to your email and posted to our ClassDojo’s “Class Story” page.
When we sign on tomorrow, please make sure your child has paper and pencil to write with. Another special thing to bring tomorrow is your Planetary 3-D model! I can’t wait to see all the amazing models that will come to our Zoom meeting tomorrow morning.
I also wanted to share this link with you: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga. The lesson plan for this week has “Kid Yoga” listed for P.E. today. I was envisioning the linked YouTube page for “Cosmic Kids Yoga,” but any kind of yoga that students can complete is great. However, we also discussed in today’s Zoom meeting that yoga isn’t the only way to be active at home and complete P.E. requirements. My hope for P.E. (Physical Education) is that during our school closure students are still learning body control, staying active, and having fun.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 3-27-20
Good morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I hope you’re already enjoying an awesome Friday! Second grade Limes, you have the privilege of completing two tests today. I know that sounds more like a burden than a privilege, but when you’re done with them, I hope you feel very accomplished. First grade Lemons, you also have the opportunity to show us your learning with your Spelling test as well.
Just like last week, please give your child as genuine a testing experience as possible. Once those tests are done, I would love to receive photos of them. I know for the Math tests that is a bit more cumbersome, but I really appreciate your support in receiving that feedback as much as possible.
Today, my Mr. Carnahan challenge matches the theme of my space socks: take a picture of your planetary 3-D model! It’s as simple as making sure you finished yesterday’s Art project and taking a picture of it. I will encourage you to hold onto those until at least next Thursday so you can use your models to teach someone about your planet.
Before I sign off, I want to remind you about our worship times with Lutheran Church of the Cross. Although we are not meeting in person, you can join us for a live-stream of worship at 9:30 A.M. this Sunday morning. Just follow the link from our church website to our live YouTube event, you can use this link as a shortcut: http://lutheranchurchofthecross.net/livestream/
As always, if you ever have any questions, please send me a “Message” through ClassDojo.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. I found this amazing website this week while doing my lesson planning. Check it out:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/overview/
Posted 3-26-20
Dear Lemon-Lime Families,
Thank you for the great participation we had yesterday picking up curriculum! I look forward to continuing our remote learning together. Today, I’ll be working on a video that walks through opening that purple folder. For now, I recommend putting that aside and keeping it in a safe place while we work on finishing this week’s work.
As I look at the Lesson Plans for 1st and 2nd grade, I’m reminded that today is the day to build a 3-D model of your planet! That’s an exciting project that could get messy, and it could even seem daunting or difficult. However, I want to reassure you it’s as simple as 1-2-3. First, choose what you’re going to use for making your model: paper, salt dough (plenty of easy recipes online), modeling clay (if you have it), a ball wrapped in paper, or something else. Second, use your research to help you decide what your planet should look like. Finally, decorate the outside of your model with the right colors. For those of you using clay or salt dough, you may have to let it dry for a few hours before this step. Furthermore, salt dough or modeling clay often needs an oil-based paint or lots of water-based paint to decorate. If you’ve made a paper ball, you should be able to use markers, crayons, colored pencils, and paints right away. I look forward to seeing pictures of those soon!
I also see that first grade Lemons had a Math test yesterday, and second grade Limes have a Math test tomorrow! I haven’t received many Math questions through ClassDojo. To encourage you guys in asking those good Math questions, I’ve thought up a new Mr. Carnahan Challenge.
You can earn today’s Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points by going through the pages of your Math workbook that we’ve covered last week and this week. Find any questions that were very hard, and you still want help with. Write those into a ClassDojo “Message” and send them to Mr. Carnahan. It would look like this for a Limey second grader:
pg. 48 #1: __x5=45 45/5=__
pg. 51 #6
pg. 54 #4(a)
pg. 58 #3
pg. 60 #2(a)(b)
pg. 63 #’s 5 and 6
pg. 65 #12
You may notice that for the first one I wrote “45/5=__” using a slash (/) instead of a division symbol. That’s because it’s much easier to use the slash than find the division symbol when typing, but they mean the same thing. I look forward to getting some of those messages and exploring the best tools I have to help you answer them. For today, enjoy your time with your family! Love each other, play a little, but make sure you get your learning done as well.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. Here’s a book recommendation from yesterday’s Mr. Carnahan Challenge.
Posted 3-25-20
Good morning Lemon-Lime Families,
I had a long day yesterday getting ready for this afternoon’s curriculum packet pickup. Please make sure you have a plan for who is coming to Sunbeams to pick up your packets between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. this afternoon.
I want to thank everyone who has been participating through ClassDojo and especially this week with Zoom! I loved getting to see so many beautiful Sunbeams faces out there. I have already received some polite and helpful feedback that I can use to make Zoom even better, always feel free to share those thoughts in a ClassDojo “Message.”
Today, I want to give students a Mr. Carnahan Challenge. Here it is: have your parents send me a ClassDojo “Message” with the title of a picture book that we should enjoy together either by Mr. Carnahan finding a video on YouTube or having Mr. Carnahan read it to the class. I linked a video below this message of my friend Miss Naomi reading “Rooster’s Off to See the World.” What makes this video special is that she is reading it while sitting next to her chickens! I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to getting those book titles from all of you.
This afternoon, please make sure you have a plan for who is coming to school to pick up curriculum. Anyone making this trip should be completely symptom free. When you arrive to school, we will have a drive-thru curriculum station prepared so that you can stay in your vehicle. Our Sunbeams staff will hand the packet to you through the passenger window.
If you have any questions, please send me a “Message” through ClassDojo.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted 3-20-20
Good morning Lemon-Lime Families,
Fridays are awesome! Even though this is the first Friday of our school closure, I think we can still make today awesome. To help with that, I’ve completed my first attempt at styling my hair upon student request, check out the video on our “Class Story” tab in ClassDojo to see my attempt at a mohawk!
Today, my Mr. Carnahan Challenge is to send in the funniest joke you can think of. Feel free to use your computer, books, or even human resources to find an extremely funny joke. Make sure to send it to Mr. Carnahan in a ClassDojo “Message” as soon as you can. As always, the first ten responses receive double Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points, and everybody who completes today’s challenge receives points.
Today, students should be taking their first Spelling Tests, according to our Lesson Plan. First, give your child one of the half pages of lined paper, the children know how to write their names and numbers on those papers ahead of time. Then, read through the words in a random order, I sometimes read every third word to randomize it. After reading each word, then say the word in a sentence, and repeat the word again. I repeat this process as long as it takes for our class to spell the word. However, it is very important to not help your child during the test. The class and I discussed the purpose of tests, and they should be able to tell you why we take tests (Tests help tell the teacher what the students have learned and already know.). I would greatly appreciate a picture of your child’s spelling test sent to me through a ClassDojo “Message” at your earliest convenience.
As always, please send me a ClassDojo “Message” if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing some great responses with jokes and Spelling Tests today.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
P.S. Stay posted for an announcement from Sunbeams Lutheran School later today!
Posted March 19, 2020
Good morning Lemon-Lime Families! Today’s Mr. Carnahan challenge is to go to space! That is, go to YouTube and enjoy a story read to you from space. “Story Time From Space” is a YouTube channel that Mrs. Pacilli shared with me, and I think it is very cool. You’ll get to see real astronauts reading to you from the International Space Station! You can pick your own book from their channel by clicking here or start with the video posted below. To earn today’s Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points, your task is to watch a book reading (or more than one if you want) and then send Mr. Carnahan a Message through ClassDojo that has three or more multiple choice questions for me to answer. I’ll send you a response with my answers, I hope I get them right! As always, the first ten to complete the challenge get double points, but everyone who completes the Mr. Carnahan Challenges always gets Bonus Points.
On a slightly gloomy note, Lutheran Church of the Cross has decided to close their doors to worship for the time-being. Last night, Mrs. Carnahan and I worshiped with Lutheran Church of the Cross from home. You can join us on Sunday by going to Lutheran Church of the Cross’s website and following the links to the Live Stream of worship at 9:30 A.M. These are difficult times when we must consider giving up our own rights and privileges to help protect the health of others, particularly the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.
Thank you to all of you for being wonderful and supportive families! Please, send me a message through ClassDojo any time. I am making it my earnest priority to always respond within 24 hours, if not much sooner.
Blessings,
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted March 18, 2020
Thank you to the families who have already responded to the St. Patrick’s Day Challenge. I still encourage completing that bonus activity, you can find it under the “March 17, 2020” post.
Today, I am sharing another Mr. Carnahan Bonus Challenge. I want to encourage you to share any resources that you have found and used over the past few days to help your child complete their school work and learn beyond that. Everything from places you can go with your family in the real world to websites that offered helpful aides count. Several families have already shared great resources, and they have earned Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points for sharing.
However, if you found a resource that turned out to be more work than help, please don’t share that one.
Again, I’m giving double points to the first ten student families that send me a message through Class Dojo. Everyone who shares a helpful resource to use at home during these school closures receives Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points.
A quick note about Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points and Challenges: These are for fun! I’m hoping your family enjoys these daily check-ins.
Is Mr. Carnahan really keeping track of these? Yes, I am keeping track of the Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points in an excel spreadsheet.
Will having more or less Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points impact my child’s grades? No, the number of Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points that your family earns during our school closure will not impact your child’s grades.
Is it worthwhile completing these bonus challenges? Why? Yes, it’s still worthwhile completing them! These activities provide learning opportunities for both you and your child to enjoy together. Whereas reading the textbook or completing some math worksheets might be fairly independent work, I imagine these bonus challenges involving more than just the child.
Are the Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points worth anything? Yes, the points have value, but in a purely fun way. I will use them as I plan some fun activities to enjoy together when the school closures end.
If you have any questions about these Mr. Carnahan Bonus Points or the Challenges, please let me know through a Class Dojo message. If you have any questions, please let me know through a Class Dojo message. Have a wonderful day everybody!
Blessings
Mr. Nathan A. Carnahan
Joshua 24:15
Posted March 17, 2020
You did it! You found Mr. Carnahan’s Remote Learning Page on our website. As I promised, here is some material for St. Patrick’s Day. After you watch this Youtube video, open the pdf, and then send me a message through Class Dojo with your answers. The first 10 students to get the correct answers earn a prize when we see each other again. The rest of the students who send in correct answers will also get a prize when we see each other again. Through this time, I’ll be keeping track of how much interaction we’re able to accomplish and rewarding that positive behavior.
The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose at School with Mr. Carnahan Questions
Parents, thank you so much for your support. I would recommend having your child write their answers on a piece of paper. Then, you can send me a picture of that or type the answers in your Class Dojo message to me.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!