It was so good to be back at school and see all of our your children and their smiling faces. We practiced a lot of routines this week to get us back into the swing of things! I also started assessments this week as the first semester ends in just a week! It is hard to believe how fast this year is going! I am looking forward to a great 2020!

Also this week we had one of our classmates, Karson Huffman, fracture his elbow at recess, please keep Karson in your prayers!

Important dates:

• January 16: ZCS Showcase This is a night for new families to discover our school. If you know anyone looking for a new school for any age, please feel free to invite them!
• January 17: End of the semester and NO BUSSING
• January 20: In service day for all teachers, NO SCHOOL for students
• February 6: Field Trip to For the Kidz gymnastics (more information below)
• February 15-18: No school Winter Break

Additional Information:

Our Field Trip is scheduled for February 6 at For the Kidz gymnastics in Wyoming MI. I will be sending a field trip permission slip home this week that NEEDS to be returned for your child to participate. I will also be sending a sign up genius out soon for drivers.  Please indicate on the sign up how many children you can take! Thank you in advance for your help in this regard. I am so looking forward to this field trip and I am sure the kids will love it!

One thing you may be hearing about is our bucket of bears. This is an incentive for the kids to transition quickly and quietly. When they do a great job I put a bear(or two:)) in the bucket. When the bucket is full they will be rewarded with a pajama day in which they may also bring a small stuffed animal or small pillow.

Curriculum:

Bible: This week we started our study of Jesus’ ministry on earth. We read the story of Jesus’ baptism and talked about what it means to be baptized. It is our way of showing others we want to love and follow Jesus. We also read a devotion this week about how God made us all unique and shared what we liked about ourselves and how we are all made perfectly by God. Our new verse is Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Word wall word: am ( So far this year we have done:  I, the, a, look, see, at. go, we, me, up, is, like, and ,here.)

Phonics: This week we worked on saying words slowly and listening for their first and last sounds. We sorted words together by the sounds they ended with.

Daily 5: Everyone should be bringing home a new book or two in their book bags this weekend. If you get a chance have your child read it to you they are so proud of themselves! We worked on making lists, writing sight words and listening and reading books on the ipad as well as working with Mrs. Arnold. Please continue to practice letters and sounds with them as well as the sight words, they should all be in their book bags!

Writing workshop: This week we finished working on making lists, next week we will begin writing pattern books!

Math: This week we learned about a hexagon and that it has six sides and we also reviewed positional words such as above, below, beside and next to. We put different shapes above, below, beside and next to things.

Up in Lights: This week Miriam Ortiz was up in lights. Miriam’s mom came to share about her along with her new baby sister and younger brother. It was so fun to learn more about Miriam along with watching a video of her favorite song, ‘Butterfly’s Day Out.’  Miriam is a great friend to everyone as well as a big helper everyday. We are blessed to have Miriam in our class!

Afternoons: This week we did math centers, literacy work, as well as art, music and kindergarten singing, along with our cooperative play time! Afternoons are always so much fun!