March 2018 archive

29
Mar
2018

Newsletter 26: Spring break :)

categories: newsletters 2017-2018

Week Overview

At the beginning of the week I prayed God would use me to teach your children something new about Easter and to help them know that Jesus died for them specifically because he loves them so much. I have been incredibly blessed by your children as we journeyed through Holy Week together. Discussing the story with your children is the highlight of my Holy Week so far this year.

During “good news” each morning  we heard lots of hopeful stories about trips and fun things your kids hope to do in and around Zeeland. I pray you have a wonderful break together and a very blessed Easter!

Important Dates

March 30-April 7: Spring break 🙂

April 19: Full-day field trip to Critter Barn 

Reminders

On Monday please help your child remember:

  • beach towel
  • library book
  • take-home guided reading books

I thought it might be helpful to include this for after break. We’ll transition back together! 🙂

Curriculum

Bible: As we read through the stories we open a new Resurrection Egg and add to our timeline. Your kids are asking great questions and making comments that show me they are walking with God. It’s been an extra special week in Bible! When we get back from break we’ll add The Resurrection to our timeline and take them home.

“El ángel dijo a las mujeres: -No tengan miedo; sé que ustedes buscan a Jesús, él que fue crucificado. No está aquí, pues ha resucitado, tal como dijo. Vengan a ver el lugar donde lo pusieron.” Mateo 28:5-6

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5-6

Literacy: This week we reviewed the following “tricky” letters: Qq, Ññ, and Yy. We also reviewed reflexive verbs, action words that are done to oneself, for example, washing one’s hands, Me lavo las manos. In art I noticed the kids are working on an Eric Carle project so we read the book, La Mariquita Malhumorada, by the same author and talked about how to be a good friend.

Math: We wrapped up our last round of math centers before switching to new activities. During math centers time we’ve been working on addition, (paying close attention to the parts that make up a bigger number,) counting by 10s to 100 and identifying teen numbers.

Writing Workshop/Exploring God’s World: This week we combined these two subjects and began a class book on living and nonliving things. So far every child has created a page about a living thing. We’re digging a little deeper and asking ourselves, “How do we know it’s a living thing?”

 

25
Mar
2018

Newsletter 25: Week of March 25

categories: newsletters 2017-2018

Week Overview

We had a good week together! It feels like spring may finally be almost here and I’m so proud of your budding learners! Thank you for your prayers as I was out sick on Friday and have been trying to recover this weekend.

Important Dates

March 28: All school chapel 9:00- everyone is welcome!

March 30-April 7: Spring break 🙂

April 19: Full-day field trip to Critter Barn 

Reminders

  • Enrollment Forms: Please turn in enrollment papers to the school office this week! It is so helpful to have this information to plan for next school year. Thank you!
  • Auction Donations: Please turn in the form indicating you will donate pop or money for our auction this spring. The committee is hoping to have a good idea of how much is coming in by the end of this week. Thank you!

Curriculum

Bible: This week we learned about Palm Sunday. We talked about the power behind Jesus entering in on a donkey and the people expecting a king. We will continue to learn about the events of Holy Week and add them to a timeline this coming week. Below is our new Bible verse:

“El ángel dijo a las mujeres: -No tengan miedo; sé que ustedes buscan a Jesús, él que fue crucificado. No está aquí, pues ha resucitado, tal como dijo. Vengan a ver el lugar donde lo pusieron.” Mateo 28:5-6

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5-6

Literacy: This week we talked about reflexive verbs. This kind of verb is used to express that one does an action to oneself. Often they are used when we talk about routines. For example, I get myself dressed, I brush my teeth, I wash my hands.

  • Reading strategy: Inferring
  • Read aloud: Corduroy
  • Vocabulary words
    • la tienda (store)
    • la gente (people)
    • el botón (button)
    • la muñeca (doll)
    • los pantalones (pants)
  • Word wall word: muy (very)
  • Phrase of the week: Yo fui al ____. I’m went to ____.
  • Letter of the week/handwriting letter: Ññ

Math: We continue to talk about teen numbers and search for groups of 10 inside the bigger number. This week we used every day objects like pasta, sea shells, paper clips, and seeds to make the teen numbers, including the groups of 10.

Writing Workshop: We continue to practice writing stories with Small Moments. I’m so proud of the hard work each one of your kids is putting into their writing!

Exploring God’s World: On Friday we explored a real living thing- worms! I can’t wait to hear about their experience when I see your kids on Monday!

Up in Lights: Adrian was Up in Lights this week! He showed us many of his favorite things including the songs he can play for us on the keyboard! Adrian, you have a spark like no one else! We’re so glad you’re in our class! 

16
Mar
2018

Newsletter 24: Week of March 18

categories: newsletters 2017-2018

Week Overview

I feel like March is flying by! I know it’s been and continues to be a busy few weeks so I want to thank you for sticking with us and supporting us in the amazing ways you do. I couldn’t do my job without you and partnering with families like yours makes my job worth doing!

Some of our highlights from this week included: hot crayon during purposeful play, hat day on Friday, and celebrating our Spanish proficiency with an art project.

Important Dates

Wednesday, March 21: Wacky Wednesday (Dress in mismatched or wacky clothes/hair)

Friday, March 23: Bring a flashlight (We will “camp out and read.”)

March 28: All school chapel 9:00- everyone is welcome!

March 30-April 7: Spring break 🙂

Reminders

  • March is Reading Month: There are lots of fun activities planned for us by our 2nd grade teachers! Please see the dates above and let me know if you have any questions!
  • Field Trips: A few more people signed up to join us at the market! We are still looking for a couple more drivers (ideally 2-3) for the Farmers Market on June 6. The market is usually quite busy so I prefer to have smaller groups. We will be gone for a full morning, but will be back by 12:45. If you’re interested please sign up here. Thank you!
  • Hope College Science Camp: This summer Hope is offering a variety of camps. If you’re interested please check out the options here. 

Curriculum

Bible: This week we wrapped up our unit on miracles. Some of the miracles we learned about are: Jesus healing the blind man, Jesus walking on water, Jesus calming the storm, Jesus feeding the 5,000, the great catch of fish when the fishermen placed the net on the other side of the boat, and Jesus changing the water to wine. Next week we’ll begin learning about Easter and the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: We continued learning about verb conjugations. This time we focused on third person plural. In English this would be the pronoun “they.” In Spanish we say “ellos,” “ellas.” The same conjugation is used for the second person plural, “ustedes.”

  • Reading strategy: Visualizing
  • Read aloud: El Diente de Franklin
  • Vocabulary words
    • el diente (tooth)
    • la hada (fairy)
    • la almohada (pillow)
    • la dentista (dentist)
    • la moneda (coin)
  • Word wall word: este (this) yo (I)
  • Phrase of the week: Yo voy a ____. I’m going to ____.
  • Letter of the week: Yy

Math: Our math time this week was spent working on a practice worksheet to reinforce several important skills including: finding groups of 5 in bigger numbers, adding, and subtracting. We also learned to identify two sets of object as equal or not equal and how to look for parts inside a bigger number.

Writing Workshop: We continue to explore books with Small Moments. Right now most kindergarteners are writing about Visser Farms or jumping on the trampoline at For the Kidz Gymnastics. We continue to work on visualizing our story, then touching the pages and telling the story, and finally writing the story.

Exploring God’s World: We continue to talk about living things. This week your child identified and colored the living things in a coloring page.

Up in Lights: Stella was Up in Lights this week! She invited her parents, younger brother, and baby sister. She was very excited to show us part of her collection of Boxcar Children books! Stella LOVES reading! She even brought a bookmark for each friend in our class. Thank you, Stella! We love you!

From the Immersion Coordinator, Jodi Pierce

Where can I learn more about immersion education?
In addition to add.a.lingua’s parent site and blog which many of you have joined (http://addalingua.com/parent), the CARLA website gives a plethora of options for learning more about immersion (http://carla.umn.edu/immersion/). This is the website for the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition which is a resource for immersion educators around the world. The U.S. Department of Education funds 9 language resource centers and this is the one that focuses on immersion education. While much of the site is geared towards professional educators, some parents also glean great research-based information and tools from this site.
09
Mar
2018

Newsletter 23: Week of March 11

categories: newsletters 2017-2018

Week Overview

We had a great 4-day week! It felt very different to be “alone” with your kids again. Usually when kindergarteners are asked to adjust from one person, Maestra Medrano, being in charge to another it takes a little time. I’m super happy with the way your kids have adjusted! I wouldn’t trade those 8 weeks, but it is good to be back to “normal” again!

Important Dates

March 23: Camping day- wear your camping gear and bring a flashlight to read

Friday, March 16: Hat Day! Wear a hat- your “thinking cap.” 🙂

Wednesday, March 21: Wacky Wednesday (Dress in mismatched or wacky clothes/hair)

Friday, March 23: Bring a flashlight (We will “camp out and read.”)

March 28: All school chapel 9:00- everyone is welcome!

March 30-April 7: Spring break 🙂

Reminders

  • March is Reading Month: There are lots of fun activities planned for us by our 2nd grade teachers! Please see the dates above and let me know if you have any questions!
  • Field Trips: I’m looking forward to our field trips coming up! Thank you for signing up to drive! We are still looking for a several more drivers for the Farmers Market on June 6. The market is usually quite busy so I prefer to have smaller groups. We will be gone for a full morning, but will be back by 12:45. If you’re interested please sign up here. Thank you!

Curriculum

Bible: This week we learned a new song and discovered the lyrics teach us about two of the miracles Jesus performed. Many of your kids knew the song in English. If you’d like to listen to the song in Spanish you can find the YouTube video we used here.

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy: Winter is almost over, but we enjoyed one more winter story, The Mitten. We practiced visualizing the setting and the characters. Then each child created their own mitten and animals and practiced retelling the story.

Math: We opened up some new math centers! They include lots of subtraction, addition and teen number practice. Most of them have a Dr. Seuss theme which we’re enjoying during this month of reading.

Writing Workshop: We continue to explore books with Small Moments. This week we learned about adding details and telling the events in order. On Friday we practiced telling a small moments story from Visser Farms and next week we will write our words on the pages of our first written small moments story.

Exploring God’s World: Our Is It Living? unit took us to Visser Farms this week! We learned how many living things such as potatoes, carrots, and flowers make it from the ground to our tables at dinnertime.

From the Immersion Coordinator, Jodi Pierce

How do we test our students’ language fluency?
In addition to the twice yearly aalpa* which is administered by classroom teachers, we contract with Language Testing International (for Spanish) and Avant (for Mandarin). These are internationally recognized companies that do objective fluency testing for both students and adults. In 5th and 8th grade our Spanish students take these tests and receive ratings in speaking, reading, writing, and listening. We have tested our Mandarin students in 3rd grade and above in these four areas this year and last year. It is exciting to see our students reaching the high levels of fluency reflected in their scores!
*In kindergarten we complete the aalpa project just once in the spring. Our class will be doing it in May.
02
Mar
2018

Newsletter 22: Week of March 4

categories: newsletters 2017-2018

Week Overview

Dear parents and families,
This week was definitely one to remember as I said goodbye to all of your amazing
learners. Words cannot describe how much I really wanted time to slow down for just a moment to really embrace and cherish our time together one day at a time. As I like to put it, each sunrise these last 8 weeks was a reminder of how much motivation I had to spend time with your children in school. I absolutely enjoyed every moment of not only teaching but also learning from your students as well! I will truly miss and remember this student teaching experience and value these wonderful memories made in room 16! 

Sincerely,
Maestra Medrano

Important Dates

March 5: PT Conferences (optional) and No school

March 5: PT Conferences (optional)

March 8: Field trip to Visser Farms

March 9: Comfy Cozy Reading Day- Your child may wear comfy clothes or pjs

March 23: Camping day- wear your camping gear and bring a flashlight to read

March 28: All school chapel 9:00- everyone is welcome!

March 30-April 7: Spring break 🙂

Reminders

  • Field Trips: I’m looking forward to our field trips coming up! Thank you for signing up to drive! We are still looking for a couple more drivers for the Critter Barn on April 19 and several more drivers for the Farmers Market on June 6. If you’re interested please sign up here. Thank you!
  • March is Reading Month: On Thursday 2 difference reading log/calendars came home in the red alert folders. One is for Whitecaps baseball. Keep track of your reading to earn a ticket to a baseball game this summer! The other is the last calendar for the Pizza Hut Book It program. Both programs are optional. As a school we’ll be celebrating reading with a variety of activities throughout the month of March. Our first special day is Comfy Cozy Day on Friday, March 9! Wear your comfy clothes or pjs and come ready to snuggle in and READ!

Curriculum

Bible: We continue learning about miracles Jesus performed. We read about Jesus helping the blind man see again and Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. It amazes me that this same power lives inside of us!

Miracles Bible Verse: Pidan, y se les dará; busquen, y encontrarán; llamen, y se les abrirá. Mateo 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Literacy:

  • Reading strategy: Visualizing
  • Read aloud: Quiero Viajar
  • Vocabulary words
    • avión (airplane)
    • yate/bote (boat)
    • el velero (sailboat)
    • el autobus (bus)
    • el cohete (rocket)
    • el tren (train)
    • explorar (to explore)
    • viajar (to travel)
  • Word wall word: tengo (I have)
  • Phrase of the week: Hice ___. (I did ___. or I made ___.
  • Letter of the week/Handwriting Letter: Rr

Math: We are searching for groups of 10 and “extras” inside teen numbers. This week we practiced making teen numbers with manipulatives to show the 10s and 1s.

Writing Workshop: This week we started our unit on Small Moments, true stories with lots of details about one moment. We read The Snowy Day and looked for the small moment in the story.

Exploring God’s World: We continue to talk about living and nonliving things. We’re excited to see some living things when we visit the farm next week!

Up in Lights: Greta was up in lights this week! She has an amazing story! We’re so glad God brought you to our class, Greta! Thank you for sharing your love for cinnamon rolls with us. 🙂

From the Immersion Coordinator, Jodi Pierce

What are your immersion-related questions? 
If there is anything immersion related that you are curious about, afraid of, excited about, and/or interested in, I invite you to connect with me via jpierce@zcs.org. I will also be around during conferences, so feel free to stop in my office (between the media center and gym) or to schedule a time to meet with me.