What a great week! It was exciting to play in some snow together even though not much accumulated. We also opened some new choices in our “I’m Finished, Now What?” center. Each table has two different materials to work with and a set of cards of fall/Thanksgiving theme things to attempt to construct. Your kids are loving these STEM activites!

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Important Dates & Reminders

• November 27-29: Thanksgiving Vacation
• In this time of giving, ZCS is going to bless His Harvest Stand, a local food pantry, with cereal and peanut butter. Encourage your child to choose a favorite box of cereal or jar of peanut butter at the store, and bring it to school by Tuesday, Nov. 26. A table will be set up in the front hallway for dropoff or have your child bring it to our classroom. Please help us fill the shelves of His Harvest Stand! Thank you for blessing others in our community.
• You may start hearing about the Jingle Jog. This is a fun jog Mrs. Miller has her gym classes do each year. We will have a certain day and time that are class will jog around the gym and down the halls. Families are welcome to cheer kids on. I do not know our day and time yet. Watch for more details. This fun event is to raise money for our sister school in the Philippines.
• Nativity Project: In December we will begin our nativity project. Please bring in a shoe box with your child’s name on it and at least 6 toilet paper tubes inside of it by Tuesday, November 26. I will be sending a SignUp genius out soon for help in class making the characters.
• Gifts of Being Grand: Many of your parents turned in their GIfts of Being Grand pages during Grandparents’ Day.  I would love these by the end of November please. Thank you for helping create a lifetime memory for your child.

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Curriculum

Bible: We finished our unit on Joseph at the beginning of the week and started Moses at the end of the week. It is amazing to me to think of the way God took care of Moses as a baby and how every part of his life was a part of God’s well-thought-out plan! I pray your children see the trust these Bible characters had in God and they grow to trust him more too. Below is our new Bible verse:

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbios 3:5-6 Confía en el Señor con todo tu corazón y no en tu propia inteligencia. Reconócelo en todo tus caminos y Él enderezará tus veredas.

Literacy: Daily 5 has been going super well! Each child has a check-in sheet. Before beginning a new round of Daily 5, everyone touches the picture that corresponds to the center they’d like to do that round and I cross off the picture as I check everyone in. It was such a joy to be able to meet with every guided reading group this week- most of them 2 times! Everyone brought home a book bag with either letters or a book inside. Please bring the book bag and the book/letters back to school each Monday.

• Reading strategy: Making connections
• Word wall word: soy (I am)
• Read aloud: Chistes de animales
• Vocabulary Words:
  • rápido (fast)
  • alto (tall)
  • saltar (jump)
  • chistoso (funny)
  • valiente (brave)
  • callado (quiet)
  • grande (big)
  • pequeño (small)
• Phrase of the week: ¿Cómo está el tiempo?  (How is the weather?)
• Letter of the week: Ss
• Words on the wall so far: el, él, no, la, si, sí, mamá, y, papá, soy

Math: This week we started thinking more about numbers 6-10. We are practicing see them as groups of 5 and some more. This is also the beginning of simple addition problems, for example, 5+1=6. We practice showing the 5 group with one hand and then counting on from there.

Writing Workshop: We continue to talk about labels. This week we labeled a turkey. Your kids are working hard to listen for the first sound of each word and find the letter that represents that sound!

Exploring God’s World: We started our unit on God’s Earth by tossing around an inflatable globe. We kept track of where our thumbs landed- on land or on water. This helped us discover that the Earth has more water than land. Next week we’ll discover some Earth materials- soil, pebbles, water, and sand.

Up in Lights:  Charlie was Up in Lights this week! Charlie loves playing outside and building with Legos. He showed us some very cool Lego sets he’s built! We love your sweet hear and sense of humor, Charlie!