Newsletter #30

Newsletter #30

We had such a good day at Critter Barn yesterday learning and experiencing all about animals! It was a great to see the children getting all excited and making many connections on living/non-living things, animals, getting the chance to see, touch, experience many different things in relation of animals, as well as playing at the park to end the day. We also had the chance to celebrate Earth Day today as we discuss the importance of protecting and preserving this beautiful Earth that God has blessed us with. We made a personal promise that we will do our part in protecting and preserving earth each and every day!

I look forward to seeing you at the Mandarin dinner tomorrow night if that’s what your family has planned on 🙂

What did we learn and What will we learn?

Mandarin/Language Arts: We jumped back into our weekly framework learning. We continue to explore word wall words, high frequency words, learning grammar as well as continuing growth in word recognizing and using them in context. In leveled reading the children are progressing in the materials, which mean not only reading and recognizing the characters, but also practicing some reading strategies, trying to figure out what the story is about as well as practicing reading fluently. When you are reading with the children at home I encourage you to what the story is about – who’s in this book, what happened, what are some patterns you see, how did things go, etc.

Bible: We reviewed Resurrection/Ascension and started talking about God’s Love for His churches (Pentecost – God send us holy spirit to help us live for Him, and to give us power to tell others about Him , Peter and the crippled beggar). We will talk about Peter escapes from jail, Peter and the Ethiopian, as well as Saul’s stories this coming week. I would encourage you to talk about Holy Spirit with the kids if you are able to as well – it can be a harder concept to grasp at their age certainly.

Memory Verse/Fruit of the Spirit: We continue to practice our March&April Bible Memory Verse (which is the verse about Easter). Please continue to practice this Easter verse and reflect on it’s important meaning of Easter! Next week I will also assess the children on their April’s verse. We continue to talk about Gentleness and how we can show gentleness throughout our daily life.

Math: We worked on our teen numbers, discovering partners of group that add up to 10, and continue practicing writing our numbers. I encourage you to ask the children some partners that add up to 10! We are comparing numbers and showing them using less and more, as well as introducing the math mountain. Next week we will continue to practice these skills through Math centers, if time permits, learning what some 3D shapes are called, and talk about their characteristics.

Exploring God’s World (Sci/SocStu): We are talking about living/non-living things and how to differentiate them. The three ways we know things are living are 1) They can reproduce 2) They grow 3) They eat/take in food as well as produce food. We will continue to explore the living and non-living, and will be talking about seeds and growth. We also had the chance to have meaningful and personal learning experiences through Critter Barn Fieldtrip! Next week we will have some special visitors in class that will help us further learn about living and non-living things.

Writing: We had the chance to write another small moment story coming back from Critter Barn – I am asking the children to choose a small moment from this field trip and expand their stories to write a small moment story. They continue to work on wrapping up their Garden Crossings Story, and other stories they are working on. Next week we we will get a glance on how to write “How-To” Books.

Play: We continue to enjoy story telling and roleplaying during Play!

Things to Note:

Critter Barn Pictures: I have shared a google drive folder with you consisting the Critter Barn pictures. Let me know if you need access to it in case you missed the email 🙂 Enjoy!

Water Bottle and Towels: Water bottle and towels were send home on Friday, please clean them and return them on Monday!

Mandarin Homework&Flashcard: Because characters of U5W5 are mostly review, I am combining our learning of U5W5 and U6W1 together next week. Both weeks flashcard will be sent home (but the children are completely aware that I am only assessing them on flashcards characters that are marked – the rest you can take time practicing at home). On homework, I will only be sending home U6W1. Thank you for your continue work at home!

From the Immersion Coordinator – What is an AALPA? This acronym stands for add.a.lingua performance assessment. This assessment allows us to assess and track each child’s development throughout his/her years of immersion education. During the aalpa, each child is evaluated through the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. Teachers conference with each child after each section and help them to determine linguistic goals. All of our K-8 immersion classrooms will be working through an aalpa before the end of the year.  Ask your child’s teacher if you would like to know more about the aalpa at your child’s grade level. <Mandarin kids haven’t taken aalpa yet>

What’s Coming Up?

Specials: Monday – Spanish, Art, Tuesday – Music, Spanish, Wednesday – Library, PE. Thursday – Spanish.

Spring Chapel: April 28th, Friday at 1PM.

Tulip Time Half Day School: May 10th.

Garden Crossing Flowers Pick Up: The dates to pick up the flowers are Thursday, May 11, Friday, May 12, or Saturday, May 13.

Memorial Day Vacation/Parade: May 29th.

Farmers Market Fieldtrip (tentative depending on weather): May 31st.

Save the Date – PBL Celebration: June 1st, 2:30-3:25PM!

Prayer Requests:

Please continue to pray for health and strength as we go through season change. Spring is exciting and beautiful but the weather is also pretty unpredictable (just usual Michigan – right?). We are also taking on new challenges and adding more things on our responsibilities so please pray for the courage and patience in taking on new challenges! I can hardly believe we are stepping into May very soon :O

谢谢!

-黎老师

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