I sent out two sign up genius links this week. Thank you for all of your help! There are a few spots still available.

Here is the one for PBL helpers. I appreciate your time helping with these fun projects.

Here is the the one for Pizza Party Plus (extra spots for end of year activities).

I also sent home a calendar for our ABC countdown to summer. I can’t believe we are so close to the end of the year! As you can see we have many fun learning opportunities to complete right until the end.

Monday: Library!

Wednesday: A for apple treat (one person signed up to bring those-thank you!)

Thursday: B *Bring your favorite bear (or stuffed animal)

Friday: C Chalk and Critter Barn Field trip! *please send a sack lunch with your child (meaning everything can be thrown away). Those that signed up for the snack for the afternoon-thank you! Please keep in mind that we will be in a barn and walking around outside for the day. Please dress your child in layers and in shoes that can easily be cleaned. If you are able to drop off a booster seat, that would be appreciated. Thanks! Half day friends will stay with us the whole day.

May 3: Fun night at ZCS. Please check for more details in the blue note.

Wednesday, May 8: Tulip Time Half Day *Dismissal for Kindergarten will be at our classroom door.

May 9 & 10: no pm bussing

May 16: All School Chapel @ 9am

From the office:

Continuous Enrollment forms are now PAST DUE. Please make sure you have completed the following for enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year. If you have not completed, please complete as soon as possible.

• OPTS (One Page Tuition Form): This is the white form with your tuition numbers on. You would have either picked-up from the office or would have received in the mail from us. Please sign and return.
• Gold Transportation Forms: These would have come with your OPTS. Please sign and return.
• Continuous Enrollment Form: This is an online form that you would have received in an email on or around March 4th. Please complete this Continuous Enrollment Form.

Daily 5: We continue to work on reading and writing. I am amazed at your children and how they have grown this year! You can be so proud of them.

Writing: We were able to write one letter to our pen pals and work on something new-How To writing. Together, we learned how to write instructions. We planted seeds last week, so we wrote how to do that. It was a great learning time. We will practice this style of writing a few more times.

Phonics: We continue to look for patterns in spelling with our word family study.

Bible: It was exciting to read about Jesus’ ascension into heaven and his promise to return!

Math: We took a Math test! The hardest part it following the instructions. Some want to work ahead and miss out on what they are suppose to do. This is a learning time and it is good to practice. It is helpful for me to see what areas we can work on. Quite a few are still writing numbers backwards. Feel free to correct this when you see it by reminding them to write the school way 🙂

Engaging God’s World: One of my favorite lessons in our Is It Living study: WORMS! We had such a fun time studying these living creatures. We saw how they moved, how God created their bodies in segments, looked for their saddle and tried to figure out which end their mouth was on. It was so much fun!

Reminder from the office:

• OPTS (One Page Tuition Form): This is the white form with your tuition numbers on. You would have either picked-up from the office or would have received in the mail from us. Please sign and return.
• Gold Transportation Forms: These would have come with your OPTS. Please sign and return.
• Continuous Enrollment Form: This is an online form that you would have received in an email on or around March 4th. Please complete this Continuous Enrollment Form.

Important Dates:

May 2: Pen Pal Party (details coming later)

May 3: Critter Barn Field Trip *Students will be away from school all day. Please plan to pack a peanut free sack lunch for your child. The Critter Barn does not cancel for weather, so please dress your child accordingly. It is helpful if he/she wears rainboots or shoes that can be washed off easily.

May 8: Half day for Tulip Time

Bible: It has been wonderful to learn about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection with your children this year. I love their excitement for God’s love! We will continue to reflect on God’s love and promises to us this week as we review many stories we have learned about.

Math: We worked on partners that add to make ten. It was tricky for some to think of more than one, so we continue to review and practice thinking of more than one way to add to ten.

Writing Workshop: It was exciting to write to our pen pals in Mrs. Arnold’s class. We look forward to another letter coming to us this week.

Daily 5: We continue to grow as readers and enjoy reading with friends and receiving new books. I love that writing is a also a choice for Daily 5 as students can continue writing stories even though our workshop time is now focused on letters.

Engaging God’s World: In our study of “Is it Living?” we reviewed what makes something living (grows, takes in food, reproduces). We were able to read the story of “The Little Seed” and then plan lima bean seeds. The class is eager awaiting sprouts to grow.

Phonics: We continue to listen for vowel sounds in words. We are comparing words and listening for similarities. We listed members of the en word family and ed word family.

This first week back from Spring Break has provided all of the spring weather we would expect in Michigan: sun, rain, wind and snow! Each day was a unique gift from God. It was fun experiencing it with your children again.

Daily 5: Guided reading groups continue to change as our readers continue to grow!

Writing Workshop: We were able to write outdoors! On Monday we listened to the book “K is for Kite: God’s Springtime Alphabet” outside. Then each student chose a letter and a sign of spring different from the book that began with their letter. It was wonderful to do this outside in the sunshine! During the week we also wrote a snap shot of what we did during spring break and then a small moment story. We continue to work on sounding out words and making sure there are spaces between words in the sentence.

Phonics: We listened for vowel sounds in cvc words. It was helpful to compare the vowel sounds. They are tricky!

Math: We worked on adding partners this week. The class added each other to see different partners that make 6, 7 and 5. It is fun to be active in our learning 🙂

Engaging God’s World: We began a new study called “What is Living?” We learned that living things: 1. take in food or produce food 2. grow 3. reproduce. The class did a great job sorting out living and non-living things. We had a short discussion on the difference between non-living and dead. I was impressed that the kids were very respectful and serious during this discussion.

Bible: We continue to read parables and learn the lessons from them. This week we read about the Midnight Visitor. We learned to “Ask God for what we need”. We also learned about the Great Banquet. We remembered that God is preparing an amazing banquet for us in heaven. It is our job now to invite people to it!

Word Wall Words: We have added quite a few w words to the wall. Continue to review who, what, where and when.

Classroom Community: We continue to discuss if our words and actions are filling buckets or dipping into other people’s buckets. This has really helped discussions if conflicts arise. I love to see God’s hand as our devotions have also reflected God’s love and forgiveness. We make sure that we are forgiving others when they apologize. I enjoy the growth that I see in your children academically, but spiritually and socially as well.