Upcoming dates and reminders:

Monday: Please send in library books! We will have library 🙂

Please send back word wall books in the bag. Thank you!

Tuesday, November 26: Thanksgiving Feast Please send in 18 bite-sized port of your child’s favorite food/snack. For example: if your child loves grapes, send in 18 grapes. If she loves pizza, cut 18 bite-size pieces. We will feast on everyone’s favorite food to celebrate thanksgiving. If you would like to donate large paper plates, plastic table clothes and napkins. Please send in any time. If we receive more than one donation, I will use them in the future! This is a crafty group and we use a variety of materials throughout the year. Thank you!

November 26: All school chapel at 9am

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.

November 27-29 Thanksgiving break

November 29: Scholastic book orders due You may visit scholastic.com/bookclubs to order and view a variety of books. Our class code is LJ4K7

After Thanksgiving please send in a shoe box and 6 empty toilet paper rolls. Each child will need those items as we begin working on our nativity. *Notice the update of 6 empty toilet paper rolls. Please label the outside of your child’s shoe box with his/her name.

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

Friday, December 20: Christmas Party Thank you for the terrific respond to the sign up genius I sent out! I greatly appreciate it. There are just a few spots left if you would like to take a look. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D49A5AD28A6FC1-christmas4

This week in Kindergarten….

Daily 5: I was able to meet with each group once this week. We are beginning to send home books for you to read with your child. There is a reading log and full description in your child’s book pouch. We added a new game to word work. This includes reading word wall words and writing them. Even though we are beginning to read full words, we continue to work on letter identification and sounds. This will be good practice at home and at school.

Phonics: We focused on beginning sounds. We walked around the school stopping and noticing different things that began with letters. We found items to fill our whole alphabet chart!

Writing: We continue to work on labeling.

Word Wall Words: we added up to our list. a, at, go, I, look, me, see, the, up and we.

Engaging God’s World: We collected earth materials outside. We found rocks, pebbles, sand, soil and water. Inside we sorted our materials. It was fun to get out and explore God’s world!

Math: We worked on addition and subtraction stories. Looking at a picture we told stories of items that were added or subtracted. We wrote out the math sentence using + – =

Interactive Read Aloud: We read the book “Corduroy” and talked about characters and setting of a story.

Handwriting: We practiced uppercase X Y and Z the school way. We enjoyed practicing all letters by writing in shaving cream 🙂

Early Finisher: There are times that students finish work a little early and there are a few options for students to do while we wait for the rest of the class to finish. Early finisher options include whiteboards and markers, making letters with pom poms, lacing, letter tracing and handwriting and a few coloring books my daughters donated to the classroom.

Upcoming dates and reminders:

Monday: We will not have library this week. You may turn in old books if you like, but we will no be checking out new ones.  Our librarian, Mrs. Joustra will be out for a few days as Mr. Joustra (her husband and 4th grade teacher here) is having back surgery. Please pray for the Joustra family, for surgery and recovery.

Please send back word wall books in the bag. Thank you!

Wednesday, November 20: Our Kindergarten and Young 5’s classes are sponsoring a student from our sister school in the Philippines. We would love to send a care package out. If you would like to donate an item from the list below, please send in to school by Wednesday. Thanks!

Tuesday, November 26: Thanksgiving Feast Please send in 18 bite-sized port of your child’s favorite food/snack. For example: if your child loves grapes, send in 18 grapes. If she loves pizza, cut 18 bite-size pieces. We will feast on everyone’s favorite food to celebrate thanksgiving. If you would like to donate large paper plates, plastic table clothes and napkins. Please send in any time. If we receive more than one donation, I will use them in the future! This is a crafty group and we use a variety of materials throughout the year. Thank you!

November 26: All school chapel at 9am

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.

November 27-29 Thanksgiving break

November 29: Scholastic book orders due You may visit scholastic.com/bookclubs to order and view a variety of books. Our class code is LJ4K7

After Thanksgiving please send in a shoe box and 5 empty toilet paper rolls. Each child will need those items as we begin working on our nativity.

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

Friday, December 20: Christmas Party Thank you for the terrific respond to the sign up genius I sent out! I greatly appreciate it. There are just a few spots left if you would like to take a look. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D49A5AD28A6FC1-christmas4

This week in Kindergarten….

Daily 5: We are doing well making our choices for Daily 5 and trying to do all of our work independently. Twice a week students are working with me in a small group or one on one. We are working on letter recognition and sounds, word wall words and reading beginner books. I love this time with your children.

Phonics: We worked on stretching words and listening for beginning sounds. The class is doing a terrific job!

Word Wall Words: We added we and me to our wall. Continue to work on a, at, I, look, see, the, go, we and me.

Math: We learned about math symbols + =. We acted out math equations using items from our play kitchen. We could add and subtract food and plates. The class also worked in small groups adding, subtracting and talking through math equations. This is a great activity to do at home as you set and clear the table.

Bible: We are learning about Moses and God’s plan for his life. Beginning with saving baby Moses and calling him through the burning bush. God’s plan for Moses shows us His great power.

Friday afternoon we enjoyed watching a group from Hope College perform a book “The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet.” Our Spanish FLES class has also been using this book in lessons.

Upcoming dates and reminders:

Monday: Please return library books 🙂 There were quite a few that didn’t have books last week. Please send back word wall books in the bag as well. Thank you!

Tuesday, November 26: Thanksgiving Feast Please send in 18 bite-sized port of your child’s favorite food/snack. For example: if your child loves grapes, send in 18 grapes. If she loves pizza, cut 18 bite-size pieces. We will feast on everyone’s favorite food to celebrate thanksgiving. If you would like to donate large paper plates, plastic table clothes and napkins. Please send in any time. If we receive more than one donation, I will use them in the future! This is a crafty group and we use a variety of materials throughout the year. Thank you!

November 26: All school chapel at 9am

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.

November 27-29 Thanksgiving break

November 29: Scholastic book orders due You may visit scholastic.com/bookclubs to order and view a variety of books. Our class code is LJ4K7

After Thanksgiving please send in a shoe box and 5 empty toilet paper rolls. Each child will need those items as we begin working on our nativity.

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

Friday, December 20: Christmas Party A sign up genius will be coming out soon for supplies and volunteers.

This week in Kindergarten….

Daily 5: This was our first full week of all of our choices (read to self, read to someone, word work, listen to reading and work on writing). The class has also starting working with me in a small group. Each child keeps track of their choices on a check sheet. It is a lot of work, but it is going very well! Some children are going home with small books (in addition to word wall books) others will continue to work on letter cards and word wall words. Each child develops at her own pace and I will continue to meet the needs of individual children. It is amazing to each child grow.

Bible: We read the story of Moses as a baby. Once again, it is amazing to see God’s plan in keeping Moses safe and knowing his full plan for Moses’ life.

Engaging God’s World: We began our study of the Earth by noticing how much more water is on  our earth compared to land. We played catch with a globe ball and counted how many times our thumbs landed on water or land.

Math: We are taking a closer look at number 6-10. We are seeing them as 5 plus a few more. Seeing a group of 5 helps to count on and build our knowledge of numbers. We are also working on writing numbers. This is much more difficult that many letters.

Phonics: We worked syllables. We counted the syllables in our names and in different words. Hearing words in parts helps us when we are reading and writing. We also practiced stretching words out. We say the word slowly so we can hear the beginning, middle and ending sounds.

Word Wall:We added go- Please continue to review our sight words: a, at, I, look, see, the and go.

Upcoming dates and reminders…

Monday: please send in library books and word wall books in the ziplock bag

Thursday, November 7: Picture retakes Please email me if your child is getting picture retakes. You will need to send in the old pictures as well. Thank you!

Thursday, November 7: no PM bussing

Friday, November 8: no AM or PM bussing

Tuesday, November 26: Thanksgiving Feast Please send in 18 bite-sized port of your child’s favorite food/snack. For example: if your child loves grapes, send in 18 grapes. If she loves pizza, cut 18 bite-size pieces. We will feast on everyone’s favorite food to celebrate thanksgiving. If you would like to donate large paper plates, plastic table clothes and napkins. Please send in any time. If we receive more than one donation, I will use them in the future! This is a crafty group and we use a variety of materials throughout the year. Thank you!

In Kindergarten last week we learned…

Daily 5: We enjoyed learning how to do two new things! We learned about listening to reading on the iPad. We use real books that have been downloaded onto our iPads. Children flip through the pages of the book while the book is playing on the iPad. This has many steps to set up and learn, but is so exciting for our kindergartners! Thank you for our helpers this week getting us started. We also learned how to read to someone. We learned how to sit closely, hold the book together and listen while a friend reads. We remembered that we can read the pictures, read the words and retell the story. Next week we will practice these and continue read to self, word work and work on writing.

We took advantage of a beautiful fall day Monday and read outside!

Bible: We read the story of Joseph. We highlighted that so many things happened to Joseph. In his life there was jealously and meanness, but God used them to show forgiveness and faithfulness. God’s plan is perfect, but not always easy. Friday afternoon we enjoyed watching the Veggie tale short version of this story called “Little Joe.”

Handwriting: We learned the school way to write N, M, H and K.

Word wall: We added at to our wall this week! Please continue to review (say and write) words: a, at, I, look, see, the.

Math: We worked on writing number 1-5, going in number order and adding within 5. I was talking with a second grade teacher about Math in later elementary. We encouraged each other that building these concrete math facts are so important in building math knowledge that continues to grow each year. Our Math curriculum cycles through concepts to continue to build number knowledge.

Engaging God’s world: We wrapped up our study of maps. It is fun to see the students expand their understanding of where things are and how maps help us.

Writing Workshop: We continue to work on labeling. We have sketched stories with pictures that represent the beginning, middle and end. Then we go back and label the pictures with at least that beginning sound of the word. We have also worked on labeling pictures of a scarecrow, bat and fish. We also figure out the beginning sound of the pictures.

There was that snow this week! The picture doesn’t fully show the flakes, but they were falling and kids were having fun at recess catching it on their tongues.

The class enjoyed working with clay in Art on Tuesday afternoon. It was so fun to have new friends staying on Tuesdays.

We ended the week with a wonderful time with Grandparents. What a blessing they are!!

Thank you to Lisa for taking these photos. This is part 1 🙂 I will add more this weekend.