09
Mar
2018
Mar
2018
Newsletter 23: Week of March 11
categories: newsletters 2017-2018
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.