We had a great week! One of the highlights this week for me was during our Bible lesson Thursday. We were talking about the 10 plagues when the kids started asking how a loving God who keeps his promises could allow such sad things to happen. I told them God works through sad things so teach us important lessons, but never stops loving us or taking care of us. See below for more on our Bible discussion.

---

Important Dates & Reminders

• Tuesday, November 19 we will have a pj day! As you know the kids have been working hard to use Spanish in our classroom and earning pom pom balls when they do. They voted to celebrate the full jar with a pj day. The jar is not quite full, but I anticipate it will be full by Tuesday. Please help keep motivation high, by not telling the kids about pj day quite yet, but just use this announcement for your own planning purposes. I am proud of your kids!
• November 26 I am hoping for someone to cover our classroom during lunch until the last child leaves for the playground. The time will be 11:50-12:20ish. I have a grade level meeting. Shoot me an email if you’re interested please!
• 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. .
• 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.

---

Curriculum

Bible: We continued learning about Moses this week. We read the story of the burning bush and the 10 plagues. Led by your children and their very good questions, we had an important conversation about how God allowed something sad to happen to the oldest sons of the Egyptians, but saved the people who loved him, the children of the Israelites. Next week we will talk about the crossing of the Red Sea and the Israelites journey through the desert.

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: Your children were excited to share how they practiced their books and letters at home last weekend! Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child’s learning! Please remember the most important thing is for your child to enjoy reading. If it is a struggle, just put the “school” books down, snuggle in, and enjoy reading the pictures of a favorite book from home. 🙂

Starting next week our literacy time will look a little different. Rather than learning a new letter each week we are going to learn 3-4 each week and focus on each letter for one day. This research-based approach to teaching literacy will allow us to cover all the letters of the alphabet more quickly and cycle through the entire alphabet several times. It’s my hope that this more effectively supports your child as they work to master the letter names and sounds.

• Reading strategy: Making connections
• Read aloud: ¿Dónde Está Mi Osito?
• Vocabulary Words:
  • de puntillas- standing tiptoe
  • el auxilio- help
  • mimar- pamper, indulge, spoil
  • el llanto/el rugido- cry, roar
  • el bosque- woods
  • atraparse (se atraparon)- trapped
  • encoger (encogido)- shrink
• Word wall word: en (in)
• Phrase of the week: Está soleado.  (It’s sunny.) Está nublado. (It’s cloudy.)
• Letter of the week: Nn
• Words on the wall so far: el, él, no, la, si, sí, mamá, y, papá, soy, en

Math: This week we went outside during one of our math lessons to act out simple addition and subtraction problems. For example 3 kids climbed up the stairs. Then 2 more climbed up. At the end there were 5 kids total at the top of the jungle gym. We also practiced writing numbers 4-6. Please continue reinforcing correct number writing and practicing addition and subtraction at home.

Writing Workshop: We continue to talk about labels. This week every child drew a picture with labels of their snow day and a time they or someone else fell down. We have two great stories drawn with labels now!

Up in Lights:  Graysen was up in lights this week! His parents and 3 brothers came to visit and share some of their favorite things about Graysen. His favorite song is Who You Say I Am. Graysen, you are indeed a precious child of God just like the song says! We’re so glad you’re our friend!