Highlights from our week…

I praise God for another great week of  Kindergarten! One of the biggest highlights for me this week was Grandparents Day. We’ve been talking lots in Bible about God being a covenant, faithful God. His faithfulness throughout the generations was clear as Kindergarteners, parents, and grandparents worked and played together Friday morning. Thank you for all of you for the parts you played in making that day so enjoyable! Thank you all for the donations of supplies, that prayers, the Gifts of Being Grand coordination, and to Christina, Doreen, Livie, Teresa, and Mindy for spending your morning with us.

This week the kids also made great progress in their Spanish pom poms jar! Each time Kindergarteners use Spanish unprompted, they earn a pom pom for the jar. When the jar is full we will celebrate! I anticipate the jar filling up this week! Soon after that, we will bump up the Spanish output expectation again. Your kids are making amazing progress! Please continue to encourage them and lift us all up in your prayers!

Important Dates.

• November 9 & 10: No PM bussing and no hot lunch
• November 10: Picture Retakes
• November 11: No AM or PM bussing and no hot lunch
• November 21 & 22: conferences
• November 22: picture trade & friendship fruit salad

Important Information

• Conference Questionnaire – Take a moment and fill out the google form sent to you last week by e-mail. This will help me better plan our conference together. Please complete by Friday, Nov. 18th.  Click here to complete the form. Thanks!
• Conference Sign Up – Conference sign up is underway.  Please sign up for a 15 minute conference with me. Refer to the email I sent out earlier for sign up information as well as the password. Please let me know if you need this information again.
• Thanksgiving –
  • Picture Trading –  We will be learning about trading in honor of the pilgrims and Indians during Thanksgiving. Please send in 20 wallet or 4X6 size photos of just your child. We will trade on Tuesday the 22nd. You are welcome to use a combination of wallets (maybe from school pictures) and 4×6 prints. If you watch websites like Snapfish or Shutterfly, they often have 1 cent print options.
  • Friendship fruit salad – On Tuesday the 24th, we will celebrate friendship by creating a fruit salad. Please send in 1 cup of chopped/prepared fruit for our salad. More details to come!
• If there are any more Gifts of Being Grand pages out there, please turn them in to me as soon as you are able. I will add them to your child’s spiritual journal, a collection of pieces gathered throughout your child’s years at ZCS.
  

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Check out how much we’re learning and growing in Christ!

Bible: This week we learned about Joseph! We learned about his family, his dreams, and his journey to Egypt. This week we will learn how God continued to take care of him while he was in Egypt. We also began our Bible verse for November. To practice with your child, please check out the video under the “Bible Verses” tab.

Literacy: This week we added Word Work to our Daily 5 choices! For the first time, Kindergarteners were also able to choose which center they wanted to do that day.

In grammar this week we learned how to change articles to match the number of nouns we are talking about. For example, el amigo means 1 friend and los amigos means more than 1 friend.

• Reading strategy: Making connections
• Word wall word: el papá (dad)
• Read aloud: Así Vamos a Escuela (review)
• Vocabulary Words:
  • disfrutar (to enjoy)
  • techos (roofs)
  • las zancadas (steps)
  • la campiña (countryside) *Some of our Kindergarten friends made connections between this word and where they live!
  • el titubeo (hesitation)
  • apurados (rushed, hurried)
  • los patines (skates)
• Phrase of the week: ¿Qué es eso?  (What’s that?)
• Letter of the week: Pp

Math: This week we reviewed and took our first math test! I am so proud of the kids for their hard work and can’t wait to show you the culmination of their hard work this unit! I will have their math tests for you at our conference.

Writing Workshop: This week we continued to draw out our stories and label the pictures. I am encouraging the kids to remember that wherever they are is exactly where they are supposed to be. Our goal is to listen for and write the initial sound of each word.

Play: We continue to enjoy playing vet, restaurant, and build cruise ships. This week we also started making Thanksgiving cards. On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons we practiced some math centers and on Thursday afternoon the kids helped me prepare our classroom for Grandparents Day. They loved taking part in this process!

From the immersion coordinator, Jodi Pierce…

Add.a.lingua has lauched a new resource for immersion parents and you will want to check it out! Please visit addalingua.com and scroll down to the box that invites parents to learn more. After registering, you will find brief yet excellent information regarding immersion education.

Thank you, again, for the important part you play in helping our school days go smoothly! I am so proud of the hard work your kids are putting in every day! They have grown so much and it is a blessing to get to be a small part of it!

Highlights from our week…

It was SO good to be with your precious kiddos for a full week again! CEA was a great time to recharge, reconnect with other teachers, and learn some new strategies, but I missed your kids! We picked up on Monday right where we left off before our long weekend. In fact, I was amazed with the Spanish output I was hearing and we began a language incentive plan! We are now filling a jar with sparkly pom poms each time I hear one of the students use Spanish. When the jar is full we will celebrate! Once it’s almost full we’ll vote on ways we’d like to celebrate. I’m so proud of your kids and their hard work! Please continue to encourage them and pray for them as we continue to raise the Spanish expectations and continue our journey toward Spanish fluency!

Finally outside after LOTS of indoor recesses!

Elli was up in lights! Thanks for coming mom!

Math centers- number puzzles

Math centers- pumpkin roll and color

Math centers- playdough number apple trees

Emma was glad we had no more indoor recess!

Beautiful fall recess after a rainy day.

peek a boo!

Important Dates

• October 31: Reformation Day Chapel (10:00) – please feel free to join us! You’re welcome to sit with our class or in the chairs with the other parents!
• November 4: Grandparent’s Day! We are excited to host our grandparents on Friday! If you happened to miss the information that went home before CEA, please check out our resources tab to read the information on Grandparents Day and pass on The Gifts of Being Grand.
• November 9 & 10: No PM bussing and no hot lunch
• November 10: Picture Retakes
• November 11: No AM or PM bussing and no hot lunch

Important Information

• Gifts of Being Grand: Please help me connect with grandparents by passing along these precious keepsakes. I’ll add them to your children’s spiritual journals, a collection of pieces created throughout their years at ZCS. I would love to have these by Grandparents Day and will have extra copies that day if anyone needs them.
• Snack: Just a friendly reminder to please send a morning and afternoon snack with your child even if he/she is ordering hot lunch that day. Thanks for your help with this! A full tummy is better for learning than a hungry one. 🙂
• Parent Teacher Conferences: God is doing amazing things through your kids this year! I am looking forward to meeting with each one of you on November 21 or 22 to share how much your child has grown and learned so far in Kindergarten! This is a wonderful time of celebration and I can’t wait to share with you all of the great things your kids are doing! Beginning November 4 you will be able to sign up for one time slot. I will send an email with a parent letter attached to give you more information about how to sign up. Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to meet with me! I’m looking forward to it!
  

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Check out how much we’re learning and growing in Christ!

Bible: This week we learned more about Jacob. God brought Jacob to his uncle Laban where he blessed him with a job, riches, and with Leah and Rachel. Later God asked Jacob to return to his homeland. Even though he was scared of what his brother Esau might think, Jacob trusted and obeyed. God never left Jacob or stopped watching over him. God never leaves us and will always watch over us! God is so good!

(Just fyi, this coming week I hope to assess the October Bible verse and start the November Bible verse. A video will be coming soon!)

Literacy: This was a VERY exciting week for literacy! In the Daily 5 we reached our goal of 10 minutes of Read to a Friend for 3 days in a row and celebrated together! This coming week I hope to introduce #3 of the Daily 5 as well as introduce choice. Kindergarteners will be able to choose which of the 3 Daily 5 choices they would like to complete with the use of a check in sheet.

Our letter of the week was a consonant for the first time! This meant that we began to combine consonants and vowels to form syllables! We even combined some syllables to form words! We made some exciting and powerful steps toward reading this week!

In grammar this week we learned about a special ending some Spanish words have, -ito or -ita. This ending is used to speak lovingly or to show that something is small. For example, a small dog (perro) or a puppy might be called perrito. A cute kitten (gato) might be called gatito.

• Reading strategy: Making connections
• Word wall word: la mamá (mom) y (and)
• Read aloud: Así Vamos a Escuela
• Vocabulary Words:
  • disfrutar (to enjoy)
  • techos (roofs)
  • las zancadas (steps)
  • la campiña (countryside) *Some of our Kindergarten friends made connections between this word and where they live!
  • el titubeo (hesitation)
  • apurados (rushed, hurried)
  • los patines (skates)
• Phrase of the week: Ya terminé. ( I’m finished.)
• Letter of the week: Mm

Handwriting: This week we practiced the numbers 4 and 5. The kids are creating a book which is separate from our Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and will go home soon. We also practiced the letters H and K. The diagonal lines were the trickiest!

Math: This week we practiced matching sets of objects to numbers. We also started our first round of math centers! Typically, we’ll work on the same set of math centers for 2-3 weeks. Many of these centers involve powerful learning that doesn’t always include a worksheet. Please do not be alarmed if you do not see work coming home in your child’s red alert folder. If you’re ever curious about what we’re working on, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m happy to share even beyond what I write in the newsletter. Our current round of math centers includes: playdough apple tree numbers, number puzzles, pumpkin roll and color, and apple patterns. These centers help develop number formation skills, number sense, patterning skills, counting, and number identification.

Writing Workshop: First we verbally shared our stories. Then we drew our stories. Now we are working on writing labels on our pictures! I am encouraging the kids to write all of the sounds they hear when they stretch out the words. Our goal right now is to write the initial sound of the word.

Play: This week your children created a 5 star restaurant. In art some friends chose to make menus while others were chefs and still others were servers. In the blocks center I added some people just to see what the class would do. The next thing I knew some of our friends had created cruise ships and the toy people were enjoying a vacation!

En las Luces: Elli was up in lights this week! Elli had a heart for traveling to other places and a passion for taking care of animals. Elli shared some pictures of her vacation to Puerto Rico. I was excited to see these since that is the country we are talking about during this unit! Elli hopes to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Thanks for sharing Elli!

**If you haven’t already done so, please check under the “Other Resources” tab for our Up in Lights schedule and an English translation of the instructions! I will send the packet and special animal home with your child 1 week before your child’s turn!

As we look ahead toward Grandparents Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas things tend to get kind of busy both in and out of school. I will do my very best to communicate everything you need to know well, but please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! It is such an honor to partner with you all. Thank you for supporting me and your children!

Highlights from our week

This week was full of positive learning and growing! We opened up our next Daily 5 choice, read to a friend, created our first classroom book together on Tuesday afternoon, learned about the next Fruit of the Spirit, joy, and tasted applesauce together!

Elli and Reagan perform surgery on the polar bear.

Collin gets his doctor tools ready for the next patient.

The kids did a “trust walk” to get their brains thinking about the word trust. This helped us think about what it took for Abraham to trust God would keep his promise regarding Abraham’s family.

Important Dates

• October 20-21: No School (CEA Convention)
• October 31: Reformation Day Chapel- please feel free to join us! You’re welcome to sit with our class or in the chairs with the other parents!
• November 4: Grandparent’s Day! (Pass this date on to grandparents/friends please! More information will be coming home this week! Please watch for a letter from me and a form for grandparents to fill out. I will also post them under the resources tab on the blog in case you need to print more forms or lose track of any of the information. Life can get messy and sometimes things get lost! 🙂 I get it!)
• November 9 & 10: No PM bussing and no hot lunch
• November 10: Picture Retakes
• November 11: No AM or PM bussing and no hot lunch

Important Information

• Are you new to immersion education? Have you watched your older children advance through the immersion program but have questions about this approach to education? Are you wondering what is expected of you as an immersion parent? You are invited to learn more about immersion education and meet the coordinator of the language immersion programs, Jodi Pierce. This will be an informal round table discussion time for parents to learn and ask questions about immersion education, More information will come, but for now please consider reserving one of the following times to attend: October 24 @ 9:00 AM or October 24 and 7:00 PM.
• As fall sets in, just a quick reminder to update the extra clothes in your child’s backpack to pants instead of shorts. 🙂 It is also a good idea to have a coat or sweatshirt as the temperature can change drastically in one day.  We love Michigan weather! 😉

Check out how much we’re learning and growing in Christ!

Bible: This week we started talking about Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham that he would give him many children and grandchildren and that he would bless Abraham’s family. God’s plan of salvation was already taking place! We took a “trust walk” with a partner to get a better feel for what it means to trust. 

Literacy: This week I introduced the next of the Daily 5 centers, Read to a Friend. The kids discovered that they have similar jobs during this center as they did for Read to Self- stay in 1 spot, read the whole time, read quietly, start right away, and do your best. We also talked about sitting elbow to elbow and knee to knee in order to share books fairly. We discussed that even with a level 1 voice, our partners can hear us and this way we aren’t distracting others! We are building reading stamina for Read to a Friend and are consistently reading for 6 minutes!

This week we talked about proper nouns. These are names that use a capital (mayúscula) letters. Kindergarteners completed their first word sort individually and did a fantastic job!

• Reading strategy: Making connections
• Word wall word: si, sí
• Read aloud: Este soy yo
• Vocabulary Words:
  • la sonrisa (smile)
  • la fresa (strawberry)
  • el ratón (rat)
  • el cabello (hair)
  • los cachetes (cheeks)
  • la lana (wool)
  • la luna (moon)
• Phrase of the week: No entiendo. ( I don’t understand.)
• Letter of the week: Ii

Math: This week we used math manipulatives to determine which number is more (más) or less (menos.)

Exploring God’s World: This week we started our PBL, (project based learning,) which is centered around mapping and Grandparents Day. I posed the question, “After grandparents attend chapel, how will they know where to find us in our classroom?” I was anticipating answers that I’ve heard in the past like, “They’ll ask Siri.” or “They can call us on the phone.” Your kids definitely surprised me when they said, “Well, they’ll pray to God and he will lead them to us.” Please look for PBL information and a map of our school in your child’s red alert folder this week. I will also post the PBL information on our resources tab of the blog.

Writing Workshop: We have been working hard on telling true stories to other people. This week we started drawing our stories. Every Kindergartener drew the story of our field trip to DeGraaf Nature Center.

Play: My favorite part of play is the authenticity. I love observing the kids as they play and then pushing them to think deeper and use their imagination more. This week I took the animals out of the puppet theater and put them in the house. I noticed the kids pretending the pets were sick so I showed them the doctor kit. The next thing I knew we had a veterinary hospital in our classroom!

En las Luces: Bryce was up in lights this week! His parents and older sister, Leah, visited our classroom and shared some of the ways they think Bryce is special. God has given Bryce a passion for hockey which is one of Bryce’s favorite activities. Thanks for introducing us to your family, Bryce! We are so thankful for you!

**If you haven’t already done so, please check under the “Other Resources” tab for our Up in Lights schedule and an English translation of the instructions! I will send the packet and special animal home with your child 1 week before your child’s turn!

I love spending my days with your children! I think this short week will bring a nice change of pace. I’m looking forward to learning how to be a better teacher and making connections with other teachers at the CEA convention on Thursday and Friday. I can’t wait to implement what I will learn and make Kindergarten even better for your child! I hope you have an amazing week!

Highlights from our week…

This week was one of those weeks where I feel like your children were growing right before my eyes! I continue to hear more and more Spanish and I have seen several students step up to be very positive, helpful leaders in our class. God has blessed your children with compassionate hearts and a desire to help those around them. I pray that God will continue to grow these gifts in them!

Ken’s turn to be the mail carrier!

Making fancy jewelry

Fall sensory play- corn!

God’s promises are for all of us.

Important Dates:

• October 20-21: No School (CEA Convention)
• November 4: Grandparent’s Day! (Pass this date on to grandparents/friends please! More information will be coming soon!)

Important Information: 

• Are you new to immersion education? Have you watched your older children advance through the immersion program but have questions about this approach to education? Are you wondering what is expected of you as an immersion parent? You are invited to learn more about immersion education and meet the coordinator of the language immersion programs, Jodi Pierce. This will be an informal round table discussion time for parents to learn and ask questions about immersion education, More information will come, but for now please consider reserving one of the following times to attend: October 24 @ 9:00 AM or October 24 and 7:00 PM.
• As fall sets in, just a quick reminder to update the extra clothes in your child’s backpack to pants instead of shorts 🙂  It is also a good idea to have a coat or sweatshirt as the temperature can change drastically in one day.  We love Michigan weather! 😉

Check out how much we’re learning and growing in Christ!

Bible: This week we finished our unit on Creation, Noah, and The Tower of Babel. We finished talking about Noah by reflecting on God’s promises. His promises were as true for Noah as they are for us today. God made his promises for Noah and for each one of us. The kids created a rainbow painting and revealed their own names that I had written in white crayon as a reminder that God’s promises are for them. Later in the week we built a tower together and talked about the Tower of Babel.

Literacy: On Friday we shared a special treat to celebrate reading for 10 minutes on 5 different days! We also picked out  new books for our book boxes. This was VERY exciting for your kids and was even brought up again at the end of the day when we shared positive things from our day. This coming week I hope to introduce another one of the Daily 5 choices, Read to a Friend. We will work to build our stamina and measure as we go along just like we did for Read to Self.

We have been focusing our attention on nouns and articles. We’ve learned that nouns have genders in Spanish. This week we learned that the articles also change when the number of objects changes. In English this is like adding an -s or -es to make a word plural.

• Reading strategy: Determining importance of text
• Read aloud: MIs Cinco Sentidos (My Five Senses)
• Vocabulary Words:
  • los sentidos (the senses)
  • la lengua (tongue)
  • la nariz (nose)
  • tocar (to touch)
  • los ojos (eyes)
• Phrase of the week: ¿Puedo ir al baño? (May I go to the bathroom?) This was an important phrase after learning how to ask for a drink last week!
• Letter of the week: Ee

Math: This week we began talking about addition and subtraction. We read a picture book about adding animals. We practiced using our fingers, math manipulatives, and even acted out addition and subtraction problems.

Exploring God’s World: Our read aloud book connected very well with our unit on the 5 senses. We talked about which body part we use for each of the 5 senses and reviewed this vocabulary in Spanish.

Play: This week was an exciting week of play as we opened 2 new centers- the post office and a new sensory bin of corn! The kids took the corn kernels off the husk, a great fine motor activity, and had fun playing with the kernels left in the bin. Toward the end of the week we had lots of fun writing letters to friends and family and pretending to mail them. If you have any stationary you are not planning to use or if you are willing to tear used stamps off of envelopes (it’s okay that they’re not sticky anymore) we’d love to use them in our classroom post office please!

Handwriting: This week we practiced the letters B and P. Before practicing the strokes on our chalkboards with the chalk, sponge, and paper towels, we practiced on our friends’ backs. Such a great tactile way to learn and so much fun! (Pretty relaxing too!) 🙂

En las Luces: Eli was up in lights this week and, although, I missed his presentation because of the funeral on Monday, I heard there were donuts! Yum! At first I thought Eli loved the taste of donuts, but come to find out he loves the smell! Eli also loves Michigan football and the Panthers. 🙂

**If you haven’t already done so, please check under the “Other Resources” tab for our Up in Lights schedule and an English translation of the instructions! I will send the packet and special animal home with your child 1 week before your child’s turn!

At one point this week I was able to step back and just watch your children for a moment. I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for the privilege of leading them this school year. Thank you for partnering with me in that responsibility. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be a better partner for you or your child! I couldn’t do my job without you! I am learning more about each of your children every day that I spend with them and am falling more and more in love!

Highlights from our week…

Your children bring me so much joy! This week I was extra grateful for them. As some of you know, the Witte’s are dear family friends of ours since our Kalamazoo days and it’s been a hard week. The hugs and smiles from your kids and the support from you all means the world to me! Teaching is my best distraction. 🙂

Our first field trip was SO fun! God held the rain off and we were able to take part in everything the nature center had planned for us. Thank you to everyone who made our trip possible! It was so fun to take a nature walk together and “meet” lots of animals including toads, a snake, an owl, and a rabbit! We learned lots about how God created animals to use their 5 senses for survival. Then we got to use our 5 senses on our nature walk!

We are in the process of creating a classroom contract together. I asked the class what it means to do Kindergarten well and they came up with some amazing ideas! Some of their ideas include: being a good friend, listening to our friends and teachers, and being kind. I can tell they have learned a lot about what it means to “do school!”

We ended our week by singing as a group of K-5 students. What a blessing to sing God’s praises with hundreds of our friends!

Reagan’s Up in Lights

We LOVED our first field trip!

nature walk

Important Dates:

• October 4: School Pictures
• October 7: NO hot lunch or PM bussing
• October 20-21: No School (CEA Convention)
• November 4: Grandparent’s Day! (Pass this date on to grandparents or “grandfriends” please!)

Important Information:

• Our school pictures are on Tuesday, October 4.
  • School Picture Make-Up/Retake Day – If your child is sick or gone on the original date OR you are not happy with the original pictures, your child may get retakes on Thursday, November 10.
  • Ordering Options:
    • Portrait Packages: You may order online with credit card OR via paper order form with cash/check.
    • ONLINE Orders: Please have your online order placed before or by your child’s original scheduled date and time.
      • Please still have your child come to school with the paper order form filled out with name, grade, and teacher and write at the very top ONLINE ORDERin bold letters. You do NOT have to fill in the order portion of the form.
      • PAPER ORDER FORM:You may send a check or cash with the paper order form completely filled out with your child the day of his/her scheduled photo.
  • Yearbook Orders:
    • At this point in time you are NOT be able to order yearbooks online. The paper order form is the only option right now.
    • Please check box #14 on the paper order form if you would like to order a yearbook.

We will do a picture exchange in November, but you do not necessarily have to order pictures from this to participate. You may use pictures printed from home or any other source. More information about picture exchange will come home soon. 

• Monday morning I will be attending Kevin’s funeral at 11:00. If you think it’s best, please talk with your child about this beforehand. Patty Flores will be with the class until I get back. She was my teaching assistant last year and is now with Maestra Cubero in 1st grade. She is probably one of the most patient and loving people I know! Your children will be in GREAT hands!

Check out how much we’re learning and growing in Christ!

Bible: This week we continued talking about Noah’s Ark. Our God is a faithful God who always keeps his promises! I also listened to each child recite their memory verse. What a gift! A few students volunteered to say their verse for our class by themselves, but I assessed most of the kids in groups. I am so proud of them!

Literacy: We made it for 10 minutes in read to self! Your kids have already grown so much this year and I can’t wait to partner with you as we continue to lead them through this journey! I promised the kids that after we read for 10 minutes 5 times I will bring them a special treat. 🙂

Our linguistic focus this week was indefinite articles, un and una. In English this is like saying “a ___” as opposed to “the ___.” All nouns in Spanish have a gender. Masculine nouns use un and feminine nouns use una.

• Reading strategy: Determining importance of text
• Read aloud: Clifford va a la escuela (Clifford Goes to School)
• Vocabulary Words:
  • olfatear (to smell/sniff)
  • deslizado (slippery)
  • descubrir (discover)
  • precioso (precious)
  • curiosidad (curiosity)
  • meterse en lios (to get in trouble)
• Phrase of the week: ¿Puedo tomar agua? (May I have a drink?)
• Letter of the week: Uu

Math: This week we played another apple dice game in partners. The game helped us practice counting and identifying numbers 1-6. Your kids do such a nice job of working together!

Exploring God’s World: We are working hard to learn the names of all 5 senses in Spanish. This week we learned what body parts we use when we use each of the senses.

Play: The puppet theater continues to be a huge hit! We are also playing lots of “house.” This week I witnessed a conversation that just cracked me up while the kids prepared to celebrate a pretend birthday together. “50 isn’t really a kid age. I’m not really sure I should be 50. How old do you want to be?”

My Book of Friends: This week we met 3 new friends, Reagan, Elena, and Bryce! God made us all unique and the kids have been enjoying making pages for each Kindergarten friend that highlights how God made each one of them special!

En las Luces: Reagan Boeve was Up in Lights this week! Thank you for coming Mr. and Mrs. Boeve! Reagan loves peanut butter cups and brought some to share with her classmates! Yum! Thanks, Reagan!

**If you haven’t already done so, please check under the “Other Resources” tab for our Up in Lights schedule and an English translation of the instructions! I will send the packet and special animal home with your child 1 week before your child’s turn!

I can’t believe it’s October already! I am blessed to spend my days with your children! As we continue to settle in for the school year, please let me know if you have any questions, anything I can pray specifically for, or any way I can helpful to you! Thank you!

We have been in school for three weeks and have completed our first 5-day week of school! I have seen glimpses of what I think a “typical” day of Kindergarten will be when we’re all settled in and, let me tell you, I see a class that is going to move mountains this year! We enjoyed going to the library, art, Mandarin, PE, and music together! We are getting used to doing school all in Spanish and will be raising the expectation for student Spanish output soon. We also enjoyed making some apple-scented playdough together! Thank you for sending your children in ready to learn. You are a vital part of our success at school! Children know if they are getting hot lunch and how they are going home. Thank you!

Announcements:

• We continue to get updated information on the new field trip driver policy.  Here is the latest: Every driver must turn in a copy of their driver’s license and valid proof of insurance to the ZCS Main Office. These will be kept on file for the duration of the school year. Parents are responsible for checking to make sure the copies on file are valid and not expired. Each time a parent drives, he or she will need to sign the “Driver Guidelines” agreement indicating they will abide by the safety standards laid out in the agreement. They will also confirm that the license and proof of insurance on file in the office is up to date.We are grateful for all of our parent drivers. So, we want to make these new requirements as easy to meet as possible. Please feel free to send copies of your license and proof of insurance to school with your student and the teacher will turn it in the office. Or, stop by with the documents and we will gladly make copies for you.** I would suggest that if you think you are going to drive on a field trip this year, to send in a copy of your license and insurance ASAP.
• Library books went home for the 1st time this week. Please turn them in tomorrow so that your child may choose a new book to bring home!
• Our first field trip is Wednesday, September 28 at DeGraaf Nature Center.  Please have children dressed and ready for any weather.
• Picture Day is October 4 for our class. Please look for a form in the red alert on Monday.
• Book It, a reading incentive program begins in October.  Look for a reading calendar to fill out and turn back in each month to receive a coupon for free pizza! 🙂

Look what we learned!

Bible: This week we completed our Creation lessons and learned that God rested on the 7th day. Each time that we learned about what God created on each new day, I pulled a surprise from a special bag. The surprise inside Day 7’s bag was tricky… there was nothing in the bag! We learned that God created people in His image. That makes us set apart and is why we must treat each other as we want to be treated. As we moved the lesson into talking about loving one another, (love is the Fruit of the Spirit we’ll be focusing on in September) we noticed that the fruit representing love in our classroom is an apple. We made apple-scented playdough to help us remember that God gives us a spirit of love!

Literacy: We continue to build our stamina in the first of the Daily 5, read to self. Last week I shared that the kids read for 36 seconds. After a week more of practicing we are now at 5 minutes! Our grammar focus this week was nouns. We learned that a noun is a person, place, or thing. We learned a song to remember the different kinds of nouns and practiced classifying nouns. We also met 2 new friends, Ana, a girl we helped look for words with Aa. and a squirrel (ardilla) whom we met through a poem.

• Reading strategy: Determining importance of text
• Read aloud: No te comas a la maestra (Don’t Eat the Teacher! :))
• Vocabulary Words:
  • el bacalao (cod)
  • el torbellino (tornado)
  • el pincel (paintbrush)
  • avergonzado (embarrassed)
  • se zambulló (dove)
• Phrase of the week: Buenos días (good morning) Buenas tardes (good afternoon)
• Letter of the week: Aa

Handwriting: We learned how to write letters F and E this week. Our handwriting curriculum (Handwriting Without Tears) has a specific step-by-step procedure for learning how to draw the strokes that make up each of our letters. We used a personal chalkboard and practiced the strokes all together.  We traced over the letter with a paper towel and a wet sponge. The sponge is always a hit! Each child then practiced the letters with a pencil in their own handwriting booklet. One thing I am careful to check during these lessons is correct pencil grip. As you draw or write with your child at home, please encourage them to use a pinch grip.

My Book of Friends: This week we met 2 new friends, Gabe and Elliana! We practiced putting the letters of their names in the correct order and drew pictures of our friends. When we are finished your child will have a book filled with all their Kindergarten friends’ names!

Thank you for the many ways your support our class and me as your child’s teacher! I am truly blessed to partner with you! Praying you have an amazing week!

We have completed 7 days of Kindergarten! God is good! Thank you for all that you are doing to help us start this school year off well! I am speaking almost 100% Spanish with the only exceptions being to explain new routines or give important reminders about routines. I am thrilled with the amount of Spanish your children are comprehending and many of them are bravely speaking Spanish to me already! Watching your children as they form beautiful friendships and learn more each day about how to do school together brings me so much joy! At the end of the day on Friday every Kindergartener at school met together in the music room to praise Jesus in 3 different languages. Beautiful! We are looking forward to worshipping together this way each Friday afternoon.

What’s inside the backpack? A graphing activity.

Back to school roll and color

Thank you, God, for friends!

Announcements:

• Please feel free to send a water bottle to school with your child. Hydrated brains help us learn and a shorter line at the drinking fountain means we get to head back to learning that much sooner.
• Thank you for continuing to check the red alert folders. Sometimes they will be empty. This doesn’t mean your child wasn’t learning that day. 🙂 Often we spend our learning time in centers focused around hands-on learning that doesn’t include worksheets.
• If you would like to order hot lunch for your child, please go to sendmoneytoschool.com to make sure there is money in your account and http://www.zps.org/files/2012/11/September-2016-Christian-Menu.pdf to look at the menu.  Please talk to your child about their hot lunch choice before school.
• I will be sending out our classroom directory as a Google doc that can be accessed with a link I will email you. If you do not want your information in our directory, please let me know.
• Our first field trip is Wednesday, September 28 to DeGraaf Nature Center. Please mark your calendars and help your child dress for whatever weather God sends us that day! I am planning on Christina Vizithum, Stacey Nagelkirk, Doreen Vanderveen, Livie Van Appledorn, Lori Boeve and Melissa Stob to drive.
  

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Look what we learned!

Bible: God’s creation is amazing! We have learned about the good things God created on days 1-4. Each time we learn about a day I pull out a surprise that represents what God created on that day from the mystery bag.  After the lesson, the kids create a new page for their creation book.

Literacy: Our literacy block is taught through The Daily 5. Right now we are building stamina in the 1st of the Daily 5, Read to Self. Friday we completed our first round and read for 36 seconds! For more information on The Daily 5, please see the document under the “More Resources” tab.

• Reading strategy: Determining importance of text
• Read aloud: Bienvenidos a Kindergarten
• Vocabulary Words:
  • la oficina (office)
  • divertido (fun)
  • la enfermería (nurse)
  • especial (special)
  • el patio de recreo (playground)
• Phrase of the week: ¿Cómo estás?
• Letter of the week: What is a letter? What is a vowel? a, e, i, o, u

Math: We are working on counting 1-10 in Spanish. We read Anno’s Counting Book and looked for the groups of numbers represented on each page. The 1st page showed groups of 1, the 2nd page showed groups of 2, etc. We made an interesting connection between the page representing the number 0 and what the world might have looked like before God created light and dark on the 1st day.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything I can help you or your child with! I am looking forward to our 1st full week of school! Thank you for reading!

It has been such a joy to get to know your children more this week! Thank you for entrusting them to me during the school day. I am so blessed to be partnering with amazing families like yours! Your kids are doing a great job of learning the routines, procedures, and expectations for our classroom. The way this group works together to solve problems amazes me. They are so intuitive to the needs of people around them and work as a team to help. In the morning this week we practiced many of our classroom procedures and routines. We talked about carefully choosing kind and loving words, because, much like toothpaste once it’s squeezed out of the tube, we can’t put the words we say back in our mouths. We also read The Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School and discussed that our classroom is a place for EVERYONE. In the afternoon we completed our September calendar art project and have started venturing into purposeful play. I have really enjoyed seeing the children’s imaginations at work! They play wonderfully together!

Here are the announcements for next week:

• Please turn in any remaining paperwork or let me know if you need another copy. The things I should have are: Kindergarten Interest Inventory (Google form) permission slip and $32, driver guidelines if you plan on coming on a field trip, Hopes and Dreams page, (optional… went home in red alert folder on bus night,) and emergency/photography release form.
• Please make sure to take home and check the alerta roja (red alert) every day.
• Please feel free to send a water bottle to school with your child. Busy learning brains need lots of water! (Plus, it makes our drinking fountain line shorter and helps keep us cooler! I hear the heat is coming back!)
• Hot lunch begins Tuesday. Please review the lunch options with your child the night before. I will read through them again and help your child decide in the morning.
• Notes about dismissal:
  • Bussing begins Tuesday. I will do my very best to make sure each child gets where he/she needs to be on time!
  • At 3:30 dismissal, I will say goodbye to the kids waiting for their parents before I walk the bus riders outside. If you’re picking up at school and would like to leave with your child before I get back from the busses, you may.
  • At 11:50 dismissal, please do not leave unless I see you. As you may have noticed, this dismissal is a bit more chaotic. 🙂
  • Should you need to make a transportation change in the middle of the day, please call the office if it’s after noon. I will try my best to check emails throughout the day, but I don’t want to accidentally miss something! Calling the office ensures I’ll get the message.
• I am creating a classroom directory based on the contact information you gave me when you filled out the Kindergarten Interest Inventory, (Google form.) If you do not want your information to be given to the families in our class, please let me know. If I don’t hear from you, I will add your information.
• This afternoon I sent a SignUp Genius form with opportunities to volunteer during the month of September. I’ll be honest, there aren’t that many. As we get used to doing school together, I’ll have a better idea of what I need help with and what will work better for me to do on my own. This week I’m hoping someone is available to take individual pictures of each child as well as a group shot of the kids who share a birthday month. Any morning this week would be great please!

I will be thinking about you all and praying that you have a fun and relaxing long weekend! The first day after a long weekend can be a little tough, so I’ll be praying that the transition back in goes smoothly for everyone! As always, please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to get back to you as soon as possible! Thank you! I’m excited to partner with you all this year!