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.
  

  ---

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!