Newsletter #29
It was a good week coming back after Spring Break! We had a good time sharing what we did over Spring Break and launched right into learning as well. We had another author visit this week and it’s always great for the children to hear from real authors and get excited about them being authors to their stories as well – it was such an exciting way to start Thursday. We also had a Good Friday Chapel on Friday to end the week and reflect on God’s love for us. We also got to end the day with some questions and watching fun games with as we get to know Mr. McAboy.
What did we learn and What will we learn?
Mandarin/Language Arts: We jumped back into our weekly framework learning. We continue to explore word wall words, high frequency words, learning grammar as well as continuing growth in word recognizing and using them in context. In leveled reading the children are progressing in the materials, which mean not only reading and recognizing the characters, but also practicing some reading strategies, trying to figure out what the story is about as well as practicing reading fluently. When you are reading with the children at home I encourage you to what the story is about – who’s in this book, what happened, what are some patterns you see, how did things go, etc.
Bible: We focus on telling one event each day as it leads up to Jesus on the cross and Jesus’ raising from death. On Friday we finished the story of Jesus on the cross and focus on talking about why Jesus had to be on the cross even though he did not sin, and understanding that God does so because of His love for us. I encourage you to talk about and go through Easter stories with the children in English as well to help them make more connections. As we come back on Monday we will celebrate Resurrection/Ascension and then go into the stories about God’s love for churches (some events that occur as God send Holy Spirit for us).
Memory Verse/Fruit of the Spirit: We started to practice our March&April Bible Memory Verse (which is the verse about Easter). Please continue to practice this Easter verse and reflect on it’s important meaning of Easter! We continue to talk about Gentleness and how we can show gentleness throughout our daily life.
Math: We worked on our teen numbers, discovering partners of group that add up to 10, and continue practicing writing our numbers. We will continue to practice our math concepts. I encourage you to ask the children some partners that add up to 10! This week we also focus on continue practicing writing numbers 11-20, as well as comparing more and less. I am sending home a note next week to explain about math mountain that we are starting to teach and practice.
Exploring God’s World (Sci/SocStu): We are talking about living/non-living things and how to differentiate them. We will take about about how the three ways we know things are living are 1) They can reproduce 2) They grow 3) They eat/take in food as well as produce food. We will continue to explore the living and non-living, and will be talking about seeds and growth through Eric Carle’s book The Tiny Seed. The field trip we have coming up with help enhanced concepts we are learning through our Science Unit – Is it Living.
Writing: We continue to work on our unfinished stories or writing our Garden Crossing Story – I am asking the children to choose a small moment from this field trip and expand their stories to write a small moment story. Next week we will have the chance to write another small moment story coming back from Critter Barn, and the following week we will learn how to write “How-To” Books.
Play: Some of our play time this week consist of some art projects in relation to our Is It Living unit as well as our Earth Day coming up next week. The children are also enjoying taking roles of family as they pretend to be different animals.
Things to Note:
Garden Crossing Flowers Pick Up: The dates to pick up the flowers are Thursday, May 11, Friday, May 12, or Saturday, May 13.
Mandarin Homework&Flashcard: Homework and flashcard for U5W3 went home as usual on Monday. Thank you for your continuous help at home making sure the children are following stroke order and word proportion, as well as practicing the flashcards. Next week homework and flashcard will be for U5W4.
From the Immersion Coordinator – I want to take this opportunity to celebrate our Mandarin immersion students and teachers. In the winter, our 3rd through 5th graders were able to take a standardized language proficiency test that allowed us to compare our students’ language performance with that of Mandarin immersion students across the country. Our students outperformed the national average in all four areas of language (reading, writing, speaking and listening)! Our Spanish immersion students participate in a similar assessment in 5th and 8th grade and have also consistently had positive results.
What’s Coming Up?
Specials: Monday – Spanish, Art, Tuesday – Music, Spanish, Wednesday – Library, PE. Thursday – Spanish.
Critter Barn Fieldtrip: April 20th, ALL DAY. Make sure to read the note I am sending through email soon!
ZCS AUCTION: April 21st, Friday.
Wei Wei Palace Dinner: April 22nd, Saturday. If you have any questions about this event please email Ann Hemmeke! I look forward to seeing you there 🙂
Spring Chapel: April 28th, Friday at 1PM.
Tulip Time Half Day School: May 10th.
Memorial Day Vacation/Parade: May 29th.
Farmers Market Fieldtrip (tentative depending on weather): May 31st.
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that the children will have a meaningful and personal experience as we talk about Easter stories and start to understand how great Jesus love for us through this Easter week. We are also taking more challenges as as class – so prayers that the children will be able to adjust and take on more as we get ready for 1st grade!
谢谢！
－黎老师