21-23 de octubre

¡Hola Familias!


Thank you so much for making the time this week to come and talk about your child's progress! I consider it a privilege and truly enjoy working with each one of you to help your children continue to learn and grow.

Even though we had a short week, it was full of fun! Here is a very brief summary of what we were up to in only 2.5 days!

Bible/Biblia: We finished talking about Las 10 Plagas de Egipto and learned what happened when the israelitas crossed el Mar Rojo (the Red Sea)! 

Reading/Lectura: We reviewed las sílabas with letters Mm and Pp. We've been establishing our guided reading groups and will kick off with our first books (and book bags home!) next week.

Writing/Escritura: We practiced writing and answering the questions ¿Dónde? (Where?) and ¿Quién? (Who?). We also practiced going back to add more to our work and revise it.

Math/Matemáticas: We practiced forming 5-groups plus some more, told stories with sumas y restas (addition and subtraction), and played some number games with calabazas! 

Science/Ciencias: We carved our calabaza and explored it using our 5 senses! We all had fun feeling the calabaza with las manos--and we tasted some pumpkin puree and pumpkin seeds with cinnamon! It was a fun experience for everyone. 

Social Studies/Estudios Sociales: We learned about los bomberos (firefighters) and how they are helpful and important members of our community. We read about them and played some games to learn about their ropa (clothing). 

Reading Tip of the Week
Your child has brought home books from the library each week--one in English and one in Spanish (or bilingual). If you feel confident, try to read the Spanish one to your child. If not, have your child look for sílabas (syllables) and words he/she knows! Then, ask your child to tell you about the story. This will give him/her great practice in comprehension, and he/she will probably be excited to tell you what the story is about! If your child has trouble, make sure to look at the pictures and talk about them too!

Immersion Tip of the Week

Make sure you expose your child to a lot of rich vocabulary in English (and in Spanish, too, if you speak the language!). You can do this by reading, talking about what you see in books, describing pictures, talking about what you see in the supermarket--pretty much any activity you do! This will help your child continue to make connections between languages, as well as strengthen verbal skills. 

Hope you enjoy the long weekend! I'm off to Indiana for the CEA Convention, where I always enjoy the opportunity to work with other immersion educators to explore our passion of teaching in another language. See you next week! Enjoy some pictures below:

14-18 de octubre

¡Hola Familias!

Another week has come and gone! We began with a fantastic field trip to the DeGraaf Nature Center on Monday and finished with some beautiful sunshine today! I hope you and your family can enjoy some outdoor time this weekend before the winter clouds roll in. :)

Here's what we've been up to this week:

Bible: We are learning about Moisés and las 10 plagas (the 10 plagues). We are always reminded that God has a plan, no matter how difficult the situation may be! It's been so exciting to see the kids love learning Bible stories and being so receptive to God's word. The fact that our learning is done in Spanish make it even more special, because the kids are reminded that God's love is over every person and every language! I feel so privileged to be able to help these little ones learn more about God every day. Remember, you are always welcome to join us in the classroom to check out what we do. :)

Reading: This week we practiced the syllables pa, pe, pi, po, pu. We've been doing a great job noticing the syllables all over the classroom and across every subject! The kids are gaining more and more confidence in reading and writing these syllables.

Writing: We've been continuing to practice writing about our experiences and making connections with the books we read. This week we focused on answering two questions about our writing: ¿Quién? (Who?) and ¿Dónde? (Where?). This has helped the kids to retell their stories to the class.

Math: This week we started exploring "5-groups" in numbers from 6-10. We've been practicing recognizing numbers quickly when they're arranged in groups of 5, as well as forming the numbers using manipulatives. 

Social Studies: This week we started to explore nuestro mundo (our world). We learned how the earth is made up of agua (water) and tierra (land) and how there is more agua. We compared maps and globes, and even did some exploration on Google Earth! The kids LOVED this! It was fun to hear them asking to "travel" to Spanish-speaking countries like Perú, Colombia, Bolivia, and Argentina (the names of the table groups they sit in). We also took a trip to Egipto to see the pirámides. :)

Immersion Tip of the Week
I am gradually starting to require more and more Spanish to be spoken in the classroom. Remind your child that he/she already has A LOT of vocabulary, even though sometimes he/she won't know the exact word to use. Ask your child how to describe an object in Spanish, using colors, shapes, numbers, and adjectives like big/small, hot/cold, hard/soft, fast/slow, etc. I think you will be impressed!

Reading Tip of the Week
When you read with your child, encourage your child to look for words, vowels, sounds, and/or syllables that he/she knows. As they begin learning to read, the students will become much more aware of print. Call their attention to features of the text in a fun, non-pressured way as you enjoy a book together. 

Upcoming Dates to Remember

*Monday, October 21 and Tuesday, October 22: Parent Teacher Conferences. I look forward to spend time talking with you about your child's progress! Please be on time for your reserved time slot! 

*Wednesday, October 23: Half day (11:30 dismissal)

*Thursday, October 24 and Friday, October 25: No school; CEA Convention

Other Announcements

*Little Read: Rose Park is excited to participate in Hope College’s Little Read Lakeshore “Little Read” book this year. All students will be reading the book The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet by Carmen Agra Deedy. This simple, yet powerful picture book is written in both English and Spanish and provides wonderful discussion opportunities for our students.

There are a number of free events for families sponsored by the Little Read. See this link for a list of them: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bKhklfF14S9jovwnAca7YeA33S08X_Mg3gHywsQIpTI/edit?usp=sharing 

*Lunch Duty Signup: If you have not been able to sign up for lunch duty on Wednesdays, please consider doing so. I have a Kindergarten team meeting that day and use the time to touch base with the other K teacher. We need more volunteers in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for your help!

*Library Books: Thank you for sending back so many library books! Please remember that Wednesday is our library day. We won't go to the library this week, but you can still return your books.

*A Note from our Parent Team: Parent/Teacher conferences are next week. If you would like to help sustain our teachers with part of a dinner during conferences, please navigate to the list using this link: 
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094ea4ab29a7f58-parent

THANK YOU! 

*Job Posting: Want to work while your kiddos are at school, be home during all school breaks, and when your kids get off the bus? Come be a part of the Holland Christian Food Service team at Rose Park! We are looking for a lead kitchen team member to work during each school day, generally five days a week, from 8:30 am-2:00 pm. We prefer some food service experience, and offer a competitive wage, generous paid sick time, holiday pay, and personal days. We need a capable person to lead a team of four fun staff preparing and serving lunch to 350 students each day. Please email nmichaels@hollandchristian.org your interest and resume.


Enjoy some pictures from our week below! ¡Adios, amigos!