16-20 de noviembre

 ¡Hola Familias!

...And, just like that, another week is in the books! We are continuing to move forward; learning, playing, and growing every day. I am so thankful for your kids!

See that picture to the right? It's our Pavo de Español for the month of November! When the kids do a good job speaking in Spanish, I choose a student to color in a square. So far we've filled in almost the whole pavo, and the kids are super excited for the surprise they will get when the whole thing is colored in! :)

We had a fun field trip on Wednesday afternoon to the Outdoor Discovery Center, where we were able to enjoy God's beautiful creation, explore some trails, and play outdoors. Here are more things we've been learning this week...

Reading / Lectura: This week we learned and practiced the syllables la, le, li, lo, lu. We also continued our study of los sustantivos (nouns) and los adjetivos (adjectives). Finally, I completed running records for the kids and will work on regrouping them by reading level starting next week.

Writing / Escritura: We've started learning vocabulary for la ropa, which fits nicely with the changing seasons as we will soon need to bring our snow clothes to school! We have also been practicing writing words syllable by syllable, labeling our pictures, and publishing our work digitally using Seesaw.

Math / Matemáticas: This week we explored more shapes as we classified hexágonos and no hexágonos. We have also been practicing telling number stories and writing equations that go with them.

Bible / Biblia: We have been learning about Samuel el profeta. We learned how God gave him messages for los israelitas and about how they wanted a king like the other nations. Finally, we learned about how God chose el Rey Saúl and then el Rey David. Throughout these lessons, we are reminded of how God still speaks to us through His word and when we pray to Him.

Social Studies / Estudios Sociales: We continued our study of la Navidad en México by acting out the tradition of las posadas, which remembers the journey María y José took to Bethlehem as they searched for a place to stay.

NEW Video: Reading Strategies at Home

As I mentioned earlier, this week I completed "running records" in reading with each student. Today, you should have received an orange paper with information about your child's reading level. I have also created a new video with some ideas for working with your child at home in reading. I will also add it to the At-Home Learning Resources link (at the top right-hand corner of the blog window) for easy access.

Learning at Home

I really, really, REALLY appreciate the caution everyone has taken in regards to keeping our kids and families healthy so far. Over the past couple weeks we have had more families switch to temporary virtual learning as parents and kids feel under the weather and/or await test results. If your child is going to miss school, please let me know--I would be more than happy to send work home, give you recommendations for activities, and send you the Zoom link so your child can join our class in the mornings. I am here to support you!

Spanish Immersion Christmas Concert GOES VIRTUAL!!!!

We are excited to once again provide you with holiday prayers, songs and play from our Spanish Immersion students. This year we are providing you a chance to see it via video with your child on December 11. Each child will be given a small goodie bag on that day, that will have tickets to see our virtual Christmas Concert. The video will be shared with you on December 11 via email and possibly a fb live link. More details to come....

Little Maroons Basketball Update

Due to the current safety protocols, our kindergarten through sixth grade Little Maroons basketball programing will be postponed till after Christmas break.  Current registrations will be automatically registered for the new dates.  City of Holland Recreation will also be postponing our 5/6er programing as well, but more specific information will be coming from them as well.  The dates we are planning on at this point for our grade levels are the following: 

K-2: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23.

(10:30-12pm: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School) 

3-4: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23 & League Play 1/30, 2/6, 2/13 and 2/20. 

(8:30-10am: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School)

5-6: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23 & City of Holland Dates Coming. 

(12:30-2pm: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School)

More information about specific safety protocols may be communicated as we get closer to January, but the plan is to continue with our current practice of wearing face masks, 1 spectator per participant, distancing, and washing of hands and equipment.    

Have a great weekend!

9-13 de noviembre

¡Hola Familias!

 We are living in uncertain times, and it's easy to let anxiety get the best of us. Rather than focusing on the unknown, I'm trying to focus on being thankful for every day that we have together. The kids are learning so much! They are speaking so much Spanish every day! They are working hard on being kind to one another, to take turns, and to listen to each other to resolve conflicts! There is so much to be thankful for every day.

This week we had some fun activities--we received a special Zoom visitor who talked about el día de los Veteranos, or Veteran's Day, on Wednesday. We also participated in a fun outdoor activity with our partners from the Outdoor Discovery Center to learn about habitats. Here are some other things we've been up to...

Reading / Lectura: Our syllables of the week were ta, the, ti, to, tu. The students continue gaining confidence as they decode and write syllables and read their books during guided reading time. We've also been working on distinguishing between los sustantivos (nouns) and los adjetivos (adjectives). The kids are doing an amazing job with this!

Writing / Escritura: We are wrapping up our unit on los sentimientos, or feelings. This week we also practiced using writing in different ways, such as writing about soldiers and writing about what we've learned in the books we read.

Math / Matemáticas: We've been practicing sumas y restas and noticing the patterns in +1 equations. We have also been practicing noticing shapes everywhere and learning about los triángulos. 

Bible / Biblia: This week we learned about los jueces, or the judges, who helped Israel through difficult times. We learned about Débora and her bravery, Gedeón and his faith, and Sansón and his great strength. We finished the week by learning the story of Rut, a poor woman with difficult life whose great-grandson ended up being a king!

Social Studies / Estudios Sociales: Continuing with our theme of La Navidad en México, this week we learned about Las Posadas--a celebration in Mexico in which people process from house to house like María y José, looking for lodging. We will continue acting this out next week as we work on our project!

Social Skills Practice

We have been doing lots of practice with our social skills this week, including taking turns, listening to each other, sharing, and remembering positive recess behaviors. I have seen lots of growth in this area and am very proud of the kids. Let's keep working on this in the coming weeks!

Field Trip Wednesday

This coming Wednesday, we will be having a field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Center in the afternoon for some outdoor play. Please make sure your child dresses for the weather--it's getting chilly outside!

Batons

If your child received a baton from his/her preschool class last year, would you please return it to me? I'm trying to figure out where they all ended up. If you didn't  get one, no worries--I will connect with the preschool teachers as well. Gracias!

Immersion Tip of the Week

I challenge you to find a time or a way for your child to hear Spanish outside of school this week! Could you play music in Spanish at home? Check out some "Super Simple Español" or 123Andrés YouTube videos? Change your Netflix language to Spanish while your child watches a show? Help your child remember that it's not only a language, it's a part of life!

Reading Tip of the Week
Go on a "scavenger hunt" for letters and sounds as you drive somewhere in your car. Ask your child, "Can you find the letter/sound ___?" Many sounds in Spanish are the same (or similar to) those in English, but others are different. Ask your child to teach you some letter names or sounds in Spanish!

Have a wonderful weekend!