24-28 de enero

 ¡Hola Familias!

We had a fantastic, snowy week this week! I'm truly thankful for every day that I get to spend with your child in the classroom. I am seeing some amazing growth, great behavior choices, and kind actions and friendships blossoming! It is during this time of the year that we see lots of academic and social progress, and this is worth celebrating!

Here is a snapshot of what we've been up to this week:

Reading / Lectura: We have been studying the syllables with f: fa, fe, fi, fo, fu. The kids have been doing great with their reading centers and guided reading routines. More books are coming home each week--please make sure you're practicing them at home from time to time! :) We've also been learning the difference between los sustantivos (nouns) and los verbos (verbs).

Writing / Escritura: This week we concluded our unit on writing pattern books. The kids made SO much growth as they wrote and shared their own pattern books. We celebrated by reading with our 2nd grade buddy class!

Math / Matemáticas: We are working on seeing teen numbers as a 10 plus more, classifying objects by different characteristics, counting to 100, and of course, practicing our sumas y restas!

Bible / Biblia: This week we learned about los profetas (and other important individuals) who helped los israelitas return to God while they were living in the promised land. Included were the stories of Débora, Gedeón, Sansón, y Rut--can you figure out the names in English? Throughout these stories, we remember God's unfailing love for the Israelites and how He remained faithful to them.

Immersion Tip of the Week

Are you as amazed and excited about your child's learning journey as I am? Tell a friend! Spread the word to help our program continue to grow and thrive in the coming years. Enrollment for preschool and kindergarten begins this Tuesday, February 1st!

Reading Tip of the Week

When reading with your child this week, ask him/her to retell the story to you in order after you finish it. Or, ask: "What happened at the beginning? The middle? The end?" Sequencing and retelling stories are important reading comprehension skills for your child to practice in English AND Spanish!

Class Chapel

I sent home a letter today on yellow paper about our class chapel coming up on Wednesday, February 9th. It will be a wonderful time of worship together!

Lunch Helper next Thursday?

Is anyone available to have lunch with our wonderful class this coming Thursday, February 3rd from 11:55-12:25? If so, let me know! I have a data meeting scheduled for that day.

Maestra Absent

FYI, I will be out of town this coming weekend (Feb. 5-6). I'm planning to leave Friday around midday and will most likely be back Tuesday afternoon (or by Wednesday at the latest). Maestra Libby Van Wolde will be covering our class when I am out.

100th Day of School

...is now on Wednesday, February 9th due to our snow day this week! However, we will probably still make our snack mix on Tuesday, February 8th. There are only a couple of spots left if you would like to sign up for any items! Thank you!! 

Field Trip to GRCM!

We are going on a field trip to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum! The trip is scheduled for Monday, March 7th. We will leave right at 8:30 in the morning, take a sack lunch there (home lunch only that day please!), and return to school by 1:00 or so. The cost is $10 per student. Please let me know if you would like to come along as a chaperone that day! It should be a great time!

Have a great weekend! Enjoy some more pictures below. See you on Monday!

18-21 de enero

 

¡Hola Familias!

Despite the short week, we have been quite busy! The kids are in a great groove and are speaking Spanish every day. We are working hard to fill in our cohete (firework) de español to meet our Spanish goal for the month. I am proud of the effort the kids are putting in!

Here is what we've been up to this week...

Reading / Lectura: We've been practicing the syllables ba, be, bi, bo, bu. We have been learning to differentiate between the lower case "b" and "d"--I've taught the kids to look for the barriga (belly) on the b. :) Additionally, we are wrapping up our pattern books unit by practicing using expression when we read, as well as reading again and again to improve our fluency.

Writing / Escritura: We have been working on creating our own pattern books! We started by thinking of ideas and looking at different books for inspiration, and then we practiced repeating the pattern. We have also been proofreading our work, checking for a capital letter at the beginning, spaces between our words, and a period at the end.

Math / Matemáticas: This week we worked on classifying objects into different groups based on their attributes. We also spent time exploring shapes and creating new designs. On Tuesday, we welcomed a few friends from Mexico into our classroom to work on centers with us!

Social Studies: We learned more about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the work he did to fight for
equality for all.

Report Cards

Report cards should be available to view on PowerSchool. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Next Week

I will be out in the morning on Thursday, January 27th for grade-level collaboration, but I should be back by 10:00am. 

100th Day of School!

Yes! We've almost made it to the 100th day of school! Our 100th day of school is on Tuesday, February 8th. To celebrate, we will be making a 100-piece snack mix! Can you contribute to this fun activity? Check out the sign up here!

Have a great weekend, everyone! ¡Que pasen buen fin de semana!

10-14 de enero

 

¡Hola Familias!

I am so thankful to be closing out a consistent week of school! We had a great time together this week learning, playing, and working together! Yesterday we had a fantastic time eating breakfast and doing fun activities at my house--thank you to all who helped make it a success! We've also been spending lots of time reviewing our school-wide and classroom behavior expectations this week, and I am super proud of the kids for how much they have grown so far this year.

This week we took our MAP tests, and I can see how much the kids have grown academically in both reading and math. I'll have the data soon if you are interested in knowing how your child did.

Here are more details about this week!

Reading / Lectura: This week we spent more time with the syllables za, zo, zu and ce, ci. The kids worked on differentiating between the hard and soft /c/ sound as well as writing words syllable by syllable. We are also working on using strategies to help us figure out new words when we are reading.

Writing / Escritura: We finished our "¿Qué Ves Ahí?" books this week and shared them with our friends. It's so great to see the kids taking pride in their written work and going back and rereading the books they write!

Math / Matemáticas: We have been working on forming numbers 11-20 using manipulatives and by seeing the 10-group in each number. We're also working on solving number stories and building fluency with addition and subtraction problems.

Bible / Biblia: This week we learned about how God gave the Israelites los 10 mandamientos, or the 10 Commandments, to help them know how they should live. We also learned about how the Israelites disobeyed God by creating a golden calf while Moisés was on the montaña. Even though we can be disobedient like the Israelites, our God is a gracious, loving Father who will always forgive our sins! 

Social Studies / Estudios Sociales: We have been learning about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how his dream continues to impact people today. We drew and wrote about our own sueños and how we can make the world a better place. I encourage and challenge you to spend time as a family over this long weekend learning about Dr. King's work and finding ways to show Christ's love to others--even those who may be different from us.

Immersion Tip of the Week

We have been practicing simple addition and subtraction problems in math (mostly with numbers 1-5 and occasionally 1-10). This skill should easily transfer over into English. For fun, use a white board and write out a few problems. Ask your child how to do them--in either English or Spanish!

Reading Tip of the Week
When you are reading to your child this week, spice things up by reading with lots of expression. We have talked about some punctuation marks like puntos (.), signos de exclamación (!), signos de interrogación (?) and comas (,), so exaggerate them when you see them--or ask your child, "What does this symbol mean?"

Upcoming Dates

-Wednesday, January 19th: I will be at an in-school training on this day. Our sub will be Libby VanWolde, who has been hired to be Rose Park's circulating guest teacher. She speaks excellent Spanish and comes from an immersion program herself, so the kids will not miss a beat with her!

-Wednesday, February 9th: We will be taking a field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Center in the afternoon (leave at 12:30 and return around 2:30). If you would like to chaperone this trip, please let me know--I will try to give an opportunity to those who haven't been able to come along on a trip yet.

That's all for now! Have a wonderful long weekend and I look forward to seeing your child back at school on Tuesday!