My Heart is Full! 

I'm praising God today, and every day, for these 23 beautiful children (missing Eden, Jorden and Nick). I marvel at their laughter and their learning, their courage and their challenges, and I pray that God will continue to bless each one of these special people. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of each child's life. Thank you for your prayers, your support and your patience. May you each enjoy a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

And now.....the CHRISTMAS season is almost here... :)

If a picture's worth 1000 words, enjoy these next sweet 21,000 :)

There are so many moments that just fill my heart with these sweet 23 children. Our SPARK project this month gave us the opportunity to reach out to younger children. We built a bond and offered some big-kid love modeling Christ when he called young children to himself. Our class visited Mrs. Baker's preschoolers and had a wonderful morning. After practicing fluency and expression, each of the "big kids" read a special story to his or her young partner. We then listened together to a turkey story (a few pairs came to the carpet hand-in-hand) and then we made a triangle turkey together. Our big kids were very eager to teach the preschoolers the ropes when it comes to triangles :) We hope to continue this relationship with another visit later this school year. 

There are many important dates and tidbits of information to you, so I'll let the pictures offer the narrative this week. 

• The homework that came home today will not be due until Thursday, November 29.

• The reading incentive 1/4 paper is due Monday, November 19.

• In your child's Friday folder, you will find a swimming permission form. This must be returned before your child can partake in lessons. Please sign and return this form by Monday, November 19. There is no need to pay the $1. This cost is covered with the activity fees you paid in the beginning of the year. Buy yourself a Coke (can you even buy a Coke for $1??)

• The HC kitchen staff has graciously agreed to serve a fancy Thanksgiving meal to ALL of Holland Christian so that our 1st graders can have a special feast on Tuesday, November 20. How sweet is that?!?!? If your child does not typically receive hot lunch, he or she may bring $2.25 to enjoy the meal with all the first graders. Today, with the help of some wonderful parents, your child made headgear to help them transform into a Pilgrim or a Native American for our feast. Your child may add other touches if he or she wishes (Dutch costume skirts work great for a Pilgrim girl). 

• Your child will bring home spelling words next Wednesday. The test will not be until Friday, November 30th.

• Due to tensions and negative emotions brought on by BeyBlades and other toys brought from home for play at school, South Side is now asking that these such toys please be left at home. We have plenty of equipment and balls for children to enjoy gross motor play at recess. Thank you for helping enforce this with your child at home. 

• Finally, here is the link with the video that was played at the Celebration of Learning night. http://vimeo.com/53182397 

 



Corn Day

 

Did you have an enthusiastic first grader running home to you today? They certainly flew out the doors brimming with excitement and arms LOADED down with a variety of corn to show you (sorry for the mess :) We began our Friday morning singing and offering our voices to God as the sun streamed through the window. Our day was jam packed with a variety of fun corn activities. At the close of our day, we were outside shucking corn and peeling kernals off the cob. The children worked with eager fingers to unwrap and marvel excitedly at the colored corn kernals hidden behind the husks. It hit me, children belong in God's nature. It fuels their soul and they find peace in the great outdoors. Not unlike us. I love taking these kids outdoors to learn and laugh any chance we get :)

 

Take a peek at a few glimpes of our celebration of corn today:

 

 

I read a story to the kids today. Every time they heard the word "pop", "corn" or a form of it, they ate one piece of popcorn (can you see the giggles?).

 

On some pages of the book we filled our cheeks (and I may have had a little too much fun reading quickly in several very specific spots)  :)

 

Mixing the batter for corn muffins

 

Taking turns for each job

 

Ready for the oven!

 

We had a taste test of three kinds of popcorn: butter, plain and cheese. Cheese won by a long shot!

 

...so did our corn muffins!

 

At the end of the day, we went outside to peel the kernals off the cob. What a treat for our bird and squirrel friends.

 

It took a bit to free the first kernal.

 

Once the first ones peeled off the cob....

 

...the rest just rolled right off.

Both classes also shucked popcorn cobs. You may let these corn cobs dry for 3-4 weeks. Place them, one at a time, in a brown paper bag and microwave for 60 seconds. Season to taste and enjoy! Thanks to Grandpa Jim for all the corn today! We had a BLAST!

Our SPARK project for this month is to spend time with a preschool class. On Tuesday morning, we will go to Mrs. Baker's preschool classroom to pair up with a preschool partner. Each child from our class will read a story to their special little partner, share a project on the iPad and teach a bit about triangles while making a fun turkey craft together. I'm eager to see our students step into the leadership role with their younger partner. God has gifted our children with much to offer the children in this preschool class. I'll be sure to remember the camera to share these special moments with you.

IPad night is coming up! This will be an informal "show and tell" style evening. Come when you can between 6:30 and 7:30. Your child is prepared to show you the many ways we use iPads as a tool to enhance our learning. Some of these projects will likely blow you away. You've got talented kids!

Our reading incentive program is new for this month. Please return 1/4 of the sheet, verifying your child's reading minutes, on Monday morning.

We need a little additional help to prepare for our Thanksgiving feast. On the 16th in the afternoon, if you are willing and able, we need two parents to help with headpieces. Thank you in advance for all of your support!

Next week, we will begin our memorization of Psalm 100. We'll have it prepared just in time for your Thanksgiving feast at home :)

Important Dates

• Monday, November 12 - Reading incentive form due
• Tuesday, November 13 - SPARK sharing time and building a relationship with preschoolers
• Tuesday, November 13 - 6:30 - 7:30 Celebration of Learning on iPads night
• November 22 & 23 - Thanksgiving Break NoSchool
• November 26 - First day of swimming lessons at the Aquatic Center

Pumpkin Day

As part of our pumpkin day, we all baked pumpkin bars together. Too many cooks in the kitchen?  Pshaw! Perish the thought :)  (Can you hear me laughing?) In all seriousness, we had a wonderful time baking the bars. We used the opportunity to read the recipe, divide the measurements by children in each table group and to complete the task while acting as a child of God; putting others first and being patient. After the bars were cooled and frosted, we were able to indulge in our homemade delicacies. One of my favorite comments: one little guy declared (with crumbs spewing from his big smile) "This is heaven"! Your children make me laugh. I love our 23 children.

Who knew you could squeeze so much curriculum out of a couple of pumpkins? We had a great day learning with God's beautiful orange orbs.


We could use a little help from home over the next few weeks. We'll be taking on a new challenge in our daily story writing. Our focus will move from creative personal narratives to writing for an audience. In other words, we'd like other people to be able to read our text. This means we're going to begin to gently focus on the mechanics of writing. Proper use of uppercase letters, spelling basic words correctly and effective spacing between words are just a few of the important components we'll be working toward. As children engage the left side of their brain during this focus, they can experience diminishing energy on the right side of their brain. In other words, creative juices run the risk of drying up. If your family has special experiences at home, could you please encourage your child to "grab the moment" to retell in writing? These moments can be simple; raking leaves together, wildlife in the backyard, Grandpa's birthday party, etc. Anything a little out of the ordinary. I'll be on the lookout for these "story moments" at school too. By helping your child pick special moments at home to write about, they will be less likely to feel writers block at school.

Have you heard your child talk about Daily 3 in math? We're changing the the format for learning and teaching in math. Based on skill need, I'll be dividing the class into three or four smaller groups. Children will work independently practicing math skills while working at "Math with Technology" (iPads, calculaters, Judy Clocks, etc) and "Math with Games". During the "Math with Teacher" session, children will be taught new skills directly at their instructional level. I'm finding this to be a much more effective way of engaging and reaching all learners. Mrs. Dreyer will begin taking a few students as well to work on concepts at a deeper and broader level.

Celebration of Learning Night is coming up! On Tuesday, November 13 from 6:30 - 7:30 you are invited to come to school with your child. At this event, your child will get a chance to show off some of the projects he or she has been working on at school on the iPad. We try to email projects to you, but it's much more impressive to hear it and see it in the hands of your child. If you can make it to this event, your child will have the opportunity to walk you through how we use the iPads in a variety of ways to publish and share our work and to bring to life those all-important drill and practice skills.

Our school-wide reading incentive program will begin on Monday, November 5. Please encourage your child to read and return the 1/4 sheets to school on Mondays. At the end of the month, your child will be rewarded with a small prize, a Pizza Hut coupon, but better still, improved reading confidence and enjoyment!

Swimming lessons for our first graders will begin when we return from Thanksgiving Break. 11/26-12/6 are the dates our children are schedule for lessons at the aquatic center. I'll follow up soon with the finer details, but the lessons will be in the afternoon for four days during each of those weeks.

Important Dates:
November 6-Election Day
November 12-Reading Incentive 1/4 paper due
November 13-Celebration of Learning Night 6:30-7:30
November 22 & 23-Thanksgiving Break
November 26-first day of swimming lessons