Praise the Lord with the Sound of Music

Don't you just feel the music of springtime in the air? The birds are singing as the sun rises so early in the morning, the pitter patter of melting snow drops off the tree branches and the joyous energy in your children's voices as they sing praises fills our halls; nothing short of beautiful. Surely our Maker is glorified. Every Friday morning the first and second graders meet together in the art room to sing praises. This morning as all 100 kids raised their voices and their hands to their loving Father in heaven, some even with their eyes closed, I had a lump in my throat and chills all over. There is no better way to start a Friday than being witness to 100 children singing adoring praises to our God. I'm still humming the songs from the morning. We begin our days glorifying God and I believe the music and the words shape our day. As we were lining up for library, moving our desks around the room, and cutting out the paper petals for lilies, the children spontaneously began singing together "I've got joy down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart..." Of course, I sang along, forgetting that my microphone was on (poor kids :) Certainly, we've got joy down in our hearts. I'm so grateful that Jesus put it there and we can sing about it.

We dove in "literally" to a quick introduction of Antarctica. Thank you for being willing to dig out the penguin-ware on such short notice. As the snow continues to melt, we'll soon get back on course with our worldly travels and begin backpacking around Europe. 

This just in: penguins sighted on the South Side playground!  ...boy, it looks like Molly's really taking a header here.

We certainly had a blast sliding down the hill on our bellies...although, I'm not sure the big penguins are as good at this as the little guys. 

We've been doing some end-of-the-quarter assessing this week in both reading and math. I found that a bit of our knowledge of coin values has been lost over the past few weeks. We've been having fun reviewing coins and making change while playing a few exchange games. 

Banker, Banker, may I exchange my two nickels for a dime?

Next week Tuesday and Wednesday our class is scheduled to again take part in Discovery Assessment. This is the second part of the assessment piece that we took in the fall. The assessment will cover reading and math basic skills. The test will be best taken on a computer rather than the iPads. We have a mobile laptop lab that has been brought to school for this assessment window. To help our children be comfortable with the trackpad for navigating, scrolling and clicking, I opened a free trial period on a website called www.readingeggs.com for each student. This membership will expire on April 6. Your child took home a username and password to login to these reading activities. If your child has the time and interest, this is a worthwhile website to utilize for the next few weeks just to offer another option to practice reading skills. If your child's username and password didn't make it all the way home, please don't hesitate to email me. I have the list with me and I'd be happy to forward the info on to you. 

Our writing celebration! We opened a book store for new customers from across the hall.

Customers came by asking questions about our books.

We were excited to share all that we had learned!

You'll get a chance to see these awesome book at conferences and the end of the year celebration.

Fun Night - Friday, March 15! Here is some important information:

1. You may pre -buy punch cards beginning Monday at each school office. ($5 - 20 punches, $10 - 40

punches, $6 - whole pizza card)

2. Look for a blue sheet sent home today. This has a map and information on food prices, when and where to bring cake donations, etc...

3. We still need over 40 more volunteers. PLEASE consider helping with parking, bussing tables, face

painting, or a game so that all games can be open. To volunteer, email Tricia Kiekintveld at

btkiek@hotmail.com

4. If you have brought in your classroom contribution - THANK YOU!

5. We still are most in need of: pennies, cans of pop, full size candy bars, and individually wrapped pieces of candy. Bring to the school office by Wednesday.

6. Volunteers, please look for an email by Wednesday with your room assignments and instructions.

If you have any questions, please contact Dawn Baker dabaker@hollandchristian.org or Tricia Kiekintveld at btkiek@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for helping to make this a fun night for kids and families!

What a busy couple of weeks we have in store. Please keep note of all of these upcoming dates:

March 11-15--Discovery Assessment Window

Monday, March 11--first yellow reading incentive form is due

Wednesday, March 13-our first grade field trip to VanRaalte Farms

Friday, March 15--Family Fun Night

Tuesday, March 19--Rescheduled Skating Party

Wednesday, March 20--Special visiting author

March 22--Report Cards Home

March 25-26--Parent/Teacher Conferences

March 27--1/2 day of school

                  Reading Carnival

                  Parent/Teacher Conferences

April 8--School Resumes