Bonjour from France!

This week we "traveled" to France and learned a little about French culture and food.  We also started our Ocean Animal Research Project.  Each student picked an ocean animal that they would like to study and we learned how to look for and classify information.  Today the students had their first opportunity to do their own research.  This will continue on into the next few weeks.  In Reading we focused on asking questions while reading.  We learned the 6 question words and practiced asking questions during our read alouds.  In Bible, we continued our study on miracles.  We learned about Jesus calming the storm, raising a widow's dead son, and healing a man who had evil spirits inside of him.  We learned that Jesus has power over death, evil spirits, and all the things that make us afraid.  For Math this week, we learned some new addition and subtraction strategies.  We also practiced making graphs based on our favorite foods.

Important Information for next week:

1. The last day for book orders is MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND.  Please see last week's post for the link if you would like to order online or you can send the money in dollars with your student.

2. This week we sent home Valentine Grams and Cake Order Forms for the Philippines Missions Trip.  If you would like to order either of these please send in the form and money with your student.  Both are due next week.

3. Bazaar forms were also sent home this week.  If you are able to help in any way please fill out the form and return it to me.

4. This Thursday we will have the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Bee.  Good luck to our top three classroom winners who will compete!

5. For Spelling this week, we will be reviewing the last few lessons. Study sheets will go home on Monday.

6. The Bible Memory Verse for this week is: Then he said to her, "Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."   Luke 8:48

Next week we will also welcome a new student to our classroom: Makana Kakazu!

Field Trip!

We had a great short week and had a great time at the aquarium on Friday! This past week we focused on Cause and Effect in Reading and practiced identifying it in our reading.  In Math we finished up Unit 5 on Shapes and took our Unit Test.  For Writing, we had a chance to create a story with a partner and learn what it means to write together.  In Bible we learned about how Jesus healed a man with a king disease and a very sick servant.

We also had our classroom Spelling Bee this week.  Congratulations to our top three winners who will be moving on to the 1st and 2nd grade Spelling Bee in a few weeks!! I am very proud of all the hard work that was put in to studying for the Spelling Bee.  All the students did a wonderful job!

On Friday, we had a great day at the aquarium.  We were able to see the dolphin show and see a lot of very interesting animals inside.  I enjoyed hearing about the student's favorite animals that they saw when we got back.  Thank you to all the parents who came to help!

Important Announcements:

1. Our Spelling words for this week are: draw, saw, ought, pause, straw, paws, lawn, bought, August, caught, brought, taught, because, thought, sure, goes

2. Our Bible Memory Verse for this week is: They asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him."  Luke 8:25b

3. Scholastic book orders were sent home last week.  There are two ways that you can order.  The first is online at http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/okinawa-christian-school-intl with a credit card.  You can also send in the order form with US DOLLARS to me in the classroom.  The last day to order is February 2nd.  If you have any questions please email me.

Spirit Week

We had a very full and eventful week this week! I enjoyed seeing all of the student's dress up and show their school spirit this Spirit Week! Monday was a beautiful day for our annual Kite Day.  Thank you to all the parents who came out to help us fly our kites and enjoy the day with us.

In our Writing time this week, we focused on past, present, and future verb tenses.  We finished out the week by writing a book about ourselves in the past, present, and future.  In Math we learned about 3D shapes and lines of symmetry.  We had fun trying to identify these shapes in the world around us. For Bible we continued our study of Jesus' Miracles and learned how Jesus healed people and provided for his disciples.  In Reading we focused on characters in preparations for today's Character Parade.  It was wonderful to see all the students dressed up as their characters today! We had a great time parading through the school and then listening to some stories afterwards.  The students also enjoyed sharing their characters with their classmates.

Important Information:

1. There will be NO SCHOOL on MONDAY.

2. We will be having our classroom Spelling Bee this week.  Students should continue to study the list that was sent home after Christmas Break.

3. Our field trip to the Aquarium is this coming FRIDAY, JANUARY 23RD. We will be leaving the school at 8:45 and coming back at 2:00.  Students need to bring a home lunch with them that day.  Permission slips for the field trip are due this coming Tuesday.

4. Our Bible Memory Verse for next week is: "The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it." Psalm 24:1a

1st Week of 3rd Quarter

It was great to see all the students back after the Christmas Break! We had a good first week back reviewing our procedures and learning some new things too.  In Reading, we reviewed each section of the Daily 5 and practiced them as a whole class.  We also introduced our Daily 5 Notebooks which will help us to keep track of our learning while we are reading.  We reviewed how to Check for Comprehension and how to Use Prior Knowledge to help us understand our reading more.  For Writing, we set goals for the new year and also wrote about our Christmas Break and the many fun activities.  In Math, we have started our Unit on Shapes and Lines.  This week we learned about points, lines, parallel lines, and polygons.  For Bible we started our study of Jesus' Miracles.  We learned about Jesus changing water into wine at a wedding and how he healed the official's son.  With each miracle we have seen how Jesus has great power and can do things that are impossible for a normal person to do.

Important Announcements:

1. Report Cards were sent home today.  Please return the Blue Envelope with your signature on the line for 2nd quarter by Tuesday.  It is only necessary to send in the envelope; the papers inside are for you to keep.  If you any questions or concerns please let me know.

2. Monday is KITE DAY for Elementary.  We will be flying our kites from 10:00-10:45am.  Students are asked to wear their Friendship Friday T-Shirts on that day.  Parents are welcome to come and help us fly our kites! :)

3. Next week is Spirit Week.  A paper was sent home today about each day.
    Monday - Crazy Hair Day/Mismatch Day
    Tuesday - Decades Day
    Wednesday - Class Color Day (ours is RED)
    Thursday - School Color Day (Red and White)

4. Character Parade is next FRIDAY from 9-10am.  A flier was sent home today with more information.  Students are asked to pick a character from a book to dress up as.  They need to be sure to bring the book along with them on Friday to show where their character comes from.

5. Our class Field Trip to the Aquarium is coming up on Friday, January 23rd.  More information will be sent home soon.

6. Spelling for the upcoming week: we will be practicing our Spelling Bee words for our class Spelling Bee the next week.

7. Bible Memory Verse for next week: "Lord my God, I called out to you for help. And you healed me."  Psalm 30:2

Have a wonderful weekend! :)