Noticias 2D

Queridos Padres,

We had a great week getting back into the swing of school! The kids have worked so hard, have been wonderful helpers and friends for one another, and shared excitement and energy for learning. It was so nice seeing them with their crazy stuff!

¡Muchas gracias to our room-mom, Erin Bremer who plans everything so perfectly!! Pizza was so welcomed in our classroom!

Also, please join me in praying for those families who are navigating extremely difficult situations, especially several in our community who have lost family members. I’ve been continually mindful this week of the blessing of this community. God’s provision in our time of need is most often found in the community He has placed us in. I am so grateful to be part of this incredible community of believers.

Blessings,

Maestra Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Matthew 4:23 Due Date: January 1 9
Bible: I love seeing the faces of my students when they discover something "new" in the word of God. We are comparing the different ways of relating miracles in the gospels. This week we will read about Bartimaeus, the blind man and the widow's son. God is still doing miracles around us! Aleluya!!
Literature Selection: Martin Luther King Jr.
Phonics: grammatical morphemes: los morfemas flexivos (según el aspecto y
tiempo: imperfecto)
Word Wall Words: e staba, íbamos, haciendo, había, quería. 
Poem: El abejón y la mariposa
Reading: We’re focusing on comprehension strategies this week, specifically inferring. We’ll talk about how to “read between the lines” and figure things out that aren’t written on the pages. This will help us deepen our comprehension of what we read.
Writing: We are beginning a new writing unit, Authors as Mentors, where we study the tricks and tips authors use in their stories and try to include them in our own stories.

Math: We are continuing to practice subtracting from 200. We have learned about ungrouping hundreds and tens and learned a new method! Thanks for all your help at home!
Science: We have successfully completed the first cycle. It is time to start the second cycle where we will investigate and analyze the information of the experiments in different materials, their properties and which reacts better for the purpose we will be investigating. Our focus question is “Why do birds choose different materials to build their nests?” and our investigation question is “I wonder if all bird nests look the same?”

“Housekeeping” Items:
January 15 & 16 No AM Busing for Middle School
January 16 ZCS Showcase – Evening Parent Open House and Program Meetings 
January 17 Y5 and Kindergarten Registration 8:00 a.m. - Open to ALL 
January 17 No PM Busing for Elementary or Middle School
January 17 End of 2nd Marking Period - School in Session
January 20 No School (Preschool-8t h ) – Teacher Professional Development January 21 Second Semester Begins
January 23 All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m.
January 23 Preschool Registration 7:00 p.m. - Open to parents of current ZCS students (3S-12th) with a younger child now enrolling.
January 31: Mercadito-Please consider donating items to our Classroom Mercadito: small toys, candy, soda, etc. (think ‘Dollar Store’ items). Thanks in advance for all your support! ☺

       Noticias 2D

Queridos Padres,

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Before jumping right into things, we will start this week by celebrating God’s authority over all things and the plans he has for each of us even when so much is unknown to us!

While I had a wonderful break, I am really excited to get back into things with this awesome group of students. Their smiles light up my day and I’m thankful for the daily example of their genuine, child-like faith! Here’s to a great week ahead!

Also, I want to start this year by thanking our amazing room-mom Erin Bremer and her team who organized our Christmas party with great meaningful celebrations of Jesus nativity. We had a blast!

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year! 

Blessings,

Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Mateo 4:19 Due Date: January 15
Bible: I’m excited to begin a unit on Jesus’ miracles. We’ll learn about the First miracle Wedding at Cana.
Literature Selection: Alexander que era rico la semana pasada
Phonics: Grammatical morphemes: los morfemas flexivos (según el tiempo pretérito) Students begin to understand and become aware of verb tense and aspect through noticing and practicing the use of the preterite.
Wall Words: empezamos, encontré, dijo, seguimos, necesitamos
Poem: Se mató un tomate
Reading: We’re focusing on comprehension strategies this week, specifically inferring. We’ll talk about how to “read between the lines” and figure things out that aren’t written on the pages. This will help us deepen our comprehension of what we read.

Writing: This week we will start the unit called Writers imitate other authors. 
Math: Last year we had already begun our new Unit 4. Children will learn two methods for 2-digit subtraction. They are very excited about it! 
Science: We are having a lot of fun thinking like a scientist. This week we will learn what is matter and how can we classify and describe it based on its properties? 

From Kim Blaker - Beacon Ministry
¡Muchísimas Gracias por todas las donaciones! Many, many thanks for all of the donations for Beacon Ministry.  They have already started to go out to families in need.  It was a blessing to use some of the items the same day I picked them up to bless a family with twins and over break to a family referred by Children's Protective Services.  I'm excited to see how the Lord will use your giving in the lives of young families in need in Ottawa County this year.  We so appreciate your partnership!

“Housekeeping” Items:
January 6 Students Return
January 15 & 16 No AM Busing for Middle School
January 16 ZCS Showcase – Evening Parent Open House and Program Meetings
January 17 Y5 and Kindergarten Registration 8:00 a.m. - Open to ALL 
January 17 No PM Busing for Elementary or Middle School
January 17 End of 2nd Marking Period - School in Session
January 20 No School (Preschool-8th) – Teacher Professional Development 
January 21 Second Semester Begins
January 23 All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m.
January 23 Preschool Registration 7:00 p.m. - Open to parents of current ZCS students (3S-12th) with a younger child now enrolling.
January 31: Mercadito-Please consider donating items to our Classroom Mercadito: small toys, candy, soda, etc. (think ‘Dollar Store’ items). Thanks in advance for all your support! ☺

      Noticias 2D

Queridos Padres,

¡Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!!
What a joy it is for me to celebrate our Everlasting Father’s birth with your children this week! Their excitement, faith and sweet energy are contagious and I am so grateful for each child. I’m also praying that your family enjoys a wonderful, Christ-centered Christmas season together. Blessings to you!

Also, a HUGE thanks to all the generous hands that made it possible to fill the pack and play for the Beacon Ministry. We will be collecting all donations until Friday, December 20. Thanks!

We are reaching the end of our add.a.lingua CASA project; thanks for all your support and help. This week we will focus on giving feedback to each of the students highlighting their achievements.

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year! 

Blessings,

Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Luke 2 Due Date: December 18
Bible: We’ll learn about Jesus’ birth and the visit of the three wise men. Thank you for working on the long Luke 2 Bible memory verse at home! 
Literature Selection: ¡Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad !
Phonics: Grammatical morphemes: los morfemas flexivos (según el tiempo: presente) Students will understand the concept of the present tense and begin to apply the present form appropriately.
Wall Words: estoy, está, vamos, sabe, limpio
Poem: Canción de todos los niños del mundo
Reading: During this week we will continue reviewing most of the reading strategies. We will also expand our vocabulary as we read Christmas- themed books.
Writing: We are finishing our realistic fiction books. During this week we will work on incredible endings, full of emotion, intrigue or happiness, who knows?...our writers are doing an excellent job! We will celebrate our Publishing Party with Maestra VanderPloeg’s second grade classroom.

Math: After weeks of practice, the students are ready to take their test. 
Science: We are having a lot of fun thinking like a scientist. This week we will learn what is matter and how can we classify and describe it based on its properties?

“Housekeeping” Items:
December 17: Middle School Christmas Concert 7:00 p.m. – ZCS Gym 
December 18: Jingle Jogs 11:00-11:30
December 19: All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m.
December 20: Classroom Christmas Party
December 20: Beacon Ministry Due. 
December 20: Publishing Party!
Dec. 23 – Jan. 3 Christmas Vacation

       Noticias 2D
Queridos Padres,

We have built our Christmas tree with the different names of Jesus as the Light of the world, the True Vine and others. We have also left our gifts at the foot of the tree to all of you. Feel free to stop and see a great job of your child.

Thank you very much for all of your interest in supporting the Beacon Ministry. The children are very excited to fill the pack and play for all those babies who need their beautiful contributions. We will collect them until the last day of school on Friday, December 20 when the Ministry coordinator will come to personally thank the children.

Thank you also for allowing your children to attend and participate in CASA project. We are having a lot of fun especially with the history of the book, deep thoughts about assuming positive intentions, and technology, best part ever! :)

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year! 

Blessings,

Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Luke 2 Due Date: December 18
Bible: This week we are going deeper into the story of the birth of Jesus and the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the census. Thank you for working on the long Luke 2 Bible memory verse at home!

Reading: This will be a major reading review week. We have compiled so many strategies to use as we improve our comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary. This week we will practice when to use them. We will also expand our vocabulary as we read Christmas-themed books. 

Writing: We are adding more events to our stories to add suspense before resolving the problem! It is fun to see how excited these students are about realistic fiction. Ask your child what his/her story is about!
Math: This week we will work finding the perimeter and area of a variety

objects.
Science: We are very excited about Science watching videos of incredible inventions and talking to each other about how could he do something like that? This week we will focus on answering the questions, How do scientists investigate their questions? And How do scientists talk to each other?

“Housekeeping” Items:
December 10: Elementary Christmas Musical- 7:00 p.m. – Community RC 
December 13: No PM Busing
December 17: Middle School Christmas Concert 7:00 p.m. – ZCS Gym 
December 18: Jingle Jogs 11:00-11:30
December 19: All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m. 
December 20: Classroom Christmas Party 
December 20: Beacon Ministry Due.
Dec. 23 – Jan. 3 Christmas Vacation

The community is invited...

Macedonia Baptist Church is putting on a Musical in Spanish and they wanted to be sure our immersion student knew about this great opportunity to experience Spanish in the community. On December 22 at 11:00am they will present Un regalo de amor (A Gift of Love). See the attached invitations for more information.

For your information...

On Tuesday night, Holland Christian came to host a meeting about their immersion programs. Zeeland Public also has some options for our immersion students in high school. Should any parents ask you about high school continuing immersion options, you can share that both Holland Christian and Zeeland Public have Spanish options. Holland Christian is also beginning an Advanced Mandarin program for our Mandarin-speaking graduates.

       Noticias 2D
Queridos Padres,

I trust that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! It is hard to believe that we are already counting down the days until Christmas. The next few weeks will fly by and be filled with excitement in our classroom. I pray that we’ll stay focused on Christ as the center of all of this holiday fun!

Huge thanks to Erin Bremmer, our amazing room-mom for preparing a great back to school with Pizza Party to celebrate that they won a letter, these guys are working amazing!

Finally, I am attaching the letter from our director of immersion with very important news about a new addalingua project-based assessment; please read carefully and please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year! 

Blessings,


Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Luke 2 Due Date: December 18
Bible: This week we are beginning our Christmas unit. We will begin by learning about Zechariah, Elizabeth and John the Baptist. Then we will learn about Gabriel’s visit to Mary. Thank you for working on the long Luke 2 Bible memory verse at home!
Reading: This week we’ll learn about how to use resources such as dictionaries, other texts and friends to find out the meaning of new words as we read. In our shared literature selection we’ll work on making inferences about the text.
Writing: We will continue with our realistic fiction unit and will work on creating plots that are engaging yet realistic. This is always challenging. 
Math: This week we will identify 2D and 3D shapes
Science: This week students will start 2 Science Unit titled, What Does It

Matter? Answering questions by themselves and as a group discussing the best answer.

“Housekeeping” Items:
Christmas giving opportunity: Thanks for helping out with Beacon Ministries. I will send the hard copy letter tomorrow Monday. Also here is the link, https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1d4YRQ3HpiHbOvUrMVElyDGay-6vrDDz_
Please bring items in by Monday, Dec. 20 as I will be dropping them off then.
Secret Santa Cards: This Friday your child will bring home a half sheet of paper explaining a secret santa Christmas card exchange we will do at our Christmas party on Dec. 20. Your child will have almost 2 weeks to work on this, but please read it through as it should be completed at home. Thanks!
December 4-6 Hearing/Vision Screening - Hearing: K, 2nd, 4th                            December 10 Elementary Christmas Musical- 7:00 p.m. – Community RC 
December 13 No PM Busing
December 16, 18 Jingle Jogs
December 17 Middle School Christmas Concert 7:00 p.m. – ZCS Gym 
December 19 All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m.
Dec. 23 – Jan. 3 Christmas Vacation

Dear Spanish Immersion families~

I am excited to share with you some information about a new addalingua project-based assessment. The Cultural competency, Academic alignment & Spanish language Assessment (CASA) is designed to measure students’ progress toward the three goals of immersion education. We are excited at ZCS to be able to pilot this new project-based assessment program-wide.

While the format of the CASA is similar to the aalpa, these new assessments bring more attention to cultural competency goals and student reflection.

What’s similar to the aalpa:

• three tasks (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational)
• timeline for completion
• feedback loops to give students opportunities to set goals for themselves
• helps teachers see how students authentically use Spanish language skills

What’s different from the aalpa:

• deeper focus on cultural competency
• greater emphasis on student reflection
• topics tied to identity development and global empathy
• new, interactive online learning platform

Our Spanish immersion teachers have spent the past few weeks being trained in how to administer the assessment and are excited to be able to work through this project with their students in the time between December 2 and Christmas Break. addalingua will, in some cases, be observing and collecting feedback to inform future development. It is an honor for us to be able to speak into the development of these assessments, and it will result in a final product that is tailored to the needs of addalingua schools such as ZCS.

Because this assessment spans several days, and each day builds on the previous days, it is important that students be present as much as possible during the assessment periods. We know that sickness is unavoidable at times, but we do ask that if your child must leave for an appointment that you avoid the following times listed here by your child’s teacher.

•    Monday, December 3-16-2019

We value your partnership in the education of our students and are excited to be piloting yet another element that will improve the quality of immersion education here at ZCS!

Thank you,

Jodi Pierce and the immersion team

       Noticias 2D

Queridos Padres,

This newsletter will cover information for this full week and our short two day week before Thanksgiving break.

I love Thanksgiving because of how intentional everyone is about giving thanks. According to the psalms, coming to God with thanksgiving for everything should be more of a lifestyle than a holiday. My prayer is that we will be able to carry our thanksgivings far beyond this special day and that we’ll diligently practice giving thanks in all things. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and a great time with family and friends over the long weekend.  ¡Feliz Dia de Acción de Gracias!

THANKS !! A big shout out to all who have collaborated in the purchase of the shirts we have sold 32! Please help us meet our goal class of 40. Extra donations will be accepted as well. Feel free to spread the news on Social Media as well as by word or email to family & friends! If every 2nd-grade class sells 40 we will cover Ralph’s Christian School tuition for one whole year!

Here is the link!! Feel free to pass link along!
https://goodink.com/zcs-kid-created-19-4

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year! 

Blessings,

Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Mateo 5:43-44 Due Date: November 22
Bible: We will learn more about The Sermon which offers Jesus’ sayings as verbal icons through which we may see into God’s will and be empowered for the moral life.
Literature Selection : ¿Pavo para la Cena de Gracias? ¡No gracias!
Phonics: grammatical morphemes: los morfemas flexivos (según persona: infinitivos) Poem: Invitación
Reading: This week our reading focus will be fluency. We’ll talk about reading good-fit books, practicing high-frequency words and changing our reading speed depending on the text.
Writing: We will continue with our realistic fiction unit and will work on creating plots that are engaging yet realistic. This is always challenging!.

Math: They have gone to the market to buy fruits and vegetables and they have added and paid with the change that you have sent them! It has been a fun adventure. This week we will continue shopping and take the test.☺
Science: We had a lot of fun looking for the best solutions to avoid flooding on our local beaches. The students created models and talked with their group to find better ways to withstand the tests of rain and strong winds. Finally, they will create a poster to better explain their solutions. I can see future engineers in action in this group of students, very proud of all of them, tireless workers. After that, we will start a new Unit called What Does it Matter?

“Housekeeping” Items:
November 26:Thanksgiving food drive: In this time of giving, ZCS is going to bless His Harvest Stand, a local food pantry, with cereal and peanut butter. Encourage your child to choose a favorite box of cereal or jar of peanut butter at the store, and bring it to school by Tuesday, Nov. 26. A table will be set up in the front hallway for dropoff or have your child bring it to their classroom. Please help us fill the shelves of His Harvest Stand!
November 26: All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m 
November 27-29: Thanksgiving Vacation

      Noticias 2D
Queridos Padres, 

What a fun week we had last week with a publishing party, a field trip, and Día de los Deportes! For this reason, I want to thank everyone for making learning so much fun, but especially Lindsey Iverson for sending delicious sweets to our party. Also thanks to our chaperones Joe Helms, Andy Spears, Mike Zwagerman, Beth Vanderhyde, and Julie Phillips.

Our fundraiser for Ralph is up and running!! We will be selling t-shirts until November 22. They will be delivered to ZCS by Christmas so they will make great gifts! Adult shirts are $16 & kid shirts are $15. Extra donations will be accepted as well. Feel free to spread the news on Social Media as well as by word or email to family & friends! If every 2nd-grade class sells 40 we will cover Ralph’s Christian School tuition for one whole year!
Here is the link!! Feel free to pass link along!

https://goodink.com/zcs-kid-created-19-4

Thanks for your continued prayers for unity throughout this year!

Blessings, 

Hilda Durán

This Week:
Bible Memory Verse: Most of them did awesomely! Thanks for your help at home. Our next Verse is Mateo 5:43-44 Due Date: November 22
Bible: We will learn more about The Sermon which offers Jesus’ sayings as verbal icons through which we may see into God’s will and be empowered for the moral life.
Literature Selection: Alexander y el día terrible, horrible, espantoso, horroroso. (Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)
Phonics: Grammatical morphemes: los pronombres enclíticos (con dos pronombres: dámelo
Poem: Teresa
Reading: This week we’ll learn about story sequencing and story mapping with our shared reading text. We will also revisit previous strategies such as making connections, predictions, and mental images.

Writing: Realistic Fiction Unit. We have started this new unit by making a list of real problems in the life of an 8-year-old kid.
Math: We are applying concepts and strategies to real-world situations, and solving 2 digit addition problems. Later this week we will add 3 digits using different strategies.
Science: During this week students will discuss how we could engineer ways to slow/prevent the changes we have been noticing on the Earth’s surface.

“Housekeeping” Items:
Math-coins: Could you please send some coins to make learning more real for children now that we start shopping at the salon market? 4 of 25cts, 10 of 10cts. 20 of 5cts. 20 of 1ct.
Report-card: Your child’s report card will be coming to you in printed version soon! You will notice a new format as we have been in the process of a “Report Card Overhaul!” If you have any questions please let me know! In the future, parents will view this new report card only online.

November 14: ZCS Legacy Event at Holland Civic Center @ 6:00pm
November 26:: Thanksgiving food drive: In this time of giving, ZCS is going to bless His Harvest Stand, a local food pantry, with cereal and peanut butter. Encourage your child to choose a favorite box of cereal or jar of peanut butter at the store, and bring it to school by Tuesday, Nov. 26. A table will be set up in the front hallway for dropoff or have your child bring it to their classroom. Please help us fill the shelves of His Harvest Stand! 

November 26: All School Chapel - 9:00 a.m

November 27-29: Thanksgiving Vacation