September 12, 2014

In Chapel Pastor Reitz talked to us about forgiveness.  It is sometimes easier to say, "I am sorry," then to say, "I forgive you."  Pastor told us to that Jesus wants us to always forgive just like God forgives us.  He told us to share Jesus love and mercy with others, to not repay wrong with wrong but show grace and forgive those who wrong us.  
This is a good message for all of us!

NEXT WEEK: 
Thursday is a half day with 12:00 dismissal- Teachers have inservice meetings
Friday there is no school- Teachers are going to a conference by Tim Elmore

A Look Ahead:

Religion: Joseph and his family 

Memory: Hebrews 11:1 due Thursday

Reading: We will begin our guided reading groups next week 

Literacy Centers

     phonics: work with ending sounds in words

     alphabet: statement sentences

     writing: write a book about colors

     math: ordering numerals and writing numbers to 20

     name: sight word activity

     poetry: Read A Color poem

     

Spelling: Lesson 4 TEST on THURSDAY

Grammar:  Question Sentences

Math:  We will be working with money, identifying numbers, and putting numbers into sets

Science: Plants and their parts

Social Studies: All about Me

Art: Dale Chihuly

We will start our guided reading groups next week.  I feel the children are working independently at centers and are ready to start the next step.  

I have pretested each child on the sight words for first grade.  I testing each child using the first list.  If the child was able to read the first list I would go on to the next lists.  After a child missed about 10 words I would stop the testing.  Each child is coming home with a list of their individual sight words.  If a word is checked off the child was able to read the word.  Please work with your child.  The words will be retested the first week in October.  Some children finished first grade words so I am sending home second grade words.

FIELD TRIP:  Our first field trip is Monday September 22.  Please fill out the permission slip and return it Monday in the Friday Folders.

This is our Fall Fundraiser!
Registration Deadline in MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15
If you are like me and don't run, do the sleep in option with a donation!
PTL helps fund many activities in our room.
I use PTL funds to help pay for art and science experiments.

Please look for this ARTSONIA Slip in the Friday Folder.
Please visit this site to view your child's artwork.
This is a great way to share art with family!

Don't forget to use the TOGETHER WE'RE BETTER form to order your gift cards.
What an easy way to raise money for our school!

A dress code reminder:  If your child wants to wear a sweatshirt in class the options are:
a Zion crewneck sweatshirt
a plain crewneck sweatshirt
a solid one color sweater
NO HOODS are allowed in the classroom.  I have also noticed several student wearing cargo shorts with big pockets on the legs.  These are not part of our dress code.  Students can wear any khaki, black, or blue shorts that do not have the big cargo pockets.  
Any question about dress code look in the parent handbook or talk to Mr. Marolf.

Join us for Trunk or Treat October 10.
New this year:  Food Trucks
See Banner for details

Our class has completed more mileage club cards than any other class.
Together they have walked 150 miles!
Encourage your child to walk/run in mileage club!

Join me in worshipping our forgiving Father in church this weekend.  If you attend Zion we are now on the normal worship schedule: Saturday 5:00, Sunday 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00.  If you don't have a place to worship please come to Zion.  I am doing the children's message this weekend and love to see my students at the message!!

In HIM,

Amy Bernhardt

 A Peek at our Week

We really enjoy our new playground!

It is so much fun.

With so many fun things to do.

Thank you for the new playground!
Thank you for buying Together We're Better, the funds raised helped buy the new playground!
Thank you to the parents who work helped assemble, put in, and mulch the playground.

A BIG THANK YOU to Mrs. Steinbacher who was the leader of the committee for the playground and work numerous hours in the hot sun working on the new playground!

We wrote thank you notes to the people who helped with our new playground!

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
We love the playground!

In centers we found the beginning sounds and recorded them.

We wrote a sentence about what we would wish for if we could wish on a star.

We sorted living and non living things.

We added verses to a poem.

We played a new spelling game on the iPad.

We put sentences in the correct order.

We sorted letters by their shapes.

We build our spelling words.

We found and made many works with the -am chunk using our sound boards and chunk cards.

We learned about triangles.  We drew triangle by first making 3 dots, one for each angle.

We sorted our classmates in a game called Silent Star.

We learned about what plants need.

We put soil in a baggie.

We added seeds.

We gave the bag a blow of air, CO2.

We put water in the baggie.

We told about the experiment on the recording sheet.

The baggies were put up in the window.
Now we wait...

We are MATH SUPER HEROS.  We practice counting by 10's,  5's, and 1's.

Sentences start with a CAPITAL LETTER.

Sentences end with an end mark.
This week we worked on statement sentences that end with a period.

We worked with geoboards and made shapes.

We are reading, "Charlotte's Web."

We are studying Victor Vasarely, he made optical illusion art.

We painted warm colored swirls.

We painted cool colored swirls.

We then cut the painted paper into strips.

Next we practiced weaving using the different strips.

Weaving was tricking and hard, but we all worked and practiced it and made our OP ART.

We wrote in our journal how we think plants grow.

We came up with some good ideas in our journals.

We wrote sentences that told about a picture on the smart board.

After making sentences altogether, we put up our offices and working on writing statement sentences on our own.
First graders are beginning to do a lot of independent work!

We practiced our spelling using shaving cream.

We loved our spelling practice!

We began solving math word problems by drawing a picture.

We learned about pennies.  Ask your child something new they learned about a penny?
(heads, tails, Abraham Lincoln, one cent, tails side were different on different pennies)

Dr. Ernstmeyer, Head of School at Lutheran High St. Charles was our VIP reader.

He read us the funny book, "Giggle, Giggle, Quack"

Listen to our fun poem.

It has a surprise ending!

September 5, 2014

You are your child’s PFD!! 

In confirmation last week I learned that I am my child’s PFD, Personal Faith Developer.  As parents we are given the task of developing our child’s faith.  Do not fear you are not alone in this task.  The Holy Spirit will help you along with Zion Church and School.  You may wonder what a PFD does; 

Pastor Rouland gives three responsibilities:  

set an example, be authentic, and be faithful.  

May God bless you in your job of PFD! 

A LOOK AHEAD:
Memory: Psalm 31:14
Religion: Isaac and Joseph
Reading: We will begin working independently at centers this week, I will also be testing the children on sight words, you received the list at back to school night. I will test until your child misses 4 in a row
Literacy Centers:
     writing: writing a sentence about wishing on a star
     alphabet: sorting letters by shape
     poetry: build more verses to the poem, Mary Wore a Red Dress
     word work: putting a sentence into correct word order
     math: make a rainbow graph
     computer: continue learning how to use the computer with abcya.com
Spelling: Lesson 3 Please practice the sentence.
Grammar: Sentences have capital letters and periods.
Math: Word Problems, Shapes with Geoboards
Science: Plants-characteristics and parts
Social Studies: Working Together
Art: Victor Vasarely and Op Art

REMEMBER THE FALL FUNDRAISER is the BOBCAT SHUFFLE 5K on OCTOBER 4.  Have you signed up or invited others to attend?  Go to www.eventcow.org and search for"Bobcat Shuffle 2014"  to register!!

REMEMBER THE TOGETHER WE ARE BETTER ON GOING FUNDRAISER!  In your Friday Folder is the order form, fill it out and send it back on Monday.  My family uses this as a great way to stay on budget.  When the cards are done I can't buy more till next week!

FIELD TRIP:  Our first field trip is Monday September 22.  We will be going to the Missouri Botanical Garden from 8:30-2:30 to do a class about plants.  The chaperones randomly chosen for the trip are: Andrea Holtz, Julie Kainady, Amie Fuhr, Kristen Gross, Shauna Brandt.  If you are unable to chaperone please let me know by Monday and I will chose another person.

LOOK FOR A PERMISSION SLIP NEXT WEEK!

Zion's Building Dedication Services are this Weekend, September 6 &7.All weekend services are in the school gymnasium as we dedicate the final stage of the campus expansion. (5 pm Saturday, 8 am & 10:30 Sunday)  Monday Nights Worship will be the last for the summer in the Sanctuary. A reception following each service will be held in the Commons. You will have the opportunity to tour all buildings at this time. Come join the celebration of God’s Blessings!

Pastors in India
Chapel Offerings:This year our school has chosen to support the Christian Resource Center in India.  This is a center that helps to spread the Good News of Jesus in a country that is 97% non christian.  Pastor Sam Thompson works at Christian Resource Center and is currently studying at Concordia Seminary.   He told us in chapel how his GOOD NEWS CLASS brought a young sick girl to know Jesus love, she became a Christian.  The girl was diagnosed with a heart problem and was not expected to live.  Many years later Pastor Sam Thompson was surprised when he met the girl.  She told him how Jesus healed her and her whole family had been baptized.  God is at work in India through people at the Christian Resources Center.

Our offering will go to support the work at the Christian Resource Center as they share Jesus. Namaste!

Children in India learning about Jesus!

Book Order forms are in the Friday Folders.  Please order online.  Orders due by online by Friday September 12.  The class activation code is GPF69.  Please use the information sheet to help you order.  You may order from more than the book orders sent home as there are many options online.
I have included a coupon for a free book with a $10 purchase.

Please have your child count to 100.
If they are not able to please work with them as I will be testing this in the next weeks.

I can't wait to celebrate God's Blessings to Zion this weekend! Our God is GOOD!

May we join in the Psalmist and proclaim: "I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord!"

In HIM,

Amy Bernhardt

Pastor Sam Thompson telling us about sharing Jesus love with chidden in India!

India is filled with many people almost all of them don't know about Jesus love and care.

At Word Work center we matched names with pictures of friends in our class.

At Poetry we put a poem in order and then filled in the missing words.

We built words using the -an chunk.

We built our spelling words.

We celebrated two baptismal birthdays!

We started mileage club!

Mrs. Steinbacher punched our cards.

We have a great time walking and running together. 

Yeah! I got my first FOOTIE!

I got a FOOTIE, too!

We  finished our first mileage card!

We compared towers in math.

We studied Piet Mondrian.
He used straight lines and only primary colors.

We drew straight lines using a ruler just like Piet Mondrian.

We used a black sharpie to draw our black lines.
And colored squares using primary colored markers.

We cleaned up after art all by ourselves!

Looking for a good book.

Many of us were interested in Junie B Jones books.

We looked at our library books. DON'T FORGET TO BRING THEM BACK BY WEDNESDAY
you can check our more books at library.
Our library day is Wednesday mornings.

Enjoying Library Time

Pastor Sam Thompson visited our classroom.

We learned the greeting, "Namaste"

We played a game building towers and matching numbers.

We learned that sentences need to have the words in the correct order.

We put words in order to make a sentence.

We listened for beginning sounds and wrote the beginning sound down.

Simon Says, "Put your right hand up."

We had our first Math Assessment.  We used our office so we could focus and concentrate.

Morning Work

We learned the poem: Miss Mary Mack

We worked on a worksheet about sentences.

We put a sentence in order and then recorded the sentence.

We learned about Abraham and how God keeps His promises.

Listen to the story of Abraham and Sarah is retold... 

by a first grader:)

We put cubes in order listening to Mrs. Bernhardt's directions. 

Ask your child about our MATH CHEERS!

Too hot to play outside, LEFT RIGHT CENTER inside.

We loved LEFT RIGHT CENTER!

We also did some fun 'brain break' videos!

Mr. Hansen, Zion's Director of Christian Education, was our VIP Reader.

He read us a story about pirates.  Do you like our pirate faces?