Looking Ahead to the week of 1/6/14-1/10/14:
Spelling: Lesson 17 (ee) see, free, deer, peel, tree, weep, beep, need, freedom, wheel
Memory: First Commandment
You shall have no other gods.
In God I trust; I will not be afraid. Psalm 56:11
Math: Fact TEST on Friday

Information:
Please remember to mark church/ Sunday school attendance. Please mark if you attend either 12/22 or 12/29 service. This information is still counted on second quarter data.
End of 2^nd Quarter is Friday the 20^th.  Report cards will be sent home on Friday, January 10^th. A paper copy will be sent home in a Zion envelope.

Reflecting on Polar Express trip:
Today was AWESOME!!! I hope the kids had half as much fun as I did. It was a very special day! Enjoy the photos!!

 Gabriel tried donuts for the very first time!!!

 He was not impressed!

 We tried being elves and learned it is a very hard job. We put together over 300 packages for Zion's Christmas children's message service.

 We helped gather all the donated items for Thrive! The Zion family is such a blessing to the community. God is good and I see his love shining through our families. Thank you!

Looking ahead:

Memory: Practice reading Advent parts with emotion
Spelling: Lesson 16 (ear/ath) hear, near, fear, dear, smear, math, path, bath, aftermath, Sabbath
Math: Fact test on Wednesday and written test on Thursday

Important Info:
New info-
Polar Express: On Thursday, Dec. 19th I will be taking the class on the Polar Express.  They will come to school dressed in pajamas ready for departure. They need to wear tennis shoes to school but they may bring slippers to change into once arrived. Your child may bring one stuffed animal to school to join them on their trip.

Zion has a noon dismissal on Friday the 20th

Class Christmas party will be the morning of Friday the 20th.

End of 2^nd Quarter is Friday the 20^th.  Report cards will be sent home on Friday, January 10^th. A paper copy will be sent home in a Zion envelope.

Friday the 20^th is a Bobcat Spirit day.

Repeating info-
Thrive: We are collecting newborn diapers and wipes for Thrive crisis pregnancy center until December 18th.

Advent Service: December 18th at 10:00a.m. (students are to wear regular school uniform dress) and 7:00 p.m. Please dress your child in church clothes for the evening service and drop them off in the church basement at 6:30.

Reflecting on our week:
The students love playing, "Toss the Yarn." This week we assigned character traits to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Students take turns tossing the yarn to a friend while stating one trait of our Nativity characters. Look for these in the hallway!

 This week we played a game while reviewing our math facts. This type of activity is fun and helps kinesthetic learners because it allows them to move their body while they process information.

Looking ahead:
Memory: Keep practicing Advent parts. 
Spelling: Lesson 15 (all) hall, ball, call, stall, wall, mall, overall, rainfall, fallen, overall
Math: No math test this week

Important Info:
Thrive: We are collecting newborn diapers and wipes for Thrive crisis pregnancy center until December 18th.

Scholastic book order: I will place one more scholastic order before Christmas. If there are any orders I  will submit them on Dec. 11th to make sure they are in by Christmas break. Let me know if they are a gift and I will send them home per your directions.

Advent Service: December 18th at 10:00a.m. (students are to wear regular school uniform dress) and 7:00 p.m. Please dress your child in church clothes for the evening service and drop them off in the church basement at 6:30.

Polar Express: Mark your calendar for Thursday, Dec. 19th. I will be taking the class on the Polar Express. This is my Christmas present to the students. They will come to school dressed in pajamas ready for departure.

Reflecting on our week:
We are working with a new writing tool that we purchased at the LEA convention. This is a tool that helps students organize their thoughts. Mrs. Bernhardt came in to teach us a song that helps us remember all the parts we need to think about when writing about a topic. 

The children were excited to start using literature circles. Literature circles are like book clubs except everyone is responsible for a particular job. These book discussions help students gain a better understanding of what they have read. We are working through our books slowly as the students learn about various jobs within their groups and how to respond in their journals.

Looking ahead:
Memory: Advent parts are Due on Friday
Spelling: Lesson 14 (ing/ink) bring, sing, wing, fling, string, link, drink, pink, think, shrink
Math: Fact  TEST on Wednesday and Written TEST on Thursday

Important Info:

Scholastic book order: I will place one more scholastic order before Christmas. If there are any orders I  will submit them on Dec. 11th to make sure they are in by Christmas break. Let me know if they are a gift and I will send them home per your directions.

Advent Service: December 18th at 10:00a.m. (students are to wear regular school uniform dress) and 7:00 p.m. Please dress your child in church clothes for the evening service and drop them off in the church basement at 6:30.

Polar Express: Mark your calendar for Thursday, Dec. 19th. I will be taking the class on the Polar Express. This is my Christmas present to the students. They will come to school dressed in pajamas ready for departure.

Reflecting on our week:
We were able to use the computers as a whole class this week!! The students posted Acrostic poems on Kidblog. They are becoming very computer savvy!

 Meet Antonym Al and Synonym Sue! We had fun making these cute characters as we learned about these types of words.

Looking ahead:
There is no memory or spelling due this week.
We will have a fun short week learning about adjectives, writing invitations, and blogging about Thanksgiving. Mrs. Kuhlmann will come in on our half day to teach an art lesson. We will have a short science test on Tuesday, covering the moon, stars, and the planets.

Important Dates/Info:

Thanksgiving Break starts with a noon dismissal on 11/27

Scholastic book order: I originally said the book order would be placed on November 29th. I am changing that date because I need to place the order sooner. I need to place the order this weekend. I am  using bonus points, earned because all of you are fantastic and order so many books, to order three sets of books. I need to read all of these books and plan over Thanksgiving break because I would like to do three lit circles when they return in December using these books. 

Please let me know if you would like to order books before Christmas and I will place another order before Christmas break.

Advent Service: December 18th at 10:00a.m. (students are to wear regular school uniform dress) and 7:00 p.m. Please dress your child in church clothes for the evening service and drop them off in the church basement at 6:30.

Polar Express: Mark your calendar for Thursday, Dec. 19th. I will be taking the class on the Polar Express. This is my Christmas present to the students. They will come to school dressed in pajamas ready for departure.

Reflecting on our week: 
We received thank you cards from two of the veterans we sent cards to last week. 

 We used marshmallows to lay out some favorite constellations in science.

 We had a blast growing our schema by trying some new foods mentioned in one of our guided reading stories. Ask your child about what they liked and disliked.

Looking ahead:
Memory: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
Spelling: Lesson 13 (oo) too, zoo, food, room, soon, boot, hoop, scoop, groom, school
Grammar/Phonics: Review beginning consonant clusters/ words ending in -ly and -able/ synonyms
Math: Fact  TEST on Thursday and Written TEST on Friday
Science: Chapter 7 TEST on Tuesday and start Chapter 8 (Moon, Stars, and Planets)

Important Dates/Info:

Typhoon Haiyan:

Three congregations of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP), a partner church with The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, are in the area hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the country Friday, Nov. 8 and is one of the strongest storms ever recorded. At least one of those congregations is reported to have significant damage. 

More than 10,000 people are feared dead and thousands more have lost their homes in the wake of the typhoon  — also known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda. 

Link for information.

http://blogs.lcms.org/2013/lcms-pledges-150000-for-philippines-typhoon-relief 

For Donations:

If you would like to help LCMS Disaster Response in its ministry to support those devastated by disaster:

•Make an online gift at lcms.org/givenow/disaster.

•Mail checks payable to “The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod” (with a memo line or note designating “LCMS Disaster Relief”) to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861.

•Call toll-free 888-930-4438 (8:10 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday).

Thanksgiving Food Drive Chapel will be Wednesday, November 20 

Oral Auction Donations: Technology drive envelopes are coming home in the Friday folders today. If you are able to help Zion purchase technology items for our school auction please send donations back to school by November 22.

Health Screenings will take place on Thursday, November 21^st

Thanksgiving Break starts with a noon dismissal on 11/27

Scholastic book order: The next book order will be submitted on Nov. 29th. This will be the last order placed before Christmas. Please let me know if you are ordering any books for Christmas presents and would like to arrange special delivery instructions.

Reflecting on our week: 
On Monday we mailed thank you cards and our flag art to Veterans from our church.

We had a blast at World Sport Stacking Day! We have some expert stackers in this class!!!

We used oil pastels for the first time this week and the kids loved it! Our fall leaves will be on display in the hallway, now until Thanksgiving break.

Ms. Steinbacher stopped by to do a little dancing and singing with us on Thursday.