I may have said this before, but I am thoroughly enjoying your kids! Already I've learned so much about each one individually - their personalities, their hobbies and interests, their extracurriculars, their work habits, their reading interests, their social skills - they are complex and delightful children! Thank you for sharing them with me this year - we're having so much fun together already!
The door of our classroom is a revolving door - we are fortunate to have so many helpful adults checking in on us and assisting our learning. A couple regulars that we can plan on are Miss VanderHill (she is also our PE teacher - see her bio below) who helps out for 4 hours on Tuesdays, and Miss Guerrin (a senior at Hope College - see her intro below) who helps out for 2 hours on Mondays and 4 hours on Thursdays. I'm also grateful for those of you parents who are stepping in and helping with our library visits and covering our Friday lunch time so I can work on grading and assigning spelling words each week while we eat (if you'd like to sign up but haven't had a chance yet, the signups are links at the top of this blog). Your kids are thriving already this year, and it takes a village!
Hello Rose Park families!
My name is Grace VanderHill, and I am thrilled to be joining the community as your new PE teacher!
Most recently, I was teaching at a school in Nicaragua when God opened an incredible door for me to return to West Michigan and serve at Rose Park. As a graduate of Unity Christian and Grand Valley State University, I am so grateful to be back teaching in the Holland area which is a place I’ve grown to love even more through my summers working at Camp Geneva.
I’ve had a passion for working with children for as long as I can remember, and combining that with my love for sports and staying active makes teaching PE so special. I am beyond excited to meet your children, share my passion for faith and fitness, and encourage each of them as they discover and grow their unique gifts and abilities!
This week we were able to add science and writing into our days, and that is such exciting work! In science we are beginning to explore how waves (not the water kind😏) transport information - there's so much to understand in that realm! In writing we're beginning to craft a realistic fiction story about an astronaut on the International Space Station - the creative juices are flowing! Maybe your child has told you about their ideas/plans for this story. In math we're deep into understanding place value to the millions place, how to round numbers, add multi-digit numbers, and next week we will practice subtracting multi-digit numbers. In Bible, we're reading through the stories of 2 Samuel always considering the original context of the story (ask your child about our 6 context characters!). God is teaching us things about Himself, about obedience, and about focusing on the right things in life. In reading we're practicing the successful execution of reading workshop, and the kids seem to really be enjoying their independent reading time each day. Next week we will explore 5 options of how to attack unknown words in our reading.
A couple notes for this coming week:
1. Reading minutes (blue long skinny paper), math minutes (yellow long skinny paper), and the Mad Minute fact test are all due on Monday. A new set will also come home on Monday for the following week. Remember, instructions for how to administer the fact test are on the back of the paper. (Please notice #3 - draw a line after the last problem completed before the 2 minutes was up, then finish the rest of the paper, untimed.)
2. Word Work - I've finished assessing students current spelling abilities and have chosen word work lists (also known as "spelling words") tailored to their individual needs. Those will come home on Monday, and the test will take place at school on Friday. The students will practice in school during the week, but some students also need additional practice at home prior to the test. Please check with your child before Friday to see how they are doing with their words. Thank you!
3. Just a reminder to check your child's planner and take home folder daily (and then help them remember to return those to their back pack for the next day). With your child, go over the things in their planner that they are supposed to remember for the next day, and also take some time to look over the papers they bring home in their take home folder. It gives you a great opportunity to (1)praise them for their hard work, (2)help them with skills that were tricky for them, and (3)it lets them know that you value their work at school.
4. School Pictures - We are scheduled for pictures on Thursday, the 17th at 12:30pm. Please make sure to send in the picture order envelope (that came home today) by Thursday (even if you order on-line, just note that on the paper order form when you send it back to school). Remember to order a yearbook so your child can participate in the fun of getting autographs when they arrive at school in May☺️!
5. Library - Today your child took home their first few choices from our school library. Those books will be due back next week on Friday again in order to get new books. If your child needs to renew a book, that can be done as well until they have had sufficient time to finish it.
6. MAP test - This coming week we just have two more portions of the MAP standardized test to complete (Language and Math). At this point, it looks like we will try to get those done on Monday and Wednesday. There's nothing you need to do at home for this, but if possible, try to avoid pulling your child out from school on those days. Thanks so much!
7. Walk-a-thon donations are due Thursday the 17th!
8. Orchestra - Mr. Nester, our orchestra teacher, will meet with us on Thursday to introduce the idea of orchestra to the students. Look for a note to come home with more information.
Hi from Mrs. Short
FROM THE ROSE PARK OFFICE:
Click this link for the most up-to-date announcements from the office.
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