Happy Christmas Break!

Before you buzz on into the holidays, I wanted to make sure you know what is coming up and share with you how much fun we have been having in our little Hive!

Our week began with a field trip to the Hampton Senior Center. It was a joy for students to be able to share all the Christmas songs they have been working so hard on during music class! They also read the Nativity Story books they made in class by reading them and telling about the birth of our Savior! What a rewarding experience this was. This is a community connection that Sonshine plans on keeping, and we plan on another field trip to the center soon! 

Grace and Noah read their Nativity storybooks to a new friend!

Students sing Christmas songs for our friends at the Hampton Senior Center.

Veronica shares the story of Jesus' birth with her friend.

The week was full of fun! Between lots of song practice at calendar corner, our field trip, completing our author study on Jan Brett, gingerbread man escape plans, an entire day of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities, Spirit Week, watching (and reading) the Polar Express, a class Christmas party, decorating cookies with Ms. Jones' class, and the amazing Christmas production of "The Littlest Angel Choir", I would say that we had a full week! Busy-bees, indeed!

Practicing songs for the upcoming show!

Sing it, angels, sing it!

And we had Spanish with our dear Ms. Monica too! Feliz Navidad!!!

Planning out how to build the tallest Christmas tree with cups on December-STEM day!

Constructing shelves for our elves!

Veronica and Grace learn that a strong foundation is key!

A surprise from yours truly was awaiting the busy bees in the classroom after lunch on Thursday. I felt like it was Christmas morning for a moment there! Something I really love about these bees is their appreciation and enthusiasm over the "little things", they really know how to make the most of it!

A BIG, HUGE, SUGAR-LADEN THANKS to everyone who contributed cookies, frosting, toppings, and yummies to our cookie-decorating! It was SO appreciated! Just look at these faces!

Cookie-decorating party with Ms. Jones' class!

TWO cookies?!? We get TWO cookies? Yep. It's Christmastime!

The Christmas play was a hit! 

Our angels, narrators, and Nativity kids really put their heart into the show! 

Okay, so I guess there is a month that comes after December called January, and it is coming up soon, and we will be in 2016 before we know it! If you simply can't bear to read about what is coming up the first week next year (yep, I said it), it's okay to log off The Hive now and tune back after the festivities. But before you do that, I just want to remind you that there will be a Christmas Eve service at Faith Baptist church at 6:30 pm on Dec. 24th.


Now, if you are feeling really brave (I used an upcoming spelling word!), then stay tuned, and find out what is coming up, which will help you to know what your kiddos can practice over the break too! Speaking of practicing, I sent home a "Winter Break" packet just for extra practice with winter poems, reading comprehension and some math homework. It does not need to be turned in, but if your busy-bee wants to show it to me when they finish, I would love that. I know how crazy-busy this time of year is and if you get around to just a few pages, my heart will be happy! The reason I like to send the sight words and spelling words for the upcoming week is so your bee can practice them with you before seeing them in class. Previewing content is a strategy that will benefit your child, as it can help them to be more successful when it is presented in class and prior knowledge builds interest!

Spelling words: came, make, brave, late, gave, shape

Sight words: four, five, into, over, starts, three, two, watch

Our memory verse coming up:

 I am Happy to Introduce: The Math Minute!

 In math, we will use the "counting on" method to help build addition fluency, and continuing studies that were started this last month in "time". Speaking of time, I want to challenge you to do something. I call it the "math minute". What it means is taking just a minute from your day, to devote to a math concept. This week, I am asking that you devote your math minute to talking about time. We have already started counting by fives for the minute hand on the clock (saying "o'clock" for the "12"), and identifying what hour the hour hand is at. You could use your math minute for doing that. You could also look at an analog clock and compare it to a digital clock in your home. Your child could start guessing what the digital time will look like after seeing a clock and write it down. You could help them check their answer and give feedback/correction as needed. Do you have a watch in which to talk about the clock-face, or even a cellphone to discuss the time as it is digitally represented? Perfect! Now your math-minute could be done while waiting in line at the store, or waiting for an appointment to start. Speaking of which, if you find yourself waiting with your child for anything over this break, you could be timing how long that wait is using your watch or cellphone. And discussing the celebration of New Years Eve and how it will turn into a new day at 12 am, the first day of the year, is even a perfect "math minute" activity!

The first week of the year back at school we will have a unit on manners and revisit our class and school-wide expectations. Science for the entire month will be based around animals and their habitats. We will discuss migration and hibernation. 

There is an important date I would like to share with you so that if you are interested, you can save it on your calendar now. I know many of you are working during the week, but would still like to volunteer at school. We will be having our first "Saturday-Morning Volunteer Cafe" for parents who would like to volunteer on the weekend with some specific jobs teachers have in their classrooms. It will be on Saturday, January 16th from 10 am- 2 pm. More details to come! 

 

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all of the Christmas greetings, gifts, words of well wishes, contributions to our Hive, and the continuous support of your child's education. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

The most wonderful time of the year...

Greetings, magnificent K/1 parents! Thank you for checking in for another edition of "The Hive"! I have much to share with you, including what we have been up to and what we will be doing in the coming week.

What we've been up to...

We recently had a science experiment investigating liquids, solids, and gases! The end result was a lot of "dancing" popcorn!

Veronica adds vinegar to the popcorn kernels.

Aiden is not a fan of the smell of vinegar (me either)!

Spirit Week is this coming week! 

Monday: Christmas Socks Day

Tuesday: Red and Green Day

Wednesday: Christmas PJ Day

Thursday: Crazy Christmas Day

Important Dates to Remember:

Tuesday, December 15th, field trip to Hanson Senior Center. Departure: 8:45 am, arrival back will be around 10 am. Please bring booster seats/car seats on this day. Thanks so much!

Thursday, December 17th, Class Party: 10:30 am in Ms. Jones' classroom. We will need some donations for this. If you are able to help, please let me know via email. We need: volunteers, plain sugar cookies, frosting, red hots, m 'n m's, or any other fun things to decorate with. THANK YOU!!! We are showing The Polar Express at 1:15 this day. 



Friday, December 18th, Christmas program at 9:30 am, here at Faith Baptist Church. The students have been practicing for this, and we would love to see you there!!
***Please be sure that your child will be here at the normal school start time of 8:30 this day as it takes time for them to prepare for the big show. (: 



Thursday, December 24th, Christmas Eve Service, at 6:30 pm.

Between play practice, special lessons, and Christmas crafts, this has been an exciting week! While some things have ran right on schedule, other (fun!) things have come up. We will be continuing our studies from last week as we work around all of the holiday activities we have planned! We will have the same sight words and spelling words. We will continue our Jan Brett author study and we have lots of Christmas-themed learning activities planned as well.

Some wonderful things that have been happening lately....

Pastor Cary and Mrs. Warner see what was inside the gift addressed for our Sonshine Kids during chapel. CANDY-CANES!!!

After Chapel on Monday and receiving our candy-canes, we watched a reading of  "The Candymaker's Gift" by Helen and David Haidle. It tells the story of  how the candy-cane can represent the love of Jesus!

I just  have to take a moment and recommend that you check out some of Helen Haidle's work, she has some amazing little gems of Christian books for kids! 

Noah, Dante, Evaleen, and Veronica work hard during Daily 5!

                                           

Play practice in our classroom!

The first "real" play practice on stage!!!

And the countdown begins!

Good evening, incredible K/1 parents!  If you haven't noticed, there is a special excitement in the air that could only mean one thing. The countdown to Christmas is on!! We have been doing our own Advent chain in class, and a "Jesse tree", showcasing the Bible stories leading up to the birth of Jesus.

Our Jesse Tree

 Our Jesse Tree Ornaments stay in a special mailbox, delivered to our hearts every afternoon! 

 

 

There was a special message for the kiddos when they returned from Thanksgiving break! 

Some important events to mark on your calendars this month:

SPIRIT WEEK: December 14 – 17

Monday: Christmas Socks Day

Tuesday: Red and Green Day

Wednesday: Christmas Pajamas day

Thursday: Crazy Christmas Day

Field Trip to Hampton Senior Center: Monday, December 14th (time to be announced, details to come).

Christmas Party: Thursday, December 17^{th (details to come)}

Christmas Program: Friday, December 18^th at 9:30 AM – Early Dismissal at 12:00 PM

·         You are welcome to take your child home following the program.

·         If you need child care at the daycare after 12:00 PM, please let Brooke at the daycare know!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, December 24^th at 6:30 PM. – This is a family friendly service where we sing Christmas carols, listen to the Christmas story, hear special Christmas music, and light candles. The service is around 40 minutes and all are welcome!

Thank you for practicing your child's lines for the Christmas play at home. If you need another copy, be sure to let me know, and I will send it home with them. We have been practicing in class, but these little performers have only a few weeks before the big show! So exciting!!!

Our Fruit of the Spirit Recipients for November were Hadley Green and Aiden Warner. The Fruit this past month was JOY, and these two exude so much happiness and enthusiasm! Look at those smiles! 

 Our Sight Words for this week will be:

down, fall, goes, green, grow, new, yellow, open

Our spelling words:

ship, shop, when, whip, which, fish

Our anchor text and essential question:

Seasons and Four Seasons for Animals

"What changes do the different seasons cause?"

In math, we will continue learning concepts of subtraction. For Bible, we will be adding to our Jesse tree, reading passages from our Advent chain, and practicing our Christmas play lines, which include the passage from Luke 2:8-14. You can find it in the Christmas play script as well and practice it at night with your child as they will be reading it with the whole school.

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.


We will be having an Author/Illustrator Study of Jan Brett, and reading some of her holiday-themed books!

Some fun pictures from our class lately:

Hard-working bees!

Addison leads our Bible pledge!

Hadley demonstrates the way she worked a math problem.

Evaleen shares her gingerbread story on the document camera.

 

 

I like to wear funny headbands when I am working with students in small groups or one-on-one and can't be interrupted (unless it is an emergency, of course). It is a visual reminder that busy bees are getting instruction which requires all of their attention. The students really wanted me to post this. (;

 

Have a wonderful weekend and let me know if you have any questions. There are a lot of fun activities coming up this month, please be on the watch for more details. If you or your family are in need of prayer or anything we might be able to help with, please let me know. Thank you so much for your support! It means so much!