Passing the Baton

Holland Christian Schools has developed a strong culture of adults investing in and mentoring students, cultivating a fruitful context for positive spiritual formation of our students. From Preschool through senior year, Holland Christian students know they are loved, affirmed, instructed and nurtured to become all that God has gifted them to be as his agents of shalom in our world. This happens in one-on-one conferring between teacher and developing reader; on the field, court, pool or stage between coach and performer; over coffee or breakfast between teacher and teen. HCS staff members invest into the lives of students, helping to create a fabric of faithfulness surrounding students who are encouraged to grow and stay strong in their faith.

One way that we tangibly can represent this life-on-life influence institutionally, yet personally, is to pass a customized HCS track baton from teacher to student, and student to teacher each year that a student is at HCS. Inside of this baton that follows each student throughout her or his HCS years is a scroll of paper with the accumulated personal messages of recognition and encouragement that will be added by that student’s teacher each year.

Please watch for this special baton, labeled with your child’s name, to come home with your child on the last day of school, June 5. Read the scroll inside, celebrate and pray together with your child over the growth that has taken place throughout this school year filled with God’s providence, guidance and love. You may feel free to write a note to your child on this baton scroll as well and invite another mentoring adult or two to write a thoughtful note encouraging your child as well. We ask that you store this baton in a safe place throughout the summer months so that your child can pass this baton to his/her new teacher next fall.

Sincerely,
Holland Christian School

Music on Tuesday

From the desk of Mrs. Rietman...

This Tuesday , during our last music class of the year, we will be having an “I Love Music” Day.  This is an optional music show-n-tell in which we will celebrate the music of our peers.  Below are a few options of how your child can participate if he/she choses:

•Play a piece (or 2) on the piano (remember to pack the music the night before).

•Bring in an instrument from home to show the class and be ready to briefly talk about it.

•Sing a chorus or brief solo for the class (Mrs. R. would be willing to play the piano to accompany)

•Be an attentive audience member (this is very important as well) J

Looking forward to a wonderful week of celebrating music!  

Mrs. Rietman 

srietman@hollandchristian.org

Many Seconds in Second

I hope you have enjoyed the long weekend with your family! I spend most of the weekend with my family too. It was great to see my grandpa Bouman in the Memorial Day parade this morning.  I am reminded of his (and many others) service to our country! 

         The days in second grade are quickly coming to an end!  Take a look at the many activities and lessons that we will do to complete the year.  Let’s finish strong! 

In Him,

Stacia Vogelzang

Reading: 

         We will finish our Fairy Tales/Folk Tales unit this week.  We have learned a lot about our characters. As we are learning about them, we are finding our characters are leaning too. Our characters are learning important lessons about life, and they can teach us many things too!  Good readers learn life lessons by learning side by side with the characters in their story.  This week we will be doing exactly that!  Next week, we will take all that we have learned about fairy tales and celebrate by doing several fairy tale readers theaters.

*no spelling

*Please continue to encourage your child to read 20 minutes/day. Reading minutes are complete for the year.

Writing:

We will be having our final writing celebration by sharing our restaurant opinion writing with our fourth grade friends.  Look for their final copy coming home in your child’s mailbox this coming week.

Math:

         We will be learning about rectangular arrays and how to use addition to count the number of objects in an array.  This is our first step in learning the meaning of multiplication.   We will also spend some time learning about fractions.

*no math homework due for the rest of the year.

Bible:

         We will wrap up the year learning about the missionary journeys of Paul.  We will see the struggles and triumphs as he travel to share the gospel. 

*See the side bar for final Bible memory due MONDAY, June 1. 

Social Studies:

         We are learning about our local economy.  This week we will focus on learning about natural, capital, and human resources.  We will be taking a natural resource and make it into a capital resource.  This is a creative and fun way to end the year.

Science:

         We will be making mixtures and solutions using different materials.  Then describing the properties of how the mixture changed.

A few more things:

Field Trip THIS Friday:

Friday morning, May 29. This will combine our government and economics studies as we visit the Holland Police Department and City Hall. We'll end our morning with a stop at the Orange Leaf frozen yogurt shop as we learn about their business (and sample the yogurt!). We plan to leave school at 8:45 and return just before noon. If you'd like to join us, please let me know.

Field Day TOMORROW!  Have your child bring a water bottle if possible and good running shoes. Keep your fingers crossed for no rain. The radar doesn’t look so great right now.  Field Day rain date will be Thursday afternoon. 

Many Seconds in Second

Writing:

We will continue to edit and revise our restaurant reviews by adding more details, quotes, and opinion language in them.

Reading:

We continue to focus on reading fairy tale and folk tales during reading time.  This week we will be looking at the different types of characters in fairy takes and folk tales- hero villain, trickster.

Reading Minutes are due on Monday.

Math:

We’ll be working on two digit addition and subtraction story problems.  We continue to play fun math facts games to work on subtraction/addition fluency.

Math homework due Friday.

Social Studies:

We have been learning how early Holland History.  This past week we have learned about Isaac Cappon and his big family.  This week we will discover how life during early Holland was different from today.  We will be using artifacts from the Holland Museum to guide us in our learning.

Science:

We continue to study measurement in science.  This past week we learned how to measure and keep track of data of distance and time.  Friday we spent the afternoon flying airplanes and flying them in the gym.

Bible:

We will begin to study Paul’s first missionary journey.  Paul traveled t o many cities in the Roman Empire, preaching the good news to all who would hear it.  Your child will is how the Holy Spirit’s power, which equips people to speak the truth boldly despite the cost.

Bible Memory due Friday.

Important Information:

Our Holland History field trip is this Thursday! We plan to leave school at 8:40 and return around 1:20. We plan to have a picnic lunch at Kollen Park from 10:50-11:50, so your child needs to bring a lunch and drink. Parents and younger siblings are invited to join us for our picnic lunch. We'll be visiting the Cappon House museum and Graafschap CRC. We have room for one additional parent chaperone; let me know if you'd like to come along.

Tulip Time

                           It was a hot and sunny day, but we had a blast marching on Thursday.  I am so proud  of these kids!  We gave our best waves and smiles to all who watched us.

Tulip Time Information

This morning we practiced marching for the Tulip Time parade on Thursday.  Here is an outline of what side of the road your child will be.

Quick Reminders:
-Your child will be eating lunch at school. There is NO school lunch so please pack one.
-Your child may wear his/her Dutch costume to school, or change into it during lunch recess.  Feel free to stop by and help your child OR I am pretty good at figuring out the layers of each costume :)
-The parade will end at 11th and Van Raalte.  Please plan on picking up your child IMMEDIATELY after we get to 11th and Van Raalte (not after the entire parade has finished).  Our school will turn right at the end of the parade onto Kollne Drive (11th Street) and then be dismissed to the grassy area just past the fire station on the south side of the street where you may pick up your child.  I will need to collect your child's prop.  Once I hand over the permission slip to you, you may take your child.
-Any questions, please email me.  I will have my phone on me.
-Looking forward to a hot day!

Many Seconds in Second

Our days are full in second grade! In all the business, it comforting to know that God is in all, through all, and above all.  I appreciate the efforts your child put in each and every day.  Please continue to pray over our classroom as we finish up this last full month of school.  

Here are the happenings this coming week.  Please make note of  several due dates for little projects.

In Him,

Stacia Vogelzang

Writing:

By the end of this coming week, it is our goal to have our first opinion review drafted! Your child has been busy working on writing topic sentences, with at least 2 supporting details, and a conclusion sentence.  We have been calling this format our ‘oreo’ writing.  Friday, May 1 your child took home a yellow paper with interview questions.  Please be on the look out for this paper.  Your child has written two questions they want you (or another adult) to answer.  We will be using these quotes in our writing later in the week.  This paper is due on Thursday, May 7.

Reading:  

We have been getting ourselves in the character’s shoes as we read fairy tales and other fiction stories.  We have been working diligently at changing our voices to match the characters.  Next week we will be looking more closely at the characters seeing how they are acting and naming the character’s feelings and traits.  We will be doing lots of inferring, reading between the lines, to figure this out.  This is rigorous work for second graders!

Reading minutes are due every Monday.

Math:

We continue to make, read, and interpret data.  This coming week we will finish graphing and continue practicing two-digit addition and subtraction story problems.

Math homework due Friday.

Social Studies:

We're learning about the history of our city; this unit is mostly online as we also incorporate internet safety and etiquette. We learned how to comment on a blog as each student shared their ideas during our lesson. If you'd like to see our Holland History site, here is the link: http://hollandhistory2ndgrade.weebly.com.

On May 14 we will be going on the Holland History field trip.  We will be leaving school at 8:20am and returning at 1:20pm. We will be touring the Cappon House, Settlers House, picnic at Kollen Park, and then off to Graafschap Church museum.  Your child will need a sack lunch from home on this day. We are able to take 2 parents.  If you are interested, email me by Wednesday, May 6.  I will put all names of those interested into a hat. The two that are chosen will be emailed.  If you aren’t chosen, we will be going to the Holland Police State and City Hall on the 29th of May.  All are welcome to join. (More information will be coming about this field trip)

Science:

We started our last unit in science-Measuring Matters.  This week we will focus on measuring distance and time by doing several experiments.  This past Wednesday your child went home with a paper airplane homework sheet.  Your child will need to bring in a paper airplane for our science class on Friday, May 8.  We will be flying these and seeing the relationship between distance and time.

Other Important Information:

Dutch Costumes and Tulip Time Bussing Chang:

It's Tulip Time! Do you have a costume for your 1st-4th grade student? See Diane Steenwyk in the office if you need any assistance with a costume for your child. We will have a half-day of school on Wednesday, May 6, with an 11:30 AM dismissal for all students. Busses will run their normal routes. On Thursday, May 7, students in first through fourth grades are expected to march in the Kinderparade. Please note that there will be no bussing provided on Thursday at 11:30 AM  Most students will stay at school to be transported to the parade. Kindergarteners, 5th and 6th graders will have to find transportation home that day.  Busses will not be running.

Track and Field Day

Track and Field Day will be held the afternoon of May 26.   Many volunteers are needed  to make this event run smoothly for our students.  Please contact Julie Raak at jraak@hollandchristian.org and let her know of your willingness to help.

Many Seconds in Second

Many Seconds In Second:

Our days are filled with lots of ‘seconds’ filled with rich learning experiences.  Although we are in the final quarter of second grade we are intent on mastering new and exciting things.  Let me share with you what are plans are for this week.

Writing: 

We will begin our last writing unit of second grade this week.  Your child will be creating opinion pieces of writing.  Second graders are naturally persuasive talkers-arguing for a later bedtime, debating why they should attend a camp in the summer, or wanting to be a proud pet owner.  During writing time, your child will give their opinions about books they’ve read and places they’ve  visited.  We will learn that our opinion must be with substantiated with reasons.  I can’t wait to read their persuasive paragraphs!

We will also be studying reviews and evaluating reviews people write.  The students learn the quality of good writing that make reviews more interesting like specialized language and vocabulary, and how to research these reviews.  Students love living a life of a reviewer and begin viewing the world around them in a new light.  We are looking forward to sharing these writing pieces with you in the coming weeks.

Reading:

Last week we started our Folktale/Fairy Tales unit in reading.  We compared and contrasted many familiar fairy tales with new versions from different cultures.  This coming week we will focus on our reading fluency by reading fairy tales.  We will be changing our voices to match the characters along with interpreting the characters feelings.  This will be a lively time in our classroom.  You child’s book boxes are filled with fairy tales/folk tales/fables and other narrative books.  Reading Workshop is an exciting time in our classroom where each child is reading books that are a ‘good fit’ for him/her.

Please remember:

*Reading minutes are due each Monday.

*Spelling words went home on Friday.

Math:

We will begin learning/reviewing telling time this coming week.  Your child is expected to know how to read an analog clock to the nearest minute by the end of second grade.  Also we will begin our graphic unit.  Your child will be collecting and interpreting data by looking at pictographs and bar graphs.  ****Please have your child bring a small stuffed animal to school on Thursday.  We will be using this stuffed animal in math.

*Math homework due is on Friday.

Bible:

We are beginning the study of the Early Church.  In these lessons your child will learn how the Holy Spirit gave power for the spreading of the gospel, how the church grew despite severe opposition, and how God sent Peter a vision telling him that the gospel message was for gentiles as well as for Jews.  This coming week we will learn about the Stoning of Stephen, Philip and the Ethiopian, and Saul’s Conversion.

Social Studies:

We've been learning about our local government and how it helps our community. The children show a lot of interest in these lessons.

I want to also highlight some important dates this week:

*Monday: Reading minutes are due.

*Tuesday: Library books are due.

*Tuesday: We will also visit the fifth graders Living Wax Museum.

*Thursday: small stuffed animal for math is due.

*Friday:  Bible memory and math homework is due.

*Friday~ Spelling Test.

Wonderful Wednesday

On Wednesday we have two excited experiences.

The author Nancy Shaw came to visit.

We also watched the sixth graders perform their poems at forensics.

Passover

I love sharing stories from God's Word, the Bible, with my students. We've been walking through Jesus' last week and his death during our Bible story time. One of the special traditions we have as a second grade at Rose Park is to celebrate an abbreviated version of the Passover feast. We enjoyed this special time this afternoon with a number of parents joining us. 

We ate matzah and drank grape juice, we retold the story of the ten plagues and the first Passover, and we blessed God for the gifts He's given us. Most of all, we saw that many parts of this festival point to Jesus as the True Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed to set us free from the power of sin. We tasted the bitterness of sin (horseradish) as well as the sweetness that comes with God's grace and forgiveness (haroset - a mixture of chopped apples, cinnamon and honey). It was a fun afternoon, experiencing the love of God for His people and the fellowship of our second grade family at Rose Park. I pray that these children will know the great love God has for them.