General News

“I am the vine; you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he it is that bears much fruit,

for apart from me you can do nothing.”

(John 14:5)

Hello again from the school as we bring this abbreviated week of instruction to an end at John Calvin School. Even though it was short, there were a lot of things happening both inside and outside of the classroom. As you will read in the classroom news, the students and staff had a fun time with the activities of our Fruit of the Vine theme week. One more thing for all you baseball fans: Go Jays!

Next week Monday, D.V., the B. VanderHoeven family will be joining the John Calvin School community. Their children are enrolled in the following grades: Braedyn (Grade 5A), Rylee (Grade 3A), Taylor (Grade 2A), and Kensi (Grade 1B).

A few items for your attention:

*The due date for picture orders is past. Retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, November 1.

*Thank you very much everyone for your participation in the Food Drive to help out those in need in the community of West Lincoln. The total amount collected was 646.2 pounds.

*Final reminder via the Chronicle: Most of the money from the chocolate bar fundraiser is in; however, there is still some that needs to be returned. Let’s get that in by the end of next week. Thank you.

*Good effort last week Friday cross-country runners! The girls’ and boys’ teams both finished in the top five. The top finisher for the boys’ team was Nicklas Alkema (6th place) and for the girls’ team was Leanne DeBoer (14th place). Thank you again Mrs. Jenn Heemskerk and Mrs. Katrina Groen for coaching the runners. Next on the tournament schedule for the Grade 8 students is volleyball.

*Fruit of the Vine Theme Week: We had an enjoyable week learning more about vineyards, grape farming, grapes, raisins, dressing up in grape colours, and participating in or cheering on the grape stompers. When you are in the school, check out the wall display, We Are A Grape School. The winners of the Fruit of the Vine Colouring Contest will be announced in next week’s Chronicle. If you get the Chronicle in time and would like to check out the grape stomp, the stompers will be stomping at about 12:30 on the traffic island by the main entrance.

*With Remembrance Day not being too far off, the students have already begun work on the Royal Canadian Legion Poster, Poem, and Essay contest. Entries need to be in by Tuesday, November 1. This is earlier than in the past because the Legion would like to display all the entries as part of their 70th anniversary celebrations on Saturday, November 5th.

Reminders:

*The October issue of the News and Views will be distributed on Sunday.

*The Calvin Chronicle will not publish the week of October 24 because of the short week.

*The CRTA Teachers’ Convention is scheduled to take place at Maranatha Christian School in Fergus on October 27 and 28. The students (and parents) may enjoy another extra long weekend.

*A head’s-up to the students in Grades 7&8: The annual ANCHOR WORK DAY is coming up at the end of the month. The usual information about the event will have gone home with your son or daughter today. The confirmation slip needs to be returned on or by Monday, October 24. It is good for the students in Grades 7&8 to be involved in this community service for one of our Canadian Reformed institutions.

Have a good weekend and a blessed day of worship, and we’ll communicate via the pages of the Chronicle again next week, D.V..

1. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

Kindergarten has enjoyed looking at Fall and Thanksgiving, and next week we look forward to our trip to Bry-Anne Farm! Both classes will be going together on Thursday, and we will both have “regular” classroom activities in the afternoon, including library. Please review the October newsletter for details about clothing, food, money, volunteers, bus service, etc. On our other school day(s) we will learn how Isaac was deceived, the letter Nn, and we will start counting and matching in Math. We will also start our new memory work, Psalm 75:6, and we will introduce some of the songs for the upcoming Christmas program. MD & FV

Grade 1

We have had a ‘grape’ week in Grade One. We are beginning the stories of Joseph in Bible this week. We have finished our first Science unit this week and will start a new unit on the senses. We also hope to begin teaching the students the songs for the upcoming Christmas program. We plan to visit Beacon home on Friday. Please return readers if you have not done so already. Thanks. Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday. AB/JvB

Memory Work for Friday, Oct. 21: Ps. 81:2; Twelve Sons of Jacob

Spelling Words: as, his, I, with, they

Grade 2

The students in Grade 2 are excited to welcome Taylor Vanderhoeven into Grade 2A. We hope that she feels welcome and at home in our classroom and our school. We will write another Bible test on Wednesday next week, after which, we will continue our studies on the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Fruit of the Vine week was a lot of fun! The students had a chance to participate in a colouring contest, sample some grape jelly, and even witness some teachers stomping grapes. That’s all for now! Have a “grape” weekend! JB/HV

Memory Work: Hy 41:1, Isaiah 9:2

Spelling: line, really, our, what, whom

Grade 3

We had a short, but very ‘grape’ week. Our Fruit of the Vine week was enjoyed by all. Thank you organizing committee; we learned quite a bit about the grape growing. We also incorporated Christ is the Vine, we are the branches, and we may show the fruit of the Spirit…God is awesome. The children could tell about their Thanksgiving; it is great to hear about family times as well. Pioneer Day will happen this coming Monday. Children may come dressed as pioneers to school. We are SO excited for this day! Don’t forget to bring a loonie for the bus. In Bible we will pay attention to God choosing Abram out of sinful Ur, and placing him in the land He has promised to Abram and his offspring. We are reviewing some spelling words and will add a few new ones to the list. We are noticing that some students are not studying their words diligently at home. Please take the time to check whether your child knows how to spell each word by Friday. Thank you, parents for your help in this. We wish you a blessed Sunday. MP/JB

Memory work: Ps. 8:4,5; Text: Gen 3:15

Spelling words: excited, country, schools, was, getting, laughed

Grade 4A

We are about halfway through the Bible stories about David. The students are really enjoying this unit and the stories and lessons that come with it. In Science we hope to finish the unit about living things and their environment, and on Wednesday we plan to start a new unit about our body systems. This topic is always exciting too because the students become more interested in how their bodies function. We are looking forward to it! The unit will probably last until the end of November. We are almost finished the first unit in Language Arts, and will move on to the novel study – Owls In The Family. In Math we hope to do the end of chapter 2 review. The students are doing well and know lots about place value and addition. Next is subtraction and more. We keep on practicing our times tables and are close to the point that we know the multiplications up to the 6X tables. It’s almost time to hand out certificates for the knowledge of the time tables.

Memory Work Hymn 76:3 Psalm 100:1-3

Grade 4B

What a fun-filled three day week we had! This coming week, we have a Science Test on Tuesday. We have been looking over the information this past week as the “investigating living things and their homes” unit has a lot of information that needed reviewing. There will also be a Math Test on our adding unit on Wednesday October 19. HH

Memory work: Hymn 76:3 (October 21) Text: Psalm 100:1-3 (October 21)

Spelling words: rode, cabin, sail, throat, camp, rope, said, know, boats, blow, alone, float, own, closed

Grade 5

I am writing this message to you a little early this week. This is the big week for our family with Erin and Michael’s wedding happening on Friday. The Rome and Math Tests have both been handed back and I’m hoping they have been signed and returned as well. This is a policy that I find very helpful for both you and myself. Every big test must be signed and returned (the students do get them back if they or you wish). This way I know that you have seen your child’s test and are aware of their mark. For the most part Grade 5 did very well on both test. Good Job, Grade 5A! This week is Our Agriculture Week and we have focused on The Fruit of the Vine, namely, grapes. A lot of interesting activities have been completed over the week. Make sure to ask your child about them. In Social Studies we are now turning our focus to the Roman Army and what made it so successful. In coming weeks we will be learning of the Punic Wars and doing a little project on these. In Math we are diving into division with both whole and decimal number and spending some time on problem solving as well. Two difficult concepts but I am certain we will master them. Next week we will be happy to welcome Braedyn VanderHoeven into our class. He comes to us from Attercliffe. I am sure the class will make him feel welcome and we hope you feel at home with us very quickly, Braedyn. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Memory Work: Psalm 40:1; Text: (two weeks) John 3:14-16

Devotions: M. Melissa, Tu. Kyle, W. Kyara, Th. Carter, Fr. Reuben

Grade 5B

What a short week! It will be nice to have a full week again next week. Next Friday we have a Bible test which will cover the intertestamental period up until Christ chooses His disciples. The duotang will be sent home every day with the students so that they have the opportunity to study. If you are in the school in the next couple of weeks be sure to pop by the grade 5b classroom to check out our latest exhibition. On the wall outside our room we have made large gesture drawings which were inspired by the work of Keith Haring. They look fantastic! Next week we will again resume the student led devotion: M- Titus, T- Elijah, W-Karlee, T-Victoria and F-Abbey. Have a blessed weekend. KG

Grade 6

This week our school was able to enjoy our harvest theme week. This year the focus was on the fruit of the vine. We were able to watch some videos about grape harvesting, how to make grape juice and how to make grape jelly. On Thursday we brought in grape themes foods to eat and today we all wore purple or green. We played some games to do with grapes and participated in a colouring contest. Along with these fun activities we have also been busy at our work! We have finished our church history unit and next week will be looking at the book of Genesis. We also finished our novel study and each class is working on a culminating activity. Next week we hope to start our World of Literature unit looking at perspective. This week we also wrapped up our Flight unit. We designed, built, and tested some model airplanes to look at their accuracy, distance, and acrobatics. Next week we will be starting our Social Studies unit looking at trade between Canada and the rest of the world. Have a lovely weekend! MDB, CV

Social Studies Quiz (Friday, October 21)

Memory Work Song: Psalm 14:2 (October 21)

Memory Work Text: Genesis 22:15-18 (October 26)

6A Devotions: T. Weston, W. Aidan, Th. Elyse, F. Natasha

6B Devotions: M. Clarissa, T. Evan, W. Kierra, Th. Ilse, F. Myles

Grade 7A

The distinction between the king after the people’s heart and the king after the LORD’s heart continues to be stressed as we conclude the reign of King Saul. Characters remain the focus in Language Arts as we’ll be introduced to the strangers that came to town and Barnum’s first circus. We’re learning about fair play and cooperation in Phys. Ed. as we enjoy low order cooperative games. The students will have an opportunity to play dodge ball at recess as part of our intramural program. In Science we’ll try to design a stable table out of cardboard. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

Next week we will be having a Geography Test on Wednesday on our Introduction and Landform Unit. We will continue in our new unit in Math on Number Theory. We also started a History project on Fur Traders and Missionaries, which will be some good hands-on work! We will be wrapping up our Bible History Unit soon on Saul, a King after the People’s heart. Our memory work for the week will be Ps 3:1 and Colossians 3:15-17. Our current events and devotions schedule have gotten pretty confusing over the past couple weeks, so I will be reminding the students a couple days before when they have to do it. Have a good weekend!

Grade 8A

Our short and busy week has come and gone and preparations are under way for next week. We continue in our study of the beginning of Christ’s ministry and will look to wrap up our project on the start of Confederation. We also our excited about our ‘Soup Green’ day on Friday. Last I checked we still need a few ‘totes’ for veggie mixing on Friday. Please let Tonya Bos know if you can lend us one. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

It’s been a short but busy week in grade 8. Students have been working together as teams to edit each other’s short stories. In Science we have been studying osmosis using eggs, vinegar, and salt water. In Bible History we continue to study the ministry of Jesus. KB

Devotions week of October 17 – Emma

Devotions week of October 24 – Noah

Monday – Spelling dictation

Thursday – Vocabulary quiz – Lesson 4

Thursday MW – Psalm 33

Friday – processing soup veggies