General News
Good Friday morning everyone as we bring to a close another week of instruction at John Calvin School. We thank our Heavenly Father for once again providing for the needs of students and staff. We pray for His blessing during the last week of learning and teaching leading up to the Christmas Break.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving the recent death of a loved one, coping with serious illness or are dealing with difficult or challenging family circumstances. In particular, we think of families where a family member has contracted the coronavirus and the family is currently in isolation. May the Lord grant recovery and patience.
A few items for your attention:
*The News and Views will be distributed by email this weekend.
*Winterfest: The online auction is finished and the pick-up of “won” items took place yesterday. Thanks again for all your hard work Winterfest Committee and volunteers.
*Thank you very much Voucher Committee for all your hard work in raising money for the school. Don’t forget to get your vouchers everyone, especially at this time of year.
*Thank you very much Ladies’ Auxiliary for the delicious pizza lunch we could enjoy today. It was very much appreciated by the students, teachers, and parents.
*Christmas Week: For the last couple of weeks, the JCS School Spirit Team (made up of six students from Grades 4-8 and Learning Resource Special Needs, and assisted by the staff advisor, Ms. Stoffels) have been busy planning the activities for their first event, Christmas Week. During the week of December 14-18, the students and teachers will be busy with the following activities:
Monday: All the students will be given a “Star of David” and will write something that they like about their school. The stars will be placed where everyone will be able to see and read them.
Tuesday: Colouring contest for all grades with different levels of difficulty for each grade level.
Wednesday: In their respective sections/hallways, all grades will be singing a chosen Christmas carol in flash-mob style. The same day, students are encouraged to wear something festive to school, e.g. wearing red and green, an “ugly” Christmas sweater, or anything else creative and fitting the theme.
Thursday: Christmas cookies snack
Friday: A 2/3 day, each class will have a chance to have a “party-type” day.
All week: An elf will be hiding throughout the school and he will move 1-3 times a day. When a student finds the elf, he/she can bring it to Mrs. Elgersma for a prize.
*Hockey for JCS students: Several coaches and parents have organized an opportunity for students in Grades 6-8 to play/practise hockey at the Smithville arena. The school has booked three ice times for the month of December and a few more in January for that purpose. The practices are run by the parent coaches. Have fun!
*Lost and Found: If you are at the school at some point and time during the next three weeks, please check through the lost and found bin to see if any of you child(ren)’s missing paraphernalia is in it. The bin is located in the foyer for quick and easy access. What is left in the bin on December 18 will be taken to the GBF, Bibles for Mission, or Value Village.
Reminders:
*Friday, December 18 is a 2/3 day of school. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and the buses will be leaving at 12:10. The Christmas break is scheduled for December 21 – January 1. The first day back in the new year is Monday, January 4.
Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday. We’ll touch base again next week Friday, D.V. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
It was a different kind of week in Kindergarten this week. A special thank you goes to Mrs DeBoersap who filled in as a supply teacher every afternoon this week and all day Thursday! The students really looked forward to listening to the stories she would share! The students continue to work very hard on learning all of the letters the alphabet as well as numbers from 0-10. Keep up the great work, Kindergarten! A highlight from this week was decorating the classroom into a winter wonderland scene complete with snowmen and Christmas trees. Both Miss Vanluik and I would like to thank all of the students for the special cards and treats that we received for our birthdays!
Grade 1
By the time you are reading this, we will probably have enjoyed a pizza lunch. Thank-you pizza ladies! We have come to the end of the second Phonics unit about short vowel sounds. Many students are surprising themselves that they are able to read by sounding out. Please encourage them to do that when they read at home. The next unit about long vowel sound patterns is quite a bit harder. However, once those patterns are mastered, reading really takes off. Because Friday is a short day, we will try to start listening to Memory Work on Thursday already.
Memory Work: Psalm 100:2, I Samuel 16: 7b
Spelling Words: has, into, him, look, time
Sight Words: other, answer, said, says, although
Grade 2
We had a great week in Grade Two! We can’t believe that there is only one more week before the Christmas break. This week we started our first Church History unit on the Worship Service. We are learning about why we do what we do in church. Why does an elder shake the ministers hand? Why do we give money? What is the votum? So many questions! We will continue this unit up until the Christmas break. Our study of the Arctic and the Inuit people is definitely a hit with the students. We have several students who would like to move up there. Grab your coat and mittens as you will need them. This week we learned about the Inuit people and the animals that live in the Arctic. Did you know that a polar bear can run as fast as a horse! Next week we will take a look at arctic homes, transportation and food. We have a fun week planned for our last week together culminating in a pajama party and movie day on Friday. Bring your PJ’s and get ready for the “One and Only Ivan”. We just finished reading the novel so now it’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy the movie together. A BIG thank you to the Ladies Auxiliary for the pizza on Friday;o) LS/BV
No tests, no spelling.
Memory work – Hymn 58:1, 2 and Proverbs 3:5,6
Grade 3
It’s been a good week in grade three. We’re back into Bible stories. Ask us how the LORD keeps His covenant with Isaac and Jacob. We finished our subtraction unit with a test and look forward to the next unit dealing with multiplication! Students are doing so well memorizing their 0,1,and 2 multiplication facts! Keep this up! Thanks to the kind ladies who served us PIZZA on Friday. What a wonderful way to end the week.
Words: right, write, terrible, trouble
Psalm 72:1; Text: Psalm 23: 1-3
Library Books on Thursday in a BAG!!!!
Mission $ on Friday
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Grade 4
Thank you to the ladies who organized the pizza lunch for us today! As we come to the final week of school in 2020, we thank our heavenly Father for the opportunity that we have had to meet together in-person each day over the past several months. The Grade 4 students continue to work hard. In Social Studies, we’ve been looking at the variety of landscapes across Canada. In Math, we’ve wrapped up the Geometry unit and now hope to begin a unit about multiplication. A few things for next week:
Tuesday: Church History Quiz (4A)
Thursday: Spelling Test, Solomon Test 4B/Memory Work: Ps. 52:1
Spelling Words: rubbing, twenty, downstairs, cherry, pink, sorry, raining, lucky, drink, stopped, sitting, sunny, rainy, again
Upcoming Memory Work: S: Ps. 35:1/T: John 3:16-18
Grade 5
Just like that, we’ve arrived at the last week of the school year for 2020! This last week will be quite busy, since we will be able to wrap up a number of units and start fresh with new ones in January, D.V. We will be having a Mid-Unit 3 Bible test on Thursday. Thankfully, the other wrap up activities should not require much preparation at home. We also look forward to the activities planned by the School Spirit Team for next week. Thank you very much to the Ladies Auxiliary for the pizza lunch today; it was delicious! Have a good weekend and a blessed Sunday. RK/KV
Devotions: 5A – M. Jacob, Tu. Charlotte, W. Tyson, Th. Taylor
5B – M. Sarina, Tu. Gavin, W. Lucas, Th. Jenna
Grade 6
“And He brought him(Abram) outside and said, ‘Now look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ It is always so beautiful when the students can so clearly how each and every one of our subjects is taught through the lenses of being a child of God. So many of our students caught the reference to number the stars which is the title of our Novel Study, while we read a Bible passage and discuss this in our Bible classes. We are in the final stretch before the Christmas holidays but there is still much to be accomplished before next week Friday. Our bird projects are really coming together and we are hoping to see some decorating the walls in our hall very soon. Thank you very much to the ladies for our yummy pizza lunch. It was very much appreciated. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO/CV
Grade 7A
We enter the last school week of 2020 at a good pace. We hope to wrap up our, “Reformation in Germany”, unit by comparing Lutheranism with the Reformed faith. We’ll try and stay positive next week, although we’re sure to feel a bit negative, as we continue with our study of integers in Math. We’ll wrap up our unit ending bridge building assignment in Science and after the break things will heat up with a look at thermal energy and heat technology. In History we’ll end our study of the American Revolution and the United Empire Loyalists, “The Unity of the Empire.” Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
In Church History this week, we saw how the LORD protected His servant Martin Luther after the Diet of Worms and gave Luther a time of peace and quiet to translate the New Testament into German. Next week we will see how Satan attacks the Reformation from the inside and from the outside. In History, we are wrapping up Chapter 6, where we finish up looking at the American Revolution and the United Empire Loyalists. In Phys. Ed., we will be finishing up our Low Order Cooperative Games unit, where students are teaching a class. It has been interesting seeing students take charge of a class of their own peers. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 8
The last school week of the year approaches and you can tell the students are getting excited! We are continuing our Church History lessons on the Reformation in England, learning about Henry VIII, Edward VI, and more influential characters. Tom Sawyer is coming to a close quickly, and students are getting wrapped up in the romantic concept of becoming a pirate. Our history projects are coming to a close just in time for the holidays, and we are ending off our Science unit learning about lab reports and how to write them (we even got to see a beach in December!). Moms, we cannot wait for you to see what the students are finishing up for you in art! Have a blessed weekend! Cheers, Mr. J & Ms P.
