Global Awareness in Action

FOCUSQUESTIONS:
What does it mean to be a global citizen?
What responsibilities do global citizens have?
What are human rights?
Does everyone have human rights?
What rights to kids have?

Soundslikethesyllabusforacollegelevelcourse,right?OurGlobalGroupshavebeenexploringandforming
answerstothesetrickyquestionsforthepastfewmonths.

AsisourstyleatZQuest,wehavegivenstudentsthepowertoexploretheseimportantconcepts.Usinga
collectionofbooks,newswebsites,photojournals,andvideosfromaroundtheworld,studentshavebeen
uncoveringandsynthesizinghowtheyfitintotheglobalpuzzle.Wevelookedatwhathumanrightsare,howthe
rightsaredifferentforkids,andthejobthatallglobalcitizenhavetoprotectthehumanrightsforothers.

Expandtheconversationwithyourlearnerbycheckingouttheseawesomeresources.Youllbeamazedwith
theinsightthatourstudentshaveweasteacherscertainlyare!

READ: We are All Born Free WATCH: Weve All Got Rights by UNICEF DISCUSS:
The focus
by Amnesty International (http://tiny.cc/ifjoex) questions above.

News from our classrooms!

K-1 with Mrs. Foerch:
The K-1 students have been working hard on researching animals. This week we made clay models of our animals for
our school zoo well be setting up in June! They did a great job; I will try to get a powerpoint made to share with you
soon! Our most exciting news is that we have 5 caterpillars living in our classroom habitat =) The students are love to
search for them each day. We will be recording their changes each week and hopefully end up with healthy Monarch
Butterflies by the end of May! For our math groups, the kindergarten groups (red and blue groups) will be finishing
the kindergarten curriculum (if they havent already) and begin working on money! The first grade groups (yellow &
orange), we continue working on two digit addition with re-grouping as well as money since we didnt get to it last
year! I know this month will fly by, so thank you advance for your support and work with your children!

2-3 with Mrs. Funk and Mrs. Villanueva:
Welcome May! Tiptoe through the Tulips!!! This month is going to fly by with half days for Tulip Time and a
scheduled break week. We are starting our month off with a visit to Windmill Island for a Trade Fair. In Reading we
will be doing a unit on Fairy Tales, Myths, and Fables. In Writing we will be focusing on opinion and persuasive
writing during May and June. In Math-some 2nd graders will be finishing up the 2nd grade Math Curriculum. We will
have some students moving onto the 3rd grade curriculum to get a jump start on Multiplication. The other 2nd graders
will be finishing up the last 2 units during May and June. 3rd graders will be focusing on Area, Perimeter, and
Fractions for the remainder of the school year. In Social Studies-We will have one more unit on Government.

4-5 with Miss Liz:
It is hard to believe that it is May already! We are staying busy learning all about our market economy. We will soon
gain a deeper understanding with a PBL focusing on how characteristics of our economy influence the economic
decisions that we make. We are just starting to get into the mystery part of our read aloud, Chasing Vermeer. The
students enjoy looking for clues and making guesses of what might happen. The students are also working on poetry.
Right now we are focusing on sports and writing poems on different themes, such as, competition and sportsmanship.
In math- the blue group is focusing on measurement, they should be testing early next week. Yellow group is focusing
on long division; their test will most likely be after May break!

6-8 with Miss Marcy:
Spring fever seems to have missed my class because students are as motivated as
ever! Green and red math groups are finishing their final exams and will soon be
gearing up to start on the next math course! For green book, this means red book
(woot!) and for red book, this means geometry (double woot!). In science and social
studies, students have been dipping their toes into the blended learning pool. It has
been awesome to watch the students take advantage of the limitless resources of the
internet; ask your student about their migration cartoons, caveman social media, or
Pokemon and the periodic table (seriously!). We are right on the cusp of launching
two awesome PBLs; one in social studies and the other in science. Without giving too
much away, one is inspired by a TV show with a theme song by The Who and the
other re-writes history.

Reminders

IMPORTANT!!!!!
IFYOUAREPLANNINGTOCHAPERONEANUPCOMINGTRIP...
IfyouareplanningonchaperoningANYtripstherestoftheschoolyear,
youMUSTmakesurethatyouhavehadabackgroundcheckonline!
Pleasegotohttps://v2ms.zps.org/Login.aspxandcreateanaccount(ifyou
haventalready).Theaccountyoucreateisgoodeachyear,howeveryou
MUSTupdateiteveryyear(soputyourusernameandpasswordinasafe
place).

ThisisnecessaryforALLparents,grandparents,aunts,uncles,etc.whowanttoattendtripsorcomein

tovisit!WeCANNOTallowyoudowntoourhallwithoutthiscompleted!

NEWSECURITYNEWS(BeginningNOW,May2014)
*PLEASEmakesurethatyouareCHECKINGinattheofficeBEFOREcomingdowntotherooms.This
MUSTbedoneevenifyouareonlydroppingoffalunchorwalkingyourchildtotheirclassinthemorning.
Inaddition,youMUSTwearyourprintednametagatalltimesinthebuilding,makingsureitisvisibleto
allteachersandfacultyatalltimes.Youwillbestoppedifyoudonothaveavisiblenametag!Theseare
thingsthatwemustdoinordertokeepallofthekidssafe!Thankyouforyourpatienceandfor
understanding!

ExcitingZeeBusNews!
JoinusfortheunveilingofthenewZeeBusvehicle!!
When:TuesdayMay13thfrom5:00pmto6:00pm
Where:LawrenceStreetParkinZeeland
Enjoyfreeicecreamsundaesforall,abouncehouse,balloonman,caricatureartistandmore.Helpus
pullthecoveroffthebusfortheexcitingnewlook!

**Besomeofthe1stonestoseethenewbusandgetatour!!!

BoxTopsNews
AllboxtopsneedtobeturnedintoyourchildsteachernolaterthanFriday,May9!Pleasehitupallof
yourfriendsandrelativeswhomaynothavekidsinschooltosharethesewith:)Everylittlebithelpsour
school!

CanTabsNews
WewillbefinishingupourcollectionofcantabsfordonationtoRonaldMcDonaldHouseonMay16.We
thankyousomuchforyourdedicationtoturningthosetabsinweeklyormonthly!Thesearemuch
appreciatedandthecauseisevenmoreremarkable!

Lastly,our20142015schoolyearcalendarandnewyearinformationwillbegoingoutsoon!Beonthe
lookout.Manyofyouhaveaskedforinformation.Itshouldntbetoomuchlonger!