SCOTTSDALE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY PROCLAIMING THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT APOLOGY!

5/2 Gr. 5 to Stratum Laser Tag, 8:15 AM-12:15 PM

5/3 Nat’l Day of Prayer Cont. Breakfast, FA Courtyard, 7 AM

5/3 Moms in Prayer, Room 301, 8:00 AM

5/4 Gr. 4 Discover Southern AZ Field Trip, 6:00 AM-10:30 PM

5/7 Parent Association Monthly Meeting, ACR, 8:00 AM

5/7 2 McArthur Moms’ Lunch, Room 305, 10:30-11:30 AM

5/7 1 Smith Fairytale Celebration, Room 301, 1:30-2:40 PM

5/7 Volleyball Interest Meeting, Room 605, 3:00 PM (Grade 5 Girls)

5/7 Community Open House, 6:00-8:00 PM

5/8 K Nelson Moms’ Celebration, Room 405, 9:15 AM

5/8 1 Goss to Heritage Square, 9:15 AM-1:00 PM

5/8 1 Gaynor Fairytale Celebration, Room 208, 12:15-1:15 PM

5/8 4th/5th Band/Choir Spring Concert, Gym, 6:00 PM

5/9 2 Evans Muffins & Marvelous Stories, Room 303, 8:00-9:15 AM

5/9 2 Jones Muffins & Marvelous Stories, Room 304, 8:00-9:15 AM

5/9 1 Gaynor Fairytale Celebration, Room 208, 12:15-1:15 PM

5/10 Pray for SCA, MS/HS Courtyard, 7:15 AM

5/10 Moms in Prayer, Brunch at Modra Home, 8:00-9:15 AM

5/10 Coffee & STOs, ACR 8:30 AM

5/10 Teacher Appreciation Lunch, Eagles Rest, 10:30-1:00

5/10 Grade 5 Dinner and Games, Room 403, 3:00-6:00 PM

5/11 May Outreach-PA Teacher Support, Jeans Passes sold before school for $3.00

5/11 Grade 5 Decades Day, 8:00 AM-3:00 PM

5/11 2 McArthur PJ Day/Hot Air Balloon Stories, Room 305

5/11 K Poulson Moms’ Day, Room 402, 9:15-10:15 AM

5/11 PK Eakins, Mothers’ Day Tea, Room 408, 10:00-11:15

5/11 PK Shane Muffins with Mom, Room 407, 10:30-11:30

5/11 K Beers Moms’ Day, Room 506, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM

5/15 Awards Assembly for Grades 1-2 Gym, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM

5/15 Awards Assembly for Grades 3-5 Gym, 1:00-2:30 PM

5/16 Gr. 2 to Odysea Aquarium, 9:00 AM-12:15 PM

5/16 5D Homeroom to Dunkin Donuts Factory, 9:15-12:00

5/16 Volunteer Appreciation Reception, Cafeteria, 2:00-3:00 PM

5/17 Mrs. Goss Retirement Reception, ACR, 2:30-4:00 PM

5/18 AR Parties—Gr. 2 8:15-9:15; Gr. 3 9:20-10:20; Gr. 4 11:20-12:20; Gr. 5 12:25-1:25

5/21 3P Tundra Celebration, Room 401, 8:00-9:20 AM

5/21 3C Coral Reef Celebration, Room 400, 1:30-2:30 PM

5/22 Grade 5 Promotion Rehearsal, Gym, 8:30-11:00 AM Grade 5 Dismissal to Blue Zone, 11:00 AM

5/22 Gr. 3 to Odysea Aquarium, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM

5/22 Grade 5 Promotion Ceremony, Gym, 6:00 PM

5/23 Gr. 5 to AZ Airtime, 9:00-11:00 AM

5/24 Gr. 4 to Cracker Jax, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM

5/25 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL End of Year Countdown, Gym, 11:15

5/25 Early Dismissal, 11:30 AM

5/25 SCA RECESS Aftercare by pre-registration, 11:30-5:30

An Open Letter to my amazing team of teachers and staff members,

I want to thank you for your…

D ependability

E nthusiasm

D evotion

I nspiration

C aring

A ttitude

T enacity

I ntegrity

O ptimism

N urturing

The profession you have chosen (or has chosen you) is demanding, exhausting, and at times thankless...but you are committed, focused and demonstrate “true grit” (to use Mr. Budd’s phrase from chapel) and are a tremendous blessing to me and countless others in the SCA community. I consider myself one of those extremely fortunate people on earth who loves what I do, even on the hardest days, and it is because you continually encourage and inspire me. Thank you for your dedication from the bottom of my heart…

Sheri Moy

Elementary students in Grades 1-5 meet in the gym on Tuesdays, 8:20-9:10 AM. Parents are welcome to attend! The following schedule indicates who will be leading the chapel.

May 1 Bible Buddies May 8 Kindergarten Classes

in the Gym on May 15

11:30-12:30 Grades 1-2 1:00-2:30 Grades 3-5

The reasons to donate a Celebration Book to the library are endless. A birthday, a good grade, a great baseball game...the list could go as far as your imagination goes! To honor Alyssa Van Patten for read-ing 1,000,000 words her family donated Inferno in Tokyo by Marianne Hering. This is a part of the Im-agination Station series. Congratulations to Alyssa and thank you for this new addition to our library!

We have some amazing readers here at SCA. Mrs. Moy has been donating a Celebration Book in honor of anyone who reads one million words this year, and we have several more students to honor this month for achieving this goal. Reagan MacCormick chose The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall. Alyssa Van Patten chose Pull the Dragon’s Tooth, which is a Geronimo Stilton book. Grace Utterback chose Jack, which is a remake of the classic fairy tale “Jack in the Beanstalk” by Liesl Shurtliff. Carter Loop chose A Big Day for Baseball by Mary Pope Osborne. Allie Miller chose Singing Sensation by Ge-ronimo Stilton. Alexandra White chose Criminal Destiny, which is the second book in the Masterminds series by Gordon Korman. We are so proud of all these amazing readers. Keep up the great work!

This year the AR party will be on Friday, May 18th, 2018. All 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students who have met their AR goals every quarter will be invited to attend. Students who qualify must meet their 4th quarter AR goals by May 16th. The students will be enjoying a fun day with water slides and an ob-stacle course. They need to bring clothes they can get wet. Girls may wear a one-piece bathing suit or a two piece with a T-shirt. Boys also need to wear either a sun shirt or T-shirt with their swim trunks. We are going to have a great time! Detailed information will be sent home the week of May 14th.

The library will be open during the summer months of June and July on Wednesday mornings from 8:00-11:30 AM, starting June 6th and ending July 25th. We will be closed on July 4th. Students are wel-come to check out books and take AR tests. Points accumulated during the summer will go towards the students’ first quarter AR goals. This is a great way to get a jump on the school year. We hope to see everyone this summer!

Carter Loop, Grace Utterback, Reagan McCormick, Alexandra White, Allie Miller, Alyssa Van Patten

On April 10th, we had the pleasure of having Brooke Brown speak to our 1st-5th graders. Brooke graduated from SCA in 2002, is a journalist, writing workshop leader, storyteller, actor, educator, and recipient of the Walter Cronkite Outstanding Undergraduate Award (ASU, 2006). She spoke at her ASU graduation and received a standing ovation. Since Brooke was diagnosed with Cerebral Pal-sy in 1983, she has navigated through the majority of her life in a power wheelchair. She uses her experience and talents to spread the good news and hope of Jesus Christ.

Brooke’s book, The Little Butterfly Girl, is available in The Eagle Shoppe at a discounted price of $5!

Special Assembly with Brooke Browne

Once a month we reach out to various chari-table organizations by selling “Jeans / Ath-letic Pants Passes”. Students will be able to purchase passes for $3.00 before school the morning of Outreach Day. On April 20 we collected $205, which was sent to Food for the Hungry. Friday, May 4, will be our final Outreach Day of the year. The money collected will go to a special fund our Parent Association uses to bless our wonderful teachers!

Spirit Shirt Day will be every Friday. Stu-dents may wear any official SCA spirit shirts or red, white or blue standard attire shirts.

The Eagle Shoppe

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 7:30 AM—3:30 PM Closed Wednesdays

We are having a Community Open House on Monday, May 7, 6:00-8:00 PM. Please note you will receive a $500 referral fee if you refer a family who enrolls their children at SCA.

Attention Moms! Do you worry about your children? Replace your anxie-ty and fear with peace and hope by praying with other moms. Moms in Prayer International brings moms to-gether to pray specifically and scripturally for our chil-dren and our school. Won't you join us in prayer for this

next generation? (www.momsinprayer.org)

When: Thursday mornings from 8:00-9:00 AM Final meeting off-campus brunch on 5/10

Where: Room 301 (near Elementary Office)

Contact: Allison Modra for more information 801-450-3427 or allison.modra@cox.net

"Pour out your hearts like water before the face of the Lord....lift up your hands toward Him for the lives of your children.” Lamentations 2:19

are: ► Respectful ► Responsible ► Ready

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!”

1 Corinthians 10:31

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support for our Renaissance Faire. Your generosity and support is allowing us to give $10,000 to Honor Flight AZ! www.honorflightaz.org If you'd like to be a part of welcoming home an Honor Flight here is some infor-mation: April 26th be at airport around 3:45-4. Kids can shake hands, whoop, bring posters and/or thank you notes, etc. Lastly, if you didn't get to see the Fox10 clip of our event, here it is: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Ffoxtv.box.com%2Fs%2Fd7iwwyps7dfiydlz3g3969mji5xng2re/view/286848341551 It is a blessing to serve with you, Mrs. Hartmann & 6th Grade

RENAISSANCE FAIRE

Hello SCA families! Thank you for making our year such a success! We appreciate your support and partner-ship as we seek to show appreciation to our faculty and staff. We could not do what we do without you! As we finish out the school year, we have a few more events ahead. Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7-11. In an effort to shower our teachers with love and gratitude, we have several events and activities planned for the week. We look forward to partnering with you as we show our gratitude for all our teachers do! Have a wonderful summer, and we look forward to working alongside you again in 2018-19!

We are so grateful to the SCA Parent Association for all that they do. The Parent Association has donated a book to the library to honor all the grade level representatives. The books will be dedicated during the elementary chapel on May 8th. Here is a list of the representatives and the books that were donated in their honor. Thank you for the dona-tions! Grade Level Representatives Name Title of Book Pre-K Mary Slager and Stephanie Fay Pete the Cat and the Cool Cat Boogie Kindergarten Cindy Park and Amy Sandberg Dragons Love Tacos 2 1st Grade Karen Williams and Martin Joy We’re All Wonders 2nd Grade Kourtney Keesling & Autumn Loop Memoirs of a Parrot 3rd Grade Liz Watkins & Christine McCormick Memoirs of a Goldfish 4th Grade Amanda Fritz & Valerie Johnson The Fifth Journey Through Time 5th Grade Tiffany O’Meara & Keri Nutting Stick Dog Crashes a Party 6th Grade Patty Braumberger & Candice Lappe Time Voyage 7th Grade Yvonne Faustino & Nancy Djairi The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 8th Grade Narda Smith-Quagliata & Nicole Rushin The 13-Story Treehouse 9th Grade LeAnn Hostetler & Steward Hostetler The Wild Robot 10th Grade Sharon Graham & Crystan Lorenzi Horizon 11th Grade Barb Whitehead & Julie White Hello, Universe 12th Grade Natalie Tabet, Brenda Osborne & Wolf Hollow Lisa Harrison Special thanks to: Marci Salmon How to Capture an Invisible Cat Christina Ivanhoe, The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party Compassion Ambassador

First graders learned all the different combination of coins to make 25¢.

In this mystery science investigation, third gradestudents investigated which kinds of birds are likely to visit a bird feeder, based on what they eat. For their STEAM activity, students designed and then created prototypes of their own bird feeders. Some were even inspired enough to use their prototype to create a real bird feeder of their own!

Third graders are measuring their coral reef animals to determine how big or small they need to be to draw them as life size. Students are also having to design their animals in color to look as they would in the wild. They are also making life-size jellyfish that are hung in the class to help simulate how jelly-fish swim and live in the coral reef.

Dash and Dot came to visit the principal’s office with Easton, Andrew, and Isaac, 2nd graders in Mrs. Jones’ class.

Second graders built mazes then programmed their class robots to navigate through the mazes.

Sphero, Dash and Dot , Classroom Robots

Pre-K students built baskets with toothpicks and jelly beans. Their baskets had to

hold a plastic Easter Egg.

Wow! The school year is flying by too quickly! I don’t want to miss the opportunity to tell all of you, “Thank You,” for sharing your child with me. So much of my happiness comes from watching my students achieve new goals and witness-ing the creative touch they stamp on new activities. Believe me, they are good teachers. I look forward to learning from them.

In the last weeks of school, we will be getting ready for our last WordMasters Challenge. The students will have twenty-five new words to learn plus reviewing the prior fifty contained in the first two Challenges. Students will also be preparing for the Academic Decathlon. This test will include much of the material we have covered this year. Trophies will be awarded to the top three scores in each grade level.

Look at some of our pictures of our last game day. Students enjoyed building structures, getting the marble runs working like a charm, trying out their skill with the geo-boards, and working out challenging tessellations. What fun it is to watch kids at play!

2017-18 Love God, Love Others

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 ESV

Scottsdale Christian Academy Mission Statement The mission of Scottsdale Christian Academy is to maximize the God-given potential of each student, preparing them to live lives of distinction, by impacting the world for Jesus Christ.

Scottsdale Christian Academy Christian Core Values

Core Values guide both the internal and external conduct of the school. They are the non-negotiable qualities that differentiate the institution as they identify, inspire, galvanize, and deter-mine the school’s highest priorities. CHRISTIAN MATURITY Preparing our students with Christ-centered experiences that by God’s grace lead to spiritual transformation, which enable them to develop a maturing relationship with Jesus Christ. EXCELLENCE Providing a Biblically based accredited curriculum that prepares the student for the challenges of higher education and life-long learning. We seek to serve the developmental needs of the whole student, endeavoring to maximize the student’s God-given potential, which stimulates and culti-vates critical thinking and the pursuit of creative expression, in the academics, arts, and athletics. COMMUNITY Cultivating a community of believers, founded on the basis of shared commitment, common un-ion, fellowship and Christ’s love. We value the importance of relationships, as modeled by Christ and his love for others. As we partner together to unify our body of students, parents, faculty and staff, we extend Christ’s love and grace to each other, celebrate each member’s unique God-given abilities, and glorify Jesus Christ. SERVICE Loving our neighbor as ourselves is reflected in an academic community that models and encour-ages Christ-like character, conduct, accountability, and service to our community and the world. We seek to conduct ourselves with deep care and compassion for all, reflecting faith in action, by being doers of God’s word.

Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten May is here and the end of the school year is near. Our preschool and pre-kindergarten classes have learned so much this school year. This month, we will be reviewing letter recognition, formation and sounds. Students will also continue to en-gage in fun math activities and will get to discover and explore ocean animals.

Our students will be celebrating their mothers with Mother’s Day Celebrations. Classes will also celebrate the end of the school year with special classroom parties. This school year has been very special. As teachers, we have seen our preschool and pre-kindergarten students grow in the knowledge of the Bible and have a better understanding of how much Jesus loves them. As the school year ends, we pray that our students will cling to the Bible truths they have learned throughout the school year. It has been a wonderful and exciting school year in our preschool and pre-kindergarten classes at SCA!

Kindergarten

Well here we are, it is almost the end of the year – can you believe it? In Kindergarten we have the unique privilege of watching our youngest students grow in such dramatic ways. At the beginning of school, many students could barely recognize a few letters of the alphabet, could not write their own names, and were sometimes filled with anxiety over the challenges, imagined and real, lying before them. But what a difference! They have learned the alphabet and can put these letters together into meaningful words and phrases. They learned to add and subtract, and they became comforta-ble even presenting in front of the class. They grew in their understanding of Jesus and His love - and most amazing, learned to work together as a Team! But of course our school year is not yet over! We will focus on school work which will help prepare them for entering First Grade. Coming up in May will be a special Kindergarten-led Chapel on May 8th. Parents are invited. We are also in the midst of our ABC Countdown with a fun theme or activity for each day! And on the last week of the school year, each Kindergarten class will have an awesome end-of-year class party to celebrate their amazing achievements.

First Grade

First Graders end the year with learning all about another of God’s creation, birds. They will learn the different kinds of birds God made, the parts of a bird and how birds grow. In Math they will be learning all about measurement...how to measure with a ruler, using inches and centimeters, and cups, pints and liters. Many different hands-on math activities help the first graders learn how to use math tools, like a ruler, properly. In our Bible lessons they will learn about all the wonderful miracles Jesus performed and how nothing is too big for our Lord to do. The students have become such great writers and have learned the writing process. They get to end the year sharing their very own Fairytales. They are so excited to write stories and use their imagination to think of new characters and story elements.

As the year comes to a close, first graders will read Amelia Bedelia stories and do several

fun activities that go with some of these funny stories. What a wonderful year we have

had together learning so many incredible things!

Second Grade

Second graders have been working hard to become published authors! After completing their class StudenTreasures book, they have been going through the entire writing process to publish their own young author stories. It is so much fun watching each of them use their imagination to come up with the setting and characters in which their stories will be based. When they are done, they will have written and illustrated a complete book. Each child will also have an oppor-tunity to share his/her story with second grade parents and peers. It will be so much fun celebrating their writing ac-complishments! In Science, second graders will be learning all about weather. They will also become experts on the ocean and "creatures of the deep." Along with their study of the ocean, some students will be writing a report on an ocean animal and others will be working on ocean enrichment projects. Students have learned more about using the earth's resources and how commu-nities have changed over time. They have learned about the marketplace and how people in the marketplace are producers and/or consumers. As part of our unit, we were able to go on a field trip to a bank and a restaurant. Learning about saving, spending, and sharing money was a part of what the children learned on this fun trip. Triple-digit addition and triple-digit subtraction are concepts being mastered in Math. Students have also begun practicing Mad Dog Math with multiplication. It is a busy month as we end the year with so many exciting things!

Third Grade

Third grade will be hiking the tundra and diving deep into habitats! In the final months of school, we will explore food chains and webs, learn about predators and prey, and characteristics of the different ecosystems God created. Our studies came to life when we spent the night at the Phoenix Zoo on April 19th! We were able to touch animals

and understand how amazing our God is when He creat-ed all things, including snakes! We got to find out what really happens at night when the zoo lights are turned down and the animals wake up. Getting to hear the lion roar in the middle of the night was quite an awakening experience! Make sure you stop by our classrooms as we transform into a coral reef and the tundra!

Our journey will continue in Math as we explore multiplying and dividing greater numbers, measure volume and

weight, and determine the probability of things happening.

In Reading we will journey with a pilgrim as he seeks to find his way with the Lord in the student’s version of

“Pilgrim’s Progress.” We will understand how this pilgrim, Christian, is just like us as we face adversity in our daily

walk with the Lord. True stories from God’s Word will help us discover some of His faithful servants. We will exam-

ine their lives to see how we can whole-heartedly serve God and others. Our quest to learn what true friendship is

and explore its possibilities will help us grow in every area.

Finally, the end of May will bring us days closer to becoming fourth graders. However sad we will be to see our

third grade year come to an end, it has been an adventure of growing and relying on the Lord. We have seen every

student rise to the occasion, and Mrs. Consalvo and Mrs. Pun could not be more proud!

Fourth Grade As the end of the year is approaching, that means it’s time for fourth graders to start their big Arizona Project! The students will be choosing a location in Arizona that offers value to tourism in our state. After research, they will cre-ate a 3-D model of their destination. These spectacular projects offer great visual insight to families and students about the great state in which they live. As part of their Arizona unit, the students will also be traveling to southern Arizona. They will visit Kartchner Caverns State Park and Sonoran Desert Museum. First, the students will be able to explore the caves at Kartchner Caverns State Park just like the two men, Gary Tenen and Randy Tuft, who discovered the caves in 1974. Along with many facts, students will be learning that Kartchner Caverns is home to one of the world's longest soda straw stalactites and that the tallest and most massive column in Arizona is located in the cav-erns. Next, they will spend some time learning about the Sonoran Desert. The museum is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, and natural history museum. This will be a great opportunity for the students to see animals in their desert habitat. In Science, the students will begin a unit on motion and force. The chapter will build on their understanding of mo-tion by applying the basic laws of physics to what they see and will describe different kinds of motion and force us-ing scientific terminology.

Fifth Grade In Science class the students have learned about cells, cell structure, and DNA. They have created their own dragons based on the choosing of DNA from popsicle sticks. After randomly selecting the dragon DNA, students will write down the genetic code and then use predetermined dragon parts to put their dragon together. Next, using the DNA code, they will color specific parts of their dragon to make it their own. Finally, they will recreate their paper dragon in Mine-craft using different colored blocks to represent the DNA structure. This is a fun time as students learn about their own DNA and how God has truly created each of us uniquely. This is an exciting time in fifth grade. Students culminate their year-long study of the history of the United States by studying the decades of the 1900’s. They will participate in Decades Day, a fun day filled with activities from the 1900’s.

In preparation for the day, the students will have the opportunity to research a decade with a group and share their findings in a creative way. As they research, they will learn about the music, religious-movements, fashion and trends, famous people, inventions, Presi-dents, and current events from the 1900’s. Then, on Decades Day, stu-dents will dress as a student from one of the decades and enjoy activi-ties such as the sock hop dance, hula-hoop and Frisbees, jacks, an Art Masterpiece project from WWII era, and even go to a “drive-in” movie.

Students are also getting ready for their Fifth Grade Promotion. It is a great time for them to reflect on their growth and experiences in Elementary School. Students wrote a letter to themselves that will be opened in 2025 at High School Graduation; it lists some of the “favorites” of 2018 and advice for themselves as they prepare to go off to college. Many students will also bring in other popular items of 2018 to be placed in the time capsule such as toys, articles, pictures, popular sports items, fashion trends, or music trends. It will be fun their Senior year to look back at what was trendy and popular in 2018. Students also reflected by writing essays and poems about their memories, explaining why they love SCA and what SCA’s theme verse of loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength means to them.

THE ARTIST’S PALETTE

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the colorful display of art on Friday evening. We are so blessed to have so many talented young artists at our school. And thank you to all the amazing Art Master-piece parents who worked so hard along with each grade level of students to create an amazing artwork that was auctioned off. All the proceeds will be put back into the SCA Art fund to buy more amazing supplies to create more amazing artworks next year. I thank the Lord everyday for this wonderful school, and it is truly a blessing to teach art to all our precious young students. We will continue to create more art to add to each student’s portfolio that they will be bringing home at the end of the school year.

Español

La Vista

How is it that another “ano” has come to an end? What a blessing it has been to teach your students this past year! They have learned so much, and I know they will continue to grow in the years to come. As my husband and I will be moving to Northern Arizona this summer, I am overwhelmed with gratitude that God placed me here at SCA for the past five years! You and your students have forever marked my heart, and I will be praying for them and for you all that God would richly bless you with His presence in your lives. I will miss you all!

Level A (K-2nd) We are currently finishing our unit on common places around the city in Spanish. We will then review our previous units from this year as well as practice with shapes and opposite adjectives.

Level B (3rd-5th) We will complete our unit on entertainment and then for the rest of our time we will review material from this year and take a summative quiz. The students will be able to see how much they have grown in their Spanish knowledge this year!

Physical Education

Hello Friends, As the year winds down, I like to reflect on what we have done in PE class. We have had big events like Sports Day, Fitness testing and the Elementary Olympics. We have also spent time developing skills in basketball, football, soccer and other team sports. We have worked on team work, strategy, agility, hand/eye coordination, quickness, throwing ability and teamwork, through large group games and ac-tivities. Finally, we have spent time in God’s word, working our way through I and II Thessalonians. It has been a good year, and we plan on finishing strong in the month of May. We will finish up spending some time working on the fundamentals of hockey and some more large group games. Thank you, as always, for your support of SCA and your children. God is always good!! Coach Z

Hands on Technology

WHY COMPUTER SCIENCE? Software is everywhere. It’s shaping almost every aspect of how we live our lives. But very few kids are learning how to actually create games, apps and programs. SCA elementary students from each grade level will begin learning Code.org’s K-5 Intro to Computer Science.

K-5 Intro to Computer Science is fun, collaborative, and creative! It’s designed to inspire students to continue learning how technology improves real world relationships, connections, and life. Code.org has developed an elementary school curriculum that allows even the youngest students to explore the limitless world of compu-ting. Did you know? 90% of American schools don’t teach computer science. Fewer students are learning how computers work than a decade ago! All students can learn to code, but girls and students of color are severely underrepresented in computer

science. Code.org puts coding into the hands of students via interlocking, color-coded blocks that carry out various com-puter science functions. Vibrant, fun and simple to navigate, this site makes it easy for users to find desired con-tent—whether it’s a Bill Gates lecture on coding or instructions on writing your first computer program with the characters from Angry Birds. With 20 puzzles in total, students not only gain coding skills through the dragging process, but also practice problem-solving skills.

Hands on Technology

Code.org is a fantastic tool for students of all ages to get started with and dig deeper into the basics of coding and computer science. It can be the spark that students needed to ignite a flame of passion and excitement about computer science and using robotics in the classroom. It is extremely engaging and holds students’ interest.

Many of the activities are very challenging and it affords students the opportunity to discuss their solu-tions with each other. The drag and drop format is also a great reinforcement for students being intro-duced into robotics, as blocks such as loops and conditionals really show how feedback control is a vital part of programming autonomous machines.

Hands on Technology

Buncee: Students in Grades K-3 will continue to use Buncee for digital storytelling. Kindergarteners will be showing their learning about the planets. First graders will be telling about Fruits of the Spirit. Dino-saurs will be the theme for second graders. Third graders will use Buncee to tell about their families. Each student will have his/her own Buncee account, which can be accessed at home, so digital story-telling can be used at both school and home.

PowerPoint Presentations: Fifth graders did an amazing job on state reports. They now will be using PowerPoint to create a presen-tation for Decades Day.

Fourth graders will be using PowerPoint to create a presentation for their Arizona projects.

Both fifth graders’ state reports and fourth graders’ Arizona projects contain seven slides with the fol-lowing details: Slide 1: State name, nickname, your names, picture of flag and state seal

Slide 2: Capital, population, biggest cities, picture of capital and biggest city

Slide 3: Flower, bird, tree, pictures of each

Slide 4: Famous landmarks and people and pictures of each

Slide 5: State landforms and a picture

Slide 6: Bordering states and region of the United States with a picture

Slide 7: Sports teams and pictures

LIBRARY

Every week SCA students learn a new “Word of the Week” during their library class. We read the word, define the word and use it in sentences. Ask your student about these words, and they will “WOW” you with their growing vocabulary! The words of the week for April were: Kindergarten: lost, sneaky, elegant, munch Grades 1-5: flibbertigibbet, jaunty, gerund, pristine

Pre-Kindergarten: Spring is in the air with our Pre-Kindergarten classes. This month they listened to The Very Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Are You My Mother? and The Tiny Seed. They did some fun fingerplays and crafts to go along with these classic stories. Kindergarten: The kindergarteners started the month with the fun story Hattie and the Fox. Everyone helped retell the story using puppets. The students also enjoyed Who Took the Farmer’s Hat. The kin-dergarteners took a hat shape and made it into many things including bird’s nests, flowerpots, and even a few UFOs. To go along with elegant event, the students listened to the story Ella the Elegant Elephant. First Grade: The first graders learned about kindness in If You Plant A Seed and The Lion Inside. The students also learned about Norman Bridwell, the author of Clifford, the Big Red Dog. We love Clifford! Second Grade: The second graders have been learning the differences between nonfiction and fiction books and how to differentiate between the call numbers. They are also starting to learn how nonfic-tion books are categorized in the library and how to locate them. To help with this concept they lis-tened to The Great Dewey Hunt. Third Grade: The third grade students have been busy doing research for their animal reports. They have used books, encyclopedias, and some online resources to find infor-mation about their animals. Mrs. Moy also came and talked to them about Nancy Drew Mysteries. These are the books that started her love of reading when she was a girl. We hope that all of our students develop a love for reading. Fourth Grade: April is national poetry month, so they listened to several poems and wrote an acrostic poem about spring. The students have been learning about folklore this year. They have been explor-ing tall tales, fables, trickster tales, and legends.

Fifth Grade: The fifth graders have been busy using the re-sources available in the library. They used the World Book Encyclopedia to research facts for their state reports. They also used EasyBib to make a Bibliography for the report. The students have started researching an assigned decade to prepare for their upcoming Decades Day.

Mr. Budd’s Elementary Music Classes

Kindergarten Chapel songs are sounding pretty good! They are getting better and better matching those pitches, and boy are they sounding good! Pitch and Rhythm, That’s what we’re talkin’ ‘bout!

1st Grade It’s all about rhythm and how to read a few notes and patterns.

2nd Grade Second grade is really progressing on bells. Here’s an example of what the kids are learning to read.

3rd Grade We’ve been learning about the different instruments like the brass and woodwind instruments. The kids have been exposed to beginning band instruments so they know what is coming their way if they choose band next year.

4th/5th Grade Choir Spring Concert! May 8th, 6:00 PM—SCA Gymnasium The kids have been working hard on the Spring Concert material!

Mrs. Kreykes’ 4th and 5th Grade Band Classes

The month of May brings our concert performance! If you can believe it, our 4th and 5th graders are only two weeks away from their final concert on May 8th. WHY STUDY MUSIC? We have spent time on challenging performance pieces that are truly at their grade level, and they are finding out how important slow and careful practice is to long term success in music. This is why classes like band and choir and sports are so important to a well-rounded education. The value of hard work, following the correct process without shortcuts, and many more lessons hit home throughout the process of learning a new instrument, acting in a play, or taking part in a sports team. This is why we say, “Music Makes You Smarter!” If you have a student in 4th or 5th grade band, please encourage him/her to practice carefully, slowly and methodical-ly on the challenging pieces for the concert and Karate Belt quizzes. Stay focused and finish strong!

Spring Concert –Tuesday, May 8th @ 6:00 PM in the SCA Gym