Weekly News Jan 3-6

Happy 2017!!  I cherished every moment with my family this break and hope you did that same!  I am feeling rejuvenated and anxious to welcome the boys and girls back to a "new year" of learning!!!

Here is a link to the new homework calendar
Here is a link to our school newsletter and lunch menu

Important Dates and Reminders:

January 16-20 Celebrate New Directions Week (more info to come; listed below are the dress up days for the week)
January 16: PJ and Stuffed Animal Day and Family Art Night
January 17: Crazy Hair or Hat Day
January 18: NO SCHOOL
January 19: Sports Day and Family Gym Night
January 20: 1/2 day and Book Character Day

Here is a look at our NEW learning for the NEW YEAR:

Reading:  January is such an exciting month for Kindergarten learning as kids just...take off!  We will begin a new reading unit called Bigger Books, Bigger Muscles.  This unit will build upon the super powers the boys and girls have worked so hard to master and use.  The main goal of the unit will be to gain confidence in reading more challenging (and less predictable) books, really using letter sounds to decode words part by part and building stronger reading habits that help to put all of our hard work together to tackle new reading challenges.  We will be reassessing student reading levels and you may see different color "dots" coming home in your child's book the next few weeks!

Writing: We said farewell to true story writing before we left for break and will welcome procedural or how-to writing this week.  We will explore this type of writing by first reading and discussing many different how-to books and then we'll work together to write a class piece that teaches others, step by step, how to do something we do each day in our class (like making a lunch choice).  Then the children will be off to brainstorm teachable topics and write their own teaching books.  I know they will just love this type of writing!  You can encourage idea generating at home by discussing things they do each day and then listing the steps involved in those tasks.  Talking these things through will help them to easily transition to this type of writing.

Math: In math our main focus still remains teen numbers and fluency with addition and subtraction equations.  A big part of this unit is also being able to see and name the partners of a number when using math tools or looking at math drawings.  This week we will review finding a group of ten in a teen number, practice counting on from 5 to find larger sums and naming partners of numbers 2-6.
Please keep an eye out in folders for parent notes explaining these math concepts!
The math centers we will work in this week are:

• creating a teen number book 
• building teen numbers using 10 strip, 5 strips and single chips
• showing partners of a number using dots and break apart sticks
• using dominoes to practice adding and equation writing

Social Studies: We will take this week to review and reboot classroom and school rules and expectations and will be setting goals to be the best learners and friends we can by for 2017!

Word Work: New sight words for the next two weeks are: play, have, get, will, for
Invite your child to try to spell these words in lots of ways: write them using a variety of tools, spell orally in the car, magnetic letters, or on a drawing app

Science Day and Super Reader Celebration

Here are a few pics from our busy and fun-filled days leading up to break!  It was so fun and rewarding for the kids to have a big chunk of time to really apply and "show off" all they have learned!  They make me so excited to welcome 2017 with even more chances to learn and grow!

Check out this awesome writing about the body covering classifying activity!

The boys and girls LOVED creating animals of their own!

More sorting and classifying!

Check out these researchers keeping track of their thinking!

Matching body coverings to the animal and explaining our thinking!

We each wrote a book about what we had learned in our science unit!  They were AMAZING!

Check out these SUPER READERS!!!!!

Weekly News Dec 19-23

Whew!  This cold weather has frozen us out of recess, but we are still keeping warm and busy INSIDE the classroom.  We are entering a very fun, exciting and magical week with the kids before they head off to a much deserved holiday break!!

Important Dates and Reminders:
December 22: Super Hero Day in Kindergarten
December 23-January 2: No SCHOOL

On Thursday children should dress as super heroes!  They can use existing costumes or create one from materials at home.  We will be making capes as a class project.
We are still in need of plastic table clothes and foam letter stickers for this project!  If you are willing to donate please send these items to school with your child!

Here's a peek at our learning!

Reading:  This week we will be putting our reading skills to the test as we celebrate our super powers and do some non-fiction reading of animal books to wrap up our body coverings unit.  We will also take some time to enjoy listening and discussing many different gingerbread stories.  We will compare the plots and characters and may even have a glass debate on which one has the best ending!

Writing: We will be wrapping up our true stories unit this week.  We will learn to revise and edit so our writing is readable to others.  We will also take some time to do some informational writing about animal body coverings.

Math: Those tricky teen numbers will continue to be one thing we focus on this week, as we look for groups of ten ones and then add on any extra ones to determine quantity.  We are learning it is easy to see a group of ten when it is organized in two groups of 5 or a long group of 10, but tricky when we are looking at a random group of objects (see picture below).


 We will also work hard this week to show, recognize, understand and name the partners of numbers 2-6. Please see this note for an explanation of partners and how we use this term in math.
The centers we will work in this week will be:

• listening to story problems on the iPad and then using pictures and equations to solve them
• creating a book using break apart strips to show partners of numbers 2-6
• using equations and math tools to solve both addition and subtraction problems within 5
• using marbles to show partners and writing equations to match

Science:  As a fun way to wrap up our Fur, Feather, Skin ans Scales unit we will be having science morning on Tuesday.  We will work through some different centers where we will sort animals, by their body coverings, create our own animals using art materials to show the correct body coverings, reading and 'post-iting' in animal books to show our learning about body coverings and using picture cards to classify types of animals.

Word Work: We will be reviewing and practicing all of the sight words we have learned this far.  It is important that students can not only read and write them in isolation, but can also read and write them automatically in books they are reading or creating.  Here is a list of sight words we have covered so far this year (the highlighted ones).  You may practice these at home my writing them in and out of sentences and going on word hunts in books!!

Weekly News Dec 12-16

Brrrrr....it feels like winter came and froze us out of nowhere!  Thank you for your help in making sure your child arrives each day with appropriate (and labeled) winter gear!  Also, as more snow falls, please keep in mind that students must be wearing snowpants and boots to play in the fields and on most playground equipment.

Important Dates and Reminders:

Unclaimed Square One art orders that were unbreakable have been sent home in backpacks.  If you have not received your order, it is in the office waiting for you!  Please let me know if you'd like me to send it in your child's backpack or if you plan to pick up in the office!  Thanks!

December 13: NO SCHOOL

December 14: College Wear Day

December 22: Super Hero Day in Kindergarten (a note will come home this week)

December 23-January 2: No SCHOOL 

I am so excited to be back with the boys and girls for (an almost) full week this week.  I had the chance to learn about the latest and greatest thinking in the teaching of reading and cannot wait to begin that work with these perfect readers!

A peek at our week:

Reading:  We have really been doing the heavy lifting of using our strategies (powers) to learn to read the past month or so.  We are now going to take some time to learn how readers can keep track of their learning and understanding of the books they read by jump starting our partnerships.  We will focus on the ways partners listen to one another during reading and the questions they can ask after to help their partner share their thinking.  You may notice that your child's books may come home with post-its on the pages, this means that they stopped to do some thinking while they were reading.  When reading at home ask them to explain their thinking on that page and ask questions like: "Why do you think that?"  "How do you know?"  and "Can you tell me more about that?"

Writing:  We are nearing the end of our writing unit on true stories.  This week we will look back at our old stories and be sure to check if they included in both pictures and words: WHO was in the story, WHERE the story took place, WHAT HAPPENED in the story and HOW the characters felt and what they SAID.  This is serious revising work!!  

Math: This week we will begin a new math unit.  The main focuses of this unit will be:
developing awareness of numbers 11-20 and recognizing these numbers as groups of 10 tens and extra ones.  As in all units we will continue deepen our understanding of addition and subtraction and showing expressions that match story problems as well as writing our own story problems to demonstrate our knowledge of addition and subtraction equations.
The math centers we will work in this week will be:

• going on a teen number hunt and recording teen numbers as a group of ten and extra
• using foam ten frames to construct teen numbers
• finding partners of numbers 1-10 and recording equations to show them
• using buttons to demonstrate subtraction equations

Science: This week will take some time to compare and contrast the skin of amphibians and reptiles and discuss why their skin type impacts where they live and how they protect themselves.  We will also be doing some fun art projects to deepen our understanding of these skin types

Word Work:  The new words we will be introduced to this week are:  one, two and three.
These words will help us in our reading and writing and we will also come across them in math!!

Weekly News December 5-9

Hello!  I am getting our news out early this week!  I wanted to keep you in the loop and let you know I will be attending a reading training in New York this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Mrs. Spiegel will be the guest teacher who will be here with the boys and girls.  I can be reached by email while I am away, but if you have immediate concerns or changes in your child's pick up schedule, please call the office.  We are so fortunate to have these training opportunities at NDLC and I can't wait to bring some new learning back to our classroom on Wednesday!

Important Dates and Reminders: 

December 6: Kaukauna Christmas Parade
                    NDLC will have a float and families are invited to ride/walk along.  We will meet at 809 Wisconsin Ave at     
                    5:30pm for those who want to join in the parade fun!  All children must be accompanied by an adult!  
December 8: Pajama Day and PJ's and Publishing Family Night 5:30-7:00pm
December 13: NO SCHOOL
December 14: College Gear Day (wear your favorite college team clothing)
December 22: Super Hero Day in Kindergarten (more info coming soon)

Here's what learning will look like this week:

Reading:  As readers this week we are working to strengthen our sight word power and not only read these words n isolation but recognize them immediately when we see them in our books.  We will be getting a sight word list to add to our book bag as a way to warm up for reading.  We will also learn some steps for solving new words: 1.  Look at the picture 2.  Look at the first letter.  3. Think about what makes sense.  It is really important that we are doing our best to use all of the skills we have learned to solve new and different words.  We will also be taking some time this week to use post-its to show our thinking  while we read.  This is a way for us to check that we are understanding the books we read. 

Writing: We have been working "oh so hard" to have readable stories ready for family night  next week.  To keep this hard working going we will be self assessing our writing and celebrating what we are already doing to make our writing readable and then setting a goal or two for what we can do better.  We will also learning to add more to our stories by using flaps and will focus on writing beginnings for our stories that tell when and where are stories take place.  

Math: We are getting ready to wrap up Unit 2 in math.  This week we will review and practice seeing and showing both addition and subtraction problems with pictures, using +1 and -1 operations to quickly solve equations, forward and backward number order for numbers 1-10 and identifying and creating shapes.  The math centers we will work in this week are:
-making forward and backward number parades
-playing a missing number game with a partner
-using geo-boards to construct shapes 
-showing partners of a number and writing an equation to match using chips

Science: This week we will be studying feathers and learning how they protect birds and keep them warm.  We will also learn about different types of feathers, as each has a different function.

Word Work:  Continue to work on reading and writing sight words at home!  Another way to practice spelling is to sound out and write (other than sight words) words at home, focusing in the sounds heard at the beginning, middle and end of the word.  

Weekly News Nov 28-Dec 2

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and enjoyed some down time and lots of laughter with loved ones!  This next month is such an exciting one to experience through the eyes of a child. We will continue to be busy in Kindergarten, but will certainly be taking time to enjoy the  magic of the season.

Important Dates and Reminders:
November 28: Packer Wear Day
December 6: Kaukauna Christmas Parade
                    NDLC will have a float and families are invited to ride/walk along.  We will     
                     communicate a meeting point for the parade as soon as we are assigned our float 
                     position.
December 8: Pajama Day and PJ's and Publishing Family Night 5:30-7:00pm
December 13: NO SCHOOL
December 14: College Gear Day (wear your favorite college team clothing)
December 22: Holiday Color Day (wear red, white and green)

Here is a link to our new homework calendar.

Here is the learning that will be keeping us warm this week:

Reading: As readers this week we will be giving our reading super powers an extra boost!  We will work to strengthen our pointer power so we are always pointing under the first letter, using our sight word power to help us read sentences correctly and we will work to make the most of our sound power by using initial letter sounds and pictures to solve new words.  We will also be introduced to reading mats to help us stay focused and organized during reader's workshop.

Writing: This week we will really work on word spelling strategies to make our writing even better.  We will work to add a vowel sound to every word we write, will push ourselves to use the word wall to spell sight words correctly and will use our writing partner to help us to reread and revise our stories.

Math:We will continue to really focus on addition and subtraction equations and the many ways we can see, solve and draw them.  We will be introduced to a new math tool called a break apart stick that will be used to break apart groups of objects to see the partners that join together to create that number.  We will also be working more on fluency with +1 and -1 equations as we illustrate and write equations to go along with addition and subtraction poems we learned last week.
Our math centers will be:

• Making a +1 poem book
• Making a -1 poem book
• Using break apart sticks and cubes to see partners of numbers and write equations
• Building numbers with tiles and using a backward count sequence to solve larger subtraction problems

Science: This week we will begin to discuss and explore the body coverings of various mammals that have fur.  We will compare the function of fur to that of our skin and will also bi doing some experiments to learn more about body fat and camouflage.

Word Work: We will be introduced to the following sight words this week: come, like, look, my, to.  One way to help support your child's reading at home is to go on a sight word hunt before reading a book so they can be ready and waiting to read familiar words quickly.

Weekly News Nov 14-18

Here are a few pictures from our very fun Friday!  We loved meeting Mr. Hixon and visiting with him.  We asked great questions about his job as a solider and were respectful listeners. 

We also wrapped up our science writing unit with a sparkling cider toast to all of our hard work!

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 15: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 18: Wisconsin Badger Day
November 22: Twin Day
November 23-25: NO SCHOOL

Here is a peek at our week!

Reading: We are continuing to get stronger as readers each day now that we have learned about our reading super powers!  This week (after conferences) your child will bring home a book each night to read to you!  This week we will learn more about rereading books to make them sound smooth and begin to sound more like grown-ups as we read! 

Writing: This week we will launch a new writing unit called "Writing for Readers."  The focus of this unit will be to tell true stories from our lives and then to write them one page at a time.  We will really focus on making sure our pictures and words are easy for others to read.  This will also help us to grow stronger at rereading our own writing.

Math: We will continue to work with the counting mat this week as we explore the operations of +1 and -1.  We will look at how numbers increase and decrease by 1 as we count forward or backward and will work to write equations that reflect this.  We will learn two poems that will help us to become more automatic in solving +1 and -1 equations.  We will also work to identify and create hexagons.  Our math centers will be:

• sorting pictures to help us classify shapes correctly
• using math chips to tell and solve subtraction equations
• working with a 5 frame and dice to master partners of (numbers that work together to make) 5
• playing a card game called "Garbage" to practice number order and look for structure on a 10 frame

Science: We will begin our first Science unit this year: Fur, Feathers, Skin, and Scales.  In this unit we will learn about various animal body coverings and the purpose of each.  This week we will build some background knowledge on the different types of body coverings and then begin by learning about and examining our skin.  We will use magnifying glasses to look closely at our skin and our fingerprints!

Word Work: We will continue focusing on the words: see, in, you, big little.  Looking for them in the books your child brings home is a great way to practice reading them with automaticity. 

Weekly News Nov 7-11

I am anxious to begin meeting with you all for conferences this week!  I cannot wait to show you evidence of the wonderful work your sons and daughters have been accomplishing so far this year. 

This week will be a patriotic one for sure!  New Directions students will be participating in a school-wide presidential election on Tuesday.  We will be reading books some age appropriate books about the important job of the president and will also be learning some fun facts a about the current candidates.  Please see this link to view the info we will be sharing.
http://election.scholastic.com/

We will also be discussing the importance of Veterans and the celebration of Veteran's Day. 
We will have a special veteran (my husband, Vern) join us on Friday! 

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 10: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 11: Red, White and Blue Day
November 15: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 18: Wisconsin Badger Day
November 22: Twin Day
November 23-25: NO SCHOOL


Reading: This week in reading we will be shopping for books at our "just right" reading level.  I will be able to explain to you exactly what reading skills your child can be working on when we meet at conferences.  Your child will also bring home a book or two nightly.  Please enjoy reading each night with your child and praise the hard work s/he is doing as a reader.  This week we will continue to learn about and practice our reading powers. 

Writing: We are coming to the end of our information writing unit.  This week we will make our writing easier to read by including correctly spelled sight words, spaces between words and writing more and more sounds in the words we stretch out on our own.  We will use both revising and editing checklists to make sure our writing is the best it can be!

Math: We are continuing to focus on the equal and not equal signs and how to use them appropriately.  We will also working with a counting mat to notice that as numbers grow sequentially what we are doing is adding 1.  We will explore and discuss number order and even try to write some +1 equations (5=4+1).  Additionally we will be looking at the attributes of a triangle and learning some position words: above, below, beside, behind and in front of.
Our math centers this week will be:

• Reviewing addition and subtraction by telling stories about pictures
• Creating a book using position words
• Playing a card game to practice recognizing numerals and quantities as equal or not equal
• Making our own 1-10 counting mat 

Social Studies: We are wrapping up our school study this week by creating a map of our school.  We will do a walk-through and take pictures of the spaces in our school that we will create for our map, students will choose which area they want to work on, and finally we will put all of our pieces together into a GIANT map.

Word Work: Our new sight words for the next two weeks are: see, in, you, big little.  It is important that students learn to easily read AND write these words.  Please continue to look for sight words in books you read at home and to find fun ways to practice writing them. 

Weekly New Oct 31-Nov 4

I hope your child enjoyed the break from school and their time was filled with lots of outdoor fall fun!  This time of the year is so beautiful that sometimes we need to slow down and remind ourselves to enjoy it!!  I cannot believe we are gearing up for our third month of learning in Kindergarten!!

With this Monday being Halloween, NDLC students will celebrate by dressing in orange and black and teaming up to do some flashlight reading in buddy classrooms.  Students may bring in 2 fall or Halloween books to read with their second grade buddy.  We will also share a snack with them and end our day with an all school story and dance in the gym!

Important Dates and Reminders:

October 31: Orange and Black Day
October 31-November 8: All District Food Drive
November 10: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 11: Red, White and Blue Day
November 15: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 18: Wisconsin Badger Day
November 23-25: NO SCHOOL


PSC News

Show appreciation for the NDLC staff by bringing an item or two for their conference meals. We'll be providing meals for our teachers plus support staff and specialists. Thursday, Nov. 10th will be a Taco Bar and Tuesday, Nov. 15th will be Soup and Sandwiches.
 Please sign up to contribute at... http://signup.com/go/i1k9Qj


Here is a link to our November homework calendar!  Please remember, these tasks are optional and are a way to extend classroom learning at home!

Here are also links to our November newsletters and lunch menu!

Here's a peek at our learning this week!

Reading: We are so excited to be learning about our reading super powers!  Did you hear...we had a visit from Reader Man and he left us some very cool pointers to help us activate our pointer power!  This week we will learn how long words can try to test our power, but we know that each word (no matter how long) gets just one point.  We will also be working on using sight words to really help us keep track of our pointing and will rely on our partners to help us make sure we are using our best pointing.

Writing:  This week in writing we will work to incorporate sight words into our books to make books with patterns, which are similar to the books we have been reading and writing together as a class.  We will learn to pick or two sight words and plan for our books to have those words on each page (Ex. The apple is read.  The leaf is brown, The grass is green).  We will also work hard to leave spaces between our words to make it easy for others to read.

Math:We are continuing to work hard to tell story problems to practice our addition and subtraction skills.  We will be introduced to two new math symbols this week: the equal sign and not equal sign and will practice using them as we investigate numbers, quantities and equations.  We will also be introduced to a new math tool called a ten frame that  helps us see groups of 5 in numbers 6-10.
Our math centers this week will be:

• creating equations using 5 groups and equal signs
• using pictures to tell story problems and write corresponding equations
• building numbers using single tiles and groups of 5 tiles
• showing numbers on ten frames using dotters

Social Studies:The students will be working in small groups to apply their school helper knowledge in centers this week.  They will build areas of the school and solve problems using mini versions of our helpers, sorting artifacts that our helpers use and problems they solves, and making webs using words and pictures to show all they have learned about our school helpers.

Word Work: We are continuing to practice the sight words: it, me we, here, can, we.

Field trip

We had the perfect day for a fall adventure this Wednesday!  The boys and girls loved meeting the fire fighters and seeing where they work and were terrific scientists at Heckrodt!

Check out some action photos from our fun day!!

Weekly News Oct 24-28

This week will be short and sweet, but will still be filled with lots of fun and hard work!

Monday and part of Wednesday there will be a substitute teacher (Mrs. Flanagan) in the classroom, but I will be in the building working with the students one on one to conduct the PALS assessment.  PALS stands for Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening.  It is an assessment that informs our work with helping the students succeed as emerging readers and writers.
I will be excited to share results with you at conferences in a few short weeks.

Important Dates and Reminders:

Student Council Hat and Mitten drive is this week!!

October 24th-26th Red Ribbon Week to celebrate drug and alcohol prevention
Mon. Oct. 24th  Wear "Red, White, and Blue” …I Elect to be Drug Free!!
Tues. Oct. 25th  Wear “Active Wear/Sweats”…Stay active and be drug free!!
Wed. Oct. 26th….District Wide Wear ”RED DAY”… Unite against drugs!!
October  27th-28th NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

PSC News

Family Skate Night at Skate City--NDLC has reserved the entire rink for a fun night of skating. Bring your family and friends and join your NDLC friends on Thursday, October 27th from 5:30-8pm at Skate City in Kimberly.

*$5 admission includes skate rental (no discount for bringing your own skates)

*No charge for anyone who comes to observe and doesn't skate

A peek at our week of learning!

Reading: This week we will start a new reading unit called "Super Powers."  This is an amazingly fun and meaningful unit for  the students as it takes skills we have been working on (sight word recognition, using picture clues, 1:1 matching) and turns them into Super Powers that kids will use to really begin reading!  This week we will learn about Pointer Power and how pointing at each word we read helps us to read accurately.  We will also be getting our very own book bins and new reading spots in the classroom!  This will be an eventful 3 days in our reading world!

Writing: As writers we are continuing to write more and more everyday.  This week we will work on adding sight words and color words to our writing and will also work to draw more detailed pictures that will help us to elaborate and use more words as we plan and write our books.  A HUGE thank you to Liam's grandma for bringing in many types of gourds and pumpkins for us to look closely at and write about!

Math: This week we will finish up out math centers from last week and will also be getting a new math tool: Math notebooks!  We will learn that as mathematicians we not only show our thinking with math tools and on our fingers, but we can also show what we know through math drawings.  We will begin to tell and draw story problems that involve adding and subtracting up to 5.

Social Studies: We are SO close to wrapping up our school helper interviews and writing about each of our helpers...we will wrap that up this week so we can use our new found knowledge in some interactive leaning centers next week!

Word Work:  We will continue to recognize, read and write the sight words: here, can, we, it, me.

Weekly News Oct 17-21

The boys and girls are REALLY looking forward to our field trip this week!  Prior to Wednesday we will discuss fire safety so we can ask great questions during our fire station tour!  At Heckrodt we will learn more about looking closely (like scientists) and this will have a great impact on our writing...I just know it!   Please be sure your child dresses for the weather on Wednesday, unless there is rain, we will be outdoors for the entire afternoon.  Also, unless you have ordered a lunch through Chartwells, please send your child with a lunch in a disposable bag. 


Important Dates and Reminders:
October 18th: Family Night 6-7pm
October 19th: Field Trip to Fire Station and Heckrodt
October 24th-26th Red Ribbon Week to celebrate drug and alcohol prevention

• Mon. Oct. 24th  Wear "Red, White, and Blue” …I Elect to be Drug Free!! 
• Tues. Oct. 25th  Wear “Active Wear/Sweats”…Stay active and be drug free!!
• Wed. Oct. 26th….District Wide Wear ”RED DAY”… Unite against drugs!!

October  27th-28th NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Here is what our week of learning will look like:

Reading:  Our work in storybooks has really gotten us ready to tackle the challenges of conventional reading!  This week we will wrap up the use of story books by acting our favorite stories out using puppets.  Performing these books will truly be a way for us to show off the many skills we have acquired while working with these books...a huge skill being comprehension of character feelings and actions.  We will also take some time as a class to write some predictable books that include sight words and repeated patterns...we will aim to make these books similar to the leveled books we will be reading soon!

Writing: Our writing like scientists unit is up and running and the kids are amazing me at the work they are doing!  This week we focused on choosing one fall artifact and observing and saying all we could about it and then showing what we learned with words and pictures!  All of the students are bravely attempting to write words on every page!!  This week we will focus on drawing zoomed in pictures, planning books with a partner, listening for more sounds in our words and beginning to write sentences!   

Math: This week we will wrap up our first math unit and will begin unit 2.  The goals of this unit are:  to continue strengthening our knowledge of 1-10 and number order and understand that numbers 6-10 are created composed of a 5 group and some extra ones.  Also to explore +1 and -1 relationships and how they impact the value of a number.

These are the math centers we will be working in this week and during some of our short week next week: 

1. Five Finder: One object of the unit is for students to quickly be able to identify a group of five objects. They will be searching for five groups in pictures, circling them, and writing and equation to match the picture.

2. Students will create a counting book with objects for numbers 6-10.
3. Students will be given a piece of paper with an equation at the bottom. They will trace their fingers on the page to match the equation.

4. Students will roll two dice with numbers 0-5 on them. They will show the numbers using tiles and then add or subtract using the tiles

Social Studies: We are continuing to work on our school helpers interviews and have written and illustrated 3 books together so far!  We have Mrs. Geoffrey (the health aide) and Mr. Tom (the custodian) left on our interview list yet :).

Word Work: Our new sight words for the next two weeks are: it, me we, here, can, we.  These are also listed on our homework calendar to help you keep track!  We will learn a variety of ways to do word sorts in the following weeks as well.  In the beginning of November students will move into differentiated word sorts to fit their individual letter sound and spelling needs; practicing whole group sorts for the next two weeks will build the routines for this work.

Kindergarten FUN!

It is only Wednesday and we have had some major fun and excitement in here!!

Yesterday we took a walk outside and took on the role of scientists as we stop to look and observe and then record our thinking!  The boys and girls took this job VERY seriously and did some wonderful learning!

Today we "showed off" our new reading skill to some of Mrs. Santkuyl's class.  Half of us joined her for reading and half of her class joined us for a bit so we could show another Kindergarten friend the way we point at words we know as we read them.

Last but not least, we practiced writing our sight words with shaving cream!  It was so fun; we now have clean tables and our whole classroom smells like aftershave!!!

Weekly News Oct 10-14

The boys and girls had a great three days with Mrs. Flanagan!  She had so many great things to say about all of the kiddos and was so mpressed by how helpful and hard working they were.  I am a pretty proud teacher right now and am excited to get a new week of learning started with them!

Important Dates and Reminders:
October 18th: Family Night 6-7pm
October 19th: Field Trip to Fire Station and Heckrodt
October 24th-26th Red Ribbon Week to celebrate drug and alcohol prevention

• Mon. Oct. 24th  Wear "Red, White, and Blue” …I Elect to be Drug Free!! 
• Tues. Oct. 25th  Wear “Active Wear/Sweats”…Stay active and be drug free!!
• Wed. Oct. 26th….District Wide Wear ”RED DAY”… Unite against drugs!!

October  27th-28th NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

NEWS FROM THE NDLC PSC Family Skate Night at Skate City--NDLC has reserved the entire rink for a fun night of skating. Bring your family and friends and join your NDLC friends on Thursday, October 27th from 5:30-8pm at Skate City in Kimberly. *$5 admission includes skate rental (no discount for bringing your own skates) *No charge for anyone who comes to observe and doesn't skate Facebook--Don't forget to "Like" the NDLC Facebook page to keep updated on school happenings and events. NDLC wear coming home soon! Orders should be sent home by the end of this week or the first of next week. Save the date 11/17/16, NDLC has reserved Funset Boulevard in Appleton. Family and friends invited to pre-purchase tickets through NDLC and come play games and laser tag. More details to follow.

Here is a peek at our learning this week:

Reading: We are now working in both "old favorite storybooks" as well as familiar texts.  The students are LOVING reading each other's star books!  This week we will be focusing on early reading skills like using picture clues to help us remember and read words on the page.  We will also start pointing under words as we read familiar texts and story books and notice when the words we say match what is written on the page.  Our work with sight words will really help us with this!

Writing: This week we will begin a new writing unit called: "Looking Closely: Observing, Labeling and Listing Like Scientists."  In this unit we will be focusing on the changes that are happening around us.  We will take several outdoor adventures to observe and collect artifacts to write about.   The goal of this unit will be to draw and write details about our observations as a way to teach others.

Math:We will continue to work on number order this week and will also begin to use math tools to show both addition and subtraction.  We will be looking at pictures and determining if the objects in them are joining together (showing addition) or being taken apart (showing subtraction).  Our math centers this week are: working on forward and backward number order using a new ipad app, using pictures to tell addition and subtraction problems, creating our own number parade showing numbers and their quantity in order and using multiple materials to build shapes

Word Work:  We will learn lots of new ways to practice our sight words in the classroom.

Social Studies:  This week we will interview Mrs. Mitchell (our administrative assistant), Mrs. Frischmann (our principal) and Officer Krueger (our school police liaison). 

Weekly News Oct 3-7

This week will be a week of celebrating (and preparing to celebrate) our accomplishments as readers and writers.  We are getting to the end of both our first reading and writing unit and have learned SO much already in our short time together!!

Just to keep you in the loop, I will be out this week Wednesday-Friday.  Mrs. Flanagan will be here as a guest teacher with the boys and girls.  Many of them already know her from 4K; she is probably the most beloved substitute teacher there is!  She has already met with me to go over what the boys and girls will be working on this week so we will not miss a beat.  I can be reached by email while I am out, but please feel free to call the office if there were to be a change in pick up or drop off for your child to ensure it gets communicated to Mrs. Flanagan as soon as possible.

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

October 18th:  Family Night (please respond on the link below
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyV_Ksq5kugruQU6RPIt5lWo1WLSO3tz0nwfWB-_Fl4VL3WA/viewform

October 19th:  Field Trip (Please send permission slips and $6 fee to school by Oct 10
October 27-28: NO SCHOOL

Our October Homework Calendar will be coming home with your child on Monday.  Later this month/early November your child will also begin to bring an independent reading book home as well. My goal is for this homework to authentically reinforce math and literacy concepts at home while also being realistic and manageable for our young learners and their families.
Please let me know if you have questions!!

News from the PSC:

There are lots of ways to be involved at NDLC. Consider some of these options:

PSC meeting: Monday, October 3rd at 6pm in the school library. Your thoughts and opinions are so important to the success of NDLC, come join us!

Online shopping: Register with AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) and Amazon will donate .5% of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to NDLC. Go to smile.amazon.com and enter “New Directions Learning Community Inc” as your organization to support.

Box Tops: Collect Box Tops from participating merchandise and send them to school with your NDLC student(s) to help NDLC earn money. Past years proceeds have helped purchase playground equipment and specific teacher requested classroom supplies. Need an extra sheet to attach Box Tops to? Click on this link and look on right side of page (“Box Top 50 Form”):
http://www.kaukauna.k12.wi.us/schools/newdirections/getinvolved/parents.cfm

Any questions or suggestions? Don’t hesitate to send an email to: NDLC.PSC@gmail.com

Here's a peek at our week:

Reading:  Today we celebrated all we have learned about reading so far with a parade!!  Check it out!


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0Oi6ZlFl5W4Q2RkUGFYY2dTWEk/view?usp=sharing


 We will now launch into a new unit that will continue to focus on reading emergent story books but will delve deeper into focusing on character feelings and actions.  Students will also start to build comfort with conventionally reading familiar texts that they know well--like their Star Name books, songs, and rhymes we been reading regularly in class together.

Writing: This week will be our last week of writing true stories.  We will work hard this week to add more details to our pictures and to also add more sounds and words to our writing.  We will get ready to celebrate by picking our favorite story to revise AND edit!  We will use a checklist to make sure our story shows something that happened, who was there and how they felt.

Math: We will focus our work this week on ordering numbers 1-10 and also showing number quantity up to 10.  We will pay special attention to seeing/creating a group of 5 when showing numbers 6-10 using math tools.  We will also be working with the concepts of addition and subtraction and will be introduced to how to solve addition and subtraction problems using our fingers.  Our math centers this week will be:  building and comparing numbers using unifix cubes, working to order number cards and finding the missing number in the sequence, using our own math drawings to add to Anno's Counting book (a book we have been reading frequently in math) and working with number formation on the iPads.

Social Studies:  Our school helper interviews are underway!  We will get to know more about our lunch workers this week.  To share what we have learned we will be creating a book about each helper as a class.  This week we will complete Mrs. Steif's book and the book about Mrs. Waters and Mrs. Johnson, our lunch helpers.

Word Work: We will begin learning some sight words this week.  We will focus on 5 new sight words every two weeks.  Our words for the next two weeks are: I, a, the, is, and
Keep an eye out for these words in books you read together at home!

Weekly News Sept 26-30

Last week we learned about and practiced many safety drills at school.  These conversations of course sparked many questions about emergencies and being prepared.  With all of this fresh in your child's mind, this might be a great time to review safety plans in your own home!  We really had a wonderful learning and growing together!

Our classroom rules are now written and posted proudly for all of us to follow!
Our rules are:
1. Take care of yourself.
2. Keep things nice and neat.
3. Treat others how you would like to be treated.
4. Everyone gets to learn and play.


Important Dates and Reminders:
October 18: Grandfriends Family Night (please sign up online)
October 19: Field trip to Heckrodt and Fire Station
October 27-28th: NO SCHOOL

PSC News

Did you know? The PSC gives a Birthday Book to each NDLC student during the school year. Make sure to ask your child about it near their birthday (or half-birthday)!

Join us! The next PSC meeting is Monday, October 3, at 6 pm in the school library.

Questions? Email NDLC.PSC@gmail.com

Here's a peek at our learning this week:

Reading: It was very exciting to move into "reading" old favorite storybooks last week.  One way to support this work at home is by reading stories that are familiar to your child over and over and over again until it becomes a story they can 'read' on their own.   We are continuing our work in storybooks in the classroom as well, trying to say even more on every page to make our words match the text and connecting pages to make our reading sound even more grown up by using phrases like "and then" and "after that."

Writing  This week we will be learning to write true stories! This means we will be taking an event from our lives, telling that story and then working to show it in pictures and words across three pages. We will practice this work as a class be writing a few class “true stories” together.  As true story writers we will need to do ALOT of story telling to help us say what happened first, next and last.  We will also use our writing folders to help us generate ideas for our true stories.

Math: In math this week our focus will shift from showing number quantity to comparing number quantity.  We will learn about a new math tool called a comparing mat that will help us to distinguish numbers as greater than and less than.  We will also be exploring and classifying shapes.  This week we will focus on the characteristics of circles, squares and rectangles.  Our math centers will be: using a comparing mat with tiles to observe number size, creating our own counting books, sorting shapes and using tiles to begin some work with adding.

Social Studies: Now that we are settling into the normal routines of school and have built the foundation for our classroom community, we will be kicking off our first social studies unit.  This unit is a School Study.  This week we will build some background on our school study and list all the different jobs that people in our school do.  We will formulate interview questions and the boys and girls will do a practice interview on me and Mrs. Steif, our reading specialist.  In the coming weeks we will take many tours and conduct interviews of these people to learn all about our school.

Weekly News Sept 19-23

I hope everyone enjoyed the terrific weather this weekend.  The cooler temperatures make it so much more comfortable for the kids in the classroom and at recess.  We had a very busy and productive first full week together and are certainly in the swing of things in Kindergarten! 

Just a few reminders (if you haven't already done so):

• School fees are due in the office ASAP
• Send a pair of tennis shoes to be kept at school for your child to wear for gym
• Send a plain white t-shirt to be kept at school for an art shirt
• Check out the link view and purchase some AWESOME school clothing

https://eaglegraphics.itemorder.com/

Code:  NDLCSPIRIT

Important Dates:

9/20: No School for students
9/22: Family Night: Hot Dogs and How to Help

9/28: Kaukauna Homecoming Parade (more info to come)

10/19: Kindergarten Field Trip to Heckrodt Nature Preserve and Kaukauna Fire Dept (more info to come)

***To help us be prepared for field trips and opportunities to volunteer in the classroom later this year, please let me know if you need a background check form.  Background checks take 2-3 weeks to be verified and are required every 5 years.***

This week the entire school district will be having a "safety week."  You should have received information about this electronically via Infinite Campus messenger and will be receiving a letter detailing the events of this week.  During this time the students and I will be participating in several drills to ensure we are all aware and comfortable with safety procedures.  We will have the following drills this week: fire drill, tornado drill, lockdown and hold drill and evacuation drill.  

Some of these may be new or could possibly cause some anxiety or questions among the students.  Please know I will do my very best to explain everything we are doing to them and will make sure they know they are always safe at school.  If you have questions please feel free to contact myself or Mrs. Frischmann.

Now, here's a peek at our week:
Reading:  This week we will welcome a new type of book to out reading workshop: Old Favorite Storybooks!  These books are stories the boys and girls have heard me read aloud several times and are ready to "reread" on their own.  They are by no means expected to read these verbatim, but instead will work to rely on story elements and pictures to support their attempts.  This type of work sets them up to really begin to understand the connection that words and pictures have in books.  It also gets us one step closer to reading conventionally.  I cannot wait to listen to the students read these beloved books!

Writing:  We will continue to write teaching books this week and will really work to plan how our books will go page by page.  We will be working with a partner to ask and answer questions about our books as a way to add more and will work hard attempt to write words in our books by stretching them out and recording the sounds we hear.  Lastly, we will be using a checklist to make sure our writing is the best it can be...I know the boys and girls will feel so grown up doing this! 

Math:  This week in math we will continue to work with matching numerals to quantity and will work to create drawings to show what quantity numbers represent.  We will also work to create different arrangements that represent the same number to increase our knowledge of quantity and will even look to break these arrangements apart to find partners of a number (numbers that are added together to make a larger number).  We will begin to work in math centers each day that will allow us to work with a small group and really get to share our thinking about math.

Social Studies:  Each of us in Room 80 has determined a hope and dream for the school year!  I am very proud of the boys and girls for being able to choose something that suits them and that they feel is important for them to work on.  We are now in the process of creating 3-5 rules for our classroom that will help each of us reach our hope and dream.  Stay tuned for our published rules later this week.

Word Work:  We have begun to study names in our classroom.  Each day one student is chosen to be the Star name.  We study, spell and chant their name and then take some time to learn about them with a quick interview.  The info we gather is then turned into a book about each child that we can ALL read.  Each child will also get a copy of his/her book to read at home.  The boys and girls have been so excited about this!

Have a great week!

Weekly News Sept 12-16

It's beginning to feel like fall...with the return of football anyway!  We are a divided household (as you can see) and luckily we all had a terrific Sunday with big wins for our teams!  I hope you had a terrific weekend as well!!  

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:
9/14: Picture Day- please send your order forms to school on or before this day

9/16: Fitnesss wear Friday- wear Athletic clothes

9/16: Fox Cities Kids Fun Run

9/20: No School for students

9/22: Family Night: Hot Dogs and How to Help- please send RSVP's to school with your child by     Sept 15th

Every Friday throughout the school year will be NDLC wear day.  Students can/should wear their school apparel proudly!  Check out this link from Eagle Graphics to purchase NDLC school apparel online.  Clothing samples are available in the office and will be out at family night on 9/22.  Ordering can take place through 9/25.
We are hoping orders will be fulfilled by mid-October!

 Here is the link and the code

https://eaglegraphics.itemorder.com/

Code:  NDLCSPIRIT

Here is a peek at what will be happening in Room 80 next week:

Reading:  Right now as readers we are enjoying super interesting non-fiction books or, as we call them, "learn about the world books."  Our goal when exploring these books is to look closely at the pictures and learn as much as we can.  While we are doing this we are connecting new information back to the title/topic of the book and also connecting new information as we "read" more and more pages.  During reading workshop each day we have a time to reading independently (private reading time) and a time to read with a friend (partner reading time).  When we meet with our reading partners we are talking about and sharing all we have learned from our books.  This week we will focus on rereading books to learn more and more and to begin to think about what the words in the book might tell us.

Writing: As writers we have been working on thinking of a topic we know a lot about and then showing what we know by drawing a picture and maybe even using a letter or two.  We feel so grown up using pens to write with and have also been working to keep writing...we even learned a new saying "when we are done, we have just begun!"  This week we will work more on listening to and writing down the sounds we hear in words we are trying to write.  We will also practice our drawing skills to challenge ourselves to write about ideas that may seem hard for us.

Math: Last week as mathematicians we learned that we carry our most important tools for math right on our body: our fingers and eyes (and our brains too).  We used them to see math all over our classroom and school.  This week we will practice using different math tools in the classroom to reinforce counting, patterning and sorting.  We will also focus on ordering numbers 1-5 and drawing and "reading" pictures to tell how many objects we see.

Word Work:  During word work time we will be focusing on skills we will need to begin to spell words.  Right now word work time has lots to do with matching upper case and lower case letters, building names, reading familiar color words and sorting letters of various fonts.  Each day the children work in a center to reinforce these skills.  As we grow as readers and writers this time will look differently and focus on more sophisticated skills.

Social Studies: Right now in kindergarten we are studying our classroom.  This week we will use all we learned about last week to determine a hope and dream for ourselves for the school year.  Each child will decide on something they really want to accomplish and we will share it with the class.  We will publish our hope and dreams and display them in our classroom.  After we have set our hopes and dreams we will write classroom rules together so we can all reach our hopes and dreams this school.  This is big, important work for the students and really helps them to build a community in our classroom!!

Have a great week and please keep me posted with any questions and concerns!!

Elly :)