November 27-December 1

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend and had a chance to spend some quality time relaxing and enjoying the company of others! I really enjoyed decorating my house for the holidays for the first time.

Upcoming Events:
December 1: Afternoon with Astronauts (see invite below)
December 5: Kaukauna Christmas Parade
December 7: Pajama Day
December 7: Pizza and Publishing Family Night
December 13: Holiday wear
December 21: Pajama Day

Reading: As readers, we will supercharge our pointer power this week. We will learn that while you are pointing, you can:

• Point under the first letter of the word.
• Get your mouth ready for the 1st sound.
• Stop and check, is your finger under the right word?

All of these skills will help readers as they get into the challenging work of figuring out a word by using the letter sounds. Try using these prompts at home to help your growing reader!

**Please send the book bag back to school every day to exchange the books!

Writing: This week, writers will continue to work on adding sounds to words, creating detailed pictures, and adding beginnings to stories. As students write, they are working so hard to stretch out words focusing on the vowels in the middle, putting snap words down quickly, and remembering spaces. This is some hard work!

Word Study: Here is a list of ways to practice snap words! Here is our list of snap words.

Math: We will continue to work heavily on adding and subtracting as it is a new and sometimes difficult concept! Students will begin to explore partner numbers using a break apart stick. For instance, seeing 2+3=5 as ◯◯ ▏◯◯◯. We will review the characteristics of all the shapes and practice +1 and -1 equations.

Science: The scientists spent the last week gathering information by looking at artifacts, reading books, and listening to iPads to learn more about space. They took notes about their learning and will compile all of this information together to share at Afternoon with Astronauts.

You are Invited…

Who: Kindergarten Families

What: Afternoon with Astronauts

When: Friday, December 1st from 2:30-3:00

Where: Room 82

Why: To learn about space from the Kindergartners!

We think it will be

OUT OF THIS WORLD!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel so thankful to work with such supportive and involved families! It is a privilege to work with your little ones every day. 

THANK YOU for all you do! 

We are thankful for good friends in room 82! 

November 13-17

It has been a pleasure meeting with you during conferences this past week. I am excited to continue sharing the awesome Kindergarten work on Tuesday night!

Feel free to send chapstick to keep at school if your child needs it! Please write their name on the tube.

Upcoming Events:
November 14: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 20: Badger Sports Wear
November 22-24: No School
December 1: Afternoon with Astronauts--> more information to come!

Reading: Beginning this week, students will be bringing home a book bag each night. These book bags will have 2 books at your child's reading level. Ask your student what he/she is working on when reading (pointing, using pictures, and using beginning sounds are a few examples). Read the books with the student when you are able or ask them to spend time with the books each night. Please send the book bag back to school every day so we can exchange the books!

Writing: The writers will begin to work on true stories this week. In Kindergarten, we work on oral storytelling and transferring those stories to paper.  We will think about writing stories that people are excited to read. Then, we will make sure they can read them by adding drawing and making our sentences easy to read by using spaces and many letter sounds.

Math: This week, mathematicians will continue to work on the +1 and -1 patterns. We will create books with poems that help us to remember the pattern and equations. We will also continue our work with story problems. The mathematicians made the connection between our writing chart and writing a math equation. We use this chart to check that we have completed each step:

The mathematicians have loved playing “Garbage” This is a card game that focuses on number order. Grab a deck of cards and ask your child to teach you how to play at home!

Science: The kindergartners are loving our science unit on space so far! We are going to start exploring different aspects of space including planets, asteroids, the sun, the moon, and stars.
Keep an eye out for an invitation to Afternoon with Astronauts, an event that will be held from 2:00-3:00 on December 1st. You will be invited to visit our classroom and have the scientists share their space knowledge with you! 

November 6-10

I look forward to meeting with some of you this Thursday for our portfolio conferences! These Kindergarteners have been working hard and I can't wait to show you some of their work.

This month New Directions is showing how to BE Thankful!  As a way to bring us together as a school community we are going to have an "Appreciation Station" set up for students and families to use at conferences.  At this station you will be able to write a note to someone you are thankful for in your lives. It can be someone from the school or someone from somewhere else in your lives.  Please look for the station outside the cafeteria by the 4K classroom and stop by to let someone know you are thankful for them!

November School Newsletter 

PSC Links
Fall 2017 Teacher Conference Meals
Fall 2017 Book Fair

Upcoming Events:
October 31-November 6: Food Drive--Don't forget to send in your donations! 
November 6: Packer wear
November 8: Dress like your parents
November 9: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 10: 10: Red, White, and Blue for our Veterans
November 14: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 20: Badger Sports Wear
November 22-24: No School

Reading: As readers, we have been working on using four powers: pointer power, picture power, partner and sound power to figure out tricky words. Readers will get to shop for books at their level to fill their own personal book bin this week! We are very excited for this change!  You will learn more about your child's strengths and next steps as a reader during conferences.

Writing: We will publish our final writing like scientists pieces this week. Students will check to make sure they have the following in their writing:

• zoomed in, detailed pictures
• labels
• sentences
• snap words spelled correctly in their writing 

You can look for writing to come home on Friday! 

Math: Mathematicians will be introduced to the +1 pattern this week. Finding patterns in numbers is a foundational skill needed in mathematics. To study this pattern, students will use a counting mat to build numbers 1-10. We will discuss how to move from one number to the next and will write equations to  match.

1+1=2        2+1=3           3+1=4          4+1=5   and so on!

Science: We are so excited to start our very first science unit where we will be studying space! Scientists will begin their inquiry by answering the question, "What is in the sky?" We will create  watercolor pictures to capture our thoughts. After doing some close reading, we will revise our paintings and discuss what else we want to discover about space throughout the unit.