Mrs. Lenzner's Kindergarten Class: January 2018

Sunday, January 28, 2018

January 30-February 2

February is here! We have so many fun events to celebrate: the 100th day of being Kindergarteners, Valentine's Day, Family Night! We are so excited! We will exchange valentine cards with the class. Here is a list of student names if you'd like to get started early! More information about the 100th day celebration coming soon!

Here is a link to our February lunch calendar.

If you have any newspapers that you could part with, our STEAM classes could use it for an upcoming project. Thanks in advance!

Upcoming Events:
January 30: Report cards go home. Check your child's folder!
February 12: 100th Day of School Celebration
February 14: Valentine's Day-wear red and pink
Feb 16th: Funky Friday
February 22nd and 23rd: NO SCHOOL

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: Reading nonfiction is so much fun! The kindergarteners have been adding post its to mark interesting pages and to ask questions. On Monday, we will sort our books to find collections on certain topics and work to read all we can about our favorite topics. Later in the week, readers will explore poetry! Reading familiar poems and songs helps students to build fluency and expression while reading. We will talk about the rhythm and phrasing while reading familiar poems. Students will also add more poems to their poem binders to prepare for our celebration at the end of the week.

Writing: Writers will learn that they can write a collection of books about a topic so that readers can learn even more about one topic. For instance, students might write books about dogs: how to train a dog to sit, how to feed a dog, etc. We will work on adding introductions and conclusions to our books. We will also learn to use comparisons in our writing to give more specific directions. Finally, writers will be reminded to use all the strategies they know to make their how to books easy to read.

Math: Students will be working with teen numbers in a variety of ways. Exploring teen numbers helps build a foundation for place value. Students will explore teen numbers by using math tools, showing it on their fingers, drawing, and writing the equations.
As always, we will work on fluency. Here is a new way we have been working on adding:
In pairs, students will take turns to roll 2 dice and quickly cover one up with a cup. The challenge is for the second child to give the total. They can remove the cup to check and record.
We discussed starting with the larger number and counting on if students did not know the total automatically. This is one efficient strategy to use for adding.

Fundations: Here is a peek at the kind of work we have been doing in phonics. Students are using this tapping technique in their reading and writing as well!

Science: We now have 3 fish named Lyla, Zoey, and Sparkles swimming around in our tank and a large number of lady beetles happily crawling in the habitats we built for them. Students have been SO interested in observing and predicting what will happen with our plants and animals. This week, we will be looking closely at the lima bean and alfalfa we planted last week. We will compare and contrast these plants using a Venn diagram.

Don't forget...January is a big month for our school! There are many informational events taking place to help others learn more about New Directions. Please share these dates with anyone you think may be interested in learning more about what a great place New Directions is for students to learn and grow!

Thursday, February 1st-6:00-7:00 PM-Info Session at New Directions
Families can also call Mrs. Frischmann at 766-6116 to set up individual tours.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

January 22-26

It's celebrate New Directions week! I am so proud to be part of our school! THANK YOU for all you do to make it great.

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: So far, the avid readers have been focusing on fiction texts. This week, we shift to working in nonficiton texts! Readers will watch a video on venus flytraps to start our nonfiction discussion. We will learn to use precise words while teaching about what they learned from a text and to share their findings with their partners. Readers often begin sharing about a text by using one of the following prompts:

I notice...
I think...
I wonder..
What do you think?
Why do you think that?

Over the last few weeks, I was able to assess each child's reading and determine their strengths, needs, and reading level. Some of the new books coming home may seem more challenging as students are just beginning to learn the strategies needed to tackle trickier words! If you have any questions, please let me know. I'd be happy to explain what your child is working on specifically as a reader.

Writing: We had a minicelebration to wrap up one bend of our how to writing last week and their work was so incredible! These young writers worked so hard to add tips and suggestions, give detailed steps, and draw diagrams with labels on their pieces. Writers will continue to work on "writing with flow" to get even more books done. Here are some of the ways we figured out how to write with flow:

Math: One way that mathematicians become more fluent in solving addition and subtraction equations is to study patterns. Last week, students explored +0 and -0 equations and discovered that it doesn't matter if you're adding or subtracting, when their is a 0, the number stays the same. Students practiced solving 0 equations quickly on a page with many addition and subtraction equations and by using flashcards. We will continue to look for patterns to strengthen our fluency!

Science: Our tank is ready and we are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our zebra fish. Students will also create habitats for milkweed bugs! As we continue to learn more about animals and their habitats, students will create dioramas of a habitat for an animal of their choice. It is important for scientists to remember the 3 things animals need to survive while building these dioramas. Ask your child what the 3 things all animals need are! (water, food, and shelter)

Monday, January 22nd-10:00 AM-1:00 PM Open House for prospective families at New Directions

Thursday, February 1st-6:00-7:00 PM-Info Session at New Directions

Families can also call Mrs. Frischmann at 766-6116 to set up individual tours.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

January 15-19

Thursday, January 11th-5:30 PM District-Wide Info Session held at Tanner Early Learning Center

Tuesday, January 16th-6:00 -7:00 PM Info Session at New Directions

Monday, January 22nd-10:00 AM-1:00 PM Open House for prospective families at New Directions

Thursday, February 1st-6:00-7:00 PM-Info Session at New Directions

Families can also call Mrs. Frischmann at 766-6116 to set up individual tours.

Continuing this week, students can bring one thing in to share from home during our Morning Meeting time! Check your email to see what day your child can bring something in to share.

Upcoming events:
January 19: Half Day
January 22-26: Celebrate NDLC Week! See flyer below for more information
January 22: No School

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: As we continue to learn about becoming avid readers, students will have "playdates" during their partner reading time. According to research on cognitive development, children increase focus, stamina, self-regulation abilities, and abstract thinking through play. During the "reading playdates", book clubs will meet and can choose from a variety of fun activities to do with books. These activities could include: acting books out, playing school, having a read aloud, hunting for sight words, etc. Try one of these fun games while reading with your child at home!

Writing: We will study other How-To books to see how we can make ours even better! Students will learn to use the word ‘You’ when writing a book of directions. We will focus on choosing descriptive words and giving our readers warnings, suggestions, and tips just like in published How-To books.

Math: Did you know that in order to be fluent adding and subtracting within 5, students need to be able to solve more than 20 equations! An article called "Assessing Basic Fact Fluency" defines fluency as "the efficient, appropriate, and flexible application of single-digit calculation skills and...an essential aspect of mathematical proficiency". In order to determine if a student is fluent in solving a problem, they must show "flexibility, appropriate strategy use, efficiency, and accuracy". So how do we determine that? Students are given a fact fluency interview where I watch and ask questions about how students are solving equations. It is amazing to see how their brains use the strategies to solve problems!

Science: The scientists will start to study animals this week. We will compare and contrast different animals to determine what all animals need. Students will explore where animals live and why. Toward the end of the week, scientists will be given the task of researching what we will need to build an aquarium for a fish. We will read books, listen to iPad videos and create diagrams for our fish tank. On Thursday, we will use their findings to build a fish tank in preparation for fish to come!

Sunday, January 7, 2018

January 8-12

Check the bottom of the blog for pictures from Super Reader day! It was so much fun!

Starting this week, students can bring one thing in to share from home during our Morning Meeting time! Check your email to see what day your child can bring something in to share.

Here is the January newsletter.
Here is the lunch menu.

Upcoming events:
January 19: Half Day
January 22-26: Celebrate NDLC Week!
22: No School
23: Family Art Night
23: Game Day (characters, twister, Mario, etc.)
24: Backwards day
25: Family Phy Ed Night
25: ActiveWear
26: Camping day

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: Kindergartners will learn about being an avid reader. We will sort pictures of avid readers and "blah" readers to identify what readers can do to become even stronger! Students will start to post it ideas and notice character feelings to share with their reading partners. Share what being a reader means to you so that your child can be surrounded by avid readers at home and at school!

Writing: These students jumped right into how to writing and are already writing some amazing teaching books! As we continue to work with How To books, students will work with partners to act out the books to check if the directions/steps make sense. They will add labels to their pictures and diagrams. Finally, they will look at our charts to set goals to create the very best writing they can! For example, students may choose to focus on writing details about their topic. I am excited to see how the students set goals for themselves.

Math: Students will rotate through the following centers to focus on teen numbers, fluency with adding and subtracting, and partners of numbers.

Students will use dice to race to be the first to make a teen number. They are encouraged to add numbers and group manipulatives in ten and five groups to see the numbers quickly.
Mathematicians will dump of cup full of chips to find out what teen number is in the cup. Then, they will draw a picture of that teen number and fill in the blanks to tell how many 10s and 1s make up the teen number.
Students will use a break apart stick and marbles to show the partners of a number. They will write the equation that matches.
Buttons in a Box: students will tell story problems as they use buttons to join or separate groups and will write equations to match

Science: Kindergartners will study plants this week. We will dig into the life cycle of plants, take a close look at seeds, and even plant our own seeds! Students will learn about what plants need to grow and do some close reading to learn all we can about plants.

Super Reader Day

Monday, January 1, 2018

January 2-5

Welcome back!
I hope everyone had a wonderful break. I can't wait to get started on all of our exciting new K learning! See the bottom of the blog for some fun pictures from last month.

Here is the January newsletter.
Here is the lunch menu.

Upcoming events:
January 5: Super Reader Day--dress as a super hero day!

January 22-26: Celebrate NDLC Week!
22: No School
23: Game Day (characters, twister, Mario, etc.)
24: Backwards day
25: ActiveWear
26: Camping day

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: Just wanted to give a quick reminder that as students move up in reading levels, the books they bring home may seem more difficult! With practice and perseverance, they will have an easier time with the new level! I will be meeting with students one-on-one or in small groups to teach them strategies for reading their books; ask you child what strategies they know.

We will have our Super Reader celebration this week! Kindergartners will create a cape to show that they really are Super Readers! They will build snap word towers to knock down! Swat at letters to match a sound! Read with other Super Readers! It will be a day to celebrate how far we have come as readers!

Writing: We will be learning to write How To books during this unit. We will write a class book as a model in the beginning of the week. Students will begin writing their own books too! To help your child generate ideas to write about, talk through the steps of things your child does at home. For example, a bed time routine, cooking dinner, getting ready for school, etc.

Math: Mathematicians will continue to solidify our understanding of teen numbers. We will be making teen number arrangements and working to write equations that show the number of 10's and ones in each teen number. We will also be revisiting 2D shapes and will work to show how shapes can work together to make new shapes.

Word Study: I would encourage students to keep practicing their snap words so that they can read and write them automatically. Dry erase markers, with a spoon in the snow, or with paint and a Q-tip are fun ways to practice writing these words! Our new snap words this week are: play, did, for, make, & do.

Science: Kindergartners will dig into a new unit exploring plants and animals. We will begin by exploring the difference between living and nonliving things. Later in the week, we will learn about plants and prepare to plant our own later in the unit.

Morning Meeting with Mrs. Hixon's class