January 15-19

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, 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!