Field Trip

We had a blast on our field trip to Heckrodt Wetland Reserve and the Kaukauna Fire Station!  Thanks to all of our parent volunteers for helping our day be such a success!

At Heckrodt we explored the nature center, observing the many creatures that call the nature center home! We loved the alligator snapping turtle!

Then we learned the "recipe" for soil and played a trivia game.  We even got to eat a worm! YUM!

One of our favorite parts of the day was adventuring on the trails to the outdoor play area and searching for critters that make their homes in the soil.  We found worms, millipedes, centipedes, slugs, and more!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch (and saw three turkeys eating lunch as well!)  at the nature center before heading over to the fire station.

At the fire station we learned about all of the safety gear firefighters wear and how it keeps them safe!  The firefighters talked to us about the importance of having a meeting place for our family in case of a fire at our homes. 

We had a chance to check out the inside of the fire engine and even sit down and buckle up like a firefighter!

We also learned that all Kaukauna firefighters are also paramedics who help

people when they are sick or hurt.  We thought it was so cool to check out the back of the ambulance!

We ended our visit by watching firefighter Garret climb the huge ladder on this truck.  As he climbed we counted the rungs of the ladder...there were 72 total!  We were amazed at how brave he was to climb that high!!

Weekly News October 26th-30th

We hope you had a wonderful fall break!  There is lots of exciting stuff happening in kindergarten this week! We will celebrate Red Ribbon Week and being drug free with these fun dress-up days Tuesday-Friday.
Oct. 27th: No Sweat Being Drug Free: Wear Sweats **dress for an outdoor field trip**
Oct. 28th: Wear Red Day
Oct. 29th: Drug free is double the fun: Dress as a twin
Oct. 30th: We're the Ghosts, Say BOO to drugs!: Wear Orange and Black

We are looking forward to our field trip on Tuesday and keeping our fingers crossed for awesome weather, although we will plan to go no matter what!  Just a reminder that all students need a bag lunch with a drink for the field trip, unless you pre-ordered one from Chartwells. 

Mrs. Flanagan has been a regular in our class lately and will be with us again on Wednesday as we finish the PALS assessment.

On Friday our school will be having a fall celebration.  Each class will enjoy a fall treat and will read by flashlight with their buddy classroom.  We will also be acting out a fun fall story as a school and learning a fall dance in the the gym from Mrs. Stratton.
Each child can bring a flashlight and 1-2 fall or Halloween books to use at school on this day.

If you ordered NDLC clothing, please double check that you received the correct clothing sizes.  There were a few mix-ups in the sorting process.

Upcoming Dates:

Tuesday, Oct. 27th: Field Trip to Heckrodt and Kaukauna Fire Dept.
Thursday, Oct. 29th Roller Skating at Skate City! Let us know if you're coming by responding here.
Nov. 10th and 12th: Parent:Teacher Conferences 

Reading:  We will use the post-it labels we started last week to help us warm up as readers this week by rereading our own words before we read the text.  We will also share this work with our partners and coach our partners to write even more sounds, words, and even sentences.

Writing: This week we will really focus on stretching words to hear ALL the sounds in them as we write.  We will reread our work and go back to add in sounds we may have missed.  We will also be looking at different types of information books we can read together and will try to make our writing look and sound like they do. 

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
• practicing number formation
• 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 

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

Help spread the word!

New Directions Learning Community will be offering a free event

for senior citizens in the Fox Valley.

On Thursday November 5^th  from 8:30 – 9:15 am

seniors are welcome to visit our school.

Coffee and pastries will be served while they

learn about how school is different today than it was when they were young.

Weekly News October 19-23

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

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

Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday, Oct. 20th: Family Night 4:30-5:30 pm

Thursday, Oct. 22 and Friday, Oct. 23: No School for Students

Tuesday, Oct. 27th: Field Trip to Heckrodt and Kaukauna Fire Dept.
Thursday, Oct. 29th Roller Skating at Skate City! Let us know if you're coming by responding here.

Oct. 26-30th is Red Ribbon Week.  Celebrate Being Drug Free with these fun dress-up days!
Oct. 27th: No Sweat Being Drug Free: Wear Sweats **dress for an outdoor field trip**
Oct. 28th: Red Day
Oct. 29th: Drug free is double the fun: Dress as a twin
Oct. 30th: We're the Ghosts, Say BOO to drugs!: Wear Orange and Black 

Reading:  We wrapped up last week by marking places in our books where we could read words, phrases, or even whole pages.  There were sticky-notes EVERYWHERE!  So exciting!  This week our reading, word work, and writing will all collide in our reader's workshop as students use post-its to make labels for pictures in their books as they read and then use our sight words to turn those one word labels into phrases.

Writing: Last week as writers we made HUGE progress!  We are now all doing our best to write both labels and sentences on each page of our teaching books and are working hard to use our sight words!  This week we will focus on using more science specific vocabulary and describing words as we write about our science observations.  We will also be using information books on fall topics to gather more information about for our writing. 

Math: Thanks to everyone who was able to attend math morning on Friday!  We hope you were able to get a little glimpse of how Kindergarten math talk and thinking are being developed.  This week in math we will continue to focus on finding groups of 5 in numbers 6-10.  We will focus specifically on writing addition equations using 5 groups and being able to count up from 5 to see how many
"extra" join with 5 to make a given number.  We will also be working on telling story problems to reinforce concepts of addition and subtraction.  We will be using classroom objects and math tools to act out our story problems.  For centers we will be finishing up our centers from last week and also working on some number writing activities. 

Social Studies: We wrote and illustrated six books last week about staff that work in our school.  Ask your child who they learned about on our many interviews and tours!  After learning about so many people and places in our school we will reread all of these books and celebrate our new knowledge, then learn about some centers where we will put this new knowledge to use.  In these centers students will determine who could help solve various problems in our school, sort tools a school helper might use, create webs about our school helpers, and build the places and spaces in which they work.

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.  

Help spread the word!

New Directions Learning Community will be offering a free event

for senior citizens in the Fox Valley.

On Thursday November 5^th  from 8:30 – 9:15 am

seniors are welcome to visit our school.

Coffee and pastries will be served while they

learn about how school is different today than it was when they were young.

Weekly News October 12-16

We had another great week in Kindergarten!   These learners have got it going on!  Each day learning with them is better than the next!! 

Upcoming Dates: 
Friday, Oct. 16th: Math Morning 7:30-8:15 am

Tuesday, Oct. 20th: Family Night 4:30-5:30 pm

Thursday, Oct. 22 and Friday, Oct. 23: No School for Students

Oct. 26-30th: Red Ribbon Week
Tuesday, Oct. 27th: Field Trip to Heckrodt and Kaukauna Fire Dept.
Thursday, Oct. 29th Roller Skating at Skate City--See PSC Email for more info! Let us know if you're coming by responding here.

If you are planning to join us for Math Morning on Friday, please remember this is an event for parents only.  Teachers will be supervising students on the playground beginning at 7:20; students should head to the playground upon arrival (there will NOT be indoor supervision for students). After Ryan Flessner's presentation you will have the chance to stop in the classroom and see your child working with their math tool box.

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.

Word Work: We will continue practicing these sight words this week: I, a, and, the, is  

Writing: Our "Writing Like Scientists" unit is off and running!  Despite the rainy weather last week the students remained hard at work looking closely and observing fall artifacts! 

This week we will continue to observe fall artifacts and as we do we will be writing books that teach others.  We will focus on planning our books with a partner and making zoomed in, detailed drawings with labels to show all we know.  

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 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 have interviewed MANY people in our school.  This week we will publish our new knowledge about these people by finishing writing books about each person.

Help spread the word!

New Directions Learning Community will be offering a free event

for senior citizens in the Fox Valley.

On Thursday November 5^th  from 8:30 – 9:15 am

seniors are welcome to visit our school.

Coffee and pastries will be served while they

learn about how school is different today than it was when they were young.

Kaukauna Strong!

We are Kaukauna Strong!  Check out these happy faces sporting orange, black and crazy hair today!

We practiced writing our sight words with shaving cream!  

Weekly News October 5-9

We had a terrific week in Kindergarten last week!  The highlight was most definitely celebrating the end of our first reading unit with a parade!  In case you didn't catch the video on Facebook, here it is one more time!

New Directions students are invited to march in the homecoming parade this Friday.  All students MUST have a parent march with them.  Please return a permission slip to school with your child if you plan to join in the parade!

Now that the kids have settled so nicely into a routine, we would like to welcome any interested volunteers into our classroom.  Please send us an email if you are interested in helping in the classroom and include the frequency, days and times you would be available to help.  All volunteers are required to have a background check on file, please contact us if you need a background check form sent home with your child.  

Just an FYI, Mrs. Hixon will be out of state for a wedding this Thursday and Friday.  Mrs. Flanagan will be here in her place, she is a beloved substitute at New Directions and we know the students will love learning with her!  

Upcoming Dates:
Friday, Oct. 9th:  Orange and Black and Crazy Hair day and  Homecoming Parade-5:00 pm

Friday, Oct. 16th: Math Morning 7:30-8:15 am

Tuesday, Oct. 20th: Family Night 4:30-5:30 pm

Thursday, Oct. 22 and Friday, Oct. 23: No School for Students

Oct. 26-30th: Red Ribbon Week
Tuesday, Oct. 27th: Field Trip to Heckrodt and Kaukauna Fire Dept 

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.  Our 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.

Reading: As you can see from the video, we wrapped up our first reading unit in a BIG way! The students were just beaming as they proudly celebrated their skills with the rest of the school cheering them on!  Our 2nd reading unit 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 another exciting week as we will be wrapping up and celebrating our first writing unit.  To celebrate we will be reading our true stories to the class and then displaying them on a special bulletin for the whole school to admire.  In order to get ready for this celebration we will be using a checklist to help us revise our writing make sure our stories are the best they can be.  We will also learn how to edit our writing to make sure it is easy for others to read.  The next unit we will jump into is called "Observing, Labeling and Listing Like Scientists."  We will be doing some observing and collecting of fall artifacts to help us to do this work, then our goal will be to write teaching books about the things we see and collect.  

Word Study:  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!

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: practicing number order by completing dot to dot pages and constructing numbers with play dough, using pictures to tell addition and subtraction problems, creating our own number parader showing numbers and their quantity in order and using multiple materials to build shapes.  

Social Studies: We will conduct a few more interviews of school staff this week as part of our school study.  So far we have interviewed Mrs. Frischmann (principal), Mrs. Wydeven (guidance counselor), Mrs. Mitchell (admin assistant), and Mrs. Hixon (about her reading specialist role).  This week we will interview Mr. Tom (custodian), Mrs. VandeHey (math coach), and Mrs. Geoffrey (heath office EA).