November 28-December 2

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend and had a chance to spend some quality time relaxing and enjoying the company of others!

You can pick up your child's Square 1 artwork at the family night on December 8th by the music room.

Here is a link to our new homework calendar.

Upcoming Events:

• November 28: Wear Packer gear
• December 8: Pajama Day AND Family Night: PJ's and Publishing
• December 6: Kaukauna Christmas Parade
• Students and families are welcome to join the NDLC float. More information will be coming soon! 
• December 13: No School
• December 14: Wear your favorite college gear!
• December 22: Wear holiday colors!

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, put sight words down quickly, and remember spaces. This is some hard work! Remember to praise the efforts you see when writing comes home.

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.

• Students will draw math pictures as illustrations for a poem book that teaches about the +1 pattern in numbers 1-10.
• Mathematicians will illustrate a poem book that teaches about the -1 pattern in numbers 1-10.
• We will learn more about adding and subtracting using cubes and a ‘break apart stick’. For instance, seeing 00 l 000 as 2+3=5.
• Students will practice building a number with tiles, taking a tile away, and writing the equation to match. 

Word Study:  Students are working hard to find their sight words in their new reading books. The new sight words for this week are: come, like, look, my, to.

Science: Scientists will investigate mammals and fur. Our read aloud books and discussions will focus on camouflage, mammals, fur, and fur that is used as protection. Did you know that a porcupine quill is actually a modified hair? We will look at fur under a magnifying glass, create animals using stamps and rubbing plates, and play a camouflage game.

November 14-18

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!

As you may have heard, rest towels do not need to return to school because we will not be having a rest time anymore. Students are ready for that time to be used for a quiet activity such as shared reading, handwriting, etc.

On Friday, we had a special visit from a veteran. It was great opportunity to learn more about his job and say thank you for all he does!

Upcoming Events:
November 15: Conferences 4-7:30pm
November 17: 1/2 day- 11:30 dismissal
November 18: Wisconsin Badger Day
November 23-25: No School

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: Here are the math centers for the week:

•   Using a Math Expressions activity page, students will practice identifying and then building shapes using pipe cleaners and straws. After, they will use geoboards on the Ipads to build more shapes.
•  Each student will have a five frame with all five spaces filled. They will roll a 0-5 dice. They will cross out the number they rolled and write the subtraction equation that matches.  
• Students will choose a prewritten equation. They will show the subtraction problem using chips and write the equation.
•  Mathematicians will play “Garbage” This is a card game that focuses on number order. Grab a deck of cards (without the jacks, queens, and kings) and ask your child to teach you how to play at home!  

Word Study:  As you read with your child at home, continue searching for sight words and start to focus on the beginning letter sounds as well as sight words on the page. Our sight words for this week are: see, in, you, big, little.

Science: It is an exciting time in Kindergarten as we begin our first science unit! The unit is called Fur, Feathers, Skin, and Scales. We will begin our inquiry with questions like

• What are the different body coverings that animals have? 
• Why do animals have different body coverings?
• What covers you?
•  How do you take care of your skin?

We will begin to explore these questions through books, videos, and class discussions

November 7-11

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.

On Tuesday, students will have the opportunity to vote! We will visit our school's voting booth and read a few books that explain the election and president. Information provided to students will be taken from the following site: http://election.scholastic.com/

On Friday, we will celebrate Veteran's Day by wearing red, white, and blue as well as having a parent from our class share about his experience as a veteran!

Upcoming Events:
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

Reading: As readers, we have been working on using three powers: pointer power, picture power, 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
• sight words spelled correctly in their writing 

Check the hallway during conferences to see their published pieces! 

Math: Mathematicians will work on addition and subtraction stories, equal and unequal, and learning the attributes of a triangle this week.

• We will create a mat that shows numbers 1-10. We will talk about patterns we see, five groups, and more!
• Students will build numbers using chips. They will decide if the numbers they build are equal or unequal.
• We will tell math story using pictures from the Math Expressions book.
• Students will work on position words by creating a book about above, below, next to, etc.

Word Study: We will start our sorts this week! These individualized sorts will fit the specific spelling needs of each student. The sorts focus on skills like beginning sounds, short vowels, and digraphs. Our sight words for this week are: see, in, you, big, little.

Social Studies: We will wrap up our School Study unit this week! We have learned so much about our school helpers. The last project we will do is create a school map. We will design pictures that show the different parts of our school in teams. We will take a tour of the school and build a map using the pieces we created.