March 13-17

Notes from Room 82: 

Here is a link to view pictures from our field trip and other recent science related activities!

If you child is participating in the FANG Reading program. Please have them turn in their slips weekly. They will receive prizes as they go. If you child starts now, and meets the requirements, you can sent them all in at once! :)

Notes from NDLC: 

Check out this  months newsletter to learn more about birthday boxes and the other important happenings in our school!

Summer School:

 There are so many exciting offerings for summer school this year. Have you seen them? If not, here is the course description packet. Registration opens on Sunday, March 19th at 2:00 pm. There are a few New Directions Teachers teaching summer school this year. Check out this list to see what classes are being taught by New Directions teachers. I am sure you will agree that there are many great options for enrichment this year!

 A message from Student Council: 

HOORAY! Our 3D printer was fully funded! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

As you begin your spring cleaning, please look for magnets, old electronics, toy cars, Knex, and legos. We will also take household items like measuring cups, paper products and utensils. Basic office supplies would also be helpful when building our makerspace. As always, you can send monetary donations with your child to contribute toward makerspace supplies. 

NDLC Running Club: New Directions is starting an after school running club!  Please watch your child's folder for information on the Running Club. 

If you can help at any of the following, here are the sign-ups:

Book Fair 

http://signup.com/go/zkKGHy

Conference Meals

http://signup.com/go/bEgipo

Knowledge-A-Thon

http://signup.com/go/TNwaqh

Upcoming events:

March 15: No School

March 29: Crazy Hair/Hat Day

March 28 and 30: Parent Teacher Conferences

What's Happening in Room 82: 

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.

Readers are flexible problem solvers. When we get to a tricky word, here are some things we try:

Writing: After sharing so much knowledge in our all about books, the writers are going to start sharing their opinions! We will start with a “Buffer Day”. We use these days to introduce our new genre to the students. Together, we will write an opinion piece as a class. We will talk specifically about writing opinion letters and students will write letters about their opinion on things that shouldbe changed in our room.

Math: We will be working on our fluency this week. By the end of the year in Kindergarten, students are expected to add and subtract fluently within five. We will look for +1, -1, +0, and -0 patterns to help us add and subtract quickly. We will continue looking at partners of ten and discuss how using five groups helps us subitize and see partners quickly. Mathematicians will also review position words and shapes this week. 

Word Study:   Our words this week will be: red, yellow, blue, then, & was.

Social Studies: We will start to build a base for our Self Study inquiry with a read aloud, video aloud, and song. Students will have whole class conversation about the book It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr. We will create a class book after watching a video of a poem called, “I am Me!” Here is the link  to the poem. Each student will add a page that says, “No one _____ the way I ____.” Finally, we will create a self-portrait after listening to  the song “What I Am” by Will.I.Am. Here is the link to the song. I am excited for students to start thinking about what makes them special…we know they are!