Pictures from the end of the year!

 Here is the link to our end of the year song! 

We used iPads to create videos of the ramps we built! The scientists did an awesome job telling the audience what they were testing and what their results were! 

Readers acted out their favorite character books! They created puppets and setting to help them act it out. 

 

Other end of the year happenings: 

We had morning meeting with our 3rd grade buddies!

We signed our memory books.

 We made great friends and many memories! Kindergartners from Room 82
2015-2016  

Last week of school!

The end of Kindergarten is here! I can't believe how fast this year has gone! I am so proud of all the Kindergarten work. 

Here are a few helpful tips for summer...

Reading

Below are links to book lists at different levels. Reminder: The reading level that is listed on the report card is your child's instructional level. Use the Matching Books to Readers sheet to better understand what your reader can be doing at each level.

Levels C-I


Levels H-M

Here are some reading and writing choices! 

• Read 20 minutes out of your book bag/box
• Have a family member read aloud to you or take turns reading to each other
• Look at the writing you’ve done lately and set some goals.  Write them down and keep them next to you when you write 
• Write a book recommendation for a friend or family member
• Call a family member and tell him or her about your reading or writing goals
• Help write a grocery list 
• Write a poem for someone
• Read book reviews online and make a list of “must-reads”
• Find a friend and read the same book.  Set goals and make a plan to chat 
• Have a “reading marathon” - gather up a bunch of books, magazines and or newspapers, and read until you need to stop
• Spend time writing a mystery/fantasy/historical fiction/sci fi/realistic fiction story
• Draw a picture and write labels and give it to a friend or family member
• Make a comic strip
• Read a video game “cheat” book
• Read and follow the directions for a game
• Research something for your family 
• Write a letter to convince someone to do or think something
• Write a survey question and ask people their opinion and then use this in a piece of writing
• Read and follow a recipe
• Write a “how-to” for someone in your family or a friend
• Reread your favorite picture book
• Read a story to a sister or brother 
• Read a story to someone on the phone
• Write a play 
• Take a scene from your book and write a script 
• Write a letter to a friend or family member that lives far away
• Write questions and interview someone.  Take notes during your interview!
• Plan a trip (real or made-up) by researching places to go, things to see, and how you’ll get there
• Read to a pet or stuffed animal

Math Ideas

• Games with subitizing cards. 
• Top it. Split a deck of cards with different dot patterns on them. Player 1 and Player 2 will both lay a card down.  Then, they will determine which player’s card is greater. The player with the greater card will get both of the cards. If the players lay cards with the same number of dots, they will flip another card to see who has the greater card. 
• Subitizing Game: To play, you need two players. a game board and tiles/counters to cover each of the subitizing patterns on the board. Once the board is covered with tiles, player 1 points to a tile and player 2 lifts the tile for one second. Player one then has to say how many dots they saw. If they get it correct, they keep the tile, if not the tile is replaced. Player 2 then has a turn. this continues until all tiles are removed, the winner is the person with the  most tiles at the end of the game. Here is a link to a gameboard. 
• Use playing cards to play Memory. They will pick a card with a number 1-10. Then they will need to find the partner to ten. 
• Here is a link to a five frame computer game. 
• This website has TONS of helpful links. Keep in mind that adding, subtracting, and structuring within 10 will help your child be ready for First Grade! 

Thank you for a GREAT year at New Directions. It was a privilege to work with you all. I am amazed at everything your children are capable of and how much they have grown. Have a fantastic summer! 

May 23-27

Let's celebrate the last few days with a special GOOD-BYE!

5/23 G Green Bay gear and grapes

5/24 O Oranges and wear orange

5/25 O Odd day and Oreos

5/26 D Dot day: Wear dots and dot art

5/31 B Book buddies and wear blue

6/1   Y Yummy popsicles and yoga

6/2  E Exercise gear

At the end of the year, fourth graders host "mini-courses" where they teach a skill to our 5k-3rd graders.  If you have empty egg cartons, please send them in with your child this week.  We have a group that needs them.  Thanks! 

Upcoming events: 

• May 23: Family Event at the Kaukauna Public Library
• May 26: Half Day--Dismissal at 11:30
• May 27 and 30: No School
• June 1: Minicourses and Field Day
• June 2: Last Day of School--Half Day for Students

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: We will get ready to celebrate at the end of this week by acting out our stories! Here are the most important parts to remember when acting out books:

• Make your reading sound smooth (not. choppy. like. a. robot.)
• Check how your character is feeling! 
• Make your voice match the character's voice 
• Make your face and body match the character's 
• "Pop out" important parts of the book

At the end of the week, students will perform their books with partners for the class. It will be quite the show! 

Writing: I was blown away by the AMAZING job the students did on their final true story writing (that will go into their portfolio!) They worked so hard to incorporate all that we had learned throughout this unit. For the rest of the year, students will be fiction writers. THey will learn to create a character, put them in a setting, and tell a story about their made up character. We will encourage them to add feelings. 

Math:  This week, we will wrap up Unit 5. We will review ways to measure including length, height, weight, and capacity. We will also talk about all of the different strategies we have for counting. 

• Students will explore measuring capacity using different size containers with noodles.
• Students will practice teen numbers by completing teen number pages.

Word Study: We will continue to review all the Kindergarten sight words. We will especially focus on transferring this work to our reading and writing! 

Here are our sight words. 

Science: The scientists will think about the following questions: 

• What do you know about balls? 
• What do you know about ramps? 

Then, we will use that knowledge to think of own experiment to do. They will use the scientific method to observe, think of a question, make a hypothesis, test the experiment, and share what you learned. We will share what we learned by making videos of the ramps we build and tests we run. 

May 16-20

I can't believe it is our last full week of school! It is AMAZING to see how far these students have come. I am so proud of the hard work they continue to do! 

At the end of the year, fourth graders host "mini-courses" where they teach a skill to our 5k-3rd graders.  If you have empty egg cartons, please send them in with your child this week.  We have a group that needs them.  Thanks! 

Upcoming events: 

• May 23: Family Event at the Kaukauna Public Library
• May 26: Half Day--Dismissal at 11:30
• May 27 and 30: No School
• June 1: Field Day--Stay tuned for more info, but if you are thinking about volunteering and will need a background check, please let us know ASAP!  Thanks!
• June 2: Last Day of School--Half Day for Students

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: We will continue acting out our books with a partner.  We will learn that readers think “How does this character feel right now?” and then make their voices, faces, and bodies match that feeling. Also, when readers come to a part where a character doesn’t say anything, they can think, “What might the character say in this part?” and then look closely at the pictures to help imagine those words. By acting out our books, we will develop an even deeper understanding of characters in our books. Partners will retell the story after reading each book. 

Writing: It's editing week! We will use our editing checklists and work with our partners to give suggestions and compliments. After making sure we have said all we want to say and drawn pictures that show many details, our writing will be ready to be published! First, writers will check to see that they have a beginning, speech bubbles, feelings, and an ending with a big action or feeling! Then, we will pay special attention to our sight words, punctuation, and upper and lowercase letters. I can't wait to send home true stories for you to enjoy! 

Math:  We will explore measuring and comparing this week using inventory bags. The inventory bags are Ziploc baggies filled with an assortment of materials and different number materials. We will rotate through the following centers: 

• Inventory bags: The kids choose a bag of items and then count and record the number of items they found.  They also need to check the counting strategy they have used to determine that.  
• Comparing Inventory Bags:   For this activity children will compare 2 inventory bags by dumping them on a divided tray and then organizing and comparing the contents of them.  They then will fill out a sheet that uses comparing words to record their findings.
• Ten Stick Measuring:  Each child needs to build a 10 stick with unifix cubes and will be using it to measure items around the room and find and record things that are longer and shorter around the room.  They should draw/write more than one thing on each side of the paper.  
• A______is longer than a_____________ :   kids are using colored pencils to make comparison drawings of objects they know and then   (Ex.  A ruler is longer than an eraser). There are also a_________is shorter than a__________ pages for them to complete, they can staple together all of the pages they make into a booklet.  

Word Study: We will use the next couple weeks to review all the Kindergarten sight words. We will especially focus on transferring this work to our reading and writing! 

Here are our sight words. 

Science: After building knowledge about balls and ramps, students will have time to create different ramps and test them out! Students will test different size balls, ramp heights, and weight balls. We are so excited to use all of the different materials! 

KAT Celebration!

Kindergarteners are smart cookies! 

May 9-13

There are a few events happening for us this week. We will listen to a presentation about the summer reading program at the library. The National Theater for Children sponsored by WPPI Energy and KK Utilities will present on energy conservation. Finally, we look forward to celebrating the amazing job we did on our Knowledge-A-Thon on Friday. We will be decorating cookies to celebrate being such SMART COOKIES! 


Upcoming events: 

• May 12: Family Night
• May 13: KAT Cookie Decorating Celebration
• May 23: Family Event at the Kaukauna Public Library
• May 26: Half Day--Dismissal at 11:30
• May 27 and 30: No School
• June 1: Field Day--Stay tuned for more info, but if you are thinking about volunteering and will need a background check, please let us know ASAP!  Thanks!
• June 2: Last Day of School--Half Day for Students

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: We will start a new unit on characters this week! We will start to learn the ways you can ‘meet’ the characters in our books. Some ways to do this are to pay attention to the title, cover, and setting. We will also take picture walks and think about the feelings our characters have. By the end of the week, we will be focusing on the changes in character feelings. 

Writing: Writers will learn that illustrations are a HUGE part of true stories because they show how characters feel and act.We will try using bold print or capitalized words to emphasize important words in our writing. Toward the end of the week, writers will be reminded to study their pictures and tell in words important details like feelings, setting, and actions.  

Math:  We will rotate through the following centers: 

• Students will play the game speed.  This card game helps students practice the number that comes before and the number that comes after a given number. 
• We will practice adding and subtracting within ten using a ten frame and bingo dotters. 
•  Using a dice within a dice (which we call baby dice), students will quickly add the two numbers they see together. Then, they will compare their number to their partner’s to determine which is greater.

• Students will play five frame Go Fish. Using five frames will help students to visualize adding and subtracting within five. 

Word Study: Our sight words are: they, first, next, last.  We will continue to practice these words.    

We will be working on these endings in our sorts: ip, ig, and ill. 

Here are our sight words. 

Science: We will rotate through the following centers:

• We will watch videos and look at pictures of balls and ramps. Then we will draw blue prints for when we make ramps. 
• We will use paper tubes, wood, and bouncy balls to observe and explore.
• Scientists will be given Marble Works materials to build, observe, and take notes on what we notice.

This week in Kindergarten...

Scientists went to the gym to explore using ramps and balls. We had really great discussions about our findings and wrote some of our ideas in our science journals. 

                                 

    We got do math centers with Mrs. Hixon's class. We had a great                                 time sharing our math thinking!