Dec 4-8

Thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us for Afternoon with Astronauts!  The students were elated to share their science knowledge with you and, of course, loved being dressed as (and eating) like astronauts!

Just a quick reminder to have family night RSVP's in by tomorrow.  It was a quick turn around this month, but we want to make sure we have enough pizza for everyone :).

Here is the December lunch menu.

Important Dates and Reminders:
12/5 Christmas Parade- NDLC families can meet by Bank of Kaukauna to watch together
12/7: PJ day and PJ's, Pizza and Publishing Family Night 5:30-7:00
12/12: NO SCHOOL
12/13: Holiday Wear Day
12/21: PJ Day
12/22-1/1: NO SCHOOL

Here is a peek at the week:

Math: This will be our last week working in Unit 2.  We will be working in math centers this week to better finalize and consolidate the concepts we have learned while working in this unit.  Our math centers will be:

• Nearby Numbers: using forward and backward number sequence to fill in a series of missing numbers. This will help us to count on from a given number which is an early addition strategy. 
• Break Apart Sticks and Chips: representing a quantity using math chips and then placing a break apart stick to create 2 groups and recognizing how they work together as partners to make a number and then writing an equation to match
• +1/-1 dice game: using a dice, game piece and 1-10 number parade to practice automaticity with +1 and -1 equations and to better understand the connection these equations have to forward and backward counting.
• 5 frame subtraction:  filling a 5 frame with 5 dots/circles. rolling a die and then crossing out to show subtraction and writing an equation to match.  This will help us with our subtraction fluency within 5. 

If you are looking for some great at home activities to support the Kindergarten math standards we will focus on all year.  Here is a fantastic resource.  As always, let me know if you have questions or need specific feedback.

Reading: At the end of last week we learned some important questions to ask ourselves when solving new words: 1."Does it make sense?" To answer this question we need to rely on the picture and make sure that what we are reading matches what the photo or illustration is showing in our book. 
2. "Does it sound right?"  To answer this question we need to listen to ourselves as we read and make sure what we are saying sounds like a book.  This can be tricky as 5 and 6 year olds are sometimes still developing language skills. 
This week we will rely on letters at the beginning and end of words to ask the question "Does it look right?"  For example, if a student reads the word dog, they are able to point and notice the word begins with d.  These three questions are integral to self monitoring our reading and we will work hard with these concepts over the next several months.

Writing: This week we will use all we know about readable writing to "publish" a story to showcase at our family night this week.  We will specifically be working on strategies to hear more sounds in a word we are writing by using a partner to help us check our writing and to use a resource when stretching out words.

Social Studies: We are sad to see our space unit come to an end, but we will begin a new inquiry unit into holidays.  This week we will use a calendar to notice the many holidays that are celebrated across a year and will then identify holidays we already know about and those we'd like to learn more about.  Overall, we will be choosing 8 total holidays to study from now until winter break.  Stay tuned to hear the holidays we choose!