Week of January 15-19

Hello Families,

It's crazy to think our school year is almost half over!! As we are getting to the halfway mark, that means we have some testing coming up. Next week, students will take the MAP test again for Reading and Math. We also will be taking a World Map test. Let me know if your child is feeling anxious over any of these tests and we'll work to help alleviate that.

Reminders/Updates

• Monday will be Day 3.
• Pink confirmation forms were sent home. Please fill them out and return them with your child!
• Yearbook forms were sent home last week. The forms are due back January 19th if you are interested in ordering. 

Don't forget...January is a big month for our school!  There are many informational events taking place to help others learn more about New Directions.  Please share these dates with anyone you think may be interested in learning more about what a great place New Directions is for students to learn and grow!

Thursday, January 11th-5:30 PM District-Wide Info Session held at Tanner Early Learning Center
Tuesday, January 16th-6:00 -7:00 PM Info Session at New Directions
Monday, January 22nd-10:00 AM-1:00 PM Open House for prospective families at New Directions
Thursday, February 1st-6:00-7:00 PM-Info Session at New Directions


Families can also call Mrs. Frischmann at 766-6116 to set up individual tours.

Upcoming Events

January 15: Reading MAP test for students

January 16: NDLC Parent Info Session 6-7
January 17: Math MAP test for students

January 19: Students dismissed at 11:30
January 19: World Map Test for students

January 22: NO SCHOOL

January 23-26 Celebrate NDLC Week

February 1: NDLC Parent Info Session 6-7

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we practiced 3-digit addition using different methods and began 3-digit subtraction. Before we introduce the numerical methods (what most adults use), it is helpful for students to see what is happening in place value drawings. Then, they can connect what they did in their drawings to how it looks when we add or subtract numerically. Next week, we will practice what we have learned so far by discussing different methods of subtraction and relating subtraction and addition together. What we work on in class is most likely different than how you remember adding and subtracting! Encourage your child to explain to you what they're doing. As always, feel free to contact me as well if you're having a hard time understanding! :)

Writing: We started our next unit, Baby Literary Essays. For the first bend of this unit, we will be writing multiple essays on the same book, Those Shoes. In our literary essays, we need to have a claim and support that claim with evidence from the text. This strongly relates to what students will be asked to do on the Forward exam. Students have enjoyed typing their essays! It is something fun and just a little bit of a change of pace. Next week, students will be able to choose a text that they will write essays about as they gain more independence in writing literary essays.

Word Study: This week we practiced breaking apart words into its syllables. This is helpful for students in both reading and writing--to correctly read or spell a word with multiple syllables. Next week, we will add our trick words: always, often, and once, and continue practicing with syllables. 

Reading: This past week we talked about how to find character/people's traits. We know we can pay attention to what characters/people say or do and that can tell us a lot about a person! We also learned to look for evidence in the book when we say a character is a certain way. The more evidence we have, the stronger the theory! Book clubs are going so well! I am so impressed with the conversations these students are all having. The students are prepared with thoughtful ideas to share with their groups. I think the kids are leaving their club meetings feeling satisfied and wanting to read MORE! This coming week we will we continuing to look at characters and make predictions about what they will do based on how they act. We will also study secondary characters because we know that these people are important and sometimes extremely influential to the main character.

Content: Students were busy researching their country this week in online databases and in books. Mrs. Wolf even came in to teach us about Google Slides! Feel free to have your child play around with this at home--students find it fun making slideshows! Next week, we will present and watch each other's slideshows. I know presenting can be terrifying for some students--if your child is feeling that way, let me know and we can work thought it! We will also take this Unit's test on Friday: students will get a blank map and will fill in continents, oceans, and the main rivers and mountains in the United States. This is everything we have covered in class! I sent home a blank map if students want to practice at home (the test will be VERY similar.)

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny