Week of February 26 - March 2

Hi Families,

Whew!  That was one quick week made even shorter by an early dismissal on Monday and closure on Tuesday! Hopefully you were able to spend some extra time with your family at some point during this week. I spent our day off on Tuesday catching up on projects I have for the classroom and making some overdue wedding planning decisions!

It's hard to believe that our 3rd Quarter Portfolio Conferences could be coming up in less than a month! Please do let me know if you have any concerns or celebrations to share before then.

Reminders/Updates

• The last day to turn in the Six Flags Read to Succeed Forms is on Monday.
• Our February Family Night is coming up next week!! Are you interested in donating cookies or serving cookies? We could use some help! It will be this Tuesday, February 27th
• Click here to sign up to serve cookies at the Family Night
• Click here to sign up to donate cookies

Upcoming Events

February 27: Family Night: Music and Munchies
March 2: Dress Like Your Favorite Dr. Seuss Book Character
March 5: Culver's Night 5:00-8:00 (Ms. Feldkamp will be serving from 7-8!)
March 6: PAC Artistic Adventures field trip in the afternoon
March 8: Author's Breakfast
March 9: Early Dismissal
March 16: Wear Green
March 19: Badger Sports Wear
March 20: Portfolio Conferences
March 22: Portfolio Conferences

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we worked on solving word problems involving time. Sometimes students need to find the end time of an activity, the start time, or the elapsed time. We have been closely reading (and rereading!) the word problems and highlighting/underlining the important information to help us determine what we are trying to find. Next week we'll discuss pictographs and bar graphs, creating our own graphs and interpreting the data. We're getting close to the end of this unit! I will be sending home the review for students work on a little each night. Having students go through the problems on the review will benefit them greatly on the test! I will also email the answer key to the review when I assign it as homework :) 

Writing: This short week we've been working on providing our partner with feedback that will make their piece of writing even better. Next week, we'll continue to investigate different types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. The goal is for students to realize that there are different types of sentences, but all sentences MUST have a subject and predicate! We also will wrap up our independent writing projects and celebrate all that students have learned in each genre. 

Word Study: We are continuing to work with different types of syllables in two or more syllable words. This week students realized that if they know how to spell each syllable in a longer word, then they can put those together to spell the whole word correctly! This is exactly the purpose of teaching syllables! This can help us both in spelling words as we writing and reading those words.

Reading: This past short-week we began talking about the deep meaning of poems. We will continue that work into this coming week. We will pay close attention to the last lines of poems. We will also look at the overall theme of poems! I have been really impressed with the deep thinking the students are doing with this work! We have been learning a lot of poetry terms! Ask your child about what alliterations are! With the end of the year coming quick, please make sure your child is reading each night. This is SO important for them to work on stamina, comprehension, fluency, and just finding that joy of reading!

Content: We will be taking a final Motion and Design test to assess all that we have learned from this unit on Monday. We didn't get a chance to take it this week, but we were able to play a review game to prepare us for the test! Next week marks the start of our Social Studies unit: the Civil Rights Movement.

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

Best,

Jenny

Week of February 19 - 21

Hi Families,

Wow! I was showered with chocolates, candies, gifts, and thoughtful letters on Valentine's Day! Thank you all so much. I am lucky to be surrounded by such a great group of kids and families!

100th Day of School -- Dressing as 100 Year Old's!

When I asked, "What do 100 year olds do?" students replied with, "They read the newspaper!!"

 Pictures from our Valentine's Celebration with our First Grade Buddies

Reminders/Updates

• The Six Flags Read to Succeed Forms are due on Wednesday, February 21. 
• Our February Family Night is coming up soon!! Are you interested in donating cookies or serving cookies at our next Family Night? It will be February 27th!
• Click here to sign up to serve cookies at the Family Night
• Click here to sign up to donate cookies

Upcoming Events

February 22: NO SCHOOL
February 22: NDLC Night at Funset 
February 23: NO SCHOOL
February 27: Family Night: Music and Munchies
March 2: Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character
March 5: Culver's Night 5:00-8:00 (Ms. Feldkamp will be serving from 7-8!)
March 6: PAC Artistic Adventures field trip in the afternoon
March 8: Author's Breakfast
March 9: Early Dismissal

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we worked on telling time to the minute! We also studied elapsed time. This is a fun skill for students to practice at home, as this is used every day in our lives! You could ask your child to keep track of the time they start reading at night, and what time they should stop if they are going to read for 20 minutes. Or, if a TV show starts at 7:00, how much time until it will start? Getting students to see that they use this stuff all the time will help them be motivated to be able to do this! Next week, we'll solve word problems involving time and also read and create bar graphs and pictographs. 

Writing: Students were able which type of writing they want to work on--narrative, opinion, or information! So far there are some captivating mysteries, some knowledgeable all about books, some mystical fairytales, and some convincing letters! We also set deadlines for ourselves and planned out what we are going to do in our writing each day until the end of the unit. This was very powerful for students to see! Some have been bringing home their writing if they didn't meet their deadline or if they just want to. :) Next week, we'll work to add simple and compound sentences to our writing. I noticed that students are not always writing in complete sentences, so focusing on sentence structure should help to correct this.

Word Study: We have been studying words with open syllables. We'll continue in Unit 7 next week by practicing with words that have more than one syllable type (open, closed, and vowel-consonant-silent e). The trick words for this week will be city, every, and family. Continue to do a little of the Unit 7 Word Study packet each day!

Reading: This past week we began analyzing poetry. Each student has a poetry packet with a variety of poems. Some short, long, more difficult, some rhyme, etc. Each day students are rereading their poems and analyzing them in a new lens! For example, we read to find the deeper meaning, rhymes, alliteration, etc. Students should be bringing home fiction to read each night! :) This coming week we are going to figure out the true meaning of the poems we read. We will also start paying attention to the words that help paint an image in our minds as we read. These images will help us understand the poems even better!

Content: This week we worked on our final design challenge: creating a vehicle based upon certain requirements! We tested out our vehicles to check if they met all the necessary requirements. As we are coming to an end of this unit, next week we'll play a game to review and then take the test to assess all we learned in our Motion and Design unit.

Check out the pictures below of students designing their vehicles! Pictures of the final product will be on Seesaw!

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

Best,

Jenny

Week of February 12 - 16

Hi Families,

If you are planning on watching the Winter Olympics, be sure to check out how France, our class's country, is doing! We'll be keeping a metal count in our classroom!

As we look forward to state testing and as our students are becoming older third graders, I am going to start giving them more responsibility and independence. One way I am going to do this is by encouraging them to really work to interpret and understand the directions given. In the past, I would read tests aloud for the class, going over the directions and the questions. Because I want students to take ownership of their own learning, and because I will not be able to do this for state testing, I will be pulling back from this. I want to equip students with the skills they need in order to closely follow directions and answer all parts of a question. I think this will be a useful skill not just for tests, but in their daily life! This is important when having conversations with friends or family or when given a task to do.

If a student asks me, for example, to read a story problem to them, I will absolutely do that. If a student is unsure what a word is, I will by all means tell them. However, I'm going to put that responsibility on them to ask me rather than automatically having each part read to them. I have stated these expectations to students, and I know they ARE capable of doing this.

To prepare students for this, we did a little directions activity on Friday. If your child hasn't already told you about it, make sure to ask! I won't tell exactly what we did because a few students wanted to try it out on parents and siblings at home :) 

Reminders/Updates

• Please return the Field Trip forms for Beauty and the Beast. It is coming up soon!
• Valentine's Day is next Wednesday! A note went home with student names if you are filling out Valentines. 
• Are you interested in donating cookies or serving cookies at our next Family Night? It will be February 27th!
• Click here to sign up to serve cookies at the Family Night
• Click here to sign up to donate cookies
• As the flu bug is going around, please remind your child to be washing their hands frequently!

Upcoming Events

February 12: 100th Day of School! Students can dress like a 100 year old :)
February 14: Wear Pink/Red
February 16: Funky Friday Wear
February 22: NO SCHOOL
February 22: NDLC Night at Funset 
February 23: NO SCHOOL
February 27: Family Night: Music and Munchies
March 2: Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character
March 5: Culver's Night 5:00-8:00 (Ms. Feldkamp will be serving from 7-8!)

Curriculum Update

Math: Mathematicians continued to build their understanding of fractions this week. We also discussed customary units of length--students came up with 21 different units of measurement all on their own!! Next week, we'll dive into telling time. Students in third grade are expected to read and write time to the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, 5 minutes, and 1 minute. Students did this last year, but telling time to the nearest minute will be new for third grade. We also tell time before or after the hour. For example, we could say 11:45 is forty-five minutes after eleven or fifteen minutes before twelve. We'll also look at elapsed time, using our fingers or an open number line to track how much time has passed. Please continue these conversations at home! Practicing in another setting is always beneficial in helping to solidify students' understandings. 

Writing: Our essayists published their FINAL essay of this literary essay unit! Check out Seesaw to see the students saying their essay as a speech. We also took a final assessment as this is our last unit for opinion writing. Next week, we will begin a short unit in which students will be working on an independent writing project. I'm excited to start this unit as students will be able to choose which type of writing they want to work on--narrative, opinion, or information! Students will use all that they learned from each genre to help guide them to generate ideas, plan, and draft. 

Word Study: We finished up Unit 6 this week and took the Unit 6 test. Go over the test with your child and see if  they can tell you why a word is spelled the way it is! Next week, we'll start a new three-week unit. Word study packets will go home on Monday--students can work on a little bit each night. This unit focuses on open syllables, which are syllables that have only one vowel that is the last letter in the syllable (GO, ME, SHY.) The vowel sound is long in an open syllable, and Y often works as a vowel in open syllables. 

Reading: This past week we finished our Character Studies unit! Students learned SO much! Our celebration was a great success! Students had so much fun comparing the book to the movie. This coming week we will be beginning a mini unit on analyzing poetry! Students will have a packet of poetry with a range of different characteristics. They will be learning different poetry techniques and working hard to interpret the deeper meaning of poems. With this there will also be some songs we will be analyzing! I am excited! Make sure students are continuing to read fiction each night at home to help them build their stamina!

Content: This week we set up a falling weight system to demonstrate how gravity can move our vehicles. We also investigated how carrying a load on their vehicle affects the time and speed and the effects of friction. Next week we'll be closely reading an article on lunar rovers to prepare us for our final design challenge: building our own lunar rovers!

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

Best,

Jenny

Week of February 5-9

Hi Families,

Well, it's February! The groundhog DID see his shadow, so I guess we have 6 more weeks of winter. Our class also voted on which country we'd like to keep track of during the Winter Olympics. France won! So if your child has a special interest in how France is doing during the Olympics, that might be why. :) 

Enrollment for the 2018-2019 school year is underway and we have a few spots available in Kindergarten! We find that word of mouth is the best way to market our school.

If you have friends or family with upcoming Kindergarten-aged students, please share what you love about our school! We will be having an open house to see Kindergarten in action on Thursday, February 8th from 8:15-9:00 or 2:15-3:00. Feel free to invite any families that have expressed interest in our school.  

As always, families can also call Mrs. Frischmann at 766-6116 to set up individual tours. 

Reminders/Updates

• As a flu bug has been going around, please remind your child to be washing their hands and coughing into their arm. If you are willing to donate some disinfecting wipes to our classroom, we would greatly appreciate it as we go through a lot during this season!
• When you finish going over your child's Unit 3 Math test, please send them back in so we can put the test in their portfolios. 
• Also, return the Field Trip forms for Beauty and the Beast
• Report cards and MAP test scores went home this week. If you haven't seen them, check your child's backpack or let me know if you can't find them!
• Students will be having a reading celebration next Friday. Please bring in your item, if you signed up for one, on Friday!

Upcoming Events

February 9: Reading Celebration
February 14: Wear Pink/Red
February 16: Funky Friday Wear
February 22: NO SCHOOL
February 23: NO SCHOOL
February 27: Family Night: Music and Munchies
March 2: Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we started our unit on fractions! We learned about unit fractions (just one equal sized-part of the whole, for example 1/4 or 1/6) and putting fractions on a number line so students understand that fractions ARE numbers! Next week, we'll continue locating fractions on a number line and compare fractions to help students understand the size of fractions. Feel free to continue these conversations at home! Students are learning what fractions are and what they are not. See if you can find fractions at home! Some examples might include:

• the third quarter (3/4) of the Super Bowl
• A fraction of their dresser drawers that are open
• How many slices of pizza dad ate as a fraction of the whole pizza
• A row of brownies as a fraction of the whole pan
• A fraction of the fruit snacks in the bag that are red

Writing: Our essayists have been busy improving their literary essays by adding introductions, conclusions, and topic sentences. We started our final essay of this unit: students get to choose an essay to write (character trait, character relationship, character change, or compare/contrast) and they'll be using all that they learned to make it their best essay yet! In fact, these essays will be going in our hallway so we want to show off all that we know. :) If students want to, they are more than welcome to continue publishing their pieces at home!

Word Study: We've been working on words with a v-e (vowel-consonant-silent e) syllable and exceptions to this rule (like GIVE or OLIVE). Next week, we'll finish up Unit 6 and take the test in the middle of the week. You can practice the trick words at home with your child (only, house, move, right place, together) or practice breaking words apart into syllables (thank-ful, vow-el, in-vite) to prepare for the test! 

Reading: This past week in Reading we finished the book Because of Winn Dixie and WOW did the students blow me away with their insights! The lessons they came up with were so profound I was SO impressed! We also started reading another book called, Make Way for Diamonde Daniel. We began comparing and contrasting the characters across these books. Students are even trying to do it within their own books. This coming week we will finish up this unit! We will continue to compare and contrast different story elements across books. We will look at how the main characters react to their problems and we will compare the lessons the main characters learn in books. We will also end the week with a post-assessment AND our celebration of all of the student's hard work! If you signed up to bring something in for the party, please send it with your child by this Friday.

Content: This week we read and annotated an article on a female drag racer. We were also able to Video Chat with a pit crew member on Friday! We took a virtual field trip to see what an Indy 500 car looks like! We asked questions like what how fast he can put on a tire and why he likes to do his job. Check out Seesaw for a video or click here to see some more pictures. Next week, we'll set up a falling weight system to move our model vehicles and investigate how carrying a load on their vehicle affects the time and speed. We'll be reading about lunar rovers to prepare us for our final design challenge: building our own lunar rovers!

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

Best,

Jenny

January 29 - February 2

Hi Families,

Students decided this week that our class wanted to BE the Change by helping to pick up trash rather than walking past it. You can remind your child that they can try this at home too!! :)


Check out the pictures below from the Celebrate NDLC Dress Up Days!

Students got together with their first grade buddies to celebrate being adventurous!

Reminders/Updates

• Please fill out and return the pink confirmation forms with your child ASAP.
• Field Trip forms for Beauty and the Beast were sent home this week. Return those as well!
• STEAM classes will be doing a project and is in need of newspaper. If you have any that you are willing to donate, send them in!

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, 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

February 1: NDLC Parent Info Session 6-7
February 14: Wear Pink/Red
February 16: Funky Friday Wear

Curriculum Update

Math: We finished up Unit 3 this week by taking the test. Take some time to go over it with your child, sign it, and turn it back in. We'll put them in our portfolios! We also took the Mid Year test to assess all that students have learned so far. That means next week we get to start Unit 4, which is Fractions, Measurement, and Time! We'll start by talking about what a fraction is and the terms we use when describing fractions, like numerators and denominators. Fractions are a new concept to students so it will be helpful to show your child where they might see fractions at home! For example, if you're cutting a pizza into 8 equal sized pieces, and you take one slice, you took 1/8 of the pizza. Or, if you have a family of 6, your child is 1/6 of the family. Having students hear fraction terms (one-eighth or one-fourth) and realize that fractions are all around them will get them feeling more comfortable with fractions. 

Writing: This week students have been working on writing a compare/contrast essay between two characters, relationships, or lessons in two books. We have been typing these on Google Docs. Actually, for this essay, students have gotten the chance to voice type! Next week, we'll be working to improve these essays with introductions, topic sentences, and as always reading it over to check to make sure it makes sense. We are getting towards the end of our Opinion unit--if you have internet access at home, feel free to check out your child's work or they're always welcome to work on it at home as well! 

Word Study: We have been working on vowel-consonant-e words, like PINE. Next week, we'll continue with this by discussing vowel-consonant-e syllables, like misTAKE, and exceptions to the v-e rule, like GIVE (the e is silent, but it doesn't make the vowel i say its name.) Have your child work on the Word Study pack a little bit each night! Students also have been trying to use the trick words in one sentence, so if your child is feeling creative, challenge them to write a sentence including the three trick words for next week: right, place, and together. 

Reading: This past week in Reading we looked at how all stories tend to go. They follow the same predictable pattern--a plot mountain. In the beginning of books readers are introduced to characters and usually where the story takes place (setting). Then as you go up the mountain (story) you are introduced to the problems. The climax is the top of the mountain where the problems have escalated and things can't get much worse. Then as you go down the mountain there is a turning point. Something occurs that causes the problems to seem like they might get better and then lastly there is usually a solution to the problems or it is resolved in some way. This coming week we are continuing to pay attention to characters and how they react to their problems. This can usually tell us A LOT about them. We will also start to study the secondary characters in books and realize that they are usually impacting the main character in some way!

Reading at this point in the year for homework is going to be really important! We want students to be building their stamina and practicing their skills. This extra practice will be helpful to build their comprehension as they enter newer reading levels. Here are some possible questions to ask your child about their reading....

• What is the biggest problem your character is facing in your book?

• How do you think your character's biggest problem will be solved?

• Name a secondary character in your book. What role do they play? (advisor, sidekick, challenger) Why?

• What's the turning point in your book?

• What lesson did your character learn? (In life....)

• Tell me about the part you are currently reading. How does this part fit with the rest of the story?

Content: Students have been LOVING our new unit on motion and design! We began by building a model vehicle. I have been impressed with how well the students have been working together in a group and resolving their issues. Next week, we'll build upon the model that we created and do some close reading of an article of a drag racer! Check out Seesaw for pictures and videos of students creating and testing their vehicles!

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

Best,

Jenny

January 22 - 26

Hi Families,

WOW, where has the year gone!? It's so hard to believe that 3rd grade is half over; our students are closer to being 4th graders than they are 2nd graders!! I think halfway through the year is always a great time to talk to your child about what yet they want to achieve in third grade and what they're going to do to get there. They really are some incredible students, and I cannot wait to see what the second semester has in store for each one of them. :)

Reminders/Updates

• Monday will be Day 3.
• Pink confirmation forms were sent home. Please fill them out and return them with your child ASAP!
• Celebrate NDLC Week is next week! Check the flyer below for dress up days and events. 

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!

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 22: NO SCHOOL

January 23-26 Celebrate NDLC Week

February 1: NDLC Parent Info Session 6-7

Curriculum Update

Math: We're nearing the end of Unit 3! Students have been working on 3 digit addition and subtraction, how the two operations are related, and multi-step word problems. Next week Tuesday, we'll go over the review that students have been working on as homework and then take the Unit 3 Test on Wednesday and Thursday. We also will be taking a Mid-Year math test on Friday. With all of this testing, remind your students to be getting a good night's rest and a breakfast in the morning! Let me know if you or your child have any questions regarding the questions on the test. 
**If your child is feeling bored over the long weekend, they can work through the Math Review on Think Central! :) 

• You can go to Think Central by clicking on the link or through Google Classroom. Their username does not include @kaukaunasd.org. Their password is their 6 digit birth date. They can log in, go to "Things To Do" and click on "Unit 3 Math Review." 

Writing: This week students chose a text that they wanted to write literary essays on. We worked to find evidence that matches our claim and say more about it by explaining how the evidence supports our claim. Ask your child what the claim for their literary essay is! Students have been typing these essays. If your student is interested, they are more than welcome to work on their essays at home as well. Next week, we'll continue our literary essay unit by crafting compare/contrast essays, looking at the similarities and differences between two texts. 

Word Study: We finished up Unit 5 and took the test on Friday. Look for the test to come home early next week. In Unit 6, we'll be focusing on the vowel-consonant-e syllable. For example, in the words "cape," "home," or "pine" there is a long vowel, a consonant, and a silent e. A vowel is long if it says it's name. The trick words for next week will be only, house, and move. 

Reading: This past week in Reading we looked at how all stories tend to go. They follow the same predictable pattern--a plot mountain. In the beginning of books readers are introduced to characters and usually where the story takes place (setting). Then as you go up the mountain (story) you are introduced to the problems. The climax is the top of the mountain where the problems have escalated and things can't get much worse. Then as you go down the mountain there is a turning point. Something occurs that causes the problems to seem like they might get better and then lastly there is usually a solution to the problems or it is resolved in some way. This coming week we are continuing to pay attention to characters and how they react to their problems. This can usually tell us A LOT about them. We will also start to study the secondary characters in books and realize that they are usually impacting the main character in some way!

Reading at this point in the year for homework is going to be really important! We want students to be building their stamina and practicing their skills. This extra practice will be helpful to build their comprehension as they enter newer reading levels. Here are some possible questions to ask your child about their reading....

• What is the biggest problem your character is facing in your book?

• How do you think your character's biggest problem will be solved?

• Name a secondary character in your book. What role do they play? (advisor, sidekick, challenger) Why?

• What's the turning point in your book?

• What lesson did your character learn? (In life....)

• Tell me about the part you are currently reading. How does this part fit with the rest of the story?

Content: Students were so excited and a little bit nervous too to present their country slideshows! I was impressed at how brave each student was! To finish up our world unit, students took a world map test. Those will come home next week as well. Our next unit for content will be science--motion and design! This will be an engaging and interactive unit where students consider design options.

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

Best,

Jenny