5/23 to 5/27

 Upcoming Events

• 5/27 Early Release and Writing Celebration

• 5/30 No School

• 6/2: Last Day of School & Early Release

Material:

Please send your student with one paper grocery bag.  We may or may not need this for material that we are sending home. Towards the end of the week we will start sending a few things home each night.  Please help your child check their bag each night.  

Summer Learning Ideas:

As we wrap up the year please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.  Report cards will be available June 3rd. This newsletter is one that you may want to keep handy.  It’s full of ideas/ways to engage your student in learning this summer. Oftentimes we send home all these packets of learning, only to realize it’s summer.  Families are busy and kids want to be kids.  There are so many easy ways to add learning to your day.  

Reading

–Set a schedule to visit a library, get a library card, and check out new books bi-weekly. 

–Find a friend to do book swaps with

–Set up a fun reading spot for the summer.

–Find new places to read (hammock, trampoline, car, poolside, coffee shop, etc)

–Do a fun family read aloud.  Pick a chapter book and take turns having someone in the family read a new chapter each night.  

Writing

–go to the dollar store and stock up on fun paper, pens, and cards

–write a story together about an adventure you have taken

–send cards to friends and family

–write a book recommendation for a book you just finished

–write a review of a movie you watched, stating your opinion and three reasons why you like/dislike it.

Math

–play a math game that was sent home this year

–work through the math journal pages (from both math journals that came home this year)...there are LOTS of unfinished ones

–notice clocks (analog and digital) all around you and talk about what time it is, what time it will be in 30 minutes.  Have fun!

–play addition top-it with a deck of cards (students have played this all year)

–count money, find the value of a collection of coins. 

–get out chalk and create three digit by three digit number problems for students to solve

Are you still looking for ways to engage your student this summer?  Did you see that NDLC is offering a class at the Kaukauna Library, Thursday mornings through July and August.  Check out the details below and click on the link to register...you are not too late. 

Description:

Grades Entering 1-2 Calling all NDLC first and second graders!  NDLC teachers will guide students through the familiar Readers’ Workshop structure where students will participate in a mini lesson, shop for “just right books,” and spend time reading while teachers meet with them one on one or in small groups.  Students will hone their comprehension skills by listening to and discussing engaging books read aloud. This course is specially designed to minimize the “summer slide” many readers experience. Students will be able to take books home and exchange them each week!    Grades Entering 3-4 Calling all NDLC third and fourth graders! NDLC teachers will guide students through the familiar Readers’ Workshop structure where students will participate in a mini lesson, shop for “just right books,” and spend time reading and meeting with a book club.  Teachers meet with students one on one or in small groups. Students will hone their comprehension skills by listening to and discussing engaging books read aloud. This course is specially designed to minimize the “summer slide” many readers experience.  Students will be able to take books home and exchange them each week!   Location: Kaukauna Public Library Time: 9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Dates: July 7, 14, 21, 28 and August 4, 11 and 18

Click on this Summer School Link: https://reg133.imperisoft.com/kaukauna/Search/Registration.aspx

5/16 to 5/20

 Upcoming Events:

• 5/16 Week—iReady Testing

• 5/18 Dress-Up: Purple/NDLC Wear

• 5/20 NDLC Field Day–Outside all PM

• 5/27 Early Release and Writing Celebration (You're Invited!!)

• 5/30 No School

• 6/2: Last Day of School & Early Release

Gym Shoes/Socks:

Remember to make sure your student has gym shoes and socks each day.   Many students are coming in crocs or sandals.  This week is the mile run and students need to be equipped with the right shoes to run safely.

Writing

In writing we are going to be reviewing all the work that we have done this year.  Students are going to get the free write option to write how-to’s, opinions, narratives, realistic fiction, or nonfiction.  It is our hope that we get students thinking about how they can do this same type of writing through the summer! 

Just a reminder about our end of unit writing celebration.  We set this time up so that parents who want to take their students home can, as it’s an early release day. We will likely end the celebration closer to 11:20 so that Y-Care can come into the Cafeteria. 

YOU ARE INVITED TO A WRITING CELEBRATION

When: May 27th, at 11:00 (this is a ½ day of school)

Where: NDLC School Cafeteria

Why: Students will share the great work they did in the Insect Research Unit. 

 Math

In math we are working on our Geometry Unit. Students continue to study shapes. In addition they are working to form arrays using square tiles. With each array students are writing equations that match. We are starting to introduce the idea of multiplication with the use of arrays.

Reading

In reading we are reading: fantasy, fairy tales, folktales and fables. We are reviewing all the ways to decode tricky words in these texts, along with how to stop and think about what a word means.

If you wanted to start looking around your house for school books-- you can start sending those back in! I wish I had a better system to recognize which books belong to school but these are things to be on the look out for: books that say Wittmann, books with Tuma in the inside cover, books with colored stickers in the corner, or books that say NDLC on the back. Then just reminding students they need to take them out of their backpacks and bring them into the classroom.

5/9 to 5/13

 Upcoming Events:

• 5/18 Dress-Up: Purple/NDLC Wear

• 5/20 NDLC Field Day–Outside all PM

• 5/27 Early Release and Writing Celebration

• 5/30 No School

• 6/2: Last Day of School & Early Release

Assessment: 

We are nearing the end of the year.  With the end of the year comes end-of-year assessments.  We will take the iReady assessment for both Reading and Math. In addition we will take an end-of-year math test based on the units we taught throughout the year.  

We are scheduled to take these assessments the week of May 16th.  

Leader In Me:

This month’s Leader In Me Habit 7 is: Sharpen the Saw.  This week we focused on ways to sharpen our body.  We talked about why movement/exercise is important along with what foods fuel our body! 

Students are bringing home a Balance is Best sheet this week.  Talk as a family about different ways to sharpen your saw: body, mind, and heat and soul.  Each night see if your family can try one “activity” together and mark it off.  Keep it visible to remember to do it.  The sheet does not have to be returned.  It is just a fun way to talk about this month’s habit as a family. 

Writing:

We are on our last part of our Insect Unit.  It has been so much fun.  In this last bend students are writing about one of the two insects they researched in a new structure: how-to, graphic novel, literary nonfiction, question and answer book, or ABC book.  Students are having so much fun being creative about the ways they can teach in a new structure.  This bend is meant to be playful!!!  Ask your student what structure they are writing in. 

ALSO….

YOU ARE INVITED TO A WRITING CELEBRATION

When: May 27th, 11:00 (this is a ½ day of school)

Where: NDLC School Cafeteria

Why: Students will share the great work they did in the Insect Research Unit.

5/2 - 5/6

On Wednesday April 27th at 1:51 AM Weston Tuma made his appearance! Both baby and I are doing well, and are enjoying being home. 

Which means that Ms. Hayes has officially taken over! She will be with the students the remainder of the school year. My last blog post had a little more information about her but here is her contact information:

Contact Information:

Her email address is hayesm@kaukaunasd.org

This is the email I would use to inform her about appointments, questions, or if there are different ways students are getting home.

I will still have access to my email but I will not be able to return your emails or forward them to where they need to go in a timely fashion. 

You can also email Ms. Quinn in the office and she will relay messages to Ms. Hayes in the classroom. Ms. Quinn's email is quinnh@kaukaunasd.org 

Upcoming Events:

• 5/4 Field Trip to 1,000 Islands Nature Center

• 5/27 Early Release

• 5/30 No School

• 6/2: Last Day of School & Early Release

Field Trip

8:45 Leave school

9:00-10:45 1,000 Island 

10:45  Head to Horseshoe Park to eat

11:00-12:30: Eat and Play games or play on playset

12:30: Bus us back to school

The weather isn’t looking too promising for our Field Trip on Wednesday.  Please help your child plan accordingly for attire. We will be outside for much of the day.  In addition, if the weather is calling for rain we will likely cancel the park/lunch part and head back to school.  

I did contact chaperones last week-- please check your email for that information.

 

Math

In math we are starting a Geometry Unit.  It is a fun and hands-on unit. We are exploring different 2D Shapes: quadrilaterals, hexagons, rectangles, pentagons, squares, and much more! We are working to use attributes of the shapes to help us identify each one.  Attributes include: parallel sides, vortex or corners, sides and angles. 

Leader In Me

Over the past month we spent a lot of time revisiting our class mission statement.  We developed this statement at the start of the year, it was what led our classroom and beliefs..  We defined what each component looked and felt like. 

 

Then on Friday, we went on a museum walk across the school to see other classroom’s mission statements and the work they did with it over the past month.

Meet Ms. Hayes! Our Long Term Sub

Hello,

I would love to introduce you to our teacher for the remainder of the school year, Ms. Hayes!

A little bit about Ms. Hayes:

Ms. Hayes has been a teacher for 20 years in Fond du Lac with a mix of elementary and middle school experience. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her five nephews, reading and taking her two dogs for walks. She is excited to be at NDLC and to finish the school year with such a wonderful group of second graders! 

We are lucky to have her! She has a lot of experience she is bringing to the position and the students are left in great hands.

Contact Information:

Her email address is hayesm@kaukaunasd.org

This is the email I would use to inform her about appointments, questions, or if there are different ways students are getting home. 

I will still have access to my email but I will not be able to return your emails or forward them to where they need to go in a timely fashion. 

You can also email Ms. Quinn in the office and she will relay messages to Ms. Hayes in the classroom. Ms. Quinn's email is quinnh@kaukaunasd.org 

A little note from Mrs. Tuma:

I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed working with all of you this school year. You are raising wonderful humans-- they are a kind, thoughtful, and funny class. I'm happy that I was a chapter in their life and will miss them while I am away! I love teaching and watching them grow as learners but it's really fun to watch their personalities develop further as well.

Have a wonderful rest of the school year and summer! I'll see the kids next year!

4/25 to 4/29

It was nice to see everyone at the concert. The 2nd graders did amazing! I was so proud of them. If you didn't know-- NDLC has a Facebook page where the concert was posted, so you can send it to any family that may not have been able to attend. The Facebook page is called NDLC Charter School.

I will be contacting chaperones this week for our upcoming field trip to 1000 Islands. Be on the look out for those emails.

We are finalizing the substitute teacher that will be here for the month of May. I am hoping to introduce them through the blog, along with their contact information, soon! We have a few great candidates. The students will be in great hands for the fun month of May. 

 Upcoming Events:

• 4/26 Color Day: 2nd Grade is Green!

• 5/3 Baby Tuma Due Date (but who knows!)

• 5/4 Field Trip to 1,000 Islands Nature Center

• 5/27 Early Release

• 5/30 No School

• 6/2: Last Day of School & Early Release

Reading

In reading we continue to work in Nonfiction Book Clubs.  Students get to pick a topic to study/read within their clubs.  They are coming together as clubs to share their thinking and grow their ideas.  Things we have focused on so far are:

–Chunking the text to help us know when to stop and check in on our understanding.

–Using text features (captions, pictures, maps, graphs) to squeeze all we can out of the text.

–Stopping to explain to ourselves and what we just read (retell/recall) 

–Building and growing our ideas across the text.  Noticing when our thinking has changed.  (They might say, “I used to think ______, but now I think _______.”)

Writing

In writing we started our second bend of the unit.  Students picked a new insect to research and take notes on.  Now they are starting to plan and draft their next chapter book.

Math

In math we are ending unit 6 on adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. We will have a test on this unit at the end of the week. Students have been doing well finding a strategy that works for them!

Special Guest

We had a special guest come in a few weeks ago! It was great timing because we had just finished out economics unit and the students learned even more about how to be responsible with their money. All students were gifted a book and a quarter to go towards saving, spending, donating, or even investing!

4/19 to 4/22

 Upcoming Events:

• 4/21: Spring Concert
• 4/22 Return Field Trip Forms (This field trip is free! Just need the pink form returned)
• 4/26 Color Day: 2nd Grade is Green!
• 5/3: Baby Tuma Due Date
• 5/4 Field Trip to 1,000 Islands Nature Center
• 5/27 Early Release
• 5/30 No School

Hello parents!!

Just a reminder that the 2nd grade concert is Thursday, April 21 at 6:30 pm. Please plan to arrive by 6:10 pm. Students should go directly to their classrooms, and guests can be seated in the gym. The students are amazing! You are going to love the concert!!

Sing-cerly,

Mrs. Krueger

Survey

Our school is implementing a whole-school transformational process called the Leader in Me, which teaches 21st-century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader.

Our school will be conducting surveys to learn more about key areas of strength and areas of needed growth in our school. In order for us to have a holistic picture of what is going on in our school, we are asking all parents/guardians to participate.

If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete a survey (without sharing your name or other identifying information) that will be available through the email sent to you on April 11th. The survey is completely voluntary, but we do hope to get feedback from one member of every household.

The parent/guardian survey takes about 5-8 minutes to complete and will ask questions about your child and about his or her experience in New Directions. If you have more than one child attending the school, you will be asked to think about the oldest child's experiences as you answer questions related to his or her growth.

Please take the survey sent to you, it is to be completed by: April 26, 2022