End of the Week Updates

As I'm sure you have heard, we have a new friend in our classroom named Allie.  The first graders have been so wonderful including her at recess and during partner activities.  They have also been helping her learn our routines.  We are so happy and excited to have a new friend join our class!

With that being said, we now have 21 students in our class.  Please be sure to send in 21 treats or other things you might send to school.

Please remember to send your child's costume in a bag with them tomorrow morning.  The children will be changing into their costumes around 2:30.

Thank you for all you do!  :-)

Reading Information Night

Mrs. Foote and Mrs. DeRosa (our reading teachers) will be having a special reading information night for first grade parents.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 5th from 5:00-6:00 in Mrs. George's classroom.  Her classroom is room C, which is right next to our classroom.  The reading teachers will be sharing reading strategies that you can use to help your child at home, as well as other information.

Spelling, Vocabulary and Challenge Words

old

he

she

things

this

Vocabulary Words

into

many

live

out

Challenge Words

habitat

survive

Due to the short week, we will not have a Star of the Week this week.

October 28th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading will be focusing on main ideas and finding details to support them in the stories we read.  We will also be learning about proper nouns.  The sounds we will be focusing on this week are the sh and th sounds in both the beginning and ending position of a word.  Remember to practice the Unit 2 vocabulary/high frequency words that were sent home earlier this month.

We will be starting a new unit in math this week.  Please look for the parent letter for Unit 3 to come home this week.  We will be working on pattering skills, odd and even numbers, and reviewing basic number line concepts.  Your child should be able to add and subtract using a number line.  Look for Home Links 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4.  Ask your child to sing the “Doubles” song we’ve been learning, too!

In science, we have been working on our Land and Water unit.  Your child has been learning about natural resources and their uses in the environment.  We will also be investigating the properties of rocks.

Special Points of Interest

• Remember to bring in your pumpkin for Pumpkin Days!
• Halloween parties will begin at 2:30 on Thursday, please send your child's costume in a bag.  The children will be changing right before the party.
• No school this Friday, November 1st.  It is teacher progress report writing day.
• Have a Happy Halloween on Thursday, October 31st!

Scholastic Book Orders

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: JBVLX

Dear Families,

Please remember to place your Reading Club orders by this Friday, October 25!

You can shop and submit your order online or return the printed order form with payment directly to me. No matter how you order, every purchase you make earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom.

The arrival of the book box is always a highlight-thanks for making it happen!

Happy reading,

Mrs. Majinski

Ordering online is fast and easy:

• REGISTER at scholastic.com/readingclub
• ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
• CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
• SUBMIT the order to me by the due date at the top of this letter
• EARN FREE Books for our classroom too!

Spelling Words and Star of the Week

                             

big

biggest

end

kittens

pet

Vocabulary Words

who

of

some

no

eat

This week Henry will be the Star of the Week.  We will learn more about him throughout the week.

October 21st Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we will concentrate on retelling and summarizing stories in order to check for comprehension.  Your child will be asked to identify characters and settings in a story.  We have been working on identifying nouns in sentences.  We will also learn about plural nouns this week.  We will continue to work on writing in complete sentences.  Our chunk of the week this week is –ed  as in bed.

In math this week, we will continue to explore counting combinations of nickels and pennies.  Children will learn to exchange pennies for nickels.  We will also be working on subtraction number models and number stories.  Look for Home Links numbers 2.12, 2.13, and an addition practice sheet to come home this week.  Please continue practicing skip counting by 2’s and 5’s, counting combinations of nickels and pennies and memorizing addition and subtraction facts.

In science, we have been working on our Land and Water unit.  Your child has been learning about natural resources and their uses in the environment.  We've also been investigating the properties of rocks.

Special Points of Interest:

• If you haven't sent in five nickels, please send them to school in a zip lock bag with your child's name on it.
• Pumpkin Days are October 28-31 - Bring a decorated pumpkin to school to be displayed in the IMC

Field Trip

Last minute reminder that we will be going to Riveredge Nature Center tomorrow afternoon.  Please send a cold lunch and dress for the weather.  We will be outside almost the entire time!

Wear Blue Tomorrow

Thorson 5th Grade students ask that we wear blue tomorrow, Monday, October 21st to honor Grant Schoen

A Girl With a Cape

Today we were so lucky to have a wonderful author named Amy Logan come to Thorson to talk to us about kindness.  She is the author of a book called A Girl With a Cape.  Today each child will be bringing home a "Kindness Card."  Please feel free to have your child write a special note, draw a picture, or anything else they'd like to do and attach it to the card.  Then, you can leave the card in a grocery cart, give it to someone special, or give it to a complete stranger.  This is just one way we can leave a trail of random acts of kindness everywhere we go.  For more information, feel free to visit her website at www.gotyourcape.com.  We are really working hard in our classroom to show how kind we can be to our classmates!

More Updates!

• This week is our Box Tops for Education and labels contest!  Please send in all of your Box Tops and labels this week!  Thank you in advance!
• Tomorrow is stuffed animal day for Red Ribbon Week.  Please feel free to have your child bring in their favorite stuffed animal.  Please make sure the animal can fit into your child's backpack.
• If you are able to donate to family sharing, food will be collected throughout the week.
• Remember to send in your signed pledges to make positive choices.  The PTO will be collecting them through Wednesday and a drawing from the pledges will be help on Thursday morning.

Spelling, Vocabulary and Star of the Week

                              

land

water

soil

animal

home

Vocabulary Words

erosion

mineral

rocks

ocean

lake

Due to the short week, we will not have a Star of the Week this week.

October 14th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Due to the short week, we will not be doing our regular spelling.  Instead, we will be focusing on animals and their habitats.  We will be integrating our science unit Land and Water into our Communication Arts block.  Our spelling words this week will reflect our study of animals, land, and water.  Our spelling test will be on Thursday and it will not be given in sentence form.  The kids will be tested only on the list of words. 

This week in math we will be learning about counting up and back on a number grid, comparing quantities of pennies and nickels, and counting by 2’s and 5’s.  We will be reviewing time and working on story problems.  Look for Home Links numbers 2.8, 2.10, and 2.11.  Please practice counting combinations of nickels and pennies, telling time to the hour, and practicing subtraction facts to six.

Special Points of Interest

• No school this Friday, October 18th due to professional development for teachers
• If you haven't turned in the field trip permission slip for Riveredge, please send it in ASAP
• This week is Red Ribbon Week.  Please check out last weeks Thursday folder for more information.
• Take-home books should be coming home this week.
• Due to the short week, we will not have a Star of the Week this week.

Red Ribbon Week

To celebrate Red Ribbon Week, we are asking that all students wear red on Monday!

Field Trip Reminder

Tomorrow is our first field trip to Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary.  We will be eating lunch at Shalom, so please remember to send a cold lunch and drink to school tomorrow.  Thanks!

Spelling Words and Star of the Week

no

on

so

stop

stopped

*Your child will be tested in sentence form on Friday.

This week Ally will be the Star of the Week.  We will learn more about her throughout the week.

October 7th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We will be concentrating on the main idea and details in the stories we read this week.  We will continue to talk and write about animals that we see in the fall.  The sound we are focusing on this week is the short o as in box and pot.  Our chunk of the week this week is –ot.  We will also be adding some new fall poems to our poetry binders.

This week in math we will be learning about telling time to the hour and half hour and counting by 2’s and 5’s.  We will continue to work on our addition facts to ten.  Please practice with your child at home until they become fluent with these facts.  Look for Home Links 2.5, 2.6, and an addition practice sheet to come home this week.

We are looking forward to our first field trip!  We are excited to see the animals up close in their habitats, which will enhance our fall animal study.

Special Points of Interest

• Donuts with Dad is tomorrow morning starting at 7:30 a.m.
• We will be going to Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary this Thursday.  Remember to dress for the weather and pack a cold lunch.  We will be eating our lunch at Shalom and we will be outside the majority of the day.
• Scholastic Book Fair ends this Thursday, October 10th

Blog Issues

I am having issues with my blog and it is not letting me change the side bar items, so instead, I will update them in a post and cross my fingers that they start working again soon!

go

get

him

smaller

went

*Your child will be tested in sentence form on Friday.

This week Bailey will be the Star of the Week.  We will learn more about him throughout the week.

Dates to Remember

October 4th - Family Fall Fest

October 4th-10th - Book Fair

October 8th - Donuts with Dads

October 18th - No School All Day, Professional Development for Teachers

October 25th - School Picture Retake

October 31st - Halloween Parties/Parade