September 29th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our topic this week in reading will be all about sports and teamwork.  We will be talking about books that give information about a specific topic.  We will be integrating our science unit into our guided reading groups by reading about land and water.  The students will be continuing to differentiate between telling and asking sentences.  Additionally, the kids are enjoying adding new poems to our poetry binders each week.  We use the poems to help practice our reading fluency.  The sounds we are focusing on this week are nd, nk, nt, and st.  Our chunk of the week this week will be –et as in met.

This week we will be working on counting up and back on a number grid, learning our telephone numbers, and practicing single digit addition.  Watch for the Unit 2 Family Letter to come home this week.  Home Links for lessons 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 will also be coming home this week.

In science, we will be continuing our unit on land and water.  We will also be studying many animals we see during the fall season.  We will be reading and writing about these animals as well as seeing some of them up close on our field trip to The Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary on October 17th.

Special Points of Interest

• Our take-home book program will begin this week!  Please remember to initial and return the books after you have read them so that your child can bring home new books.
• Family Fall Fest is Friday, October 10th from 5:30-8:30 at Thorson
• Donuts with Dads is on October 14th starting at 7:30
• Look for The Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary field trip permission slip that will be coming home today.

September 22nd Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In reading this week, we will be reading about pets.  Our main focus will be on characters, settings and sequencing.  As you read with your child, remember to ask them about the setting of the story, as well as the events that happened in the story.  We have been working on our reading strategies to help us with both our reading and writing.  Make sure to ask your child about the animals reading strategies they have been practicing at school.  Last week we worked on stretchy snake and this week we will be focusing on chunky monkey.  Additionally, we will be working on r blends.  The blends are br, fr, cr, gr, and tr.  Our chunk of the week will be –an as in can.  Remember to practice spelling and vocabulary words throughout the week.  Our spelling test this Friday will be given in sentence form.

This week in math, we will be working on problem solving skills, writing tally marks to show a number, and looking at weather and temperature routines.  Look for Home Links 1.12, 1.13, and another addition practice sheet to come home this week.

This week we will begin a new science unit on Land and Water.  Make sure to ask your child what they are learning in science!

• We are still in need of a lot of socks for our student white boards.  Please send one in if you are able to!

Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences

Mark your calendars!  We have scheduled dates for our Fall parent-teacher conferences.  Conferences will be on Monday, November 24th and Tuesday, November 25th from 4:00-8:00.  Since we have 25 students in our class, I will not be able to meet with every family on those two nights.  Please let me know if you would like to meet with me the week before conferences (November 17th to the 24th) either before school, during our specials time 2:30-3:30 or after school.  If not, a sign-up sheet will be sent out soon for the 24th and 25th.  Thank you in advance!

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 September 19th!

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!

September 15th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In reading this week, we will be continuing to work on sequencing a story.  As you read with your child, remember to ask your child what happens in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  Our chunk of the week will be the short sound of i as in it and bit.  Our class has been working hard to choose appropriately leveled books to read.  The children are learning to choose books with a purpose and topics that interest them.  They are also encouraged to choose a book that they are able to comprehend and read a majority of the words correctly without help.

We will be starting writers workshop this week.  In writers workshop the children will be able to choose what they want to write about.  Writers workshop is a lot of fun for the children because they are able to write about all of the things that they love and the things they are interested in.

We will be working in math on the elements that make up a calendar, counting objects correctly, comparing quantities, and using tally marks.  Please look for Home Link 1.8 and an addition practice sheet to come home this week.

• We are still looking for socks to use as erasers for our dry erase boards.
• Please remember to send a healthy snack with your child everyday.
• Curriculum Night is tomorrow night from 5:30 to 6:30
• Scholastic Book Orders are due this Friday, September 19th. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX

September 8th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In math, we will be learning about naming numbers before and after a given number and how to use a number line.  We will also be working on our daily math routines.  There will not be any math homework this week.  

In social studies, we are working on our school unit.  This week we will learn about the jobs of people in our building.  Mrs. Little and Mr. Jeff will be talking to the kids about what they do here at Thorson.

In reading, we will be looking at the different events that occur in a story.  We will be sequencing the events that happen throughout a story.  After you read a book to your child or your child reads a book to you, make sure you ask them about the events that happened in the story (what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story).  Additionally, we are going to be working on the short a sound, as in bat.

We will be taking our first MAPS test tomorrow.  This is our first MAPS test of four this fall.  We will be taking the MAPS test again in the winter and spring.  Tomorrow we will be starting the Reading MAPS test and we will be finishing it next Monday, September 15th.

We have started creating our poetry binders.  We will be adding different poems to our poetry binder throughout the year.  The children are so excited to add new poems to their binders.

Friendly Reminders

• Picture day is this Thursday!  If you would like to purchase photos, please return the order form that you got at the beginning of the school year.
• Curriculum night is Tuesday, September 16th.
• Please empty your child's red folder each night.  Many children are returning their red folders still filled with the previous day's items.  Please look over your child's work with them and return necessary items back to school.
• If you have not sent an old sock to school for our dry erase boards, please send one or more to school with your child soon.  I greatly appreciate it!

September 2nd Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to a new school year! This week we will be doing many fun activities. We will be reading a few short stories and completing activities that go along with the stories. The stories we are going to be reading include: Ten Black Dots, I Went Walking, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  We will be making our own class books for Ten Black Dots and I Went Walking.  We will also be writing about our summer vacation and our first days of school.

  

This week we will be sending home an Everyday Math family letter. You will receive a family letter at the beginning of each unit. This family letter provides you with answers to all of the homework problems. It also explains the topics we will be covering throughout the unit.  Please keep this in a safe place so you are able to refer to it throughout the unit.
                         

Do you have an old sock laying around the house that doesn't have a partner?  We would love to use it in our classroom!  If you could send an old sock (or more than one sock) to school with your child, it would be greatly appreciated.  They make wonderful erasers for our white boards.

Special Points of Interest

• Picture Day is Thursday, September 11th
• Save the Date:  Tuesday, September 16th from 5:30-6:30 will be our First Grade Curriculum Meeting - More information will be sent home soon!

Thank you,

Mrs. Majinski