November 30th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we are going to be working on making predictions.  The students will be trying to predict what is going to happen next in the stories they read, based on what they have already read.  When reading with your child at home, pause in the middle of the story and have your child predict what they think is going to happen next.

We are also going to be working on the long a sound, as in the word bake.  Our chunk of the week this week is –ate as in skate.  Remember to have your child practice their spelling words at home every night.  Also, have your child practice using their spelling words in sentences.

In math, the children will practice measuring and comparing lengths using nonstandard units, such as paper clips.  We will also be introducing the inch and how to use a ruler.  The children will learn to estimate and measure the length of objects in inches.  Look for Home Links 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 to come home this week.

Your child needs to know the name of their street by Friday for a lesson in our communities unit.  Please practice writing it with your child.  We will be finishing our communities social studies unit this week.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to parent-teacher conferences.  It was great to meet with you and talk about your wonderful children!  As always, if you have any additional questions or concerns please feel free to email me.

Special Points of Interest

• Scholastic Book Orders are due next Friday, December 11th.  The orders will be here before December 18th!  You can view the flyers online and order books by going to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and using the online code:  JBVLK
• Kapco's Kids 2 Kids toy drive starts today and will last through Friday, December 12th.
• I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!!

November 23rd Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we will be doing Thanksgiving reading and writing activities.  The students will be writing about people and items that they are thankful for.  Additionally, the students will continue to work on sequencing the events in a story and retelling the stories that they read.

This week we will begin unit 4 in math. Your child will be learning how to read a thermometer.  Please practice counting by 2’s to help them read a thermometer.  As you help your child with homework, please guide them with directions as necessary.  The Family Letters we send home for each unit have all of the answers listed and will help you assist your child with their homework.  Look for Home Link 4.1 to come home this week.

We will continue working on our Communities unit in social studies.

Due to the short week, we will not be having new spelling words or a star of the week.

Special Points of Interest

• No school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Toy Drive

Thorson Student Council News

The Kapco's Kids 2 Kids toy drive will start on Monday, November 30th and last through Friday, December 11th.  If you are able to, please bring in an unwrapped toy for the Toy Drive.  Thorson's goal is to bring in 275 toys!  Please help us reach this goal.

Kids2Kids Toy Drive Events: Buy an ornament day is on Friday, Decmber 4th - Students can donate a dollar to the toy drive and buy an ornament to put on the bulletin board outside of Mrs. Kikkert's office.  Hat day is on Friday, December 11th - donate a dollar and wear a hat to show your support.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

PebbleGo

Today the kids went to the computer lab with Mrs. DeLeon and I and they learned about a wonderful online resource called PebbleGo.  The kids had time to explore this wonderful resource and they had so much fun!  PebbleGo has a lot of science and social studies topics and it reads all of the information to the kids.  It is a very informative resource that your child could use at home as well.  They can access PebbleGo from the Destiny homepage.  Ask your child to show you how to get there and have fun exploring!

**If you need the username and password it is listed below.

PebbleGo

Username: csdt

Password: read

November 16th Newsletter

This week in reading will be working on sequencing events in a story.  The children will be practicing retelling stories in sequential order.  We will continue to work on proper nouns and we will be concentrating on days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.  The children will also continue to work on short vowel sounds.  This week we will be working on the l blends, an example is bl as in blanket.  Our chunk of the week this week will be -op as in top.

Additionally, we will be working on stretching out sentences.  We will be adding details to our sentences, so that our sentences answer questions like who, what, when, where and why?  The children will also be introduced to verbs and they will be learning how commas are used in a series of words.

This week in math we will be practicing finding the values of collections of pennies, nickels, and dimes.  We will continue to explore domino/dot patterns to provide practice for basic addition facts.  This week’s homework will include Home Link 3.12 and an addition practice sheet.  Also look for the Unit 4 Family Letter to come home this week.

Special Points of Interest

• Winter is quickly approaching.  Now is the time to start thinking about packing an extra pair of socks and mittens in your child's backpack.
• Please continue to remind your children to bring their take-home books back to school.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Thursday, November 19th and the following Monday, November 23rd.  I am looking forward to meeting with you to talk about your wonderful children!
• No School next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday

November 9th Newsletter

This week in reading we will be working on reading for understanding.  The children will be practicing retelling the stories that they read in their own words.  We will be working on reading fluently in our guided reading groups.  The students will learn about imagery through read-alouds.  They will draw pictures of what they visualize in their minds before they actually see the pictures.  Additionally, we will be introducing proper nouns.  The children have also been working on the short vowel sounds.  This week’s short vowel sound is u as in nut.  Our chunk of the week this week is –ug as in bug.

This week in math we will be introducing dimes and adding combinations of pennies, nickels, and dimes.   We will review graphing by creating our own class graphs.  The children will be exploring dot patterns on dominoes to find the sum of the two parts.  Remember to keep practicing addition and subtraction facts at home.  This quarter, we will be working on addition and subtraction facts to 10.  Look for Home Links 3.9, 3.10, and 3.11 to come home this week.

This week during our science and social studies time, Mrs. Kikkert will be coming in for Guidance lessons.  The children will be learning about families and health.

Special Points of Interest

• Veteran's Day Assembly will be this Wednesday, November 11th
• Scholastic Book Orders are due this Friday, November 13. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX

November 2nd Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,
This week in reading will be focusing on main ideas and finding details to support them in the stories that we read.  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 in October.

Beginning this week our Friday spelling lists will also include two challenge words.  Children are encouraged to try these more challenging words; however, these two additional words will not be reflected in your child's test score.

In math, we will continue to practice counting up and back on the number line in order to understand addition and subtraction.  We are working on problem solving skills using the hundreds chart and our number lines.  We will also be learning how to tell time to the half hour.  Look for Home Links 3.5, 3.7, and 3.8 to come home this week.

We will continue working on our Communities unit in social studies.

Thank you for all of the help and donations for our Halloween Classroom Party!  The kids had a blast!

Special Points of Interest

• No School this Friday, November 6th
• Veteran's Day Assembly will be on Wednesday, November 11th
• Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday, November 13. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX - Flyers will be coming home this week
• Remember to dress your child for the cold weather.  They will be going outside for every recess unless it rains.