Box Tops and Labels

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!

January 25th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we start the third quarter, I would like to thank all of you for all of the reading you have been doing at home with your child.  It has been amazing to see the growth in reading from the beginning of the year until now.  This wouldn't happen without all of the practice outside of school!  Reading every day reinforces so many important reading and writing skills.  Thank you so much for all of your support!

This week in reading we will be working on drawing conclusions.  The students will practice listening for details and after each detail they will be asked to draw a conclusion.  We are also going to focus on the sound of u as in the word cute.

During third quarter we will be working on story writing.  The students will start to practice this skill by planning a story that includes all of the parts (characters, setting, problem, solution, etc.) we talk about in reading.  Please help your child at home by encouraging their interests and imagination by coming up with ideas for a story they may want to write.

In math, we are going to use our addition and subtraction math facts in order to figure out “What’s My Rule?” problems.  We will also continue learning about fact families and name collection boxes.  Look at the parent letter for further explanation on the "What's My Rule?" problems and Home Links 5.12 and 5.13 (back to back) to come home this week in a packet.  This will be coming home on white instead of yellow.  It got copied incorrectly, sorry about that!

Remember to keep practicing addition and subtraction facts at home.  This quarter, we will be doing addition and subtraction facts to 16.  Please continue to practice these facts at home with your children.  Flashcards are a great way to help your child become faster with their facts.  There are also a lot of fun resources on the Thorson website that help with addition and subtraction, a good one to check out is “Math Bingo” on www.abcya.com.  XtraMath.org is another great resource and a fun way for the children to practice their math facts!  If you would like extra sheets to practice with, please let me know and I will be happy to send them home.

This quarter we will be doing geometry.  Problem solving, money, time, and counting to 120 starting at any number are skills we continually work on in math.

This week Mrs. Caravella will be coming to our classroom each day to teach a Junior Achievement lesson on our families and our community.  A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Caravella for taking time to plan the lessons and teach our class!

Special Points of Interest

• Family Wellness Night is this Friday from 5:30-8:00
• Valentine's Day classroom parties are on Friday, February 12th
• Save the Date - The Thorson Winter Carnival is on Saturday, February 6th from 11:00-3:00

Six Flags Read to Succeed

This is a reminder to all families that the Six Flags Read to Succeed Reading Log is due Friday, February 12th. If you child has read six hours, please fill out the dates and times and sign the reading log. Return the completed reading log to your child’s teacher. You will receive a free student ticket to Great America before the end of the school year. Keep on reading! 

January 18th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we are going to work on making inferences.  This reading strategy has the students draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the story and picture clues to make an inference about what the author does not say in the text.  We are also going to focus on the long o sound, as in the word home.  

This week in writer's workshop the students will focus on writing about people and things that they love.  On Tuesday, the children will be bringing home a brown paper bag.  Please have your child select one treasure to put in the bag that means a lot to them.  We will be writing about the treasures that are near and dear to our hearts on Wednesday.

In math, we will be working on story problems, turn-around facts and adding two digit numbers without regrouping.  Look for Home Links 5.8, 5.10, and 5.11 to come this week.  Remember to keep practicing addition and subtraction facts at home with your child.

We are beginning our Arctic animal study in science this week.  We will be learning about the Arctic habitat and learning and writing about animals found in the Arctic.

IMC change!  This week we will again be going to the IMC on Thursday instead of Friday since we do not have school.  Please send your child's IMC books with them to school on or before Thursday so that they are able to check out new books.  Thank you!

Special Points of Interest

• We will be finishing our Reading MAP test this Wednesday.
• No school this Friday, January 22nd. It is the end of second quarter and teacher record day.
• Family Wellness Night is next Friday, January 29th from 5:30 to 8:00 here at Thorson

January 11th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we are going to focus on the characters and the setting of the stories that we read.  We will continue to write our opinions on certain topics.  The children are also going to be learning about contractions and triple consonant sounds, as in scr, spl, and str.  Our chunk of the week is –ide as in hide.

This week we will be introducing addition of two digit numbers.  The children will be using base-ten blocks to find the total weight of pairs of animals.  We will be playing Shaker Addition Top-it to practice our addition facts.  We will also be practicing with more than and less than number stories that involve addition and subtraction.  Look for Home Links 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7 to come home this week.

We will be finishing our science unit on Pushes and Pulls this week.  The kids are having fun learning about all the different ways we use forces in school and outside of school.

Scholastic book orders are due this Friday, January 15th.  You can go online to order www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and type in the Online Code: JBVLX, or you can send the order form and money to school with your child.

IMC change!  This week we will be going to the IMC on Thursday instead of Friday.  Please send your child's IMC books with them to school on or before Thursday so that they are able to check out new books.  Thank you!

Special Points of Interest

• No school on Friday, January 22nd.  It is the end of second quarter and teacher record day.
• Family Wellness Night is on Friday, January 29th from 5:30 to 8:00.
• Our Reading MAP test is this Friday.

January 4th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back!  During our first week back we will be working on stories dealing with families.  We are also going to continue working on making predictions as we read stories.  Our sound of the week is the long i sound, as in the word mine.  Our chunk this week is -ig as in pig.  The children are going to be learning about adjectives and working on writing descriptive sentences.

In math, we are going to begin learning about place value.  We will be using manipulatives, as well as calculators.  The children will be finding mystery numbers after they are given or shown place value clues.  We will also be revisiting money by completing a few fun activities.  The children will be comparing numbers and learning how to use the relation symbols greater than, less than, and equal to.  In addition, we will be doing activities that help the children memorize their addition facts in order to continue developing “fact power.”  Keep working with your children at home on both their addition and subtraction facts.  Look for Home Links 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 and the Unit 5 Family Letter to come home this week.

The students will be starting a new science unit, Pushes and Pulls, this week.  The students will be thinking about their favorite jobs and how pushes and pulls are used in that job.

Special Points of Interest

• The holiday party was fun for all.  Thank you so much to all of the parents who donated items and a special thanks to Mrs. Dorsey and Mrs. Caravella for all of the fun games and activities!
• THANK YOU for all of the wonderful gifts and cards!  I appreciate your thoughtfulness!
• I hope you had a great winter break and enjoyed spending time with your children!
• Please send an extra pair of socks and mittens in your child's backpack for the wet winter weather.
• Winter MAP testing begins next week.
• Scholastic Book orders are due on Friday, January 15th.  I have not received the paper copy of the books orders, but I will send them home as soon as I receive them.  Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Online Code:  JBVLK