December 18th Newsletter

Last week we worked on book recommendations, and now we're going to begin focusing on toy recommendations!  We will work on our first one this week and we will learn how to include what we like about the toy, how to write an interesting beginning and we'll focus on punctuation and capitalization.  We are having lots of fun as we think about our opinions!

We will be sharing one of our book recommendations with a student from Ms. Hoeppner's class tomorrow while enjoying some hot chocolate.  The kids are looking forward to partnering up with students from another class while enjoying an extra special treat!

In math, we will be learning a few new math games that we will be able to add to our "Buddy Games" center.  Additionally, we will be having a Math Game Day on Wednesday, December 20th.  Your child may bring in any math game they are able to teach to a friend.  The kids are already looking forward to our math game day!  We will not have any math homework this week.

We will be watching a movie and having our Holiday party on Thursday.  The kids are so excited!  Again, thank you to all of the generous parents who are donating food, items or volunteering for our party!  I greatly appreciate it!

I hope you have a wonderful winter break and a Happy New Year!  Enjoy spending time with your family!

See you in 2018!

Please label winter gear!

Now that the snow has finally arrived, the kids are of course wearing all of their snow gear.  Please label all of their gear.  We already had a few friends accidentally wear items that did not belong to them out to recess.  There are a lot of items (black snow pants, for instance) that look exactly the same and it will make finding the correct owner much easier.  Thank you for your support with this!  Enjoy the snow!

December 11th Newsletter

This week we are finishing our hard work on writing book recommendations for our friends!  You may see some come home, but we're hanging on to one that we will be sharing with another 1st grade class.  Sharing our writing in an authentic way makes it more valuable and worthwhile to kids.  If you read your child's book recommendation and then make a trip to the Cedarburg Public Library, you could find that book and read it together!  

In our reader's workshop we'll continue to read great recommended stories, and we are studying the vowel "e" and the different sounds it can make.  We are examining different words with "e" and deciding if they make the long sound, the short sound or are silent.  You can help by noticing signs while driving to activities and on errands.  Chances are, they know the word anyway, like when you're at Target.  Say "Target" and listen for that "e," which sound is it making?  We're also working really hard to find smaller words or chunks we know, that can help us when we're stuck on bigger words.  For example, the word "and" is inside "stands," and we can go from and, to stand, to stands. 

In math, we are going to continue working on addition and developing “fact power.”  Having fact power is like being a good reader.  It is more enjoyable if you recognize words automatically.  The same is true of number facts.  Solving problems is easier if you automatically know the answer.  Keep practicing addition and subtraction facts with your child at home so they can develop fact power.  Practice at home by playing math games, using flash cards, or playing online math games.  Great online math activities are located on the Thorson webpage (go to IMC, then click on math).  The kids also love math bingo on www.abcya.com.

We are looking forward to our holiday party next Thursday.  Thank you in advance to all of the parents who are donating items or helping during the party!

Scholastic Book Orders are due on Monday, December 11th if you'd like to guaranteed delivery before winter break!  I will be placing the order Monday evening at 8:00 p.m.  Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Online Code:  JBVLK

Special Points of Interest

• THANK YOU to all of the families that donated toys the past few weeks!

Scholastic Book Order - Guaranteed Delivery by Winter Break!

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

I will be placing a Scholastic book order on December 11th.  If you wish to place an order and receive it before winter break, please place you order on or before December 11th!  I will still place an order on the schedule due date, December 15th, but will also place an order on December 11th so that you are able to receive your books prior to break.

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!

December 4th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we'll wrap up our "storyboard stories," by finishing our writing and our cover page.  The students will have an opportunity to read their stories to the class if they wish.  They are looking great and will be sent home sometime this week. 

Please remember, the stories your child comes home with will not perfect, there will be spelling mistakes, maybe punctuation or capitalization mistakes.  When I conference with students, one on one, with their writing, I choose one or two areas to focus on and work to lift their understanding in that area.  If we overwhelm them by pointing out every error, they will likely be turned off to writing and begin to think that writing is all about spelling and conventions, instead of sharing thoughts and ideas with others.  We will begin learning about how we share our opinions by writing book reviews next week!  That will be so much fun!  

In math this week we will continue working on the Commutative Property of addition (if 8+3=11, then 3+8=11), understand that there are a variety of combinations to make the same sum (5+2=6+1), understand the meaning of the equal symbol, and work with problems with unknown addends (3+__=6).

In science we will be learning about African animals and the habitats that they live in.  We will be integrating writing into science by writing about grasslands as well as writing animal reports on different African animals that we will be learning about.

Special Points of Interest

• Scholastic Book Orders are due next Friday, December 15th. Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Online Code:  JBVLK
• The Kapco's Kids 2 Kids toy drive lasts through this Friday, December 15th.  If you are able to, please bring in a new, unwrapped toy for the Toy Drive.
• Buy an ornament day is this Friday and hat day is next Friday, December 15th - donate a dollar to buy an ornament and/or wear a hat to show your support.