February 5th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week, we will continue our author study of Nicola Davies by taking a closer look at a few of her books.  We are in the process of making a class book in Community Writing about ducks.  The students are then going to write their own narrative non-fiction book about an animal of their choice.  Additionally, they will be researching online using Pebble Go (which you can find on the IMC page) and they will begin to think about how to lay out their facts, their illustrations and their title.

In the beginning of the year, many of our students were going crazy for the Elephant and Piggie books (by Mo Willems) and we now are fascinated with Dory Fantasmagory (by Abby Hanlon)!  All three books are always checked out of the IMC by one of our first graders!  I just wanted to give you the title and author in case you wanted to check the public library or look on Amazon.  Dory is a girl who explodes with imagination and of course that sometimes gets her into trouble, which readers just LOVE!

In math we will combine plane shapes to make different shapes (2 trapezoids can make a hexagon; 3 rombi can make a hexagon; 6 triangles can make a hexagon) using pattern blocks.  We will also identify attributes (number of faces, edges, vertices) and non-defining attributes (color size) of solid shapes, name solid shapes and identify them in our environment.  Additionally, we will continue to do number talks to engage in mathematical conversation and have exposure to multiple strategies to solve problems.

On Friday, we are celebrating the 100th day of school.  We will have fun exploring different activities using the number 100.  Please send in your snack with 100 pieces and to dress like you're 100 years old on Friday! :-)

A great resource for all subject areas is BrainPopJr.  From Thorson’s homepage, go to students and click on Destiny, then click on the link for BrainPopJr. Username:  csdthorson  Password: cedarburg There are many videos and games that are fun and educational for the children!

This week, the first graders are learning about the Olympics and the different events they will see in the Winter Olympics.

Special Points of Interest

• Valentine's Day classroom parties are on February 14th - Thank you in advance to all of the parents who are donating food and items for our party!
• Scholastic book orders are due Friday, February 16th. You can go online to order www.scholastic.com/bookclub and type in the Online Code: JBVLX, or you can send the order form and money to school with your child.