December 16th 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. Wipperfurth's class on Thursday.  The kids are looking forward to partnering up with students from another class!

We will be focusing on blends this week in our word work center, read around the room, and a few other centers/activities.  The kids have been putting a lot of their center work on Seesaw!  I hope you're enjoying seeing all of their hard work.  Make sure to ask your child if a picture of their work doesn't make sense to you.  It is a great way for them to verbalize their learning. :-) 

This week in math, we will...

• Count forward and backward by 5s and 10s within 100 on a number line.
• Learn a new Math Work Place called Frog Path.
• Practice counting forward and backward by 10s on and off the decade using a number line. We will race on a number line making hops of 1, 5 and 10. 

This week in science, we will...

• Learn about animals' adaptations during winter. 

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

If you haven't sent in a book for our exchange or The Polar Express permission slip, please do so ASAP!  Thank you!

Reminders and Upcoming Events:

• December 20- Polar Express Day/Book Exchange- Wear Pajamas
• December 23-January 1- Winter Break
• January 13- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• January 16- Field trip to Skateland
• January 20- No School- Professional Development
• January 24- Family Wellness Night

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

See you in 2020!

December 9th 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. 

This week in math, we will...

• Use number lines to count by 1s, 5s and 10s, as well as find missing numbers on the number line through 120.
• Solve addition and subtraction story problems involving multiples of ten by jumping on a floor number line. Students will record equations to represent the story problems.
• Use the number line to practice adding and subtracting by counting on and counting back by 10s. 
• Learn a new Math Work Place called Super Frogs. To play, students hop their game marker along a number line to match an equation. The team with the greater sum or difference scores a point. 
• Identify and describe attributes of three-dimensional shapes.
• Tell time to the hour.

This week in social studies, we will...

• Learn about animal adaptation in winter.
• Conduct a blubber experiment to learn how some animals keep warm in cold weather.

Scholastic Book Orders are due TODAY, Monday, December 9th if you'd like to guaranteed delivery before winter break!  I will be placing the order this evening at 8:00 p.m.  Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Online Code:  JBVLK

December 13- Construction Day (All School Incentive)- Bring 1 blanket or sheet and a flashlight. Students will make a fort and read with our 4th grade buddies.

Reminders and Upcoming Events:

• December 2-13- Kapko Kids 2 Kids Toy Drive
• THANK YOU to all of the families that donated toys the past few weeks!
• December 9- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• December 12- Student Council Hat or Stuffed Animal Day ($1.00)- donations go to Kapko Toy Drive
• December 20- Polar Express Day/Book Exchange
• We are looking forward to our holiday party next Friday.  Thank you in advance to all of the parents who are donating items!  It will be a fun filled day with lots of different activities and games!
• December 23-January 1- Winter Break

December 2nd 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 soon. 

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 later this week!  That will be so much fun!  

This week in math we will...

• Place and identify numbers on a life-sized open number line to develop number sense and an understanding of number relationships between 0-20.
• Identify missing numbers on a life-sized open number line. 
• Use a number line to solve addition and subtraction problems within 10. 
• Play a game called The Frog Jump Game.

In social studies we will learn about different types of communities (rural, suburban, urban), places in our community and people in our community.

Scholastic Book Orders are due Monday, December 9th. We will have guaranteed delivery by winter break in case you're interested in purchasing some Christmas presents!  Go to: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Online Code:  JBVLX

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

• December 2-13- Kapko Kids 2 Kids Toy Drive
• December 6- Student Council Buy an Ornament Day ($1.00)- donations go to Kapko Toy Drive
• December 9- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• December 12- Student Council Hat or Stuffed Animal Day ($1.00)- donations go to Kapko Toy Drive
• December 23-January 1- Winter Break