February 24th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Last week was an exciting one as we were finishing up our narrative non-fiction writing pieces and their new understandings of how to figure out unknown words!  Many of us are very excited about bringing home books from the library that we can read on our own!  We are working on bringing home one book we can read on our own and one that our parents should read to us.  Remember, both are vital to growing readers!

This week we are beginning a fairy tale unit.  We will be reading fairy tales during our read alouds, creating a fairy tale during community writing, and writing fairy tales during writer's workshop.  We will be discussing the elements contained in a fairy tale (characters, setting, problem and solution).  Don't be surprised if your son or daughter brings home a fairy tale writing piece!  Embrace their excitement and try it with them!   

This week in math, we will...

• Use number racks to model and solve story problems for situations that involve adding different 1-digit numbers to 10 and adding 1-digit numbers to 9.
• Solve addition and subtraction story problems and fact strategies to 20. 
• Work together to determine whether different quantities of penguins can march in pairs or not as a way to focus on Doubles and Doubles Plus/Minus One.
• Write equations to match combinations on a number rack and classify the fact as a Double Plus or Minus One, Add Ten, Add Nine, or Make Ten. 
• Learn a new Math Workplace game called, What's Missing?

We are currently working on our social studies unit called Our Country.  In the next two weeks we will be taking a closer look at a map of the United States and we will be locating different states.  We will also learn about the locations of the continents and the oceans.  Additionally, we will be learning about important symbols of the United States.

Special Points of Interest

• February 28- Read Across America
• March 7- Winter Carnival
• March 9- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• March 19- End of 3rd Quarter
• March 20- March 27- Spring Break
• March 30- School Resumes

Read to Succeed

There is still time for your child to register to earn a free Six Flags ticket for reading 6 hours!

You can register for Read to Succeed using the details below: Register child at sixflags.com/books using code EBBN5 By April 17, complete the online reading log for your child. Expect a Six Flags Great America ticket for your child in May! Once your child is registered, you will have access to your online account. Happy Reading!

February 17th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we are digging into the poems we are reading and also writing some of our own in the writing center.  Along with understanding that poetry is written to describe things, we are learning about how a poet arranges the words into lines, so that the reader pauses at those line breaks.  It is hard work but the students are catching on!  We're also noticing the interesting words poets use to explain things.  For example, in a poem about a puffin, the poet wrote "A puffin loves stuffin' its bill full of fishes."  And many of us had no idea what meant by "stuffin'," so we learned he was referring to "stuffing" like "stuffing yourself" or "I feel stuffed," when you're full after eating.  

During writer's workshop, the students will continue their narrative writing based on Nicola Davies about the animal of their choice.  We will also continue working on editing our writing.

This week in math, we will..

• Solve addition and subtraction equations within 20. We will use 5 and 10 as landmark (friendly) numbers. 
• Recognize number patterns involving doubles.
• Solve story problems involving the Add Ten facts (10+4, 10+7, 3+10, etc.)
• Use number racks to model and solve story problems for situations that involve adding different 1-digit numbers to 10 and adding 1-digit numbers to 9.

We will be continuing our unit on Our Country.  This week we will learn about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, along with a few other past presidents.


We are almost out of tissues!  We have had a lot of runny noses in our classroom, so we have been going through tissues very quickly.  If you are able to donate a box of tissue to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated!

Special Points of Interest

• February 20- Parent-Teacher Conferences
• February 21- No School- Professional Development
• February 28- Read Across America
• March 7- Winter Carnival
• March 9- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• March 20- March 27- Spring Break
• March 30- School Resumes

Scholastic Book Orders Due This Friday!!!

Class Code - JBVLX

Order Due Date -  02/14/20

BE A READING HERO
In Your Child’s Class!

Dear Family,

We are celebrating Scholastic’s 100th Birthday and you can be a Reading Hero!

Our class gets 100 Extra Bonus Points when you place a book order of $10 or more.

Thank you for supporting your child’s reading success by being a Reading Hero!

Mrs. Majinski

What Are Bonus Points?
I use Bonus Points to get FREE Books and resources for our classroom.

February 10th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we are analyzing some of the poetry we've been reading about different animals and places.  We are learning about different tricks or tools poets use to make their poems more fun or more interesting!  We will also be learning about alliteration and rhyming and we are using these tricks to get started writing our own poems in writing center this week!  

If you're thinking about ordering from Scholastic this month, maybe choose a poetry book!  Poetry is excellent for vocabulary, comprehension and fluency!  Your child will love learning to recite a favorite poem with you!

We are focusing a lot on vowels in reading right now.  Short and long vowels can be very difficult for kids.  It would be great if you could notice words on signs while driving or in stores, and just ask, "Hmm, is that a short vowel or a long vowel?"  This week we are learning about consonant- vowel- consonant (or CVC) words and CVCe words (words with silent e).  These words are everywhere!  Maybe you could find 2 of each, AFTER reading the book that comes home, or any book really!  That would really help!

We will continue working on our Community Writing narrative piece about polar bears.  The students are having a lot of fun creating a class book that will be added to our big book center when we are finished!  Additionally, we will be continuing our own narrative writing pieces about the animal of our choice during Writer's Workshop.  The students are doing a fabulous job with this!

This week in math, we will...

• Solve shape riddles for two-dimensional shapes. 
• Identify, sort and graph two-dimensional shapes.
• Solve addition and subtraction equations within 20. We will use 5 and 10 as landmark (friendly) numbers. 
• Have some fun with a Valentine's Day graphing activity.

In social studies this week, the students will learn about the United States.  We will be focusing on Our Country, symbols, and past presidents throughout the rest of the month of February.

THANK YOU in advance to all of the families that will be donating items for our Valentine's Party. The kids are looking forward to the party on Friday!

Special Points of Interest

• February 10- Thorson's 50th Birthday Celebration/PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• February 14- Valentine's Day Activities/Box Top Turn in Day- Please remember to have your child bring their Valentine Box and 23 Valentines to distribute to their friends!
• Scholastic book orders are due this Friday, February 14th. 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.
• February 20- Parent-Teacher Conferences- I will contact you if I feel a conference is necessary. Conferences are optional but can be scheduled if you have a specific concern. 
• February 21- No School- Professional Development
• February 28- Read Across America
• March 7- Winter Carnival
• March 9- PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• March 20- March 27- Spring Break
• March 30- School Resumes

February 3rd 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 going to begin making a class book in Community Writing that is in the same format as her books.  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), as well as finding facts in non-fiction books from the IMC.  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 Mercy Watson and Narwhal and Jelly books!  Many of these books are always checked out of the IMC by one of the 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.  

In math this week we will...

• Review defining attributes of 2- and 3-dimensional shapes.
• Read Wholey-y Cow: Fractions Are Fun by Taryn Souders and Give Me Half by Stuart J. Murphy.
• Explore what happens when 2, 3 and 4 students have to share 1 pizza, as well as what happens when 4 and 8 students share 2 pizzas. 
• Play "Fraction Bingo"
• Have fun with 100th Day of School activities!

On Friday, we are celebrating the 100th day of school.  We will have fun exploring different activities using the number 100.  If your child is comfortable, please have them dress like they'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.  There are many videos and games that are fun and educational for the children!

Special Points of Interest

• February 7- 100th Day of School 
• February 10- Thorson's 50th Birthday Celebration/PTO Meeting (7:00 pm)
• February 14- Valentine's Day Activities/Box Top Turn in Day
• 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 14th. 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.
• February 20- Parent-Teacher Conferences (teacher or parent request)
• February 21- No School- Professional Development