September 8th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we will be reading nursery rhymes.  We will be doing activities that go along with these nursery rhymes.  We will also be reading stories and talking about important aspects of the stories that we read including characters, setting, problem, and solution.  Please have your children tell you about the characters, setting, problems, and solutions in the books that they read at home to you.

In math, we will be learning about naming numbers before and after a given number and how to use a number line.  We will also be working on our daily math routines.  There will not be any math homework this week.  

In social studies, we are working on our school unit.  This week we will learn about the jobs of people in our building.  Mrs. Little, Mrs. Rowland and Mr. Jeff will be talking to the kids about what they do here at Thorson.

We took our first MAP test this morning.  We will be taking both a reading and a math MAP test.  The students will be taking the MAPS test again in the winter and spring.

We have started creating our poetry binders.  We will be adding different poems to our poetry binder throughout the year.  The children are so excited to add new poems to their binders.

Friendly Reminders

• Picture day is next Tuesday, September 15th!  If you would like to purchase photos, please return the order form that you got at the beginning of the school year.
• Curriculum night is this Thursday, September 10th.  Please return the pink sheet if you haven't already.
• Please empty your child's red folder each night.  Many children are returning their red folders still filled with the previous day's items.  Please look over your child's work with them and return necessary items back to school.
• If you have not sent an old sock to school for our dry erase boards, please send one or more to school with your child soon.  I greatly appreciate it!

September 1st Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to a new school year! I hope you had a fun and relaxing summer!  This week we will be doing many fun activities. We will be reading a few short stories and completing activities that go along with the stories. The stories we are going to be reading include: Ten Black Dots, I Went Walking, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, No Roses for Harry, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  We will be making our own class books for Ten Black Dots and I Went Walking.  We will also be writing about our summer vacation and our first days of school.

This week you will be receiving an Everyday Math family letter. Look for it in your child's red take-home folder. You will receive a family letter at the beginning of each unit. This family letter provides you with answers to all of the homework problems. It also explains the topics we will be covering throughout the unit.  Please keep this in a safe place so you are able to refer to it throughout the unit.

In our first few days of school, we will also be going over all of the rules and routines.  A behavior agreement will be coming home this week too, and it needs to be signed.  It will be coming home in your child's red take-home folder.  Please help your child become responsible for bringing their red take home folder to and from school each day.

                         

Do you have an old sock laying around the house that doesn't have a partner?  We would love to use it in our classroom!  If you could send an old sock (or more than one sock) to school with your child, it would be greatly appreciated.  They make wonderful erasers for our white boards.

Special Points of Interest

• No school on Monday, September 7th
• Picture Day is Tuesday, September 15th
• Save the Date:  Thursday, September 10th from 5:30-6:30 will be our First Grade Curriculum Meeting - More information will be sent home soon!

June 8th Newsletter

The school year has gone so fast, it is hard to believe that it is the last week!  This week, the first graders will be writing to the kindergartners to tell them all about first grade.  We will also be doing a few end of the year projects and reflecting about our first grade year.  We will be finishing our Arthur study by playing a comprehension board game.  Additionally, we will be finishing our Memory Book and getting our friends autographs in our books.

In math, we will be continuing to review the concepts that we have learned this school year.  We will also be doing a Kahoot review game on the iPads.

Please send a brown grocery bag to school if you have not already.  The children will be cleaning out their desks on Thursday and they will be bringing everything home with them.

Field Day and Lunch on the Lawn are both this Friday.  Please send a water bottle with your child's name on it.  The kids will be outside all morning, so please make sure they are dressed appropriately.  Please look for more information in the Thursday folder regarding Field Day and Lunch on the Lawn.

Riveredge Nature Center

Riveredge Nature Center will be coming to Thorson tomorrow, June 2th for a "field trip" to our nature center.  We will be learning about birds and different animal adaptations.  We are very excited to explore our wonderful nature center!  Please make sure your child dresses for the weather.  We will be going outside rain or shine!

June 1st Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we will continue our author study by reading Arthur books written by Marc Brown.  We are going to be looking at the sounds oi and oy as in the words words boil and boy.  We plan to finish up our memory books either late this week or early next week, so look for those to come home soon.

In math, we will be reviewing concepts learned throughout the school year.  No homework will be assigned this week in math.  Please continue practicing addition and subtraction facts over the summer, as well as all of the other important math concepts the children learned in first grade.

We have been observing our caterpillars change into their chrysalis state.  We are hoping to have butterflies by the end of the week!

Please send a brown grocery bag to school by this Friday.  The children will be cleaning out their desks next week.

Special Points of Interest

• Our Take-Home book program has ended.  Please make sure your child returns their book if they haven't already.
• Field Day is Friday, June 12th - Please look for more information in the Thursday folders.

May 26th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week and next week in reading we will be doing an author study.  We will be reading Arthur books written by Marc Brown.  The students will be completing comprehension sheets and writing before and after reading some of the stories.  This week will be our last week of new spelling words.  We are also going to begin creating a first grade memories book.  This memory book will include some of our favorite things about first grade.

This week in math we will be creating our own graphs and asking questions related to the data.  We will also be taking a closer look at hundreds charts.  The students will be completing number puzzles and creating some of their own.  Look for Home Link 10.7 and a family letter to come home this week.  These will be the final math sheets for the remainder of the school year.

Thursday, May 28th will be the last day the take-home reading books will be assigned.  We'd appreciate having all books returned by Monday, June 1st so that we can catalog our collection and finalize our records.  Thank you!

Special Points of Interest

• Our final check out day in IMC was LAST week (sorry about the mix-up).  Please remember to have your child return their IMC book as soon as possible.
• If your child has a summer birthday, they should have brought home a note last week with information and a date that we will be celebrating their birthday.  If you did not get this note, please let me know.
• Field Day is June 12th - Please look for information in the Thursday folder.
• THANK YOU to all of the families who donated to the Make-a-Wish foundation.  We raised over $3,000!

May 18th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in reading we will be revisiting comparing and contrasting.  We will also be taking a look at how animals are alike and different throughout their life cycle.  Additionally, we are going to be looking at the sounds aw and au as in the words crawl and taught.  We will be continuing our animal reports and integrating our science unit into our reading and writing.

In math, we are going to review identifying and classifying shapes.  Additionally, the students will be creating their own graphs.  We will also be revisiting how to read a thermometer and comparing temperatures.  Look for Home Links 10.5 and 10.6 to come home this week.

This week in science we will be focusing on parts of a plant and the life cycle of plants.  We will also continue studying animal groups.  We are raising painted lady caterpillars in class to help children understand the life cycle of a butterfly.  The kids are having fun watching the caterpillars grow!

If your child has a summer birthday, they should have brought home a note last week with information and a date that we will be celebrating their birthday.  If you did not get this note, please let me know.

Special Points of Interest

• Our final IMC check out date was last week.  Please make sure your child returns their book if they haven't already.
• We will be finishing our Math MAP test on Tuesday and doing our Reading MAP test on Thursday and Friday
• We hope you enjoyed the Spring Music Program!  The kids had a lot of fun preparing for it.  Many thank to Mrs. Plaster!
• May 25th - No school - Memorial Day