Read Across America

Thank you to the families who came to read to us! We had a great time!!

Frozen Book

Dear Families,

Did you receive all the books that your child ordered from the last book order?  Today a book was shipped to me that was on back order- it is Disney Frozen- Anna's Best Friends.  The students don't seem to know who it belongs to.   Please contact me if this book is yours!

Thanks!

Take care,
Mrs. Rocky

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

To continue our celebration of Dr. Seuss, we graphed colored Goldfish during math time. We had to decide which color had the most and which color had the least. We also made tally marks of our data. What a yummy way to practice graphing! 

Green Eggs and Ham

To celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, we made some green eggs and ham. We had to follow directions and then put these directions in the correct order. Some friends were a little turned off by the funny color but ALL tried a "polite bite". Here are some happy kindergartners with their  green eggs and ham!

Junior Achievement Volunteer Still Needed

Volunteer to teach JA at Thorson Elementary School

What is JA?  Junior Achievement (JA) empowers young people to own their economic success. Our volunteer-delivered, K-12 programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire kids to dream big and reach their potential.

What would I do?

·         Lead five hands-on activities in the class.  Each activity is 30 to 45 minutes.  Total of five visits to the classroom.

·         All materials are age appropriate for students, colorful, fun and provided by Junior Achievement.

·         Teachers are present in the classroom to assist and provide support.

·         We train you.

·         Help students understand that skills learned in school are vital to their future.

·         Arrange a convenient teaching schedule with your teacher.

Why should I volunteer? 

·         An easy way to give back and get involved in the classroom and get to know the teachers as well as the staff at Thorson Elementary.

·         Manageable time commitment. 

·         Prepare the next generation with work readiness skills, financial literacy skills, and entrepreneurship skills.

Classes that need volunteers:

Teacher	Grade	JA Program	Start Month
Erin Rockliewitz	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April
Krista Hartling	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April/May
Amy Delzell	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April
Chelsea Majinski	1st	JA Our Families	March
Karen Buser	3rd	JA Our City	April
Amy Kahn	4th	JA Our Region	April

How do I sign up or get more information?  Contact Sharon or Barb for more information.

Sharon Dane JA Liaison-Thorson Elementary phone: (262) 364-722/email: sharon.dane@sbcglobal.net

Barbara Klocko JA-ph: 414-577-3819 or email: bklocko@jawis.org

Junior Achievement empowering young people to own their economic success.

http://wisconsin.ja.org/

Computer Lab Help

MAP testing is finally complete and we are able to go into the computer lab once again!  I am looking for some volunteers to help the kindergartners with their usernames and passwords.  The students will also be updating their blogs and will need help with some spelling.

If you are able to help us out, will you please consider signing up?  We will be going to the computer lab on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30-3:15pm.  Please click on the VolunteerSpot link for more details.

Thank you so much for helping us out!

Additional reminders

Dear families,

Please be sure to return the letter that was given to you all from our speech therapist, Mrs. Schmidt.  She is looking for a few students to help out during some speech sessions.

Remember to work on your rainbows!  Can't wait to see them in our hallway!

Please be sure to pack a snack for your child.  Many children are telling me that they do not have snack at snack time.

Thanks so much!  Let's hope that the weather gets warmer soon!

Take care,
Mrs. Rocky

Newsletter-Our Week In Review

Dear Parents,

We hope that all of you enjoyed the extra-long weekend with your kindergartner.  Hopefully, you could spend some special time with your child.  It’s hard to believe that February is almost over!

In math this week, students have been counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.  We are also learning about time and money.  Students need to be able to recognize a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter and know their values.  Please review these coins with your child.  Another focus is on the concept of half.  We worked on dividing groups of objects in half and dividing a whole into halves.  

Our week long celebration of Dr. Seuss included many fun activities.  We read lots of Dr. Seuss books and wrote rhyming words from these stories.  We made Dr. Seuss hats and cakes.  For a really special treat, we ate green eggs and ham after reading the story.  On Friday, during our “Read Across America” program family members shared a variety of books with the children.  We have had an exciting week!

REMINDER!  If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for a Parent/Teacher conference.

Thank you all for your continued support!

The Kindergarten Teachers

The Kindergarten Olympics

This last week we have been having the Kindergarten Olympics. A variety of events happened over the week.  Events like block building, paper rock scissors contests, and getting dressed quickly. The kiddos did a great job! 

Today the students got to design their own medals. We also listened to our National Anthem to celebrate our victories!

Congratulations Olympians!!

Gold medal winners

Silver medal winners

Bronze medal winners

Read Across America

Read Across America day is quickly approaching!  On Friday, February 28th, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday!  In order to do so, we need your help.

We need volunteers to read with small groups of students.  If you are able to help out on Friday, February 28th from 3:00-3:30, please click on the VolunteerSpot link.  We currently have 5 family members signed up but we would love more!

Thanks so much for considering!

Jump Rope For Heart Donations Due Tomorrow

Please remember to turn in your pledge envelopes for Jump Rope For Heart!  

These are due tomorrow, Friday, February 21st.

Thank you!

Newsletter- Our Week In Review

February 20, 2014

Dear Parents,

This week students learned about Abe Lincoln and George Washington to celebrate President’s Day.  We read books, watched videos, and made art projects about these important men.
Thank you all so much for bringing supplies for our Valentine’s Party.  We had a great time decorating cookies and enjoying our Valentine cards from each other.

In guided reading, our theme is “Neighborhood Workers”.  The children have been reviewing the letters Hh, Dd and Rr.  Children have been practicing writing the letters as well as identifying the sounds that they make.  Our star words this week are:  for, you, and are.  Please practice star words with your child.  We will be assessing them this month to see how many they know.
We continue to work on the strategy of summarizing.  Students need to think about what is happening in the story.  Then, they will be able to retell it with the events in the correct order.  In writing, students are learning to create lists.  This is one example of real–world writing that they will use throughout their lives.

In math, students have been busy identifying solid shapes.  These solid shapes are the cube, sphere, cylinder, and cone.  Students were able to find these shapes in everyday objects such as a dice, a basketball, a can or soup, and even an ice cream cone.  Walk around your house and see what solid shapes your kindergartner can identify! As always, we encourage you to practice number identification and correct number formation with your kindergartner!

A special occasion is coming up at Thorson!  It is Read Across America Day on Friday, Feb. 28th!  We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday next week. Parents may come to their child’s classroom on Friday at 3:00PM and read a book with a small group of students.  (Be sure to send the blue form back to your child’s teacher if you are coming in.)  Please bring your own book to read.  However, if you do need a book, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher.

REMINDER!
• If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for a Parent/Teacher conference.

• Friday, February 21st is a Half Day for Professional Development!

• No School on Monday, February 24th!

Book Orders Due Tomorrow!

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: HFYK6

There are some great books available in the Scholastic Book Order.  Please remember to place your Reading Club orders by TOMORROW Thursday, February 20th!

You can shop and submit your order online or return the printed order form with payment directly to me. No matter how you order, every purchase you make earns FREE Books and educational supplies for our classroom.

The arrival of the book box is always a highlight-thanks for making it happen!

Happy reading,
Mrs. Rocky


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!

Read Across America

Read Across America day is quickly approaching!  On Friday, February 28th, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday!  In order to do so, we need your help.

We need volunteers to read with small groups of students.  If you are able to help out on Friday, February 28th from 3:00-3:30, please click on the VolunteerSpot link.  We currently have 4 family members signed up but we would love more!

Thanks so much for considering!

Junior Achievement Volunteer Needed!

Volunteer to teach JA at Thorson Elementary School

What is JA?  Junior Achievement (JA) empowers young people to own their economic success. Our volunteer-delivered, K-12 programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire kids to dream big and reach their potential.

What would I do?

·         Lead five hands-on activities in the class.  Each activity is 30 to 45 minutes.  Total of five visits to the classroom.

·         All materials are age appropriate for students, colorful, fun and provided by Junior Achievement.

·         Teachers are present in the classroom to assist and provide support.

·         We train you.

·         Help students understand that skills learned in school are vital to their future.

·         Arrange a convenient teaching schedule with your teacher.

Why should I volunteer? 

·         An easy way to give back and get involved in the classroom and get to know the teachers as well as the staff at Thorson Elementary.

·         Manageable time commitment. 

·         Prepare the next generation with work readiness skills, financial literacy skills, and entrepreneurship skills.

Classes that need volunteers:

Teacher	Grade	JA Program	Start Month
Erin Rockliewitz	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April
Krista Hartling	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April/May
Amy Delzell	Kindergarten	JA Ourselves	April
Chelsea Majinski	1st	JA Our Families	March
Karen Buser	3rd	JA Our City	April
Amy Kahn	4th	JA Our Region	April

How do I sign up or get more information?  Contact Sharon or Barb for more information.

Sharon Dane JA Liaison-Thorson Elementary phone: (262) 364-722/email: sharon.dane@sbcglobal.net

Barbara Klocko JA-ph: 414-577-3819 or email: bklocko@jawis.org

Junior Achievement empowering young people to own their economic success.

http://wisconsin.ja.org/

.

No more rest towels please!

Please do not send your child with rest towels/blankets to school anymore.  Many friends are no longer resting.  Other activities such as the iPads, computers, reading quietly, coloring, etc. are done more often.  If a child is still tired, there is still an option to rest.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me!

Graphing candy hearts

To celebrate valentines day, we graphed candy hearts. Students had to determine which color was the greatest and which color had the least. The kiddos loved it!

Read Across America Day

Read Across America Day is on Friday, February 28th.  This is a day where we celebrate the love of reading!  Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, older brothers and sisters, are welcome to come and read to a small group of children.  You will need to bring your own books.

We're using VolunteerSpot (the leading online signup and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming activity. 

Please sign up for Read Across America!

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/xjddaA 
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot) 
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!