Happy Friday, Everyone!
We made it through our first full week of school. I wonder if the kids are as tired as me? While I try to make the first week fun and interesting, there are times when rules and procedures are downright boring. I have to talk a lot, and the students have to be quite attentive. As such, the kids really learned the nuts and bolts of our classroom this week. Next week we'll refine some procedures, and add a few details to the procedures learned this week. We'll continue to get to know each other as we build our classroom community. On that note, I am impressed and thankful with how beautifully the kids are getting along. They're including each other during recess, introducing themselves to each other, and are a very social bunch. :)
Here's some important information for you to know. Please read through to the end. It's a lot this first time around...
Please Subscribe to My Blog!
If you were directed to this post by a link in an email, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email". You will receive a confirmation email to verify your subscription. Please clink the link in the email to verify your email address. You will then receive an automatic notification each time I've published a message. Please don't skip that important last step -- you MUST verify/confirm your email address to be subscribed.
Class Directory:
I have prepared a class directory. If you do NOT want your child's information (name, address, phone number, your name, and your email address) published in our class directory, please kindly send me an email by Friday, September 9th. I will remove your child's information before I distribute the directory.
Important Dates:
Please check the "Important Dates" section of this blog for upcoming events. I will highlight some events in my weekly update, but you can find a complete list in the "Important Dates" section.
Specials Schedule:
I sent a paper copy of the Specials Schedule home in your child's Open House / Welcome Folder. However, to recap, our Specials Schedule is as follows:
We made it through our first full week of school. I wonder if the kids are as tired as me? While I try to make the first week fun and interesting, there are times when rules and procedures are downright boring. I have to talk a lot, and the students have to be quite attentive. As such, the kids really learned the nuts and bolts of our classroom this week. Next week we'll refine some procedures, and add a few details to the procedures learned this week. We'll continue to get to know each other as we build our classroom community. On that note, I am impressed and thankful with how beautifully the kids are getting along. They're including each other during recess, introducing themselves to each other, and are a very social bunch. :)
Here's some important information for you to know. Please read through to the end. It's a lot this first time around...
Please Subscribe to My Blog!
If you were directed to this post by a link in an email, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email". You will receive a confirmation email to verify your subscription. Please clink the link in the email to verify your email address. You will then receive an automatic notification each time I've published a message. Please don't skip that important last step -- you MUST verify/confirm your email address to be subscribed.
Class Directory:
I have prepared a class directory. If you do NOT want your child's information (name, address, phone number, your name, and your email address) published in our class directory, please kindly send me an email by Friday, September 9th. I will remove your child's information before I distribute the directory.
Important Dates:
Please check the "Important Dates" section of this blog for upcoming events. I will highlight some events in my weekly update, but you can find a complete list in the "Important Dates" section.
Specials Schedule:
I sent a paper copy of the Specials Schedule home in your child's Open House / Welcome Folder. However, to recap, our Specials Schedule is as follows:
- Monday: Music and PE
- Tuesday: Library
- Wednesday: PE and Computer Lab
- Thursday: Music and Art
- Friday: PE and SEARCH / Guidance
Please ensure your child wears sneakers to school on our PE days.
Back to School Night:
Back to School Night will be Thursday, September 15th at 6:30 pm at school. Please come to ask questions, and to learn important information about our school and classroom procedures. A more specific schedule will be published closer to the date. Please watch your email; Mr. Thiessen or our school office typically communicates this important information. I will update it here when I have it.
PTA Volunteer Welcome Coffee:
The Pinebrook PTA will hold a Volunteer Welcome Coffee on Friday, September 9th at 8:35 am in the Pinebrook Cafeteria. Please come find out how you can volunteer with the PTA. Younger children are welcome!
Shared Reading Poetry Bags:
Today, I am sending home a gallon-sized zip top bag with with your child. The bag is labeled "My Shared Reading Poems", and contains our first Shared Reading poem of the year. Shared Reading is a time for the students to orally read and/or sing songs, poems, and informational texts. Students practice fluency, intonation, and other good reader skills. As a class, we discuss elements of the text...rhyming words, punctuation, grammar, etc. Each week, your child will bring home a copy of the text we read that week. I'm sending the bag home so your child has a place to keep all of his/her poems. It does not have to come back to school, and if you have a folder or other filing system you'd like to use, please do so! I encourage you to have your child regularly reread his/her poems...to you, to him/herself, to a sibling, a stuffed animal, a pet, etc. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice fluency, sight word recall, and many other good reader skills.
Lunch:
Our lunch time is from 10:34 - 11:04. You are welcome to eat lunch with your child any day, and you may bring your child lunch purchased from a restaurant (think places like Subway, Panera, or Chick-fil-A). If you'd like to eat lunch with your child, please sign in at the school office and meet us at the cafeteria at 10:34. Please plan to say goodbye to your child in the cafeteria at the end of our lunch period as our instructional day resumes right after lunch.
Water Bottles:
First graders are a thirsty bunch. Please feel free to send a water bottle to school with your child each day. Please send a reusable bottle. Please do NOT send water bottles with twist off tops for classroom use...the kids have a very difficult time getting the caps on straight and those bottles typically spill.
Volunteers Needed:
I am in need of parent volunteers to help me stuff Thursday folders and prepare materials. While our school does not have school-wide Thursday folders, I continue to use this communication tool. On Thursdays, I will send a reusable envelope (but I call it a "folder") home that contains school and classroom news and notices, along with your student's graded work. You should empty the folder completely and return it with your child each Friday. It's super helpful to have a parent stuff the folders because I can't always get to it during the course of a Thursday. I am also in need of parent volunteers to help me with copying and materials preparation. If you can help stuff Thursday folders on Thursdays after 11:30, or if you can help with copying and materials preparation anytime during the week, please send me an email.
Focus Areas for the Coming Week:
Enjoy the long weekend! We've all earned it!
Back to School Night:
Back to School Night will be Thursday, September 15th at 6:30 pm at school. Please come to ask questions, and to learn important information about our school and classroom procedures. A more specific schedule will be published closer to the date. Please watch your email; Mr. Thiessen or our school office typically communicates this important information. I will update it here when I have it.
PTA Volunteer Welcome Coffee:
The Pinebrook PTA will hold a Volunteer Welcome Coffee on Friday, September 9th at 8:35 am in the Pinebrook Cafeteria. Please come find out how you can volunteer with the PTA. Younger children are welcome!
Shared Reading Poetry Bags:
Today, I am sending home a gallon-sized zip top bag with with your child. The bag is labeled "My Shared Reading Poems", and contains our first Shared Reading poem of the year. Shared Reading is a time for the students to orally read and/or sing songs, poems, and informational texts. Students practice fluency, intonation, and other good reader skills. As a class, we discuss elements of the text...rhyming words, punctuation, grammar, etc. Each week, your child will bring home a copy of the text we read that week. I'm sending the bag home so your child has a place to keep all of his/her poems. It does not have to come back to school, and if you have a folder or other filing system you'd like to use, please do so! I encourage you to have your child regularly reread his/her poems...to you, to him/herself, to a sibling, a stuffed animal, a pet, etc. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice fluency, sight word recall, and many other good reader skills.
Lunch:
Our lunch time is from 10:34 - 11:04. You are welcome to eat lunch with your child any day, and you may bring your child lunch purchased from a restaurant (think places like Subway, Panera, or Chick-fil-A). If you'd like to eat lunch with your child, please sign in at the school office and meet us at the cafeteria at 10:34. Please plan to say goodbye to your child in the cafeteria at the end of our lunch period as our instructional day resumes right after lunch.
Water Bottles:
First graders are a thirsty bunch. Please feel free to send a water bottle to school with your child each day. Please send a reusable bottle. Please do NOT send water bottles with twist off tops for classroom use...the kids have a very difficult time getting the caps on straight and those bottles typically spill.
Volunteers Needed:
I am in need of parent volunteers to help me stuff Thursday folders and prepare materials. While our school does not have school-wide Thursday folders, I continue to use this communication tool. On Thursdays, I will send a reusable envelope (but I call it a "folder") home that contains school and classroom news and notices, along with your student's graded work. You should empty the folder completely and return it with your child each Friday. It's super helpful to have a parent stuff the folders because I can't always get to it during the course of a Thursday. I am also in need of parent volunteers to help me with copying and materials preparation. If you can help stuff Thursday folders on Thursdays after 11:30, or if you can help with copying and materials preparation anytime during the week, please send me an email.
Focus Areas for the Coming Week:
- Reading: We will talk about how to use our classroom library, and how to choose books that are a "just right" fit for us.
- Writing: We will complete an All About Me book, and complete our Fall Writing Sample.
- Math: We will continue learning how to use our "Rise and Shine" binders...Rise and Shine binders contain students' Morning Work. The binders review and reinforce calendar, counting, place value, and sight word skills.
- Social Studies: We will continue building our classroom community as we explore the qualities of a good citizen in our school, our community, and our world.
Enjoy the long weekend! We've all earned it!
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