Weekly Update and Turkey of the Year Update!

Hi Everyone,

We celebrated Veteran's Day at school today.  Please ask your child about it! Veterans came to speak with us about their time in the service, and we celebrated them with our own Pinebrook Veteran's Day parade.  My husband, Leo, served for 22 years.  As a teacher and as the wife of a veteran, I am so thankful to our Pinebrook community for honoring Leo and the other veterans.  Please take a moment today to be thankful for the veterans who keep our country the Land of the Free.  

Turkey of the Year Update:
Next week is the last week to vote for Turkey of the Year.  Please, please, please help me become the 2016 Turkey of the Year by encouraging your child to read for crazy amounts of hours between now and next Thursday!  Please note:  Next week's final vote will take place on Thursday (not Friday!).  I will send a reminder next week for you to send reading slips on Thursday, instead of Friday.  Thank you so much for all you've done to support me in my dream to be "The Turkey"!

Report Cards:
Quarter 1 report cards will go home next Wednesday, November 16th.  I will put your child's report card in the front clear pocket of his/her homework folder.  After you review your child's report card, please sign the bottom of the last page, detach the signature slip, and return it in the original envelope.  You keep the report card; I keep the signature slip and envelope. I do reuse your child's report card envelope all year, so please be sure to return it.

American Education Week:
I hope you will join us in our classroom next Thursday, November 17th from 9:45 - 10:30 am to celebrate American Education Week.  Students will present the ABC's of Thanksgiving.  Our lunch is immediately following the ABC's of Thanksgiving, and you may stay to have lunch with your child.  Our lunch is from 10:34 - 11:04.  If you're staying for lunch, please plan to say goodbye to your child in the cafeteria at the end of our lunch period.  Our regular instructional day will resume right after lunch.  I sent home specific information about American Education Week, including a copy of your child's speaking part(s), in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please review this information.  Please send back the form to let me know if you're staying for lunch, and please help your child practice reading his/her speaking part with a clear, confident voice.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about visualizing.  When good readers read and/or listen to stories, they must sometimes visualize.  When we visualize, we make a picture in our brains to accompany the words in the story.
• Writing:  We will respond to writing prompts and self-chosen topics as we continue to practice capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and letter formation. We will complete a Thanksgiving writing project.
• Math:  We will begin to close our addition unit.  We will finish learning strategies for quickly solving addition facts.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Long Ago and Today unit as we make our final preparations for American Education Week, and the ABC's of Thanksgiving.

Our first quarter is in the books!  Thank you for all you've done to help your child adjust to 1st grade.  I am blessed by their sweet presence each day.  Please remember...your feedback is welcomed and appreciated.  

Enjoy the weekend!  I'm going to start our family's Thanksgiving preparations!  I should probably start with a 10 mile run, and by ensuring all my elastic waist pants are ready to go!  *gobble*