Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!

It's about to be my favorite week of the entire school year!  The anticipation for the upcoming Holiday is palpable, everyone is in a festive mood, and everyone is even kinder than normal.  We have some fun events planned this week to mark the Holiday, and will be finishing up some of our academic units too.  

Here's a quick weekly update...

Next Week's Homework:
There is no written homework next week, and we will not have new sight words. Please read!

Winter Break Reading Log:
I sent home a Winter Break Reading Log in your child's Thursday folder yesterday. If you have any questions about this reading incentive, please email me.

Holiday Travel:

If you are traveling over the Holidays, and your child will be absent from school, please kindly notify the school in advance.  You can send a message or note to me, which I will forward to the office.  You may also submit your notification to the office directly by using the "online absence excuse", which is found on the Pinebrook home page.  The link to the Pinebrook home page is here.

Reflex Math:

We are coming to a close on our addition and subtraction unit.  Now that the kids have learned the strategies for solving addition and subtraction facts, it's time to practice fact fluency!  Fact fluency is the "fancy way" to describe the ability to quickly recall addition and subtraction facts.  I cannot teach fact fluency.  You cannot teach fact fluency.  As with reading, it's about practice, practice, practice.  To promote practice, our school subscribes to an on-line program called Reflex Math. The program's aim is to help kids build fact fluency.  Your child can now begin to log in to practice fact fluency via fun, arcade style games.  The log on information is in the "online resources" section of this blog.

Focus Areas for the Upcoming Short Week:

• Reading:  We will read the Holiday Classic The Polar Express, and review many of the good reader strategies we have learned this year, such as predicting, retelling, making connections, and story mapping.  
• Math:  We will review addition and subtraction strategies.  We will begin our place value unit in January.
• Writing:  We will complete some Holiday writing projects.
• Science / Social Studies:  We will talk about Holiday traditions around the world with our annual Holidays Around the World on Tuesday morning. During this time, the 1st grade teachers take turns rotating through each other's classrooms teaching the students about a holiday tradition from a particular country or culture.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!  The Mercer Band and Chorus (my Savey sings in the 8th grade chorus!) will come Tuesday afternoon for a Holiday concert, and on Wednesday, the entire school will pile into the gym for our annual Holiday Sing Along.  We sing Holiday songs from the many faith and cultural traditions represented at Pinebrook while the teachers and staff all take turns leading the songs.  Seriously....I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF.  I am 42 years old, but at this time of year, I am a 6 year old.  It's one reason why YOUR children are "MY PEOPLE"!  (It's also the reason I am typing in so many CAPITAL letters.)

Have a great weekend!  I am looking forward to baking more cookies, wrapping gifts, watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with my boys, and attending a Holiday concert at our Church.  

3 days....3 days....3 days.....

Weekly Update

                                           
Hi Everyone,

I hope you had an easy week.  The kids are sharing stories of elves, decorations, and holiday wish lists.  It certainly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Holiday Shop:
We previewed the items for sale at the Pinebrook Holiday Shop yesterday.  Students may purchase items next Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  If your child is purchasing Holiday Shop items, please kindly use the envelope I sent home yesterday to send his/her list and money next Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Students who bring money may shop during our recess time.  Please remember there is no obligation to buy.

Interim Progress Reports:
Interim progress reports (commonly called "interims") will go home Wednesday, December 14th.  LCPS introduced a new format for interims this year.  You'll see your child's grades for the current quarter (thus far), along with my "teacher comments".  Please pay particular attention to the comments.  You'll find an update on your child's academic progress, work habits, and/or behavior, along with my specific suggestions for helping your child continue to progress.  A friendly reminder that I do not send an interim home for every child.  If I send one for your student, you'll find it in the front clear pocket of his/her homework folder on Wednesday afternoon.

Hour of Code:
In celebration of Computer Science Eduaction Week, our school participated in Hour of Code this week.  The goal of Hour of Code Week is to introduce students to computer science and computer programming through fun, self-paced, computer based games.  The kids particularly loved a game called "Tynker".  You can find it on our 1st Grade Symbaloo page by clicking HERE.  Look in the middle of the page to the left of the Symbaloo logo.  You'll see "Hour of Code Tynker".  While you're there, check out the other fun online learning resources!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will work on summarizing stories as we enjoy Holiday themed books.
• Writing:  We will complete some seasonal writing projects.
• Math:  We will finish our subtraction unit.
• Science:  We will continue our study of how humans, plants, and animals adapt to winter.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I will be at the Pancake Breakfast and Holiday Shop Event tomorrow morning.  I'm stuffing myself silly with pancakes to support the 5th graders' fundraising efforts, and I'm helping to sell candy grams for our Teachers Makin' Tracks Relay for Life Team.  If you're there, stop by the table to say hello!

Questions, comments, and feedback welcomed!  :)

A Short Weekly Update!

Hi Parents,

We had a fairly quiet week.  It's the calm before the storm of Holiday excitement and activity!  As a result, my update is fairly short this week!

Make Up Pictures December 6th:
The Lifetouch Photographer will be here Tuesday for school picture make-ups.  Retake pictures are only for those students who were absent on picture day or who purchased a picture packet on picture day and would like their pictures retaken.  If you purchased a picture packet on picture day and  would like your child's school picture retaken, please send me an email for more details.

Timeline Projects Due December 9th:
Your child's "Look At Me Now" timeline project is due next Friday, December 9th.  (I sent this assignment home in your child's Thursday folder on Thursday, November 16th.)  If your child has his/her project done early, feel free too send it in.

Candy Grams on Sale:
I am proud to be a member of Our Teachers Makin' Tracks Relay for Life Team!  We participate in Relay for Life to raise money in the fight against cancer.  We walk both in honor and in memory of loved ones and co-workers who have waged a battle with cancer.  This Holiday season, we are selling candy grams as a fundraiser.   If you'd like to order a candy gram for your child, you can fill out the order form, and send it to school in a sealed envelope along with the $2 payment.  One of our Teachers Makin' Tracks "elves" (we team members!) will deliver the candy gram to your child. Here's a photo of the Candy Grams, and the order form.  

 

Candy Gram Order Form

I would like to order_______ candy grams.

To: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Message: _______________________________________________________________________________________

To: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Message: _______________________________________________________________________________________

To: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Message: _______________________________________________________________________________________

_____candy grams X $2.00 each =________________________ (checks can be made payable to The American Cancer Society) or 6 for $10.00

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will discuss the questions good readers ask when they read a story.  We sometimes call this "wondering".
• Writing:  We will respond to writing prompts and self-chosen topics as we continue to practice capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and letter formation. 
• Math:  We will continue learning strategies for quickly solving subtraction facts.
• Science:  We will continue to learn about the adaptations humans, plans, and animals make during Winter.

Enjoy the weekend, Everyone!  It's Cookie Time in our house!!!!