Weekly Update

Hello Parents,

What a fun time we had with Career Day.  We listened to presentations from a football coach, a therapy dog handler, an interior designer, and a sheriff's officer. The kids showed ready, responsible, and respectful choices as they listened to our presenters. They asked interesting questions, and seemed to enjoy learning about different careers.  Be sure to ask your child which career was a favorite.  Many thanks to those of you who helped at our Career Day!  :)

Spring Break Travel Notification:
Spring Break is coming!  There is NO school for students from Friday, April 7th - Friday, April 14th. School resumes Monday, April 17th.  If you plan to get an early start on travel, and your child will be absent in advance of Spring Break, please kindly notify both the office and me in advance.  You may use the online absence notification found HERE. If you plan to pick up your child early on Thursday, April 6th, please use the online early dismissal notification found HERE.  I will send home a Spring Break reading incentive next week. 

Flat Student Projects:

I sent a note home in both yesterday's and last week's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information and kindly return both stamps, and an address for someone to whom your child may mail his/her Flat Student.  The deadline for returning stamps and an address is Tuesday, April 4th.  

Coins for our Money Unit:

I sent a note home in last week's Thursday folder about our upcoming Money unit. We will start our money unit right after Spring Break, and I would like the students to have real coins to use during the unit. Please send a bag with 100 pennies, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, and 4 quarters to school by Thursday, April 6th.  Please label the bag with your child's name.  Coins will be returned at the end of the unit.

No Written Homework Next Week:
I will not give the kids new sight words or a new Sound of the Week next week.  We will complete some review and end-of-quarter activities in class.

Yearbooks:
Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now!  Yearbooks may only be purchased online.  To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561117.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process.  

We Need Your Old Newspapers and Egg Cartons!
As part of our money unit, we will make piggy banks!  We need both newspapers and egg cartons for this fun project.  We will need some volunteers too!  (More details on volunteers later!)  For now, please send any old newspapers to school with your child.  Please also send egg cartons cut apart into the individual "egg cups" (we don't need the tops of the cartons).  Egg cups should look like this...

Thank you for your help with our piggy bank project!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practice identifying the climax in stories we read.  The climax is the pinnacle of the story.  It's the most exciting part of the story, and usually happens toward the end of book, right before the story problem is resolved.
• Writing:  We will finish our friendly letters unit as we prepare our Flat Student projects and focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our Time unit.  I thought we would finish this week, but I'm finding we need some extra practice with telling time to the half hour.  
• Social Studies:  We will finish our study of the USA, its capital, its people, and its customs.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Enjoy your weekend!

Picture Day is Tomorrow!

Hi Everyone,

Picture Day is tomorrow!  Please see below for the information about Picture Day, which I published in Friday's blog post.  

Spring Picture Day:
Spring Picture Day is this Tuesday, March 28th.  A whole group (class) picture will be taken on Tuesday, and your child's individual picture will be taken on Tuesday too.  Please note these 2 very important points:

1. If you would like a class picture (this is the whole group photo), you must order and pay for it by Tuesday, March 28th.  I sent an order form home in yesterday's Thursday folder for the class picture.  You can fill out the order form, include payment, and return the payment envelope to school, or you can order and pay online.  If you order and pay online, you must return the payment envelope to school with the online payment confirmation code written on the envelope.  This means that by Tuesday, March 28th, you should return either the payment envelope with payment inside, or the payment envelope with the online payment confirmation code written on it.  If you do not order a class photo by Tuesday, March 28th, you will NOT receive one.  There is NO option to order a class photo at a later date. This becomes an issue every year.  Please, please....if you want a class photo, you MUST order it per the instructions I've just outlined.
2. Individual pictures will also be taken Tuesday, and you will receive a picture packet at a later date.  If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you will purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet.

Weekly Update: Lots of Important Information!

Hi Parents!  Happy Friday!

Thank you for coming to the Triple Play last night at Champe HS!  It is one of my favorite events of the year!  It's like grown-up play time and the kids get to watch!  

I have lots of important information for you today; please read this post to its end! (Apparently, I also have a problem with overuse of exclamation points today!)

Spring Picture Day:
Spring Picture Day is this Tuesday, March 28th.  A whole group (class) picture will be taken on Tuesday, and your child's individual picture will be taken on Tuesday too.  Please note these 2 very important points:

1. If you would like a class picture (this is the whole group photo), you must order and pay for it by Tuesday, March 28th.  I sent an order form home in yesterday's Thursday folder for the class picture.  You can fill out the order form, include payment, and return the payment envelope to school, or you can order and pay online.  If you order and pay online, you must return the payment envelope to school with the online payment confirmation code written on the envelope.  This means that by Tuesday, March 28th, you should return either the payment envelope with payment inside, or the payment envelope with the online payment confirmation code written on it.  If you do not order a class photo by Tuesday, March 28th, you will NOT receive one.  There is NO option to order a class photo at a later date. This becomes an issue every year.  Please, please....if you want a class photo, you MUST order it per the instructions I've just outlined.
2. Individual pictures will also be taken Tuesday, and you will receive a picture packet at a later date.  If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you will purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet.

Flat Student Projects:

I sent a note home in yesterday's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information and kindly return both stamps, and an address for someone to whom your child may mail his/her Flat Student.  :)

Coins for our Money Unit:

I sent a note home in yesterday's Thursday folder about our upcoming Money unit. We will start our money unit right after Spring Break, and I would like the students to have real coins to use during the unit. Please send a bag with 100 pennies, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, and 4 quarters to school by Thursday, April 6th.  Please label the bag with your child's name.  Coins will be returned at the end of the unit.

Yearbooks:
Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now!  Yearbooks may only be purchased online.  To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561117.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process.  

We Need Your Old Newspapers and Egg Cartons!
As part of our money unit, we will make piggy banks!  We need both newspapers and egg cartons for this fun project.  We will need some volunteers too!  (More details on volunteers later!)  For now, please send any old newspapers to school with your child.  Please also send egg cartons cut apart into the individual "egg cups" (we don't need the tops of the cartons).  Egg cups should look like this...

Thank you for your help with our piggy bank project!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practice drawing conclusions in stories we read.
• Writing:  We will finish our friendly letters unit as we prepare our Flat Student projects and focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our Time unit.  We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour using both analog and digital clocks.  We will discuss the concepts of AM and PM and talk about how to read a schedule.
• Social Studies:  We will talk about the USA, its capital, its people, and its customs.

I know that's a lot of information.  Please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.  Enjoy the weekend!

                                                            

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  The leprechauns were out in force at school...mischief, mischief everywhere.  Be sure to ask your kiddo about the fun in our classroom, and about his/her leprechaun trap.

I'm pressing rewind on the blog this week since the snow days mean that this week's plans will be mostly shifted to next week.  Words of the Week (and thus homework) will resume next week, as will Sound of the Week.

Parent Coffee:
Mr. Thiessen will host a parent coffee in the Library at school on Thursday, March 23rd at 11:00 am.  This month's theme is "Tea-ssen Time"...come to ask questions, chat with Mr. Thiessen, and learn about a variety of current happenings and volunteer opportunities at our school.  *This coffee was rescheduled to the 23rd due to the snow.

Pinebrook Triple Play:
Please join us!  Our annual Pinebrook Triple Play will be Thursday, March 23rd in the gym at John Champe High School.  Doors open at 5:45 pm.  This is a fun event where the teachers divide into teams and play games against each other.  The games are designed to make us look as silly as possible...think kickball, tricycle races, and dizzy bats!  The event starts with teacher bowling.  There will be food and snacks for sale, face painting, and other fun things. The 1st graders lead the singing of the National Anthem before the games begin. Please watch your Pinebrook weekly email for more information.

Career Day:
Pinebrook will host a Career Day on the morning of Friday, March 31st.  We are in need of volunteers to share information about their occupations with students at Pinebrook.  If you can't be with us in person, you can Skype in!  Please consider volunteering by contacting our counselors, Jennifer Nocito (jennifer.nocito@lcps.org) and Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Camp STEAM-tacular:

This summer, Pinebrook will host Camp STEAM-tacular.  This is a fun-filled week of STEAM related learning and exploration, which takes place June 19th - 23rd from 9 am to 3 pm here at school.   Each grade level is aligned to a particular theme. Enrollment is limited and the camp will fill quickly!  You can learn more and register your child by visiting the Camp STEAM-tacular website HERE.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practice visualizing as I read aloud the book Flat Stanley. 
• Writing:  We will write friendly letters as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will continue our Time unit.  We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour using both analog and digital clocks.  We will discuss the concepts of AM and PM and talk about how to read a schedule.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Maps unit.  We will explore cardinal directions,  map keys and map symbols, and construct a map of a familiar area.

Thank you, Everyone!  Have a super weekend!

Quick Update for This Week!

Hi Everyone,

Because of the forecast, I'm going to hold off on giving the kids new Words of the Week and a new Sound of the Week.  We are way ahead of our pacing on these items due to the lack of snow days thus far, so a week without new material won't bother us at all.  We'll take whatever days we have together this week to review some previously learned words and to continue reviewing our vowel sounds, particularly the long vowels.

Meantime, other folks stock up on bread and milk for storms.  I bought 4 containers of coffee creamer yesterday.  *wink*

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

Happy Friday!  I hope your week has gone by quickly.  Time is clicking along at school, and the calendar is filling fast!  Meantime, the kids are working to fill our Marble Jar and earn a picnic.  :)  

Parent Coffee:
Mr. Thiessen will host a parent coffee in the Library at school on Thursday, March 16th from 11:30-12:30.  This month's theme is "Tea-ssen Time"...come to ask questions, chat with Mr. Thiessen, and learn about a variety of current happenings and volunteer opportunities at our school.

Pinebrook Triple Play:
Please join us!  Our annual Pinebrook Triple Play will be Thursday, March 23rd in the gym at John Champe High School.  The Triple Play usually starts between 5:45 and 6:30 pm.  This is a fun event where the teachers divide into teams and play games against each other.  The games are designed to make us look as silly as possible...think kickball, tricycle races, and dizzy bats!  The event starts with teacher bowling.  There will be food and snacks for sale, face painting, and other fun things. The 1st graders lead the singing of the National Anthem before the games begin. Please watch both your Pinebrook weekly email and your child's Thursday folder for more information, including the specific start time and admission prices.

Career Day:
Pinebrook will host a Career Day on the morning of Friday, March 31st.  We are in need of volunteers to share information about their occupations with students at Pinebrook.  If you can't be with us in person, you can Skype in!  Please consider volunteering by contacting our counselors, Jennifer Nocito (jennifer.nocito@lcps.org) and Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Pennies for Patients:
The Pennies for Patients Fundraiser continues until March 17th.  Many thanks to those of you who have sent donations.  All funds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help battle childhood cancer.  Our school-wide fundraising goal is $2000.00.  If your child would like to participate in this optional fundraiser, he/she may bring in any denomination of money (coins or bills) to school during the fundraising period.

Camp STEAM-tacular:

This summer, Pinebrook will host Camp STEAM-tacular.  This is a fun-filled week of STEAM related learning and exploration, which takes place June 19th - 23rd from 9 am to 3 pm here at school.   Each grade level is aligned to a particular theme. Enrollment is limited and the camp will fill quickly!  You can learn more and register your child by visiting the Camp STEAM-tacular website HERE.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will examine context clues in stories we read.  If an author doesn't explicitly tell what a word means, good readers use context clues to help determine its meaning.  For example:  The words read, "Savey was infuriated when Jonah broke his phone.  He yelled at Jonah and didn't talk to him for a week!"  A 1st grade reader may not know what "infuriated" means, but using the context clues...the other words such as "he yelled" and "didn't talk to him"...the reader will be able to determine that "infuriated" means "mad" or "angry".  (Does that make sense?)
• Writing:  We will write friendly letters as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will continue our Time unit.  We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour using both analog and digital clocks.  We will discuss the concepts of AM and PM and talk about how to read a schedule.
• Social Studies:  We will begin our Maps unit.  We will explore cardinal directions,  map keys and map symbols, and construct a map of a familiar area.

Stay warm this weekend!  Thank you!

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

It was a fun week celebrating Dr. Seuss.  The redesigned book covers the students made are displayed in the library and look both fun and festive!  :)

3rd Quarter Interim Progress Reports:
3rd Quarter Interim Progress Reports ("interims") will be issued Wednesday, March 8th.  If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you on Wednesday, March 8th using the email address on file in your ParentVue account.  LCPS is migrating to electronic delivery of interims (and eventually, report cards).  You can update and/or verify your email address by logging into your ParentVue account.  

Scholastic Book Fair:

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all next week!  (This also means my family will eat cereal for dinner all next week because Jonah is a Book Fair Frequent Flyer.)  Students previewed the Book Fair today.  Students who bring money may shop at the Book Fair next week during recess.  If your child plans to bring money for the Book Fair, please send the money in a sealed envelope marked with your child's name, my name, and "Book Fair" on the outside of the envelope.  If you would like to attend the Book Fair to shop with your child, our Family Shopping Night will be Tuesday, March 7th from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.  *Please note: Book Fair purchases are optional.

Fine Arts Night:

The PTA is sponsoring a Fine Arts Night at school on Tuesday, March 7th at 6:00 pm.  This will be a night of hands-on creativity as kids visit many fun stations to explore art through a variety of mediums.  Visit the Book Fair to shop with your child, and then head over to Fine Arts Night!

Pennies for Patients:
Our Student Council Association (SCA) is sponsoring a fundraiser called "Pennies for Patients" from March 6th - March 17th.  All funds will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help battle childhood cancer.  Our fundraising school-wide goal is $2000.00.  I sent home a collection box and a more detailed explanation in yesterday's Thursday folder.  If your child would like to participate in this optional fundraiser, he/she may bring in any denomination of money (coins or bills) to school during the fundraising period.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore rich vocabulary in various texts, and practice identifying story elements such as character, setting, problem, and solution.
• Writing:  We will explore paragraph structure as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will begin our Time unit.  We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour using both analog and digital clocks.  
• Science:  We will finish our unit about force and motion.  We will explore different paths of motion, ways things move, sound, and vibration.  

Thank you for your continued efforts to support the kids and me!  I appreciate working with each of you, and I am continually amazed at the progress the kids are demonstrating.  Please keep reading!  

Have a super weekend!