Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Greetings from New York!  We are here for a long weekend spending time with family.  I  am attending a conference while my boys are eating their way through all our favorite hometown hangouts.  :)  

As we head into the weekend, here's some information for you...

First Grade Music Program:
If you have not yet returned the signed slip indicating whether your child will be attending our First Grade International Music Program, please do so as soon as possible.

Coins for Our Money Unit:
If you have not yet sent your child's coins for our money unit, please send them to school with your child on Monday.  

Project Based Learning Update:
Our class has started a learning project we're calling "The Great Crayon Rescue". We are exploring ways to reduce the number of crayons that end up in landfills each year by reusing or recycling our old crayons.  The kids are loving this project.  Please ask your child about it!

End of Year Literacy Testing:
I am about to begin our end-of-year literacy testing.  Please be sure your child is reading every day...weekends included.  Your child should read out loud to practice decoding and fluency, and then practice retelling the story in sequence using characters' names and providing as many details as possible.  Ask your child to make a connection to the story.  Ask about the author's message...What is the author trying to teach us in the story?  Ask your child to identify his/her favorite part and state why.   

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 18th - 22nd 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 talk about similes.  Similes are sentences that compare 2 things using the words "like" or "as".
• Writing:  We will continue our project based learning unit, and this will give us the opportunity to practice many different kinds of writing.  We will continue to focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.  We will also continue exploring poetry and poetry writing.
• Math:  We will begin our Money unit.  We will practice counting groups of coins.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our project based learning unit in which we think of ways to impact the environment by reducing the number of crayons that we throw away each year.  

Please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.  

Tell the kids hello!  I am looking forward to seeing them on Monday!