Weekly Update

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 weeks fun and interesting, there are times when rules and procedures are downright boring.  I have to talk a lot, and the kids 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.

Volunteers Needed:
I am in need of parent volunteers to help me with copying and materials preparation.  If you can help anytime during the week, please email me. 

Scholastic News and Science Spin:
Please see yesterday's  Thursday folder for important information about Scholastic News and Science Spin.  We will be using these student newspapers in our classroom.  Please send your child's subscription fee ($7.50 cash or check made payable to Pinebrook) by September 14th.  Thank you! 

Snack:
We have begun to eat snack in the morning because the kids are really hungry by about 9:30. To that end, please be sure to send a snack with your child each day. Please do not send dips, sauces, or other liquids for snack.  Please do not send snack cakes with cream or frosting.  These things spill and smear easily on our classroom carpet and on our learning materials.  If your child bring any of these items for snack, I will ask him/her to save that snack for the cafeteria.  Pretzels, goldfish, fruit, granola / snack bars, and raw veggies (no dip, please) make great snacks.  

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.

Ice Cream:
Please ensure your child knows whether he/she may buy ice cream in the cafeteria on Fridays.  To avoid confusion in the cafeteria, I do expect the kids to know this when they come to school.  Thank you!

Class Directory:
I included a draft copy of the class directory in yesterday's Thursday folder.  If your information is missing (and you'd like it included) or incorrect, please contact me and I will add/update your information before sending out a final copy. 

PTA Volunteer Welcome Coffee:
The Pinebrook PTA will hold a Volunteer Welcome Coffee on Tuesday, September 11th at 8:35 am in the Pinebrook Cafeteria.  Please come find out how you can volunteer with the PTA.  Younger children are welcome!  

Specials Schedule:
I sent a paper copy of the Specials Schedule home in your child's Open House folder.  However, to recap, our Specials Schedule is as follows:

• Monday:  Music and PE
• Tuesday:  Computer Lab or SEARCH
• Wednesday:  Library and PE
• Thursday:  Music and PE
• Friday:  Art

Please note that this schedule is also posted on the right side of this blog. 

Lunch:
Our lunch time is from 10:57 - 11:27.  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 10:57. 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.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about how to use our classroom library, and procedures and expectations for Independent Reading.
• Writing:  We will complete our Fall Writing Sample.  We will begin Handwriting practice, learning about proper letter formation and starting letters at the top.
• Math:  We will continue our number sense unit.  We will count by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's, explore the concepts of odd and even, and compare and order numbers.
• 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.

Okay.  I think that's everything on my list, but I apologize in advance if I've forgotten something. Please let me know if you  have any questions, comments, or concerns.  

Enjoy the long weekend!  We've all earned it!

We Made It!

Hi Everyone!

We made it through our first day!  Expect your sweet littles to be tired...they took in a good amount of information today, but handled it perfectly!  Your children are a lively bunch of enthusiastic kiddos with tons of personality!  We are going to build a strong community and have great fun this year in Room 9.

Please check your child's backpack for some important information from the Pinebrook PTA.  Please also note that the buses will likely be delayed tomorrow too.  Dismissal takes longer than normal in these early days of the school year. 

Meantime, I'll be in touch again tomorrow with the regular Friday update.  

Thank you so much, and please let me know if you have any questions!  If you need me, you can find me asleep on our classroom carpet.  :)

Thank You and Welcome!

          

Hello, 1st Grade Parents!

A HUGE thank you to those of you able to attend Open House and/or Back to School Night! If you weren't able to attend, I will send home a folder with all pertinent information on Thursday.  I am excited to get to know each of you this year as we work together to help your sweet kiddos be successful.

First things first...if you were directed to this post by a link in an email, please kindly take a moment to subscribe to my blog.  I use this blog to communicate all school and classroom news, information, and dates.  You can follow my blog by typing your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email". After you input your email address, you'll receive a message to verify your address.  Simply click the link in the email to verify your email address, and you'll be subscribed forevermore with no worries about missing important information!  *Please do not skip this step.*   My blog publishes each day between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.  This means that if I have content to share, you will automatically receive an email between 3:00 and 5:00 pm that contains the new content.  If you don't receive an email, I don't have anything new posted. I typically post new content every Friday, and on other days as needed.  

Have you signed up for the Remind text messaging service?  If not, please take a moment to download the Remind app (look for the white text bubble on a blue background) from the app store and join my class.  After you download the Remind app, you can join my class by texting @jlombardo to 81010.

I have to say....I love the energy and excitement of both Open House and Back to School Night, but I do NOT like how fast they go!  There never seems to be enough time to address the myriad of questions, comments, and emotions running through the kids, you, and me.  So, I'm sorry if I spent less time with any of you than you were hoping.  I promise the 10,000 blog posts and emails I send over the next 9 months will MORE than make up for it. :)  

Meantime, I'd like to tell you that the next couple of weeks will really be about getting the kids used to a full school day, and introducing them to the rules, routines, and procedures of both our classroom and our school.  Actually....the next 2 weeks will be about those things.  We'll start off slowly on the academic side in favor of both building community, and solidly knowing the rules, routines, and procedures before we jump into the heavier academics.  This will be especially important as I begin to introduce flexible seating choices in our classroom.

I shared with some of you yesterday, but it's worth repeating...I really just want the kids (and you!) to know that a "nice lady" will be at school to take care of them Thursday.  (Bonus points if they remember my name!)  Thursday is about getting to school, making sure everybody eats lunch, and making sure everybody gets home safely!   (And then maybe taking a nap.)

On that note....please be sure you have acknowledged your child's back to school forms in your ParentVue account.  THE ABSOLUTE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME TO KNOW IS HOW YOUR CHILD IS GETTING HOME EACH DAY.  If you were not at Open House or Back to School Night, and did not complete a form to tell me how your child is getting home, please expect an email from me before Thursday to ask how your child will be getting home.  I can not stress enough the importance of this information.  

If you haven't yet put money on your student's lunch account, you can sign up for an account on www.myschoolbucks.com and manage your child's lunch account on-line.  You can also send a check to school with your student, but our cafeteria staff really encourages www.myschoolbucks.com to avoid lost checks between home and school.  If you need a lunch menu, please visit the school website (www.lcps.org/pinebrook) and click "school menu" in the upper right hand corner. Our lunch time is 10:57-11:27.  Please begin to send your child's daily "power snack" to school Thursday.  Please refer to the green sheet in your Back to School Night folder for more specific guidelines about snack. Remember...we do not have an in-class water fountain, so water bottles are okay too.

If you didn't bring your student's school supplies to school yet, please kindly send those as soon as possible.  Many thanks!  :)  If your child is missing a critical supply, I will send a note home so you may send the missing item as soon as possible.

Finally.....this is the first of many, many communications.  Thanks for your patience with me as I overuse emoticons, sometimes babble, and perhaps give you more information than you ever wanted.  Oh!  Please feel free to call me Jenna, both in writing and in person!  I am old.  *womp, womp*  Parents calling me "Mrs. Lombardo" makes me feel older! 

If you have any questions, please email me.  You may do so by clicking the envelope in the blue banner above my picture to the right of this post.

Welcome to 1st grade and Room 9!  Here's to a great year!!