Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

It's the time of year when the calendar begins to fill up quickly, both at home and at school!  I have many things to tell you about.  

Fall Party:
I hope to see some of you at our Fall Party on Wednesday.  It begins at 1:30 pm in our classroom.  Please sign in at the office and get a visitor pass before coming to our classroom.   Please note that our office is not allowing parents to take children home via early dismissal from the party.  Our office is also asking all parents to leave the building by 2:20 pm.    Since no costumes are allowed that day, please help your child contribute to our festive atmosphere by dressing in something orange or Halloween themed (a Halloween shirt, hair ribbon, etc.).

Turkey of the Year:
Turkey of the Year voting began today, and will continue for the next few Fridays! Your child must read to vote for the staff member he/she would like to see come to school dressed in a turkey suit.  One hour of reading equals one vote.  Each Friday, please sign and return that week's voting slip, which came home in last week's Thursday folder.  If you lost the voting slips, please write a note to indicate how many hours your child read during the previous week, sign it, and send it to school on Friday. 

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences have begun!  If your conference is in the morning before school, I will meet you at the front door of the school to let you in since our office staff may not yet be here.  You will not need to sign in.  If your conference is after school, please ring the school visitor bell, be prepared to show your photo id to our office staff, and sign in at the office.  You may walk to our classroom after you sign in.  

Pinebrook Veteran's Day Program:
Please read the following message from the Pinebrook office regarding our Veteran's Day Program:

Calling All Veterans!

You are invited to participate in Pinebrook's Veteran's Day Celebration

At Pinebrook Elementary, we love to celebrate and honor our families, especially those who have served or are currently active in the military. We would be honored to have you join us and share your stories with two classrooms of students (parents and extended family military members welcome) for our Veteran's Day Celebration to be held on Monday, November 12^th from 8:00am-10:15am.

Schedule of events:

8:00 – 8:25 Veterans check in at the front desk and proceed to the library

8:30 – 9:10 Program Begins / Veteran's share their story with two different groups of students

8:30 – 8:50 First Session

8:50 – 9:10 Second Session

9:15 – 9:30 Photos of Veterans with their students

9:30 – 9:45 Pinebrook Veterans Day Parade

9:45 - 10:15 Juice, Coffee, Bagels for Veterans

Please RSVP through Google Forms at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqCiNfjx6aXv_q4WjfRByUFiPoHjSvdiT40rKpP8KQuSPdag/viewform   

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will learn how word detectives use snap words to read.
• Writing:  We will finish our first writing unit by editing and publishing one of our writing pieces.
• Math:  We will finish our fractions unit.
• Social Studies:  We will begin our unit on famous Virginians.  We will learn about Maggie Walker, Christopher Newport, Powhatan, Pocahontas, Arthur Ashe, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

As promised, here are some photos of Savey dressed for Homecoming.  This kid...

I hope you have a fun weekend making final preparations for Halloween!  I couldn't resist this meme because I may just kinda be this parent...although I usually hide in the pantry to eat their candy....

Weekly Update

Hello Parents!  Happy Friday!

We had some beautiful days in the sunshine at recess this week.  The kids have been having fun with our pumpkin investigation.  Each child named his/her pumpkin.  Ask your child about his/her pumpkin's name!  

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences will begin next week!  If your conference is in the morning before school, I will meet you at the front door of the school to let you in since our office staff may not yet be here.  You will not need to sign in.  If your conference is after school, please ring the school visitor bell, be prepared to show your photo id to our office staff, and sign in at the office.  You may walk to our classroom after you sign in.  

Next Week is Spirit Week:
Next week, we will have a Spirit Week to celebrate Pinebrook as a bully-free zone! Themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday:  Inside Out Day - wear your clothes inside out to show that bullying can cause hurt feelings on the inside more than anyone sees on the outside.
• Wednesday:  National Unity Day - wear orange to show support for students who have been bullied.
• Thursday:  Walk in Someone Else's Shoes Day - wear 2 different shoes to show compassion and empathy for someone else's situation.
• Friday:  Superhero Day - Dress like a superhero to let everyone know you are a superhero in the effort to stop bullying.  You are an upstander, and practice "Stop, Walk, and Talk!"

Pinebrook Glow Run:
The PTA is sponsoring a Glow Run on Friday, October 26th at 6:30 pm at school. This will be a fun nighttime event, during which participants are invited to run at dusk wearing glow necklaces, bracelets, glasses, etc.  I will be there and I hope to see you too!  You can find more information and the link to register for the Pinebrook Glow Run by clicking HERE.

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:30 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend!  (NO costumes, please.)  I sent home a food menu for the party in yesterday's Thursday folder.  If you have any questions or issues with the food menu, please let me know.  If I do not hear from you by October 31st, your child will be allowed to eat all food at the menu, per the permission slip you signed earlier this year.

Check Out Our 1st Grade Symbaloo Page:
Our Instructional Facilitator of Technology, Mrs. Clark, compiled a Symbaloo page for us! Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize multiple websites.  Our 1st Grade Symbaloo has links to a variety of sites that cover multiple disciplines...everything from Mouse Skills (check out "Bees and Honey"...I played it last night!), to science, to math, and holidays.  Our Symbaloo sites are a perfect "something more" to supplement your child's weekly homework. You can access the Symbaloo by clicking HERE.  You can access it via the "online resources" page of this blog.  You can also access it by going to the Pinebrook Homepage.  Once there, click "First Grade" under the "Classrooms" tab.  Look to the left under the heading "First Grade".  At the bottom of that list, you'll see "First Grade Symbaloo."  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue our Word Detectives Unit.
• Writing:  We will study ways writers make their stories easier to read by using end marks and capitalization.
• Math:  We will finish our geometry unit and begin our fractions unit. We will talk about equal parts, fair shares, and learn how to represent fractions for halves, thirds, and fourths.
• Science:  We will finish our pumpkin investigation.  We will discuss fire safety.

Thank you for all you do!  As always, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome!

Don't forget - the kids are off on Monday due to a teacher workday.  Savey has Homecoming this weekend.  He bought one of those "Opposuits" to wear.  I'll have to share a picture...he looks CRAZY!  (But he's happy!)  Enjoy the beautiful Fall weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

It's been a short but busy week!  

In honor of Fire Safety Week, we had a visit from Ms. Lisa Braun with Loudoun County Fire and Rescue.  Ms. Braun spoke with us about fire safety and shared important information.  Please ask your child about our fire safety program!  :)

My son, Savey ("Say-vee"), is in the Educators Rising Club at Champe.  As part of the club, he'll be coming to Pinebrook with me each Tuesday morning to spend an hour in our class before going to his school.  The kids are really enjoying him, and he's having a ball with them.  Here are a couple photos of him on his first day. Savey has a real heart for little ones.  He's going to love his time as our tutor!

Pumpkins:
We will complete an in-class pumpkin investigation.  Each child will need his/her own small pumpkin.  I sent a note home about this in last week's Thursday folder. Please send your child's small pumpkin to school by Monday.  Please write your child's name on the bottom of his/her pumpkin.

Wear Pink Monday:
On Monday, cartoonist Duane M. Abel will visit Pinebrook.  He is the creator of the ZED comic, and will be presenting a program called "Draw Your Destiny." Because ZED is pink, we are asking all students and staff to come to school in pink on Monday.  :) 

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:30 our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend!  (NO costumes, please.)  I will send a food menu home before the party. Our awesome team of Room Moms and I thank you for your donations. Your funds will be put to good use, as the ladies plan for our class celebrations.  :)

Extra Clothes:
Because first graders are still prone to bathroom accidents and playground slips, please consider tucking an extra set of clothing (to include underclothes) into your child's backpack.  I will not collect and store the clothes in our classroom. The extra set of clothing will simply sit at the bottom of your child's backpack until it may be needed.  Thank you!

Water Bottles:
If you're not already doing so, please begin to send a water bottle to school each day with your child.  We do NOT have an in-class water fountain.  The kids get tired and thirsty over the course of our day, and water goes a long way toward helping them stay energetic and attentive.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue our Word Detectives Unit, in which we learn ways readers solve hard words.
• Writing:  We will learn how writers bring characters to life in stories.
• Math:  We will begin our geometry unit.  We will talk about shapes in our environment.  We will talk about sides, vertices, and right angles. We will sort shapes by their attributes. 
• Science:  We will learn the life cycle of a pumpkin.  We will begin our pumpkin investigation.

Reach out at anytime with questions, comments, and feedback.

My friend, Mrs. Rivera, talked me into running the The Blood and Guts Run tomorrow.  Savey will run it too.  It's an obstacle course 5K through Bull Run Park.  I've never run one of these races.  I asked Mrs. Rivera, "What do we do when we come to the water obstacles in 40 degree weather?"  She said, "Ummmm.....run faster?"  😬😂

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Before we start our long weekend, I'm passing along your weekly update.  Thank you for your patience with my updates in reading to the end.  I know you're busy, and I appreciate the time you take to stay informed about what's happening in our classroom.

Our Awesome Room Moms!
Mrs. Donahue, Mrs. Phillips, and Mrs. Rashid have volunteered to be our Room Moms and help coordinate class parties and events.  On behalf of these wonderful ladies, I sent home both a letter and food/photo permission slip in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please kindly return the signed permission slip, along with your class fee donation, no later than Friday, October 12th.

Pumpkins:
We will complete an in-class pumpkin investigation.  Each child will need his/her own small pumpkin.  (These pumpkins are often called "pie size" in the store; they are similar in size to the ones the kids get for free when they leave the Cox Farms Fall Festival.)  I sent a note home about this in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please send your child's small pumpkin to school by Monday, October 15th. Please write your child's name on the bottom of his/her pumpkin.

Mark Your Calendar for Our Fall Party!
Our Fall Party will be held on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:30pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend.  Please watch for more details from our Room Moms soon.  Please note that students are not allowed to wear costumes to school on Halloween, but fun Halloween themed shirts and/or orange and black clothing are welcomed. 

Please Sign Up for a Conference!

Parent / Teacher conferences will be held at the end of the first quarter.  I am using Sign Up Genius to schedule conferences.  You can sign up for a conference time by clicking HERE.  If you are unable to attend a conference on one of the dates / times listed, please send me an email to make alternate arrangements.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about ways reading partners support each other in their reading.
• Writing:  We will discuss ways in which writers organize their writing.
• Math:  We will complete a quick little unit on estimation and magnitude, in which we discuss reasonable quantities among 3 numbers.
• Social Studies:  We will learn about American Symbols and their meanings, specifically the American Flag, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Bald Eagle, the White House, the Capitol, and Mount Rushmore.
• Science:  We will have a fire safety visit from the Loudoun County Fire & Rescue Department.

Please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.

I hope you enjoy the long weekend!  Savey works all weekend, but he and Jonah are heading to Fields of Fear at Cox Farms tonight.  I am shopping for outfits for a family photo next weekend and attending a ladies brunch at church tomorrow. I also have lots of pumpkin recipes to bake and many new books to read.  Cheers!