Monday, November 26, 2018

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday!  I hope you had an easy transition back to work and school after our Thanksgiving break.  We have had an exciting week!   A new student joined our class, and it's like she's been with us all year!  I am so proud of how kind and welcoming the kids have been in helping our new friend get settled.  

In other news, the 1st grade teachers hosted our Den Rally today.  During a Den Rally, the entire school gathers in the gym for character building and to celebrate our Pinebrook community.  Today, us 1st grade teachers did a short presentation on how adults and students can greet each other with the 3 R's.  It was a lot of fun to role play different scenarios and hear the kids react.  Please ask your child about it!  :) 

Volunteers Needed:
In social studies, we are learning about economics and holiday traditions around the world.  In the next week, the 1st graders will spend time "visiting" other countries to learn about holiday traditions from many cultures.  As a culminating activity to this unit, our 1st grade classes will host a "World Market" on December 18th.  At the market, each class will "sell" an item representing a particular country or culture.  Students will shop for items from other classes using a punch card system.  They will have to budget and save their punches, and prioritize their purchases since they will not have enough punches to buy everything.  At the market, we would like to showcase culture artifacts from around the world.  Would you like to set up a table at the market to showcase your family's cultural heritage, and speak to students who may visit your table?  If so, please return the "Wanted: First Grade Parents" slip that I sent home in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please return the slip by Tuesday, December 4th.  

Scholastic Book Fair:
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all next week. Students previewed the Book Fair today.  Students who bring money may shop at the Book Fair during recess next week (December 3rd - 7th).  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, December 4th from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm. Due to the Book Fair, students will not check books out of the library next week.  Please keep your child's current library books home until Wednesday, December 12th.

Early Emergency Dismissal Forms:
Our office is asking all families to complete and/or update your child's early emergency dismissal form.  This is the form that tells us how your child goes home in the event of an early dismissal due to inclement weather or some other emergency. If you have not completed this form in the last 2 weeks, please complete it by clicking HERE.

I Am Out on December 7th:
I am taking a personal day on December 7th to complete some Holiday preparations for my family.  I will remind the kids the day before.  :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:
  • Reading:  We will continue our nonfiction unit, in which we learn ways to become super smart about nonfiction topics.
  • Writing:  We will finish our How-to unit, in which we practice procedural writing and teaching our reader something.
  • Math:  We will continue our measurement unit.  We will talk about length, weight, volume, and temperature.  We will measure with standard and nonstandard units. We will learn about tools used for measurement.
  • Social Studies:  We will explore holiday traditions from around the world as the students "visit" countries around the globe.
As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback.

Savey is working the winter season at the Cox Farms Corner Market.  He smells like a Christmas tree, but it surely makes for a festive atmosphere in our house! If you happen to shop for items at the market on a weekend, please ask for him! He loves to see families from school!  (He doesn't get a credit or anything for helping you...he just likes to see people he knows!)  Meanwhile, Jonah and I are going to go buy all the butter at the grocery store so we can start our baking.  :)

Have a super weekend!


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