Quick Check-In!

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday!  Such a fun day at our Den Rally!  Our 1st grade team competed in the 2nd Annual Pinebrook Lip Sync battle.  Ask your kiddo about all the fun!

I will share information about the rescheduled Family Game Night if / when I receive it.  I anticipate our Kindness Spirit Week will be extended too.

Meantime, next week will be an attempt to finish things we started this week, and find some return to normalcy with our routines.  Our focus areas next week won't change because we got so little done this week!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practicing summarizing stories.
• Writing:  We will continue our letter writing unit as we learn the parts of a friendly letter and practice writing letters using proper capitalization, punctuation, and sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will begin our subtraction unit.  We will learn that subtraction is the reverse of addition, and learn ways for quickly solving subtraction facts.
• Social Studies:  We will learn about Presidents' Day.  We will talk about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and talk about their contributions to our country.

I hope you enjoy the weekend!  Savey and Jonah said school interrupted their time off this week!  LOL!

Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Happy Friday!  We had a FANTASTIC week!  We celebrated the 100th day of school and we celebrated Valentine's Day!  We had a surprise visit from Dr. Britto to talk about Dental Health month. We learned about letter writing.  And today, we explored how sound waves move with good old-fashioned cup and string phones.  In fact, your child brought home his/her cup and string phone today - you should play with it!  It's fun!  #gettingitdone

Meantime, I received so many sweet Valentine gifts!  The cards, candy, and notes just make my day.  I shared all the treats with the boys.  As always, I am humbled by your generosity and blessed beyond belief to work with these sweet first-graders each day.  💛

As we head into a long weekend, here is your weekly update:

Marker Refresh:
The kids use their markers for lots of coloring projects.  Some of our markers have seen better days!  Please consider sending a fresh box of markers to school with your child (not a requirement; just a suggestion).  Your child's markers stay in his/her pencil box.  Markers are not a "shared" supply.  Thank you!

Random Acts of Kindness Week:
Next week is designated "Random Acts of Kindness Week".  I sent home information in yesterday's Thursday folder about this special week dedicated to acts of kindness.  Please read the information regarding the "School Counselors' 28-day Kindness Challenge", and how you can "Celebrate as a Family at Home".  We will have a school-wide spirit week too!  The themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday:  Kindness Rocks! (Show your support for kindness by dressing as a rock star)
• Wednesday:  Dreaming about Kindness (Wear your pajamas to school; no slippers please)
• Thursday:  Sunshine of Someone's Day (Wear yellow and sunglasses to brighten someone's day)
• Friday:  At PNB, kindness starts with me! (Wear Pinebrook spirit wear)

Game Night:

There will be a school-wide Family Game Night on Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria and gym.  Please see yesterday's Thursday folder for more information!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practicing summarizing stories.
• Writing:  We will continue our letter writing unit as we learn the parts of a friendly letter and practice writing letters using proper capitalization, punctuation, and sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will begin our subtraction unit.  We will learn that subtraction is the reverse of addition, and learn ways for quickly solving subtraction facts.
• Social Studies:  We will learn about Presidents' Day.  We will talk about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and talk about their contributions to our country.

Please let me know if you have questions, comments, or feedback.  I value your opinions and always consider any feedback you offer.

Don't forget!  No school on Monday due to Presidents' Day.  Enjoy your long weekend!  

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

Well, it certainly felt strange to be here for 5 whole days this week!  We are dragging a bit today, but we made it!  The weekend never looked so good!  :) 

100th Day Celebration:
The 100th day of school is Monday!  Please remember students are invited to dress as a 100 year old boy or girl, or to make and wear a special 100th day shirt decorated with 100 items.  It's going to be a fun day!  

Valentine's Day Party:
One final reminder...our Valentine's Day party is Thursday, February 14th from 1:30-2:15 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend.  I sent home a food menu in yesterday's Thursday folder; please contact me if you have any questions / concerns with the menu.  If your child is exchanging Valentines with classmates, you may send your child's Valentine cards at any time.  

Kindergarten Playground Fundraiser:
The Kindergarten classes are holding a golf fundraiser to raise funds for a new Kindergarten playground.  The Kindergarten team asked us to pass along the following message, which I am copying and pasting from their email:

"Our Kindergarten team and the PTA  is raising monies for a special needs/ kindergarten playground.  We are organizing a golf outing on March 29th!! Flyers went out last week with information but here are some more ways you can help!  

                                    1.  Play Golf- Sign up to play with friends or for the Kids Camp(only 16 spots for kids camp)

                                    2.  Help us by finding a sponsor for a hole or donating to our  raffle---- Does your company donate to causes?  or do you know someone who would like their business name advertised.  Please let us know!

                                    3.  Direct Donation-  You can just give a personal donation directly from you

Please go to: https://squareup.com/store/pinebrook-elementary-school-pta  to sign up! and direct donations!

and for sponsors, please see the attached form  or just contact  kim.bielecki@lcps.org  or valerie.fox@lcps.org"

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will learn about tools for readers use to understand their books.
• Writing:  We will finish our Four Square unit and begin to practice letter writing.  We will talk about the parts of a friendly letter, and what happens when we mail a letter. We will focus on editing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our addition unit.
• Science:  We will talk about force and motion, pushes and pulls, paths of motion, and how sound travels. 

The calendar is starting to fill as we move into the second half of the year...while I highlight some events in my update, and list others in the "Important Dates" section of this blog, please be sure to visit the Pinebrook homepage and read the weekly Puma Paw for the most up-to-date information.

Have a great weekend!  We are headed to an "after the Holidays" party for my husband's company, just as I fit into my pants again!  Hahaha!!   I'll see many of you on Thursday at our Valentine's Day party.

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

I'll be pushing rewind on most of my lesson plans next week because we didn't get to much of them this week.  I surely enjoyed the surprise snow days, but I am also anxious to return to a regular rhythm in our classroom!

My update is very short for you this week!

Muffins with Moms:
The Muffins with Moms event, originally scheduled for today, has been rescheduled to Monday, February 4th at 7:00 am in the Pinebrook cafeteria.  Mr. Thiessen sent an email about this last night.  

100th Day:
As of now, our 100th day of school will be Monday, February 11th.  If you have not yet returned your child's 100th day food permission slip, please do so as soon as possible. 

Valentine's Day Party:

Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day party will be Thursday, February 14th at 1:30 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend.  Please remember, if your child brings Valentine cards to exchange at the party, please be sure he/she has one for every student in the class. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food... little items like pencils, erasers, tattoos, stickers are fine. Please watch for the party menu soon.  :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will learn methods for solving hard words and ways readers check to be sure a word sounds right, looks right, and makes sense.
• Writing:  We will continue using the Four Square method to organize or writing, while we edit for punctuation, spacing, and properly spelled sight words.
• Math:  We will continue our Addition unit, in which we learn strategies for quickly adding two numbers. 
• Science:  We will finish our Matter unit and start our Force and Motion unit.  In this unit, we will look at how things move, explore paths of motion, and talk about how sound travels. 

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

My husband reads this blog every week (hi, Leo!) and he said to me, "How come you haven't shared any more photos of Winston?"  Here he is...  (Winston - not Leo) ...

Enjoy your weekend!  We are cooking up some fun at home for the Super Bowl, which is just a fancy way to say we're going to eat treats while we watch the game!  :)