Weekly Update

Hello Parents!  Happy Friday!

Sometimes short weeks feel like long weeks, but this one flew by!  We had some beautiful days in the sunshine at recess this week, and didn't mind a rainy day for indoor recess too.  As the weather cools, please be sure to send a jacket each day with your child. 

This morning, we attended a NED assembly in anticipation of next week's Spirit Week to mark Pinebrook as a bully-free zone!  Please ask your child about this fun assembly!

I have several things to share with you this week...

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:

• Monday:  "We are all tied together" - Wear bowties, neckties, bows, ribbons, etc. to symbolize that we are all tied together to prevent bullying.
• Tuesday:  "Take a walk in someone else's shoes and wear red for the Nats" - Wear mismatched shoes to symbolize what it is like to walk in someone else's footsteps AND wear red to celebrate the Nats in the World Series.
• Wednesday:  "Unity Day" - Wear orange to honor Unity Day and be unified against bullying.
• Thursday:  "Team Up Together" - Wear sports attire to team up against bullying.
• Friday: "Be a Superhero Against Bullying" - Dress up like a superhero to prevent bullying.

Pumpkins:
If you haven't done so already, please send your child's small "pie-sized" pumpkin for our pumpkin investigation.  Please send the pumpkin no later than Wednesday, October 23rd.  Please label your child's pumpkin with his/her name. Black permanent marker works well for this.  

Important Information About School Pictures:
Fall pictures will be taken Tuesday, October 29th.  I sent home information about pictures in yesterday's Thursday folder.  This will be a day for individual pictures only; a whole-class picture will be taken in the Spring.  Following are some guidelines to help facilitate your picture order / purchase:

• If possible, please order your child's pictures online.  It's the fastest, easiest, and most convenient way to order your child's pictures.  If you order online, you do not need to send anything to school with your child on Picture Day!
• If you are not ordering online, please fill out the payment envelope, enclose your payment, and send it to school on picture day.  Your payment envelope must include your child's name, my name, your "look" (or background) selection, your package selection, and your payment.
• Picture purchase is optional.

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Thursday, October 31st in our classroom.  Our party will start at approximately 12:15; I will confirm the exact time next week.  All families are welcome to attend!  (NO costumes, please.)  I will send home a food permission slip for the party in next week's Thursday folder. Please return the signed food permission slip by Thursday, October 31st. 

50th Day Celebration:
We will celebrate the 50th day of school on Thursday, November 7th with some fun, 1950's themed activities.  I sent a note home with all the details in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Students are invited to dress in 1950's-style attire that day.  We will learn fun dances, complete some crafts, and have root beer floats.  If you do NOT want your child to have a root beer float (made with root beer and vanilla ice cream), please let me know as soon as possible, and before November 7th.  

PAWS for Knowing Your Student ID!
As we continue through the school year, the students will use their student id numbers (often called "lunch numbers") more often.  I have started giving 3 paws to any student who can memorize his/her id number for signing onto the computers and buying items in the cafeteria.  :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will begin our Word Detectives Unit, in which we become word detectives who solve cases involving tricky words and letters. 
• Writing:  We will begin our How-to unit, in which we learn about procedural writing, and teach our reader how to do something. 
• Math:  We will begin our magnitude and estimation unit.  This is a short, one-week unit about reasonable quantities, and making reasonable estimates. 
• Science:  We will finish our Famous Virginians unit, and begin our pumpkin investigations.

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

Leo and Savey are headed to the Caps/Rangers game tonight as they eagerly await the outcome of the Yankees/Astros series.  We are from New York, so they are both HUGE Rangers and Yankees fans.  (I know that's not very popular around here.  😬)   

Happy Weekend!