Weekly Update and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Everyone,

We have a short week coming up, and then 5 wonderful days to spend with family and food! Here's what you need to know for next week's short week and the week after....

Thanksgiving Travel:
If your child will be absent next week, and / or leaving early on Tuesday, please kindly notify both the office and me in advance.  For absences, you may use the online absence excuse found on the Pinebrook homepage, or by clicking HERE. For early dismissal, you may use the early dismissal form found on the Pinebrook homepage, or by clicking HERE.

Thanksgiving Reading Incentive:
I sent a Thanksgiving reading incentive home in yesterday's Thursday folder. Please review this incentive and encourage your child to read.  Reading incentives are due back Monday, December 2nd.  I will not accept any late submissions.  

No Written Homework Next Week:
There will be no written homework next week due to our short week.  PLEASE READ!  Remember...reading isn't homework...reading is LIFE.  :)

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 17th.  At the market, each class will "sell" an item representing a particular country or culture.  Students will shop for items from other classes using play money.  They will have to budget and save their dimes, and prioritize their purchases since they will not have enough money to buy everything.  At the market, we would like to showcase cultures and cultural 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.    

Focus Areas for the Coming Short Week (11/25-11/26) AND the Week of 12/2 - 12/6:

• Reading:  We will finish our Word Detectives unit by talking about unusual words, such as contractions.  We will practice reading and writing our 1st grade snap words.
• Writing:  We will complete a few fun Thanksgiving writing projects. 
• Math:  We will finish our fractions unit.  We will continue to explore the concepts of halves, thirds, and fourths, and talk about fractions of wholes and fractions of sets.
• Social Studies:  We will talk about Pilgrim life.  We will begin our Holidays Around the World rotations, whereby the first grade teachers rotate through each other's classrooms teaching the students about Holiday traditions from other countries and cultures.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback.

Happy Thanksgiving!  As I count my blessings, your sweet kiddos, you, and the support you offer each day are surely at the top of the list.  

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday!  I hope it's been a good week!  After our first 5-day week in a while, we are ready for the weekend!

Quarter 1 Report Cards:
A friendly reminder that Quarter 1 report cards were issued Monday.  If you've not yet done so, please log into your ParentVue account to view your child's report card.

Thanksgiving Plate:
In last week's Thursday folder, I sent home a note about Thanksgiving, along with a "plate" for your child to decorate with things he/she is thankful for.  We will use the decorated plate for an in-class project.  Please help your child decorate his/her plate with pictures of things he/she is thankful for.  The plates will go through the laminator, so please use only flat decorations.  Please send the decorated plate back to school by this coming Monday, November 18th. If it is finished sooner, you may send it sooner.  Thank you!

School Picture Retakes:
School Picture Retakes will be Friday, November 22nd.  Picture retakes are for students who were absent on picture day, or students who paid for a picture package and would like to have the photos redone.  If you believe either of these apply to you, please send me a message and I will give you all the details about picture retakes.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue our Word Detectives unit.  We are learning ways to decode difficult words. Next week we will practice paying attention to word endings and vowel sounds.  We will find parts of words we know (for example, looking for a little work inside a big word), and pay attention to words that don't follow regular phonetic spelling patterns (like "have" or "of").  We will practice smoothing out our voices to read with fluency.
• Writing:  We will finish our How-to unit, in which we are teaching our readers how to do things.  We will start a few fun Thanksgiving writing activities. 
• Math:  We will begin our fractions unit.  We will talk about wholes and sets, and parts of wholes vs. parts of sets.  We will talk about the words numerator and denominator. We will practice identifying wholes, halves, thirds, and fourths.  We will practice writing fractions that represent fractions of sets and fractions of wholes. 
• Social Studies:  We will begin our economics unit.  We will explore the concepts of wants and needs (things we want to have versus things we need to stay healthy, safe, and alive), goods and services (goods are items people buy, and services are things we pay people to do), and consumers and producers (consumers are people who buy goods are services, producers are people who make goods or provide services) .

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback.

Winston's birthday is tomorrow.  He is our English Bulldog.  I am pretty sure we all love Winston more than we love each other.  We are going to use his birthday as an excuse to eat some yummy treats and enjoy some extra family time.  

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

We celebrated our 50th day of school this week with so much fun!  I hope the kids taught you the Twist and the Hand Jive, and shared about our hula hoop and limbo fun.  This short week has been filled with fun!

We also spent time this week preparing for our Veteran's Day celebration, which will be held at school on Monday. Please help your child dress in red, white and blue Monday to add to our patriotic atmosphere. Veterans will come to be honored for their time in service, and we will celebrate them at a special assembly. My husband, Leo, served for 22 years.  As a teacher and as the wife of a veteran, I am so thankful to our Pinebrook community for honoring these veterans.  Please take a moment this weekend to be thankful for the veterans who keep our country the Land of the Free.  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT REPORT CARDS:
Quarter 1 report cards will be issued Monday, November 11th.  Please note:  Paper report cards will NOT be issued. Your child's report card will be available for electronic viewing by logging into your ParentVue account.

If you do NOT have a ParentVue account, you MUST contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office at 703-957-4325 to obtain an authorization key.  I apologize in advance, but I am NOT able to help you with obtaining or accessing your ParentVue account.  You must go through Mrs. Sciortino.

Pink Impact Aid Survey Forms:
In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home a Pink Impact Aid Survey form.  This form is used to determine Loudoun County's eligibility for federal funds when students have parents who work on federal property.  Please complete this form and send it back on Monday, if you did not send it back today.  Please note:  If you work on federal property, in addition to providing your work information, you must sign and date the form at the bottom.  If you do not work on federal property, you simply check "no" and send the form back.  Regardless, I must have the form back.  Many thanks!

Thanksgiving Plate:
In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home a note about Thanksgiving, along with a "plate" for your child to decorate with things he/she is thankful for.  We will use the decorated plate for an in-class project.  Please help your child decorate his/her plate with pictures of things he/she is thankful for.  The plates will go through the laminator, so please use only flat decorations.  Please send the decorated plate back to school by Monday, November 18th.  If it is finished sooner, you may send it sooner.  Thank you!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue our Word Detectives unit.  We are learning ways to decode difficult words.  We will turn new words into snap words (words we know in a snap) by reading them, saying them, and spelling them.  We will practice reading in phrases to smooth out our voices.  We will break long words into smaller parts. We will pay attention to the beginnings of words. We will break the endings off of words.
• Writing:  We will finish our unit on How-to writing.  How-to writing is procedural writing, in which we teach our reader "how to" do something, such as make pizza, brush teeth, make a bed, draw a rainbow, or be a friend.  We list the steps in the process using transition words like "first, next, then," and "last", number the steps, and illustrate them too.  
• Math:  We will finish our geometry unit.  We will begin our fractions unit.  We will talk about wholes and sets, and parts of wholes vs. parts of sets.  We will talk about the words numerator and denominator. We will practice identifying wholes, halves, thirds, and fourths.  We will practice writing fractions that represent fractions of sets and fractions of wholes. 
• Social Studies:  We will learn about our beautiful state of Virginia, and talk about the symbols that represent our state, such as the state flower, state bird, state flag, and state insect.

Our second quarter has begun!  Thank you for all you've done to help your child adjust to 1st grade.  I am blessed by their sweet presence each day.  Please remember...your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.  

Enjoy the weekend!  My sister-in-law is visiting so we are having dinner with her and our nephew tonight.  Tomorrow Jonah has a Latin "certamen" (competition) in Alexandria, and I am excited to watch.  I will try to sneak in a visit to the craft fair at the Expo Center too...it's something I always did with my mom, so it brings back sweet Holiday memories. 

Stay warm!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Today marks the end of our first quarter.  The school year is passing quickly!  We had such a fun week with Halloween and Room on the Broom.  We hosted our stuffed animal friends today.  I am so pleased with our little classroom family, and with the growth the kids are making.  Have I told you I think your kids are the BEST?  😊 

50th Day Celebration:
We will celebrate the 50th day of school next Thursday, November 7th with some fun, 1950's themed activities.  (I sent a note home with all the details.) 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.  (Please note:  root beer is soda; there is NO alcohol in it!)  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 next Thursday, November 7th.  

No Homework Next Week:
There will be no homework or new words of the week next week due to our short week. 

Turkey of the Year:
Turkey of the Year voting began today, and will go on 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.  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. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will continue our Word Detectives unit, in which we learn strategies for solving tricky words.
• Writing:  We will continue our  "How to" writing unit.  This is writing in which we teach our readers how to do something.
• Math:  We will finish our Geometry unit.  We will count sides and vertices in polygons, identify right angles, and complete some fun Geometry projects. 
• Social Studies:  We will learn about the significance of Veteran's Day and prepare for our Pinebrook Veteran's Day celebration. 

It's been a delight to visit with so many of you at conferences.  Thank you for taking time to talk with me about your child's progress!  Thank you for being vested in your child's social, emotional, and educational development.

Don't forget...the kids don't have school Monday or Tuesday due to Teacher Work Days.  Enjoy the long weekend!