Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!  Happy Surprise Snow Day!

What a fun week!  We have been reading gingerbread stories all week. Thank you to those of you who allowed your child to bring a gingerbread book to add to our tally.  We will decorate our gingerbread houses Monday afternoon.  

The Champe PEER group visited and presented a puppet show about friendship. The Willard band visited this week and we enjoyed a holiday concert.  

Meantime, it's about to be my favorite week of the entire school year!  The anticipation for Christmas and Winter Break is in the air, people are in a festive mood, and everyone is even kinder than normal.  We have some fun events planned next week to mark the Holiday, and will be finishing up some of our academic units too.  Please hang in there and read this entire message.  :)

World Market:
Our World Market will be this Tuesday, December 17th at 8:30 am.  At the market, each first grade class will sell one item that represents a holiday tradition from around the world.  Our class is selling ornaments that contain symbols of Christmas in Italy.  All items range in price from 50 cents to 1 dollar.  Students have been earning dimes (they are pretend dimes printed on card stock) for being ready, responsible, and respectful over the past few weeks.  They will use their dimes to shop at the market.  Our first grade team needs help at the market to count dimes and to man classroom tables.  If you are available and would like to volunteer, please email me.  We anticipate being finished by 9:15 am.   

Holiday Travel:

If you are traveling over the Holidays, and your child will be absent from school, please kindly notify the school in advance.  You can send a message or note to me, which I will forward to the office.  You may also submit your notification to the office directly by using the "online absence excuse", which is found on the Pinebrook home page.  The link to the Pinebrook home page is HERE.

Winter Break Reading Log:
I will send home a Winter Break Reading Challenge in next week's Thursday folder. If you have any questions about this reading incentive, please email me.  It is not required but I highly encourage your child to discover some fun, new ways to read over the break! 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will read the Holiday Classic The Polar Express, and review many of the good reader strategies we have learned this year, such as predicting, retelling, making connections, and story mapping.  
• Math:  We will complete some Polar Express themed math activities.  
• Writing:  We will complete some Holiday themed writing activities.   
• Science / Social Studies:  We will finish our Holidays Around the World and Economics units at our World Market on Tuesday morning.  

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!  The World Market is Tuesday, we are counting down to break, and Friday morning we watch The Polar Express. Friday ends with our school-wide Holiday Sing-a-long.  The entire staff and all the students pile into the gym. We sing Holiday songs from the many faith and cultural traditions represented at Pinebrook while the teachers and staff all take turns leading the songs. Seriously....I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF.  I am 45 years old, but at this time of year, I am a 6 year old.  It's one reason why YOUR children are "MY PEOPLE"!  (It's also the reason I am typing in so many CAPITAL letters.)

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything I've written here.

Have a great weekend!  I am looking forward to time with friends, wrapping gifts, and some Christmas cooking.