Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

I'm publishing on Thursday this week, since it feels like our Friday.  Remember - the kids are off both tomorrow and Monday.  Meantime, something happened!  I blinked and we are at the end of the 3rd quarter!  I simply can't believe we are moving into the last part of our year together.  These sweet kiddos continue to wow me everyday with their joyful hearts, their open spirits, and their explosive growth.  I am looking forward to a wonderful end to our school year!  💛

Quarter 3 Report Cards:
Quarter 3 report cards will be issued on Friday, April 5th.  Your child's report card will be available for viewing by logging into your ParentVue account.  If you do not yet have access to ParentVue, or you have trouble logging on, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office at 703-957-4325. 

Spring Picture Day:
Spring Picture Day is Wednesday, April 3rd.  A whole group (class) picture will be taken on that day, and your child's individual picture will be taken too. Please note these 2 very important points:

1. If you would like a class picture (this is the whole group photo), you must order and pay for it before Picture Day.  I sent an order form home in last week's Thursday folder for the class picture.  You can fill out the order form, include payment, and return the payment envelope to school, or you can order and pay online.  If you order and pay online, you must return the payment envelope to school with the online payment confirmation code written on the envelope. This means that by Wednesday, April 3rd, you should return either the payment envelope with payment inside, or the payment envelope with the online payment confirmation code written on it. If you do not order a class photo by Wednesday, April 3rd, you will NOT receive one.  There is NO option to order a class photo at a later date. This becomes an issue every year.  Please, please....if you want a class photo, you MUST order it per the instructions I've just outlined.
2. Individual pictures will also be taken April 3rd, and you will receive a picture packet at a later date.  You can indicate a "Portrait Look" for your child's individual portrait by completing and returning the "Individual Picture Day Form" attached to the order form I sent home yesterday.  If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you will purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet.

Next Week is Spirit Week:
To celebrate Career Week, we will have a Spirit Week next week.  Themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday:  Be a "Career Champe":  Wear navy or silver to represent the importance of high school and celebrate Champe HS, which is the high school in our Pinebrook school cluster.
• Wednesday:  "What do you want to be when you grow up?":  Dress like your future career.
• Thursday:  "Interview Day!":  Dress to impress like you would for an interview.
• Friday:  "College Pride Day":  Wear college gear or colors to support career goals and college readiness.

Career Day:
As a culminating event to Career Week, Pinebrook will host a Career Day on the morning of Friday, April 5th.  We are in need of volunteers to share information about their occupations with students at Pinebrook.  If you can't be with us in person, you can Skype in!  Please consider volunteering by contacting our counselors, Tana Amadeo (tana.amadeo@lcps.org) and Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Field Trip:
Please see today's Thursday folder for information about our 1st Grade field trip to Leesburg Animal Park on April 25th.  Please return your child's permission form and payment as soon as possible and no later than Friday, April 12th.  If you are interested in chaperoning this trip, please return the chaperone interest form too.  :)

Science Night:
Pinebrook will be hosting a Science Night with The Children's Science Center Thursday, April 4th from 6:00-8:00 pm here at school.  Please watch The Puma Paw weekly email for more information! :)

Yearbooks:
Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now! Yearbooks may only be purchased online. To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561119.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process. The deadline to order a yearbook is April 28th.  You must pre-order a yearbook if you would like your child to receive one.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will begin our last major Reading unit of the year called "Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons:  A Study of Story Elements".
• Writing:  We will finish our opinion writing as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling. We will practice supporting our opinions with strong reasons. 
• Math:  We will begin our Time unit.  We will discuss units of time such as second, minute, and hour.  We will practice telling time to the hour and time to the half hour.
• Social Studies:  We will spend the week catching up on some Scholastic News Magazines we missed during the snow days.

Your feedback is always welcome.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Enjoy the long weekend!  I will be painting the boys' rooms and enjoying the sunshine!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

I hope you enjoyed your week.  Thank you to those of you able to come to last night's Sports Spectacular.  It is one of the most fun events of the year!

Flat Student Update:
We kissed our Flat Students goodbye and sent them off on their adventures this week!  If your child did not bring in an address or stamps for our Flat Student project, I sent his/her Flat Student home with the supporting materials. You may choose whether to mail it from home.  Stay tuned for updates on our Flat Students' adventures!

No School March 29th and April 1st:
Please note that students do not have school Friday, March 29th or Monday, April 1st due to Teacher Workdays. 

Spring Picture Day:
Spring Picture Day is Wednesday, April 3rd.  A whole group (class) picture will be taken on that day, and your child's individual picture will be taken too. Please note these 2 very important points:

1. If you would like a class picture (this is the whole group photo), you must order and pay for it before Picture Day.  I sent an order form home in yesterday's Thursday folder for the class picture.  You can fill out the order form, include payment, and return the payment envelope to school, or you can order and pay online.  If you order and pay online, you must return the payment envelope to school with the online payment confirmation code written on the envelope. This means that by Wednesday, April 3rd, you should return either the payment envelope with payment inside, or the payment envelope with the online payment confirmation code written on it. If you do not order a class photo by Wednesday, April 3rd, you will NOT receive one.  There is NO option to order a class photo at a later date. This becomes an issue every year.  Please, please....if you want a class photo, you MUST order it per the instructions I've just outlined.
2. Individual pictures will also be taken April 3rd, and you will receive a picture packet at a later date.  You can indicate a "Portrait Look" for your child's individual portrait by completing and returning the "Individual Picture Day Form" attached to the order form I sent home yesterday.  If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you will purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet.

Science Night:
Pinebrook will be hosting a Science Night with The Children's Science Center on Thursday, April 4th from 6:00-8:00 pm here at school.  Please watch The Puma Paw weekly email for more information! :)

Career Day:
Pinebrook will host a Career Day on the morning of Friday, April 5th.  We are in need of volunteers to share information about their occupations with students at Pinebrook.  If you can't be with us in person, you can Skype in!  Please consider volunteering by contacting our counselors, Tana Amadeo (tana.amadeo@lcps.org) and Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Yearbooks:
Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now! Yearbooks may only be purchased online. To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561119.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process. The deadline to order a yearbook is April 28th.  You must pre-order a yearbook if you would like your child to receive one.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about the main idea and supporting details in books.
• Writing:  We will practice opinion writing as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling. We will practice supporting our opinions with strong reasons. 
• Math:  We will wrap up our Place Value unit.  We will compare and order numbers.
• Social Studies:  We will finish our maps unit.

Your feedback is always welcome.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone! 

Happy Friday!  5 long days, but 5 fun days.  We had a Den Rally yesterday.  We discovered our love of mystery novels this week.  We learned about context clues, and built numbers using ones, tens, and hundreds. The leprechauns ended our week by making mischief in our classroom.  :)

Flat Student Projects:

I sent a note home in last week's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information.  At this point, you should have returned both stamps and an address for someone to whom your child may mail his/her Flat Student.  If you haven't done this, please send these items to school as soon as possible.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this project.  :)

Pinebrook Triple Play:
Please join us!  Our annual Pinebrook Triple Play will be next Thursday, March 21st in the gym at John Champe High School.  The Triple Play usually starts between 5:45 and 6:30 pm.  The Pinebrook teachers and staff play games that are designed to make us look as silly as possible...think kickball, tricycle races, and dizzy bats!  The event starts with teacher bowling.  There will be food and snacks for sale, raffles, and other fun things. The 1st graders lead the singing of the National Anthem before the games begin. Please watch The Puma Paw weekly email for more information.

Yearbooks:
Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now!  Please see yesterday's Thursday folder for additional information. Yearbooks may only be purchased online.  To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561119.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process.  The deadline to order a yearbook is April 28th.  You must pre-order a yearbook if you would like your child to receive one.  

Camp STEAM-tacular:
Camp STEAM-tacular is coming to Pinebrook this summer.  The following is an announcement from the Camp STEAM-tacular team:

"Join Pinebrook Elementary this summer for Camp STEAM-tacular! This is an especially fun week for the kids where they have the opportunity to be creative by exploring hands-on critical thinking activities involving science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM).  Each grade level is focused around a common theme!  We begin each day with grade levels working together to complete a different STEAM related activity and the afternoon is focused on a grade-level themed challenge! We are excited to have all of you join us for this week of excitement and exploration! Camp STEAM-tacular takes place from June 17th-June 21st. Check out our website below to sign-up!"

https://sites.google.com/lcps.org/camp-steam-tacular/home

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about the author's message in fiction stories. We will ask:  What does the author want us to learn from the characters?
• Writing:  We will continue our opinion writing unit as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our place value unit.  We will practice writing numbers in their expanded forms.
• Social Studies:  We will finish our Maps unit.  We will construct a map of a familiar area, and begin to ready our Flat Students for their adventures.  

I hope you have a fun weekend!  We have had a non-stop week in our house.  I am looking forward to some downtime.  :)

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

Happy Friday!  Thank you for all the tissues!  Savey was back this week, and it was good for the kids to connect with him.  We celebrated Dr. Seuss all week. The Book Fair and Fine Arts Night were great family activities too! Time is clicking along, and the calendar is filling fast!  The kids are working to fill our Marble Jar and earn lunch with a movie in the classroom :)

Flat Student Projects:

I sent a note home in yesterday's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information.  Please kindly return both stamps and an address for someone to whom your child may mail his/her Flat Student.  Please send these things by next Friday, March 15th.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this project.  :)

Pinebrook Triple Play:
Please join us!  Our annual Pinebrook Triple Play Sports Spectacular will be Thursday, March 21st in the gym at John Champe High School.  The Triple Play usually starts between 5:45 and 6:30 pm.  The whole staff plays games designed to make us look as silly as possible...think kickball, tricycle races, and dizzy bats! There will be food and snacks for sale, raffles, and other fun things. The 1st graders lead the singing of the National Anthem before the games begin. Please watch both your Pinebrook weekly email and your child's Thursday folder for more information, including the specific start time and admission prices.

Camp STEAM-tacular:
Camp STEAM-tacular is coming to Pinebrook this summer.  The following is an announcement from the Camp STEAM-tacular team:

"Join Pinebrook Elementary this summer for Camp STEAM-tacular! This is an especially fun week for the kids where they have the opportunity to be creative by exploring hands-on critical thinking activities involving science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM).  Each grade level is focused around a common theme!  We begin each day with grade levels working together to complete a different STEAM related activity and the afternoon is focused on a grade-level themed challenge! We are excited to have all of you join us for this week of excitement and exploration! Camp STEAM-tacular takes place from June 17th-June 21st. Check out our website below to sign-up!"

https://sites.google.com/lcps.org/camp-steam-tacular/home

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about how good readers use context clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words.  
• Writing:  We will practice opinion writing as we focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will begin our Place Value unit.  We will express numbers using 1's and 10's.  
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Maps unit.  We will explore cardinal directions,  map keys and map symbols, and construct a map of a familiar area.

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

Have a fantastic weekend!  

Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

I hope you've had a good week.  We previewed the Book Fair today and completed some seasonal writing projects.  We learned about George Washington and explored subtraction. Lots of learning is happening in Room 9, even on delay days!

Tissues:
Lots of runny noses means we are down to our last 2 boxes of tissues!  Please send in a box or two of tissues to help replenish our supply.  Many thanks!

Scholastic Book Fair:

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all next week!  (This also means my family will eat cereal for dinner all next week because Jonah is a Book Fair Fiend...even from middle school.)  Students previewed the Book Fair today. Students who bring money may shop at the Book Fair next week during recess.  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 Wednesday, March 6th from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.  *Please note: Book Fair purchases are optional.

Fine Arts Night:

The PTA is sponsoring a Fine Arts Night at school on Wednesday, March 6th at 5:30 pm.  This will be a night of hands-on creativity as kids visit many fun stations to explore art through a variety of mediums.  Visit the Book Fair to shop with your child, and then head over to Fine Arts Night! 

Celebrating Dr. Seuss! 
Dr. Seuss's birthday is March 2nd.  We will celebrate Dr. Seuss with a school-wide spirit week.  Themes for each day are:

• Monday:  Crazy Hair Day in honor of the characters from "Who-ville".
• Tuesday:  Wear silly, wacky, or mismatched socks in honor of Fox in Socks.
• Wednesday:  Crazy Hat Day in honor of The Cat in the Hat.
• Thursday:  Wear a college shirt / vacation souvenir shirt in honor of Oh the Places You Will Go.
• Friday:  Pajama Day in honor of The Sleep Book.  Friday will also be a Dr. Seuss movie day.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore rhyme, author's message, and have some fun with Dr. Seuss favorites.   We will read the book Flat Stanley.
• Writing:  We will take inspiration from some Dr. Seuss favorites while we practice mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our Subtraction unit.
• Social Studies:  We will begin our Maps unit.  

Thank you for your continued efforts to support the kids and me!  I appreciate working with each of you, and I am continually amazed at the progress the kids are demonstrating.  Please reach out with questions, comments, and feedback.

Have a super weekend!