Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

We had a delightful week in Room 3! :) The rain certainly did not put a damper in our spirits; with today's den rally, we certainly made our own sunshine.

Important Information About School Pictures:
Fall pictures will be taken this Wednesday, October 3rd. I sent home information about pictures in last week's Thursday folder and I sent home a reminder 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.

Please Sign-Up for a Conference!

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held at the end of the first quarter. I am using Sign-Up Genius to schedule conferences. I sent out the Sign Up Genius today via email. You can also sign-up for a conference time by clicking HERE. If you are unable to attend a conference on one of the dates/times listed, please send me an email to make alternate arrangements. 

First Quarter Interim Progress Reports:

First Quarter Interim Progress Reports ("interims") will be issued Wednesday, October 3rd. If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you on Wednesday, October 3rd using the email address on file in your ParentVue account. You can update and/or verify your email address by logging into your ParentVue account. If you are unable to access your ParentVue account, please contact our school office. (I'm sorry I am not able to help you with this--it needs to come from the main office). 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

•  Reading-We will learn to use our reading partners to help us solve hard/tricky words
• Writing- We will bring small moment stories to life by using mentor texts
• Math-We will finish our patterns/sorting unit
• Social Studies- We will discuss Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day

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

Donal, Raleigh, and I are heading to Pennsylvania to visit my family and attend our town fair. I am very excited to share this tradition with all of them again! I have been going to our town fair since I was a little girl. :) I hope you all enjoy your weekend as well!

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

It has been so refreshing to see the sun this week and have recess outside! I hope your spirit has been renewed by the sunshine too.

I have a few things to tell you this week...

Important Information About School Pictures:
Fall pictures will be taken on Wednesday, October 3rd. 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 is 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.

Donuts With Dads:

The PTA is hosting a "Donuts with Dads" on Friday, September 28th from 7:00-7:30 a.m. at school. All dads and kids are welcome. To ensure that there are enough donuts for everyone in attendance, please complete the Donuts with Dads RSVP form found on the Pinebrook homepage. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will talk about good habits that readers use. We will talk about strategies for solving hard words and ways to smooth out our reading voices. 
• Writing-We will begin to learn about writing small moments. 
• Math-We will begin our patterns and sorting unit. We will discuss sorting attributes, such as size, color, thickness. We will learn about growing and repeating patterns and pattern units (the part of the pattern that repeats). You can help by asking your child to sort things at home (laundry, buttons, coins, etc.) and by asking your child to look for and describe patterns in the environment.
• Science-We will learn about apples and the lifecycle of an apple. 
• Social Studies- Throughout first grade, we will learn about various Famous Americans, and their contributions to our country. Next week, we will talk about John Chapman, also known as "Johnny Appleseed," and Eleanor Roosevelt. 

As always, I welcome your feedback. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Donal and I are off to another wedding this weekend! I'm definitely feeling burnt out from all of this traveling, but excited to share this special day with our friends. I hope you all enjoy your first weekend of fall (it definitely felt like fall today)!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I did not have the opportunity to post on my classroom blog this weekend! 

Here's Your Weekly Update...

Please Subscribe to My Blog!
I know I keep posting about this each week, but I can't stress how important it is to subscribe to the classroom blog so I don't have to post information in several different locations. Please enter your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email." You will receive a confirmation email to verify your subscription. Please click the link in the email to verify your email address. You will then receive an automatic notification each time I've published a message. Please don't skip that important last step--you MUST verify/confirm your email address to be subscribed. ***Please note: At the end of September, I will no longer send an email to notify you of content on the blog. You must be subscribed to receive classroom news and updates.***

Homework Starts Today!
The kids have practiced doing their homework in class last week. This week, they will begin to do their homework at home. I have taped the homework routine to the inside front cover of their homework journals. Please read that for the outline of what to do each day. A few notes about homework:

• I will send homework journals home on Tuesdays, since that is the day the written homework begins each week.
• Homework journals are due back on Fridays. I will check homework journals on Fridays. Your child will receive a completion grade. 
• The homework journal gives your child practice writing the 1st Grade Words of the Week. I will assign 5 words each week. On some pages of the homework journal, there is room to practice more than 5 words. Your child should, at a minimum, practice the 5 words for that week. Your child may use the rest of the room on the homework page to practice writing any other words from our 1st grade list. This is encouraged, but not required. The first grade sight word list can be found on the first grade page of the Puma Paw newsletter. You can visit the Puma Paw by clicking on the link on the Pinebrook home page.

Ice Cream:

As a general rule, ice cream will now be available for sale on Fridays in the cafeteria. Your child may buy ice cream to eat with a school lunch, or to eat with a packed lunch. I don't ask the kids if they are buying ice cream on Fridays; I expect them to know whether they have permission to purchase ice cream. If students are bringing money for ice cream, please put it in a sealed envelope or baggie with their name, teacher's name, and student ID number, so it can be taken to the cafeteria for their lunch account. 

Library Books:

Please help your child remember his/her library books each Monday. Books must be returned each week in order to checkout new ones. 

Focus Areas for This Week:

• Reading-We will begin learning and practicing good habits that readers develop/use and setup a reader's workshop routine.
• Writing-We will continue handwriting practice, emphasizing proper letter formation and starting letters at the top. 
• Math-We will continue learning the routines and procedures of Math Workshop as we finish our number sense and counting unit. Please support your child with skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s at home, as well as, counting forwards and backwards from 30.
• Science-We will talk about the 4 seasons, earth's rotation on its axis and around the sun, and why we have day and night. 

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

I hope everyone had a wonderful dreary weekend! We had beautiful weather in Connecticut for our friend's wedding! It was such a special weekend!

Patriot Day

Hello!

As you all know, tomorrow is Patriot Day. We will be holding a short ceremony in remembrance of this historical day. We are asking that students wear Red, White, and Blue tomorrow.

Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Sometimes short weeks feel like long weeks, but this one flew by! I think the kids are settling into the year. On the whole, I am quite pleased with how quickly they're picking up our classroom routines and procedures. Staying focused during the afternoon has been a bit difficult, but I am hopeful that as the kids build stamina for a full school day, they will have an easier time staying on task.

We will have our Patriot Day ceremony at the flag pole on Tuesday morning. We will honor those who lost their lives on September 11th, along with all service members and first responders who keep us safe. September 11th has stayed with me for all these years and now we teach it as a piece of history. Truly, we will never forget.

Here's your update for the week:

Please Subscribe to My Blog!
If you have not done so, please take the time to subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the box on the right side of the screen that says "follow by email." You will receive a confirmation email to verify your email address. Please click the link in the email to verify your email email address. You will then receive an automatic notification each time I've published a message. Please don't skip that important last step--you MUST verify/confirm your email address to be subscribed.

Online Learning Resources
In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home your child's log-in information for 2 of our most popular online resources that we use at school...Dreambox Math and RAZ-Kids. These programs allow your child to practice literacy and math skills from any computer, and most tablets. This information is also listed on the right side of my blog with direct links to the sites. Later in the year when we begin learning about addition and subtraction, I will send home information about another program called Reflex math that we will use to build addition and subtraction fact fluency.

Scholastic News and Science Spin
If you have not done so, please send in your child's Scholastic News and Science Spin subscription money as soon as possible. This is a one-time fee of $7.50 cash or check (made payable to Pinebrook) Thank you!

Homework Update:
Homework will begin on Monday, September 17th. Next week, the kids will practice their homework routine by completing their homework in class each day with me. To promote consistency, our weekly homework routine is as follows:

• Monday: Read 15-20 minutes. Read your words of the week 3 times to an adult. (Words of the Week will be written in your child's agenda and written on my blog)
• Tuesday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Wednesday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Thursday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Friday: Be ready to take a spelling quiz on your Words of the Week. You must be able to spell each word correctly. 

*Please note: I will collect and check your child's Homework Journal on Friday. Your child will receive a completion grade for homework. Feel free to email me with any questions. :) 

Thursday Folders:

Please empty your child's Thursday folder each Thursday and return it to school on Fridays. I do reuse these folders each week.

Substitute:

I just wanted to make everyone aware the I will not be in the classroom on Friday, September 14th. Donal and I will be in Connecticut for a wedding. However, I will still be available via email and the Remind app. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will begin book shopping, picking out just right books, and practicing independent reading. 
• Writing- We will practice Handwriting, emphasizing proper letter formation, and starting our letters at the top.
• Math-We will begin establishing and practicing routines for Math Workshop as we focus on number sense, counting, ordering numbers, and comparing numbers. 
• Science/Social Studies- We will discuss the meaning of Patriot Day. We will define and discuss the 5 senses. We will begin to learn about the 4 seasons.

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

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I am traveling back to Pennsylvania tonight to visit my family. I have not been back since February so I am very excited to take the time to make the trip! (Especially after an Eagles win!) This will be Raleigh's first trip to Pennsylvania too! :) 

Thursday Folders

Thursday folders will begin today! Please empty your child's Thursday folder and return it to school every Friday.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Happy Thursday :)