Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

It's the time of the year when the calendar begins to fill up quickly, both at home and at school! I have many things to tell you about.

Fall Party:
I hope to see some of you at our Fall Party on Wednesday. It begins at 1:20 p.m. in our classroom. Please sign in at at the office and get a visitor pass. Please note that our office is not allowing parents to take children home via early dismissal from our party. Our office is also asking all parents to leave the building by 2:20 p.m. Since no costumes are allowed that day, please help your child contribute to our festive atmosphere by dressing in something Fall themed (shirt, hair bow, etic. )

Turkey of the Year:
Turkey of the Year voting began today, and will continue 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 for a day. One hour of reading equals one vote. Each Friday, please sign and return that week's voting slip, which came home in last week's Thursday folder. If you lost your 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.

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences will begin next week! If your conference is after school hours, please ring the school visitor bell, be prepared to show your ID to our office staff, and sign in at the office. You may walk to our classroom (Room 3) after you sign in.

Pinebrook Veteran's Day Program:
Please read the following message from the Pinebrook staff regarding our Veteran's Day Program:

Calling All Veterans!

You are invited to participate in Pinebrook's Veteran's Day Celebration!

At Pinebrook Elementary, we love to celebrate and honor our families, especially those who have served or are currently serving activtely in the military. We would be honored to have you join us and share your stories with two classrooms of students (parents and extended family military members welcome) for our Veteran's Day Celebration to be held on Monday, November 12th from 8:00-10:15 a.m. 

Schedule of Events:

8:00-8:25 Veterans check in at the front desk and proceed to the library. 

8:30-9:10 Program Begins/Veterans share their story with two different groups of students. 

8:30-8:50 First Session

8:50-9:10 Second Session

9:15-9:30 Photos of Veterans with their students 

9:30-9:45 Pinebrook Veteran's Day Parade

9:45-10:15 Juice, Coffee, Bagels for Veterans

Please RSVP through Google Forms at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqCiNfjx6aXv_q4WjfRByUFiPoHjSvdiT40rKpP8KQuSPdag/viewform   

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will learn about using strategies to decode mystery words. We will identify that vowels can make two sounds, use word parts that we know to read new words, watch out for unusual words, and smooth out our reading. 
• Writing- We will begin our How-To writing unit
• Math- We will finish our fractions unit
• Social Studies- We will begin our unit Famous Virginians. We will learn about Maggie Walker, Christopher Newport, Powhatan, Pocahontas, Arthur Ashe, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. 

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

I hope you all enjoy any Fall themed activities you may have going on this weekend! And try to stay warm and dry!

Weekly Update

Hello Parents! Happy Friday!

We had some beautiful, but chilly, days in the sunshine at recess this week. The kids have been having a blast with our pumpkin investigation. Be sure to ask your child what they have been investigating/observing this week!

Parent/Teacher Conferences:
Conferences will begin October 30th for Room 3! 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 Spirit Week to celebrate Pinebrook as a bully-free zone! Themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday: Inside Out Day- wear your clothes inside out to show that bullying can cause hurt feelings on the inside more than anyone sees on the outside. 
• Wednesday: National Unity Day- wear orange to show support for students who have been bullied. 
• Thursday: Walk in Someone Else's Shoes Day- wear 2 different shoes to show compassion and empathy for someone else's situation.
• Friday: Superhero Day- Dress like a superhero to let everyone know you are a superhero in the effort to stop bullying. You are an upstander, and practice "Stop, Walk, and Talk!"

Glow Run:

The PTA is sponsoring a Glow Run on Friday, October 26th at 6:30 p.m. at school. This will be a fun nighttime event, during which participants are invited to run at dusk wearing glow necklaces, bracelets, glasses, etc. Look for information and the link to sign-up on the PTA page! 

Fall Party:

Please mark your calendar for our Fall Party on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:20 p.m. in our classroom. All families are welcome to attend! (NO costumes please!) I will be sending home a menu and party permission form on Tuesday, October 23rd. I must received a signed permission form from your child in order to participate. 

Check Out Our 1st Grade Symbaloo Page:

Our Instructional Facilitator of Technology, Mrs. Clark, compiled a Symbaloo page for us! Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize multiple websites. Our 1st Grade Symbaloo has links to a variety of sites that cover multiple disciplines...everything from Mouse Skills (check out "Bees and Honey"), to science, math, and holidays. Our Symbaloo sites are a perfect "something more" to supplement your child's weekly homework. You can access the Symbaloo page by clicking HERE. You can access it by going to the Pinebrook Homepage. Once there, click "First Grade" under the "Classrooms" tab. Look to the left under the heading "First Grade." At the bottom of that list, you'll see "First Grade Symbaloo."

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will continue our word detectives unit by using knowledge of letters, sounds, and words to read
• Writing- We will publish our first piece of writing (a small moment story)! We are very excited for this! And then we will work on a Fall writing piece.
• Math-We will finish our geometry unit and begin our fractions unit. We will discuss equal parts, fair shares, and learn how to represent fractions for halves, thirds, and fourths. 
• Science- We will finish our pumpkin investigation and learn about fire safety. 

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

Don't forget- the kids are off on Monday due to a teacher workday. We will have Library on Wednesday next week. 

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather! :)

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

It's been a short, but very busy week!

In honor of Fire Safety Week, we had a visit from Ms. Lisa Braun with Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (check our our class Twitter!) Ms. Braun spoke with us about fire safety and shared important information. Please ask your child about our fire safety program today! :)

Pumpkins:
We will complete an in-class pumpkin investigation. Each child will need his/her own small pumpkin. I sent a note home about this in last week's Thursday folder. Please send your child's small pumpkin to school by Monday. Please write your child's name on the bottom of his/her pumpkin.

Writing Folder:
I asked that your child brings in pictures to glue onto the outside of their writing folder. They can be pictures from family vacations/trips or things that your child likes such as favorite food, sport, team, hobbies, etc. We will be gluing the pictures onto our folders so please do not send in photos that you do not want to be affected by this project. Many of you have sent in photos already, so thank you. If you have not sent in photos with your child yet, please do this at your earliest convenience.

Wear Pink Monday:
On Monday, cartoonist Duane M. Abel, will visit Pinebrook. He is the creator of the ZED comic, and will be presenting a program called "Draw Your Destiny." Because ZED is pink, we are asking that all students and staff come to school in pink on Monday.

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall Party on Wednesday, October 31st at 1:20 in our classroom (Room 3). All families are welcome to attend! (NO costumes please!) I will send a food menu home before the party with a permission form attached. Our awesome Room Moms and I thank you for your donations. Your funds will be put to good use, as the ladies plan for our class celebrations :)

Extra Clothes:
Because first graders are still prone to bathroom accidents and playground slips, please consider tucking an extra set of clothing (to include underclothes) into your child's backpack. I will not collect and store clothes in our classroom. The extra set of clothing will simply sit at the bottom of your child's backpack until they are needed. Thank you!

Water Bottles:
If you are not already doing so, please send a water bottle to school each day with your child. We do NOT have in-class water fountains. The kids get tired and thirsty over the course of the day, and water goes a long way toward helping them stay energetic and attentive.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will continue our word detectives unit, in which we learn ways readers solve hard words.
• Writing-We will learn how to use mentor texts to study author's craft and use it in our own writing 
• Math- We will begin our Geometry unit. We will talk about shapes in our environment. We will talk about sides, vertices, and right angles. We will sort shapes by attributes. 
• Science-We will learn the life cycle of a pumpkin. We will begin our pumpkin investigation. 

Reach out at anytime with questions, comments, or feedback. 

I hope that you all enjoy the fall weather this weekend! I will be attending Cox Farms for a few fall activities myself :) 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Before we start our long weekend, I'm passing along your weekly update. Thank you for your patience with my updates in reading to the end. I know you're busy, and I appreciate the time you take to stay informed about what's happening in our classroom.

Pumpkins:
We will complete an in-class pumpkin investigation. Each child will need his/her own small pumpkin. (These pumpkins are often called "pie size" in the store; they are similar in size to the ones kids get for free when they leave Cox Farms Fall Festival). I sent home a note about it in yesterday's Thursday folder. Please send your child's small pumpkin to school by Monday, October 15th. Please write your child's name on the bottom of their pumpkin.

Please Sign-Up for a Conference!
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held at the end of the first quarter. I am using a Sign-Up Genius to schedule conferences. You can 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.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading: We will become Word Detectives and learn skills to solve tricky words. 
• Writing: We will learn strategies to make our small moment stories come to life!
• Math: We will complete a quick little unit on estimation and magnitude, in which we discuss reasonable quantities among 3 numbers. 
• Social Studies: We will learn about American Symbols and their meanings; specifically the American Flag, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Bald Eagle, the White House, the Capitol, and Mount Rushmore. 
• Science: We will have a fire safety visit from the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Department. 

Please reach out with any questions, comments, and concerns. 

I hope you enjoy the long weekend! I know that many of you will be traveling. Donal and I are attending the Reston Town Center Flavors of Fall Festival and running the Pumpkin 5K. I will, of course, be catching up on some much needed sleep and relaxation.