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 :)