Weekly Update

Hi Everyone! Happy Surprise Snow Day!

What a fun week! We have been reading gingerbread stories all week. Thank you to those who allowed their child to bring in an extra special gingerbread story for us to read with the class.

The John Champe PEER group visited and presented a puppet show about friendship. The Willard band visited this week and we enjoyed a holiday concert. Those eighth grade students were in my first class at Pinebrook so it was a bit emotional to see them so grown up and doing something that they enjoy.

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! We have some fun events planned for next week to mark the holiday season, and we 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 a.m. We may not be as prepared as I hoped that we would due to our day off, but it will still be special. At the market, each first grad class will "sell" one item that represents a holiday tradition from around the world. Our class is selling German Christmas pickle ornaments. All items range in price from 50 cents to a dollar. Students have been earning paper dimes for demonstrating ready, respectful, and responsible over the past few weeks. They will use their dimes to to shop at the market. Our first grade team needs help at the market to count dimes and to look after classroom tables. If you are available and interested in volunteering, please email me. We anticipate being done by 9:15 a.m.

Holiday Travel:
If you are traveling for the holidays, and your child will be absent from school please kindly notify the school in advance. You can send a message or a 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 homepage.

Winter Break BINGO:
I will send home a Winter Break BINGO board in next week's Thursday folder. It is not mandatory, but is a great way to keep the kiddos busy over the two week holiday. If you have any questions about the BINGO board, please email me.

Polar Express:
Just a reminder that I will be showing the Polar Express movie on Friday, December 20th. I will also be serving hot cocoa made from Swiss Miss and water. No marshmallows will be given, but I will serve a peppermint stick on the side. Please kindly return the permission form by Friday, December 20th if you give your child to participate.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will read the holiday classic The Polar Express and review many of the reading strategies we have learned this year. 
• Math-We will finish our data and graphing unit, as well as, complete some fun Polar Express themed math activities. 
• Writing- We will complete some holiday traditions themed writing activities. 
• Science/Social Studies- We will have our World Market on Tuesday!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! The World Market is Tuesday, we are counting down the days to break, and Friday morning we watch The Polar Express! Teaching first grade definitely makes me feel like a kid again this time of the year. Friday will end with our school-wide holiday sing along :) 

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

Have a great weekend! I am looking forward to seeing the Nutcracker in D.C. tomorrow (my mom used to take me every year as a little girl, and I still need to see it every year), wrapping gifts, and some Christmas cooking baking! 

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

So sorry to be writing my post late! I was away for the weekend in Pennsylvania celebrating my childhood friend's wedding. I am so grateful that I was able to be there by her side on her most special day :)

Holiday Shop:
We previewed the items for sale at the Pinebrook Holiday Shop on Thursday. Students may purchase items today, Tuesday, or Wednesday. If your child is purchasing Holiday Shop items, please kindly use the envelope that I sent home on Thursday in your child's Thursday folder to send his/her list list and money on Tuesday or Wednesday. Students who bring in money may shop during our recess time. Please remember, there is no obligation to buy. If you have any questions about the Holiday Shop, please let me know.

Scholastic Book Fair:
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all week. Students previewed the Book Fair on Friday during our Library class time. Students who bring in money may shop at the Book Fair during our recess time this week. If your child plans to bring in 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 Tuesday, December 10th from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Due to the Book Fair, students will not check out new books. Please keep your child's current library books at home until Friday, December 20th.

Gingerbread Week!
This week, we will read various versions of the story The Gingerbread Man. If your child has a version of this classic story at home, he/she is invited to bring it to school, and I will read it to the class.

We Celebrate Winter Holidays!
We have been studying winter holidays from other  countries and cultures over the past week. It is now your child's turn to share about the winter holiday that they celebrate with family! In your child's Thursday folder, I sent home a We Celebrate Winter Holidays! paper. Please complete this activity with your child and return to school no later than Monday, December 16th. Your child will have the opportunity to share your family's holiday traditions with the class.

Gingerbread House Supplies:
As a culminating activity to our unit on gingerbread stories, we will be creating our very own gingerbread houses. I sent home a note home on Tuesday, November 26th requesting supplies for this project. Each child has two items highlighted on their list, that I would like them to provide to help our class in making our gingerbread houses. Supplies were due today (Monday, December 9th). We still have a lot of supplies missing for this special project. If you are available to help, we will be making the gingerbread houses tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10th at 12:30 p.m.

Polar Express Movie Party:
During the week of December 16th-20th, we will read and explore the holiday classic The Polar Express. As a special treat, Friday, December 20th will be a pajama and movie day! Students are welcome to wear pajamas to school on that day. I will offer hot chocolate to drink too. I will make the hot chocolate with water only, without marshmallows, and I will offer a candy cane on the side. I will be sending home a Polar Express  "movie ticket" in your child's Thursday folder this week. This is your child's permission form so he/she may watch the movie and the hot chocolate treat. Please kindly sign and return the ticket as soon as possible.

Interim Progress Reports:
Interim progress reports will go home on Wednesday, December 11th. A friendly reminder that I do not send an interim home for every child. If I send one for your student, you will receive it via email at the email address on file in your ParentVue account. If you need assistance accessing your ParentVue account, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office at 703-957-4325.

Focus Areas for This Week:

• Reading- We will be reading various gingerbread stories to compare and contrast the story elements of each. 
• Writing-We will complete some gingerbread themed writing activities and practice handwriting. 
• Math-We will start our graphing and data unit. We will talk about tally charts, bar graphs, picture graphs, and object graphs. We will analyze graphs and create our own graph. 
• Social Studies-We will finish our Holidays Around the World rotations and begin to prepare for our World Market on December 17th. 

There's a lot happening as we head toward Winter Break! Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Weekly Update and Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a short week coming up, and then 5 wonderful days to spend with family and friends. Here's what you need to know for next week's short week and the week after...

Thanksgiving Travel:
If your child will be absent next week, and/or leaving early on Tuesday, please kindly notify both the office and me in advance. For absences, you may use the online absence excuse form on the Pinebrook homepage. For early dismissal, you may use the early dismissal form on the Pinebrook homepage.

Thanksgiving Reading Incentive:
I will sending home a Thanksgiving reading incentive with your child on Tuesday, November 26th. Please be sure to check your child's homework folder on Tuesday when they return home for this item. Reading incentives will be due back on Monday, December 2nd. I will not accept any late submissions.

No Homework Packet Next Week:
There will be no homework packet next week due to our short week. PLEASE READ!

Volunteers Needed:
In social studies, we are learning about economics and holiday traditions around the world. In the next week, the 1st graders will spend some time "visiting" other countries to learn about holiday traditions from from many cultures. As a culminating activity to this unit, our 1st grade class will host a "World Market" on Tuesday, December 17th. At the market, each class will "sell" an item representing a particular culture or country. Students will "shop" for items from other classes using play money. They will need to budget and save their dimes, and prioritize their purchases since they will not have enough money to buy everything. At the market, we would like to showcase cultures and cultural artifacts from around the world. Would you like to set up a table at the market to showcase your family's cultural heritage, and speak to student's about your holiday traditions who may visit your table? If so, please return the "Wanted: First Grade Parents" slip that I sent home in yesterday's Thursday folder.

Gingerbread Houses:
Our class will be completing a reading unit about Gingerbread stories the week of December 9th. As part of this unit, our students will have the opportunity to create their own gingerbread house on Tuesday, December 10th. To make this possible, we will need your help. Each student will be receiving a letter about our gingerbread houses with a few items highlighted to donate to our gingerbread house making. If you are unable to send in the items, please let me know, so I can make sure that we have those items for our students. I will also be looking for volunteers to help out!

Focus Areas for the Coming Short Week (11/25, 11/26) AND the Week of 12/2-12/6:

• Reading-We will finish our Word Detectives unit by talking about unusual words, such as contractions. We will practice reading and writing our 1st grade snap words. 
• Writing-We will complete a few fun Thanksgiving writing projects, work on editing writing, and practice writing in a sequence. 
• Phonics-We will use words that we know to help us solve new words. 
• Math-We will finish our fractions unit. We will continue to explore the concepts of halves, thirds, and fourths, and discuss fractions of a whole and fractions of a set. 
• Social Studies-We will talk about Pilgrim life. We will finish learning about economics. We will begin our Holidays Around the World rotations, whereby the first grade teachers rotate through each other's classrooms teaching the students about holiday traditions from other countries and cultures. 

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback. 

Happy Thanksgiving! And safe travels for those who will be heading somewhere else for the holiday! I have a lot to be thankful for this year including your sweet kiddos and all of your support!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! I hope it has been a good week! After our first 5 day week in a while, we are ready for the weekend!

Quarter 1 Report Cards:
A friendly reminder that Quarter 1 report cards were issued on Monday. If you've not yet done so, please log into your ParentVue account to view your child's report card.

Thanksgiving Plate:
In last week's Thursday folder, I sent home a note about Thanksgiving, along with a "plate" for your child to decorate with things he/she is thankful for. We will use the decorated plate for an in-class project. Please help your child decorate his/her plate with pictures of things he/she is thankful for. The projects will go through the laminator so, please use only flat pictures or decorations. Please send the decorated plate back to school by this coming Monday, November 18th. Thank you!

Reading Homework:
I have noticed that many students are not reading each night. This could be that they are forgetting to complete their daily reading homework along with a page in the homework packet, or parents are forgetting to sign their agenda. I kindly ask that you please sign your child's agenda each night. I check student agendas every morning and if there is not a signature, then I mark that your child does not have their homework completed. There is a homework completion portion of the report card and your child's nightly reading counts towards that.

School Picture Retakes:
School Picture Retakes will be Friday, November 22nd. Picture retakes are for students who were absent on picture day, or students who have paid for a picture package and would like to have the photos redone. If you believe either of those apply to you, please send me a message and I will give you the details about picture retakes.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will continue our Word Detectives unit. We are learning ways to decode difficult words. (Please be sure to ask your child about the strategies they are learning and encourage them to try them at home). Next week we will practice paying attention to word endings and vowel sounds. We will find parts of words we know (for example, looking for a little word inside a big word), and pay attention to words that don't follow regular phonetic spelling patterns (like "have" or "of"). We will practice smoothing out our voices to read with fluency.
• Writing- We will finish our How-To unit, in which we are teaching our readers to do things. We will also start a few fun Thanksgiving writing activities. 
• Math- We will begin our fractions unit. We will talk about a wholes and sets, and parts of wholes vs. parts of sets. We will talk about the words numerator and denominator. We will practice identifying wholes, halves, thirds, and fourths. We will practice writing fractions that represent fractions of sets and fractions of wholes. 
• Social Studies- We will begin our economics unit. We will explore the concepts of wants and needs (things we want to have vs. things we need to stay healthy, safe, and alive), goods and services (goods are things that people buy, services are things we pay people to do for us), and consumers and producers (consumers are people who buy/use goods and services, producers are people who make goods or provide services). 

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, concerns, and feedback. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Today marks the end of our first quarter. The school year is passing quickly! We had such a fun week with Halloween! I am so pleased with our little classroom family, and with the growth that the kids are making! :)

Shout out to all of you who came to our Fall Party and helped out! I could not have done it without all of you, especially our AWESOME Room Parent! It truly takes a village!

50th Day Celebration:
We will celebrate the 50th Day of School on Thursday, November 7th with some 1950's themed activities. (I sent home a note with all the details). Students are invited to dress in 1950's-style attire for the day. We will learn fun dances, complete some crafts, and have root beer floats. If you do NOT want your child to have a root beer float (made with root beer soda and vanilla ice cream), please let me know as soon as possible, and before next Thursday, November 7th.

No Homework Packet Next Week:
There will be no homework packet or new words of the week next week due to our short three day week.

Turkey of the Year:
Turkey of the Year voting began today, and will go on 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. One hour of reading equals one vote. Each Friday, please sign and return that week's voting slip. If you lost the 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.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will continue our Word Detectives unit, which we learn strategies for solving hard words. (Be sure to ask your child about the detective missions we have been solving from the Super Secret Detective Agency)
• Writing- We will continue with our "How-To" writing unit. This is a writing unit it which we teach our readers how to do something or how to make something. 
• Phonics- We will continue doing detective work by working on the case of the Silent -e. 
• Math-We will finish our Geometry unit. We will count sides and vertices in polygons, identify right angles, and complete some fun Geometry projects. 
• Social Studies- We will finish learning about pumpkins and learn about the significance of Veteran's Day and prepare for Pinebrook's Veteran's Day celebration. 

It's been a delight to visit with so many of you at conferences. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to talk with me about your child's progress! Thank you for being vested in your child's social, emotional, and educational development. 

Don't forget...the kids will not have school on Monday and Tuesday due to Teacher Workdays. Enjoy the long weekend! 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

We had a fantastic day today! Lieutenant Mettinger from Loudoun County Fire and Rescue came to talk with us about fire safety. There is information about today's visit in your child's homework folder. This afternoon, we also began to conduct our pumpkin investigations! We rotated throughout each first grade classroom, conducting experiments and recording observations along the way. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish, so we will pick up with it next week. Please ask your child about their fun Friday! :)

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.

Important Information About School Photos:
Fall pictures will be taken on Tuesday, October 29th. I sent home information about pictures in last week'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 will 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

Fall Party:

I hope to see many of you at our Fall Party on Thursday, October 31st. It will begin at 12:00 p.m., but parents may come in at 11:30 to start setting up the activities. I will have the students outside for recess to get some energy out before we begin the party. I sent home a food permission form for the party today. Please sign and return the food permission form by Thursday, October 31st. Since no costumes are allowed that day, please help your child contribute to our festive atmosphere by dressing in something orange or Halloween themed (a Halloween shirt, hair ribbon, etc.)

Turkey of the Year:

Turkey of the Year voting begins next week, 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. One hour of reading equals one vote. Each Friday, please sign and return the week's voting slip, which came home in yesterday's Thursday folder. If you lost your voting slip, 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 have begun! If you conference is before school, please let the front office know that you are here for a conference and come on down to Room 3. You should not need to sign in for a conference before school. If your conference is after school, please ring the school bell, be prepared to show your photo ID to our office staff, and sign in at the office. You may walk to our class after you sign in. If you have not signed up for a conference, please do that ASAP using the Sign-Up Genius by clicking HERE.

50th Day Celebration:

We will celebrate the 50th Day of School on Thursday, November 7th with some fun 1950's themed activities. (I sent home a note with all the details.) Students are invited to dress in 1950's-style attire that day. We will learn fun dances, complete some crafts, and have root beer floats. If you do NOT want your child to have a root beer float (made with root beer soda and vanilla ice cream), please let me know as soon as possible, and before November 7th. 

Veteran's Day:

Please read the following message from our school office regarding Veteran's Day:

"Pinebrook Elementary students and staff would like to honor our Veterans during our annual Veterans Day Celebration that is being held on Monday, November 11, 2019. If you, a family member or neighbor are a Veteran please join us for this special celebration. All are welcome to attend!  This year, Veterans will not be asked to speak to a classroom of students. We invite you to come, relax, and allow us to honor you."
Schedule:
8:00-8:30 Breakfast in the Library 
8:30-9:15 Celebration in the gymnasium
Please RSVP for our Veteran's Day celebration by clicking HERE

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will begin our Word Detectives Unit, in which we become word detectives who solve cases involving tricky words and letters. 
• Writing- We will begin our How-To unit, in which we learn about procedural writing, and tach our reader how to do something. 
• Math-We will continue with our Geometry unit. We will identify plane shapes in the environment, talk about the number of sides and vertices in circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles, and define a right angle. 
• Science-We will finish our pumpkin investigations. We will paint our pumpkins so they are festive and ready for Halloween!

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Don't forget--No school on Monday due to the Teacher Workday. 

I hope that everyone has a fun-filled weekend! Can't wait for another week of fun next week! :) 

Weekly Update

Hello Parents! Happy Friday!

Sometimes short weeks feel like long weeks, but this one flew by! We had some beautiful days in the sunshine at recess this week, and didn't mind a rainy day for indoor recess too. As the weather begins to cool, please be sure to send a jacket with your child each day.

This morning we attended a NED assembly in anticipation of next week's Spirit Week to mark Pinebrook as a bully-free zone! Please ask your child about this fun assembly!

I have several things to share with you this week...

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences will begin next week! If your conference is in the morning before school, I will meet you at the front door if our school staff is not here yet to let you in. If your conference is after school, please ring the school visitor bell, be prepared to show your photo ID to our school staff, and sign in at the office. You may walk to our classroom after you sign in. If you still need to sign up for a conference please click HERE. If the available dates/times do not work with your schedule, please send me an email so I can make further arrangements.

Next Week is Spirit Week:
Next week we will have a Spirit Week to celebrate Pinebrook as a bully-free zone! Themes for each day are as follows:

• Monday- "We are all tied together"- Wear bowties, neckties, bows, ribbons, etc. to symbolize that we are all tied together to prevent bullying. 
• Tuesday- "Take a walk in someone else's shoes and wear red for the Nats"-Wear mismatched shoes to symbolize what it is like to walk in someone else's footsteps AND to celebrate the Nationals in the World Series
• Wednesday- "Unity Day"-Wear orange to honor Unity Day and be unified against bullying
• Thursday- "Team Up Together"-Wear sports attire to team up against bullying. 
• Friday-"Be a Superhero Against Bullying"-Dress up like a superhero to prevent bullying

Pumpkins:

If you haven't done so already, please send your child's "pie-sized" pumpkin for our pumpkin investigation. Please send in the pumpkin no later than Wednesday, October 23rd. Please label your child's pumpkin with his/her name on the bottom. Black permanent marker works well for this!

Important Information About School Pictures:

Fall pictures will be taken on Tuesday, October 29th. 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'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, and your payment. 
• Picture purchase is optional.

Fall Party:

Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Thursday, October 31st in our classroom. Our party will start approximately at 11:30; I will confirm the exact time next week. All families are welcome to attend! (NO costumes please!) I will send home a food permission form in next week's Thursday folder for all food items being served during the Fall party. Please return the signed food permission form by Thursday, October 3st. Our fabulous Room Parent, Mrs. Ramineni, has been working very hard to prepare for our Fall party. If you are able to, please offer any support by volunteering to help out during the party, donating food items, or money to purchase the awesome crafts and games. She cannot do this alone, so let's all work together to make this an awesome party for Room 3! Mrs. Ramineni has graciously created a Sign Up Genius for our party. Please click HERE to offer your support. If you have any questions, please email her or I. 

50th Day Celebration!

We will celebrate the 50th Day of School on Thursday, November 7th with some fun 1950's themed activities. I sent home a note with all the details in last week's Thursday folder. Students are invited to dress in 1950's-style attire that day. We will learn fun dances, complete some crafts, and have root beer floats. If you do NOT want your child to have a root beer float (made with root beer and vanilla ice cream), please let me know as soon as possible, and before November 7th. 

PAWS for Knowing Your Student ID!

As we continue through the school year, the students will use their student ID numbers (often called "lunch numbers") more often. I am going to start giving 3 Puma Paws to any student who can memorize his/her ID number for signing onto the computers and for purchasing lunch/food items in the cafeteria. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will working on story comprehension and retelling and talking about our favorite parts of stories. 
• Writing- We will be completing some fun Halloween themed craftivities with writing
• Math- We will continue with our magnitude and estimation unit. We will also begin our geometry unit. 
• Science/Social Studies-We will finish our study of Famous Virginians and we will begin to investigate pumpkins

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

I need to apologize for not updating the blog last Friday. I was in Whistler, British Columbia for a wedding. 

I hope to do some much needed relaxing this weekend! Many of your kiddos shared that they would be going to Cox Farms this weekend, so I can't wait to hear about their fall-themed weekend! Enjoy!

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

Yesterday's Puma Olympics was a HUGE success! Room 3 could not stop talking about how much fun that they had! Thank you to all the families who came and supported Team Drumheller Diamonds!

Just a few quick items for you...

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 those dates/times listed, please send me an email to make alternate arrangements. I am excited to meet with each of you to discuss your child's progress!

Scholastic News and Science Spin Money:
Please kindly remember to send Scholastic News and Science Spin money if you have not yet done so.

Thursday Folders:
Thank you all for being patient with me this week...I am so lucky to have awesome parents part of Room 3 this year! Your child received their Thursday folder today. Please empty your child's folder sometime over the weekend and have them return it to school on Monday so we'll be all set for next Thursday. :)

Nightly Reading:
I know that everyone has busy nightly schedules with after school activities, but I was hoping that you would sign your child's agenda each night with the title of the book(s) that they read and your signature. I do check your child's agenda every morning to make note of those who are reading each night. Thank you so much!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will learn how reading partners support each other to build positive reading habits.
• Writing- We will continue writing small moment stories and study other authors to use as mentor texts. 
• Phonics-We will study high-frequency (snap) words to learn about phonics
• Math-We will continue with our patterns and sorting unit. We will identify and create growing and repeating patterns. We will sort objects based on attributes.
• Social Studies- We will finish learning about Christopher Columbus and begin learning about Famous Virginians and their contributions to our country. We will learn about Christopher Newport, Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas, Thomas Jefferson, Maggie Walker, and Arthur Ashe. 

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

I am once again traveling back to PA for the weekend! We are celebrating one of my best friend's this weekend with her bridal shower! I cannot wait for some cooler weather to kick in tomorrow! I hope you all have a fabulous fall weekend!

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

We had a delightful week in Room 3, and we ended on a high note with a Den Rally! Today's topic at the den rally was responsibility. Donuts for Dads was a success, and tomorrow is the Fall Festival! It's a great time to be a Pinebrook Puma!

Just a few items for you...

Scholastic News and Science Spin Money:
Please kindly remember to send Scholastic News and Science Spin money if you have not yet done so.

1st Quarter Interim Progress Reports:
1st Quarter Interim Progress Reports  ("interims") will be issued on Wednesday, October 2nd. If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you on Wednesday, October 2nd 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 the school office.

Puma Olympics:
Our Puma Olympics will be held on Thursday afternoon. Students will spend time outside participating in a variety of team-building and cooperative games. Please be sure that your child comes to school dressed in comfortable clothing and athletic shoes/sneakers.

Fall Fundraiser:
If you have not yet registered your child for our Fall Fundraiser, it is not too late! Right now Team Drumheller is in the lead with the most donations! If we win, then our classroom will receive a $100 Amazon gift card to buy some awesome things for our classroom!

Class Directory:
Please review the classroom directory to verify that your information is correct or if I need to make any changes. I appreciate all those who already sent me an email just to say that it was all correct or to change up a few items. As soon as everyone responds, then I will send out the link to the final draft. :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will learn about habits for solving hard words in our reading
• Writing- We will continue writing small moment stories, but revising to make our stories really come to life. 
• Phonics- We will begin our study of words by looking at letters, vowels, syllables, digraphs, and blends
• Math-We will begin our patterns and sorting unit. We will identify and create growing and repeating patterns, pattern units, and patterns in our world. 
• Social Studies-We will talk about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day. 

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

I cannot believe October begins next week! Where is the fall weather?!

I will be stopping by the Fall Festival tomorrow so I hope to see many of your kiddos there! Have a wonderful weekend :) 

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

It's been refreshing to have some cooler weather with sunshine! Recess has been quite enjoyable this week! :)

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

Scholastic News and Science Spin Money:
If you have not yet sent your child's Scholastic News and Science Spin subscription fee, please kindly do so as soon as possible. The cost is $8. You may send a check made payable to Scholastic News or send in the exact amount of cash.

Fall Literacy Testing:
Our Fall literacy screenings are underway. I am administering both the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) to each student. I will discuss the results of your child's assessments with you during our Fall Parent-Teacher conference.

Donuts with Dad:
The PTA is hosting a "Donuts with Dads" event on Friday, September 27th from 7:00-7:30 a.m. at school. All dads and kids are welcome. To ensure that there are enough doughnuts for everyone in attendance, please complete the Donuts with Dads RSVP form found on the Pinebrook homepage.

Writing Folder Photo Project:
Students are excited to begin decorating their writing folders with pictures that remind them of special memories or of things that they enjoy! After we have decorated our folders, we will be able to use the pictures to give us ideas of topics to write about during our writing workshop. The pictures can be printed on regular printer paper from the computer. Please do not send in photos that you hope to be returned, students will be gluing the photos to their folders. If you have any questions about this project, please let me know. The last day to send in photos is Monday, September 30th.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will continue to discuss good reader habits and build those habits with our reading partners. We will set goals for our reading. We will talk about rereading to smooth out our voices, scooping up words in phrases, and giving reminders to our reading partners. 
• Writing- We will learn how to edit and revise our writing to make our stories come to life. 
• Phonics-We will learn skills and strategies to "study" words. 
• Math- We will finish our number sense unit by learning how to order numbers and compare them. Our number sense assessment will be on Friday. 
• Science- We will talk about apples and the life cycle of an apple in celebration of Johnny Appleseed Day. 
• Social Studies- Throughout first grade, we will talk about various Famous Virginians, and their contributions to our state. 

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

Donal, Raleigh, and I will be traveling to PA this weekend to visit my family. We will also be going to my hometown's famous fair called the Bloomsburg Fair. I'm sure I will have lots of photos to share with the kiddos on Monday :) 

Enjoy your weekend!

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you've had a fantastic week! I'm starting to see little personalities emerge as the kids become more comfortable with me. and with each other. This is when I can really start to build a relationship with them, connect with them, and see our class environment take shape. It makes me happy :)

Here's you weekly update...


Homework Starts Next Week:
Homework will begin on Monday. A few notes about homework...

• I will send home a homework packet on Mondays. It will be due back on Fridays. 
• Homework will follow the same formula each week, to afford your student/family flexibility in planning and completion of homework. There is a suggested assignment for each night, but your child can complete the homework pages in any order and in any timeframe, as long as the homework packet comes back on Fridays. 
• Nightly reading will continue to be part of homework. 
• We will have 5 "Words of the Week" that are practiced each week as part of the homework. The Words of the Week come from the 1st Grade Sight Word list posted on the Puma Paw website. The words will be written on the right side of your child's agenda each week and I will also list them on the right side of the blog. 
• We will have a spelling test each Friday on that week's Words of the Week.
• Please encourage your child to read and spell their Words of the Week at home and to identify them in their nightly reading. 

Library Books:

Please help your child to remember to return their library books by each Friday. If they are done with them before Friday, then they can bring them in at any time. Students are not allowed to check out new books until their old ones are returned.

Snack:

Please be sure to send in a nut-free snack with your child each day. Please do not send dips, sauces, or other liquids for snack. Please do not send snack cakes with cream or frosting. Please do not send snacks that require utensils to eat. We ask that snack be one item that can be ate during our snack time. 

Online Learning Resources:

In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home the log-on information for RAZ-Kids and Dreambox Math. There are detailed letters included to help you get your child started too. Your child should regularly log onto these learning platforms to get extra practice with reading and math. Your child will also be receiving Reflex math information later in the year, once we have learned addition and subtraction. If you have any questions about the online resources, please let me know. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will begin our first Reader's Workshop unit by learning routines and procedures of Reader's Workshop and building a reading life. 
• Writing- We will begin being our first Writing Workshop unit by learning the routines and procedures of Writing Workshop and writing about small moments.
• Phonics- We will begin our first Phonics unit by exploring and studying our names, and noticing the spelling patterns we see in them.
• Math- We will continue learning the routines and procedures of Math Workshop as we finish our number sense and counting unit. 
• Science- We will talk about the 4 seasons, Earth's rotation on its axis and rotation around the sun, and why we have day and night. 

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

I hope that you all have a super weekend! 

Weekly Update

Hello First Grade Families!

Short weeks sometimes feel like long weeks, but the week still flew by! I think that the kids are settling into the year. On the whole, I am quite pleased with how quickly they're picking up on 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 Wednesday morning. We will honor those who lost their lives on September 11th, along with all the service members and first responders who keep us safe. Truly, we will never forget.

Here's my update for the week...

Please Subscribe to My Blog!
If you have not yet done so, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog by entering 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 Sign Up for Remind
Please sign up for Remind if you have not done so. If you still need to do this, please do so my downloading the Remind app and joining my class. After you download the Remind app, click "join a class" and enter my class code: @grade1drum. I send many messages via Remind. Please don't miss out and please let me know if you have any questions!

Room Parent Needed
I am still in need of at least one Room Parent to help coordinate and plan our yearly parties and events. If you can help with this, please email me. You will be guided through the year by our PTA Room Parent Coordinator, beginning on Wednesday, September 11th with a Room Parent and Volunteer Welcome Coffee at 8:35 a.m. in the Pinebrook cafe.

Homework Update:
Homework will be begin on Monday, September 16th. To both afford families flexibility and to facilitate time management, homework will follow a predictable pattern. Each week, your child will receive a homework packet on Mondays. The completed homework packet will be due back no later than Friday. Each week students will practice writing our 5 words of the week/sight words, and complete some math and/or literacy practice. Nightly reading will continue as a homework requirement in addition to the homework packet.

Nightly Reading Homework:
I have noticed that the past two weeks, many students have not been completing their nightly reading homework. Students are required to read 15-20 minutes each night with an adult. We ask that you then record their reading each night on the right side of the agenda. Please note the book(s) that they read that night, the number of minutes, along with a signature. If you have any questions about recording your child's reading in their agenda, please let me know.

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.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will begin Book Shopping, which is the process of choosing Just Right books to out into our reading bags and we will be learning about our literacy centers.
• Writing- We will talk about types of sentences, learn about our Super Star Spelling Dictionaries, and using our writing folders.
• Math-We will begin establishing the routines and procedures of Math Workshop as we focus on number sense, counting, ordering numbers, and comparing numbers. 
• Science/Social Studies-We will talk about the meaning of Patriot Day. We will define and discuss the 5 senses. We will learn about the 4 seasons. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. :) 

Weekly Update

Happy Thursday! I am posting our weekly update a day early this week since we do not have school on Friday.

What a blessing to have an extra day during Labor Day weekend this year! We have been so busy, that I think we could all use a little rest and relaxation to wrap up the end of summer. :)

Next week we will refine some procedures and try to get into a normal schedule. We will also review the expectations and procedures that we learned this week, as well. We will continue to get to know each other as we build our classroom community/family. On that note, I am impressed with how well how class is getting along. We have a lot of sweethearts in Room 3!

Here's some important information for you to know. Please read through to the end. It's a lot this first time around...

Please Subscribe to My Blog!
Many of you have done this already, so thank you! If you have not, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog  by entering 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 have added a new post.

Please Sign-Up for Remind!
If you haven't yet signed up for my Remind text messaging service, please do so by downloading the Remind app and joining my class. After you download the Remind app, click "join a class" and enter my class code: @grade1drum. I send many messages throughout the year for various reasons. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Room Parent Needed:
I am in need of at least one Room Parent to help coordinate and plan our yearly parties and events. If you can help with this, please email me. You will be guided through the year by our PTA Room Parent Coordinator.

Snack:
Please be sure to send a nut-free snack with your child each day. Please do not send dips, sauces, or other liquids for snacks. Please do not send snacks with creams or frosting. Please do not send snacks that require utensils to eat. We do not have a long snack time, so please send only one item for your child's snack.

Water Bottles:
First graders are a thirsty bunch. Please feel free to send a water bottle to school with your child each day. Please send a reusable bottle. Please do not send water bottles with twist off caps for classroom use...the kids have a very difficult time getting the caps back on and those bottles typically spill or leak.

Ice Cream:
Please ensure your child knows whether he/she may buy ice cream in the cafeteria on Fridays. To avoid confusion in the cafeteria, I do expect the kids to know this when they come to school. Thank you!

Lunch:
Our lunch time is from 10:59-11:29. You are welcome to eat lunch with your child any day, and you may bring your child lunch purchased from a restaurant (places like Panera, Chick-fil-a, or Moe's). If you would like to eat lunch with your child, please sign in at the school office and meet us at the cafeteria at Table 4. Please plan to say goodbye to your child in the cafeteria at the end of out lunch period as our instructional day continues.

Monthly Behavior Charts
Students will receive their first monthly behavior chart on Tuesday when they return to school. They will keep this behavior chart in the back pocket of their Homework folder. At the end of each day students will color in their chart to show what color the ended the day on our classroom behavior chart. If you notice that your child comes home on yellow, orange, or red; please discuss this with your child. If you have any questions about behavior, please send me an email so I can help out.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will discuss how to use our classroom library, and procedures and expectations for Independent and Partner Reading. 
• Writing- We will continue with our handwriting lessons and I will introduce their First Grade Writing Journals. 
• Math-We will continue our Number Sense unit. We will learn to count by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's. We will also explore concepts of odd and even numbers, and compare and order numbers. 
• Social Studies- We will continue building our classroom community as we explore the qualities of a good citizen in our school, our community, and our world. 
• Science- We will talk about the definition of science and what a scientist does/is. 

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. We're off to a great start :) 

Donal and I are headed to Connecticut for the weekend to visit his family and Raleigh will be having a nice stay at the pet hotel :) I hope everyone has a fantastic 4 day weekend and safe travels to those who will be on the road!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! It's been a long week, but I'm so grateful to head into the weekend both having met my new class of firsties, and having met many of you.

We had our first "Den Rally" today! It's an assembly format used to build community and better connect our teachers and students. Once a month or so, the whole school gathers in the gym for a short morning assembly during which we listen to our school news, say the pledge together, recite the "Puma Creed," learn about social skills, and generally celebrate being part of our AWESOME Pinebrook community. Please ask your child about our Den Rally!

Meantime, if you were directed to this post by an email, please kindly take a moment to subscribe to my blog. I use this blog to communicate all school and classroom news, information, and dates. You can follow my blog by typing in your email address in the box to the right that says "follow by email." After you input your email address, you'll receive a message to verify your address. Simply click the link in the email to verify your email address, and you'll be subscribed forevermore with no worries about missing important information! *Please do not skip this step.* I usually have my blog updated each Friday by 5:00 p.m. If you don't receive an email, then I did not post anything new that day.

Have you signed up for the Remind text messaging service? If not, please take a moment to download the Remind app (look for the white text bubble on a blue background) from the app store and join my class. After you download the Remind app, you can join my class by texting @grade1drum to 81010.

In class, we are continuing to work on community building, routines, and procedures. Next week, I will begin to introduce some of our academic routines, such as morning work and morning routine. However, in a school environment--and particularly with younger children--the most important things that I can do in the first few weeks are establish explicit and reliable routines and procedures, establish specific behavior expectations, and build a solid foundation for relationships in our room. Those things will remain a priority for the next 2 weeks and beyond.

A couple of reminders:

• Don't forget to send a daily peanut free snack with your child. Snack should be something that can be eaten independently (no utensils please) while we work. 
• Don't forget to send a water bottle with your child. We do not have a water fountain in our classroom, so a water bottle is the only way for your child to get a drink of water during the day. 
• Next week the kids will begin to use their agendas. They will list their weekly homework in it each Monday. Until mid-September, homework will be nightly reading. 
• Tuesday is our Multicultural Night. I hope to see many of you there as we teachers learn from you parents about the various cultures and traditions represented at Pinebrook!

I am in need of at least one Room Parent who would help in coordinating class parties and communication. Please let me know if you would be interested in being our classroom Room Parent this year. 

I think that's all that I have for this week. Please reach out at anytime with questions, comments, or concerns. Don't forget to check the Pinebrook homepage about many upcoming school and classroom events. 

It's the weekend! Hooray! My parents are coming to visit Donal and I this weekend, and they will be bringing their two adorable pups as well, so it will be a house full of craziness! I hope you all enjoy the bearable weather this weekend! :) 

Final Weekly Message

Well.

We made it!

Thank you for sharing your child with me this year.!These kids have been an absolute joy to teach! And as I reflect back on the past 174 days together, sweet memories come to mind. This group of bright, funny, engaging, inquisitive, kind, respectful children is taking quite a piece of my heart today. I like to think some of them are leaving a little piece of theirs, too.

Please don't let this be our goodbye. Feel free to reach out to me at anytime in any way for any reason. :)

Enjoy the summer!!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe that this is the last weekly update that I will be writing to you all this year! Our end of the year activities are in full swing! I was at a training on Field Day this week, but I received so many wonderful photos so I know that the kiddos had a blast! :) Today we also read outside for "Flip Open a Good Book, Flop Down and Read." We enjoyed some extra recess too!

Just a few items for next week...

End of Year Celebration:
We will have a 1st Grade End of Year Celebration Luau on Wednesday, June 5th from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. All first grade classes will participate in this celebration. We will enjoy a picnic lunch of cheese pizza, Oreos, apples, and water. Students may bring a beach towel or blanket to sit on. We are still in need of volunteers and supplies to help make our luau a fun and memorable experience. Please click HERE to find out how you can help.

Game Day:
Next Friday, June 7th will be game day. I sent home information about game day with your child today. It is in their homework folder. Students may bring in a board game or card game (NO electronics, please) to play with friends on Friday.

Desk and Supply Clean Out:
Next week, we will clean out our desks and supplies. We will do this slowly over the week so the kids' backpacks are not overloaded with all the things they'll be bringing home.

Quarter 4 Report Cards:
Your child's 4th quarter report card will be viewable in your ParentVue account on Friday, June 14th.

Our schedule next week will be very fluid. We will have some "this and that" items to finish. We will make the last week of school very enjoyable by spending time with friends! :)

Enjoy the weekend! You can find me walking with Team Teachers Making Tracks at the Loudoun County Relay for Life in Leesburg Village! This is one organization that I am so passionate about as it has affected family and friends for me.

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

Team Building Day (Field Day):
Our First Grade Team Building Day (formally known as Field Day) will  be this Wednesday, May 29th. Our grade level will engage in team building games and activities from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. that day. Team Building Day will be outside, so students should wear comfortable clothing and sneakers, and bring a water bottle. Sunscreen and/or bug spray must be applied at home. If you are available to help our PE teachers with this event, please sign up HERE

Pinebrook Volunteer Breakfast:
The annual Pinebrook Volunteer Recognition Breakfast will be Friday, May 31st at 8:15 a.m. in the Pinebrook cafeteria. If you have volunteered in any capacity at school this year, we would like to recognize YOU! :) Please RSVP for the breakfast via the Sign-Up Genius found HERE

Flip Over Books, Flop Down and Read:
On Friday, May 31st, our class will participate in Pinebrook's "Flip Over Books, Flop Down and Read." During this fun reading event, we will spend 30 minutes outside reading and enjoying books. Students may bring a hat and/or sunglasses, a favorite book, and a small blanket or towel to sit on while reading.

End of Year Fun:
We will have some surprise end-of-year spirit days in our classroom beginning Monday, June 3rd. I will tell the kids each day what the next day's theme will be. These will be fun things such as Stuffed Animal day, Pajama Day, etc.

Homework Update:
There will be no more homework packets for the rest of the year. Students should still be reading at least 15 minutes each night and it should be recorded in their agenda with a parent signature.

End of Year Celebration:
We will have our 1st Grade End of Year Celebration Luau on Wednesday, June 5th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All first grade classes will participate in this celebration. We will enjoy a picnic lunch of cheese pizza, Oreos, apples, and water. I will be sending home a permission form for the party. We are in need of volunteers and supplies to help make our luau a fun and memorable experience. Please click HERE to find out how you can help. Also, students are invited to dress to the theme that day!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will continue to learn about Fairy Tales and study the elements of each story. 
• Writing- We will continue learning about poetry and figurative language. 
• Math- We will continue reviewing previously taught math skills and strategies from first grade.
• Science/Social Studies- We will get back into our Great Crayon Rescue project by taking on roles/jobs to begin recycling our crayons. We will begin our First Grade Memories Book. Finally, we will continue to give our plants a little TLC and bring them home next week. 

Enjoy your long weekend! Donal and I are off again! This time to Connecticut to visit his family!

Please take the time to remember and reflect the meaning of Memorial Day. The sacrifices made by our service members and their families must never be forgotten. 

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

Happy Friday! We had a fun, but busy week preparing for our First Grade Music Program and Mother's Day. The kids are having fun and everyone is getting excited for summer!

4th Quarter Interim Progress Reports:
4th Quarter Interim Progress Reports will be issued on Monday, May 13th. If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you on Monday, May 13th using the email on file in your ParentVue account. You can update and/or verify your email address by logging into your ParentVue account.

First Grade Music Program:
A friendly reminder that our First Grade Music Program will be this coming Tuesday, May14th at 8:30 a.m. in the gym at school. Please sign in next to the office before coming to the gym. For your seating purposes, our class will be the 2nd class from the left when viewing the risers from the audience. The students are working very hard in Music class to prepare for the program. They are excited to show you their performance on Tuesday!

Box Tops for Education:
Box Tops for Education are due next Friday, May 17th. If you no longer have the paper that I sent home for the Box Tops, please send them to school in a Ziplock bag labeled with your child's name.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will use a four square model to read and respond to fiction and nonfiction books. 
• Writing- We will begin our Poetry unit and learn about different ways poet's write their poems.
• Math- We will review concepts learned previously this year such as fractions, addition, and subtraction.
• Science- We will continue our study of plants. We will talk about what plants need to grow, identify the parts of a plant, and begin to germinate our own seeds. 

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

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! This weekend Donal and I will be traveling to Pennsylvania to visit my family and to spend some time with my mom for Mother's Day. We will also be celebrating Donal's 31st birthday! It's a big weekend filled with celebrations for us! 

Weekly Update

Hello All!

Happy Friday!! As Teacher Appreciation Week comes to a close, please accept my sincerest thank you and appreciation for all the notes, gifts, candy, flowers, and gift cards many of you have sent to school. It brings me such joy to know that I have so much support from wonderful parents like you all. It truly brings me happiness to come to school everyday and teach your children and I thank you for recognizing my efforts this week. :)

4th Quarter Interim Progress Reports:
4th Quarter Interim Progress Reports will be issued Monday, May 13th. If your child receives an interim, it will be emailed to you on Monday, May 13th 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.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will use strategies to learn life lessons from stories. We will talk about problem and solution and main idea. 
• Writing- We will continue to write our second series by adding chapters to our books, a table of contents, and an about the author page. 
• Math- We will learn about reading and interpreting a calendar.
• Science- We will take a break from our crayon project while we collect old crayons for recycling. We will begin our study of plants. We will talk about what plants need to grow, identify the parts of a plant, discuss each part's function, and learn about the life cycle of a plant. 

Questions, comments, and feedback are always welcome! 

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful weekend! :) I hope that the rain stays away for a little so we can all get out and enjoy some sunshine.

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Wow! What a fun field trip yesterday! I think I was just as tired as the kids! :) Thank you to all the parents who joined us on the field trip yesterday as a chaperone!

Here's your weekly update...

End of the Year Literacy Testing:
I am about to begin our end-of-the year literacy testing next week. Please be sure that your child is reading every day...weekends included. Your child should read out loud to practice decoding and fluency, and then practice retelling the story in sequence using characters' names and providing as many details as possible. Ask your child to make a connection to the story. Ask your child to identify his/her favorite part and say why they liked that part best.

First Grade Music Program:
The students are busy practicing for our First Grade Music Program, which will be held on Tuesday, May 14th at 8:30 am in the Pinebrook gym. Please mark your calendar!

Spring Pictures:
If your child had his/her individual picture taken last month, I sent it home on Wednesday. Please follow the enclosed directions if you would like to purchase any of the portraits. If you do not wish to purchase any pictures, please return all of the pictures to school with your child.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will explore characters in fiction stories. 
• Writing- We will continue writing stories for a series
• Math- We will finish our Time unit. We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour. We will discuss the concepts of a.m. and p.m., read schedules, and explore elapsed time. 
• Social Studies- We will continue working on our PBL project called the Great Crayon Rescue

Please reach out with questions, comments, and feedback. :) 

Donal and I will be hosting my parents who live in PA this weekend. I have not seen them since the holidays in December, so I am very excited to have some quality time with them. We will also be going to Shenandoah National Park for the first park this weekend! I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather on Saturday! 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! It is hard to believe we have made it to Spring Break! Before we have a week off of school, here is your weekly update.

Spring Break Reading Incentive:
The kids have made a "Bucket List" Spring Break reading incentive. If they complete and return the signed bucket list on Monday, April 22nd, they will earn 5 puma paws as a reward. :)

Field Trip:
We are excited for our field trip to Leesburg Animal Park on Thursday, April 25th. Please watch the weather and help your child dress appropriately and comfortably. Your child should wear sneakers, and pack a disposable lunch. Sunscreen and/or bug spray should be applied at home. We are unable to apply these things at school.

First Grade Music Program:
The students have begun to practice for our First Grade International Music Program, which will be on Tuesday, May 14th at 8:30 a.m. in the Pinebrook gym. Please mark your calendar!

Project Based Learning Update:
Our class has started a learning project called "The Great Crayon Rescue." We are exploring ways to reduce the number of crayons that end up in landfills each year by reusing or recycling our old crayons. The kids are loving this project. Please ask your child about it!

End of the Year Literacy Assessments:
I can't believe I'm about to type this, but I am...Our end-of-the-year literacy assessments will begin in May. This means we are at the most critical part of our whole instructional year, as we make our final push toward our testing dates. Please be sure your child is reading every day...weekend included. Your child should read out loud to practice decoding and fluency, and then retelling the story in sequence using character names and providing as many details as possible without prompting. Ask your child to make a connection to the story. Ask about the author's message...What is the author trying to teach us in the story? Ask your child to identify his/her favorite part in the story and provide details as to why that is their favorite part. I truly cannot overstate the importance of your child not only reading everyday, but also discussing what they have read.

Last Call for Pinebrook 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 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 Week 4/22-4/26:

• Reading- We will continue our reading unit, "Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons"
• Writing- We will continue our narrative writing unit. We will continue to focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling. 
• Math- We will continue our Time unit. We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour and learn about elapsed time. 
• Science and Social Studies- We will continue our project based learning unit in which we think of ways to impact the environment by reducing the number of crayons that we throw away each year.

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

I hope that you all have a wonderful spring break and have safe travels! I will be staying in VA this year and I'm going to get a head start on my spring cleaning and taking time to relax. I'll miss the kiddos and can't wait to hear all about their adventures when they return! :) 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! Today was our wrap up to Career Week! Our class was visited by an attorney, therapy dog, police officer, and software architect. We learned so much about these amazing careers!

Report Cards:
Your child's Quarter 3 report card is available for viewing today by logging into your ParentVue account. If you have difficulty logging into your account, or do not yet have access to ParentVue, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office at 703-957-4325.

Field Trip:
Please see last week'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 next Friday, April 12th.
*Please note-The original date was listed as April 19th, which is the Friday of Spring Break. I apologize for the error. Please send permission forms back by next Friday, April 12th*

Spring Break Travel Notification:
Spring break is coming! There is NO school for students Monday, April 15th-Friday, April 19th. School resumes Monday, April 22nd. If you plan to get an early start on travel, and your child will be absent in advance of Spring Break, please kindly notify both the office and me in advance. You may use the online absence form. If you pick up your child early on Friday, April 12th, please use the early dismissal form on the Pinebrook homepage. I will send home a Spring Break reading incentive next week.

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 continue our unit, "Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons: A Study of Story Elements." This week we will study characters in books. 
• Writing- We will continue our writing realistic fiction unit by learning to create a series. 
• Math- We will continue our Time unit. We will discuss units of time such as second, minute, and hour. We will practice telling time to the hour and half hour. 
• Science/Social Studies- We will begin a project called "The Great Crayon Rescue." We will talk about what happens to crayons when we throw them away and how we can avoid filling our landfills with crayons. This project will align with several of our Science and Social Studies standards related to citizenship, responsibility, civic duty, reducing, reusing, recycling, and man made and natural resources. 

Please let me know if you have questions, comments, or feedback about anything written here. 

Hopefully the rain clears today before the start of the weekend! I am tackling the landscaping in the backyard this weekend...wish me luck! :) 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful week! I am so happy that it is beginning to feel like spring! We all have a bit of spring fever now :)

I can't believe that it is the end of the 3rd quarter! I simply can't believe that we are moving into the last part together. These kiddos continue to wow me everyday with their joyful hearts and explosive growth! You should hear the way that they talk during our phonics lessons! Their conversations blow me away :)

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 a few weeks ago in Thursday folders 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 a confusion every year so I am trying to help avoid that. 
2. Individual pictures will also be taken on Wednesday, 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. If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you may purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet. 

Spirit Week:

To celebrate Career Week, we will have Spirit Week this 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 for 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) or Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Field Trip:

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

Science Night:

Pinebrook will be hosting a Science Night with The Children's Science Center Thursday, April 4th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. right here at Pinebrook. Please review 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 This 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 begin our next writing unit called "From Scenes to Series." This is a narrative writing unit where we will explore ways to develop characters in stories. 
• 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 exploring ways to stay safe on a bicycle and ways to stay safe during the summer. 

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

I hope you all enjoyed some extra time with your kiddos over the weekend! 

Weekly Update

Hello!

I need to apologize for my late post. I'm sure your kiddos told you that I was not as school on Friday. I missed them all so much and I am excited to be back in the classroom with them today.

It was great to see some of our first graders from Room 3 at the Sports Spectacular Thursday evening. That is one of my favorite events at Pinebrook!

Flat Student Update:
Thank you to all who have sent in an address and stamps for Flat Students! I can't wait to get started on sending these off to their destinations. Your child made a Flat Student in class on Friday :) They will also be writing a letter to be mailed to their recipient.

No School March 29th and April 1st:
Please note that students do not have school on 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.

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 on Thursday for the class photo. 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 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 return your 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 that I outlined.
2. Individual photos will also be taken on April 3rd, and you will receive a picture packet later date. You can indicate a "Picture Look" for your child's individual portrait by completing and returning the "Individual Picture Day Form" attached to the order form I sent home on Thursday. If you would like to purchase individual photos, 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 p.m. 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 if you can by contacting our school 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 This Week:

• Reading-We will be learning about main idea and key details and learning about contractions. 
• Writing-We will edit and publish our book reviews. This is our last publication for our opinion writing unit!
• Math-We will wrap up our Place Value unit. We will compare and order numbers. 
• Social Studies- We will finish our maps unit and learn about bicycle safety. 

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 with a special Harlem Wizards guest and we discovered our love of writing this week!

Flat Student Projects:
I sent home a note in yesterday's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information. Please send in stamps and an address by Friday, March 22nd. If you need assistance with this task, please let me know as soon as possible. Please also let me know if you have any questions about this project. The kiddos are very excited to start reading Flat Stanley on Monday!

Pinebrook Triple Play:
Please join us! Our annual Pinebrook Sport Spectacular 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 p.m. The Pinebrook teachers and staff play games that are designed to make us look as silly as possible! 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 the school code 7561119. You will be prompted to go 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 be learning about compound words and contractions. 
• Writing-We will continue our opinion writing unit as we focus on editing our writing with a partner to fix up any mistakes to make our reading more easy to read. 
• Math-We will begin our place value unit by learning how to group numbers into tens and ones and we will how to compare numbers. 
• Social Studies- We will finish our Maps unit. We will construct a map of a familiar area, and begin our Flat Stanley adventure. 

I hope you have a fun weekend! This week has been so busy that I am looking forward to some downtime. :) 

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

Happy Friday! We celebrated Dr. Seuss this week. The Book Fair and Family 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 to earn a reward in the classroom!

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 p.m. The whole staff plays games designed to make us look as silly as possible...think crab soccer, tricycle races, and dizzy bats! There will food and drinks for sale, raffles, and other fun things. The 1st graders lead the National Anthem before the games begin. Please watch both your Pinebrook weekly email and and your child's Thursday folder for more information, including the specific start time and admission prices.

Camp STEAM-tacular!
I will once again be directing Camp STEAM-tacular at Pinebrook! This is an especially fun week for the kids where they have the opportunity to be creative by being engaged in hands-on critical thinking activities. The Kindergarten/First Grade theme is We Built This City! Each morning grade levels work together to complete STEAM related activities and the afternoon is focused on a grade-level themed challenge. I would love to see some of our first grade students at Camp STEAM-tacular this summer! 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 to use a dictionary and practice this skill. We will talk about contractions and compound words. 
• Writing- We will use our knowledge of writing an opinion/review of our collection to write reviews of other things now. 
• Math-We will use our knowledge of addition and subtraction to explore fact families.
• Social Studies-We will begin 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, comments, or concerns. 

Have a fantastic weekend! :) 

Weekly Message

Hi Parents!

I hope you've had a great week! We previewed the Book Fair today and found some awesome books. We learned about George Washington and explored subtraction. Lots of learning is happening in Room 3, even on delay days!

Scholastic Book Fair:
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all next week! Students previewed the Book Fair today. Students who bring in money may shop at the Book Fair next week during recess. If your child plans to bring in 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 p.m.-6:00 p.m. *Please note: Book Fair purchases are optional.

Fine Arts Night:
The PTA is sponsoring a Fine Arts Night at school on school on Wednesday, March 6th at 5:30 p.m. 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 on over to Fine Arts Night!

Celebrating Dr. Seuss!
Dr. Seuss' 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

I am inviting your child to bring in their favorite Dr. Seuss book next week as part of our celebration!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will explore rhyme, author's message, and have some fun with Dr. Seuss. We will also learn about using a picture dictionary.
• Writing- We will continue writing our opinion and reviews of our collections by adding reasons for our opinions and providing examples.
• Math- We will finish our Subtraction unit. 
• Science- We will discuss Force and Motion and discover the way different objects move. 

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. :)

Donal and I are heading up to Pennsylvania for a weekend of skiing. Hopefully the weather will hold up! 

Please reach out with questions, comments, and feedback. 

Have a super weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! Such a fun day at our Den Rally today! Our first grade team competed in the 2nd Annual Pinebrook Lip Sync Battle. Ask your kiddo about all the fun!

I will share information about the rescheduled Family Game Night if/when I receive it. I anticipate our Kindness Spirit Week will be extended too.

Meantime, next week will be an attempt to finish things we started this week, and find some return to normalcy with our routines. Our focus areas next week won't change because we got so little done this week!

Writer's Collection!
Please remember to send in your child's collection for our writing unit on Monday. This collection can be a set of five items or more. We will be using your child's collection to write reviews and opinions. Students can bring in a collection of anything that they have at home. Some ideas include: rocks, stamps, stuffed animals, beads, pencils, shells, etc. If you are having difficulty creating your child's collection, please let me know. :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will practice retelling and summarizing stories
• Writing- We will continue our letter writing unit and begin our opinion writing unit where we learn to write a review about a collection of items
• Math- We will continue our subtraction unit. We will learn that subtraction is the opposite of addition and we will learn strategies for solving subtraction facts quickly
• Social Studies- We will continue to learn about Presidents' Day. We will talk about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and talk about their contributions to our country. 

I hope you enjoy the weekend!