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! 

Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Happy Friday! We had a FANTASTIC week! We celebrated the 100th Day of School and we celebrated Valentine's Day! Today we even had a surprise visit from Dr. Britto to talk about Dental Health month with the kids. We learned about letter writing and made Doubles Dudes to wrap up our addition unit.

I received many sweet treats from my First Grade Valentines :) The cards, candy, and notes just made my day! I especially loved reading all of the kind messages each child wrote on their heart for me. That was such a meaningful gift! I am so grateful and blessed to be able to work with wonderful group of first graders and parents.

As we head into a long weekend, here is your weekly update:

Random Acts of Kindness:
Next week is designated as "Random Acts of Kindness Week." Information about this week was sent home in Thursday folders last week. Please make sure that you read the information regarding the School Counselors' 28-Days of Kindness Challenge and how you can celebrate as a family at home. We will have a school-wide spirit week too! The themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday- Kindness Rocks! (Show your support for kindness by dressing like a rock star)
• Wednesday- Dreaming About Kindness (Wear your pajamas to school; no slippers please)
• Thursday- Sunshine of Someone's Day (Wear yellow and sunglasses to brighten someone's day)
• Friday- At PNB, kindness starts with me! (Wear Pinebrook spirit wear)

Game Night:

There will be a school-wide Family Game Night on Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria and gym. Please see the information that was sent home in Thursday folders. 

Collections:

Please remember to help your child work on their collection of items to use for our next writing unit which will begin on Monday February 25th. If you have any questions about the collection project, please let me know. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will practice summarizing and retelling stories
• Writing- We will continue our letter writing unit as we learn the parts of a friendly letter and practice writing letters using proper capitalization, punctuation, and sight word spelling. 
• Math- We will begin our subtraction unit. We will learn that subtraction is the reverse of addition, and learn ways for quickly solving subtraction facts. 
• Social Studies- We will learn about President's Day. We will talk about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. 

Please let me know if you have questions, comments, or feedback. I value your opinions and always consider any feedback you offer. 

Don't forget! No school on Monday due to President's Day. Enjoy your long weekend! 

Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

Well, it definitely was difficult to be back to a five week schedule. I can't even remember the last time that we had a full week of school. I know that I need a relaxing weekend and I'm sure your kiddos do too!

100th Day Celebration:
The 100th Day of School is Monday! Please remember students are invited to dress as a 100 year old boy or girl, or make and wear a special 100 day shirt decorated with 100 items. It's going to be a fun day!

Valentine's Day Party:
One final reminder...our Valentine's Day party is Thursday, February 14th from 1:20 p.m.-2:20 p.m. in our classroom. All families are welcome to attend I sent home a party permission form and I am still missing permission forms from half of the class. Those who are still missing their permission form, brought home an extra copy in their Homework folder this evening. If you child is exchanging Valentines with classamtes, you may send in your Valentine's Day cards at any time. Also, please remember to bring in your Valentine's Mailbox.

Kindergarten Playground Fundraiser:
The Kindergarten classes are holding a golf fundraiser to raise funds for a new Kindergarten playground. The Kindergarten team asked us to share the following message, which I am copyinga dn pasting from their email.

Our Kindergarten team and the PTA  is raising monies for a special needs/ kindergarten playground.  We are organizing a golf outing on March 29th!! Flyers went out last week with information but here are some more ways you can help!  

                                    1.  Play Golf- Sign up to play with friends or for the Kids Camp(only 16 spots for kids camp)

                                    2.  Help us by finding a sponsor for a hole or donating to our  raffle---- Does your company donate to causes?  or do you know someone who would like their business name advertised.  Please let us know!

                                    3.  Direct Donation-  You can just give a personal donation directly from you

Please go to: https://squareup.com/store/pinebrook-elementary-school-pta  to sign up! and direct donations!

and for sponsors, please see the attached form  or just contact  kim.bielecki@lcps.org  or valerie.fox@lcps.org

Collection Box:

In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home information about a collection that your child will need to bring into school in a shoebox. This collection can be any collection of a group of items. Your child will not need more than 10 items in their collections. I am asking that students bring in their collection no later than Monday, February 25th since that is the day we are starting our writing unit. If you have any questions about this collection project, please let me know. :) 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will practice sequencing events in a story, which will help with our retelling of texts. 
• Writing- We will learn about the parts of a letter and begin writing letters to others. We will learn the purpose for writing a letter. 
• Math- We will finish our addition unit and begin our subtraction unit where we will learn strategies for solving subtraction number sentences. 
• Science- We will talk about force and motion, pushes and pulls, paths of motion, and how sound travels. 
• Social Studies- We will celebration the 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day, and begin to learn about President's Day

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I am so excited for the Someone Special dance tonight! It is one of my favorite events at Pinebrook and it is such a joy to see all of my students dressed up! :) 

Classroom Update

Hello Parents!

I wasn't going to post this week until Friday due to the shift in lesson plans from last week to this week, but with some changes in some events that are coming up, I thought it would be best to relay the information this way.

100th Day:
As of now, our 100th Day of School celebration will be held on Monday, February 11th. If your child is planning on dressing up as a 100-year-old person or wear a 100 Day shirt, please have them do so on Monday.

Valentine's Day Party:
Our classroom Valentine's Day Party will still be held on Thursday, February 14th from 1:20-2:20. All families are welcome to attend. Please remember, if your child brings Valentine's Day cards to exchange at the party, please be sure that he/she has one for every student in the class. Yesterday I sent home information about our new student who joined our class on Tuesday so everyone could include a Valentine for her and our two friends that will be joining our class from Ms. Smith's classroom. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine's Day cards, please don't attach candy or food. I also sent home party permission forms a few weeks ago. Many students have not returned their party permission form yet. Forms are due by Tuesday, February 12th. Your child will not be able to participate in our classroom party unless I have a signed permission form. Thank you!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know! :)