Classroom Updates

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend! It's hard to believe that we had an extra day because it still went by so quickly.

I just wanted to post about a few changes/updates happening in our classroom.

Behavior Charts
Students were given their behavior charts today. Behavior charts will be kept in the back of their blue Homework folder. Each day students will color in the date box with the color that the ended the day on. Students also started earning their Caught Being Fantastic tickets last week. So, ending the day on green earns them 1 tickets, purple earns 2 tickets, and light blue earns 3 tickets. Like I said, students started earning tickets on Thursday, so you may have heard them coming home and talking about them.

Agendas
Students were also given their agendas today. Our school had to order more agendas, so not every student has one yet, but they should be here by the end of the week. In your child's blue Homework folder, it gives directions on how to use the student agendas. Right now, students are only using their agendas to track their nightly reading. Students are expected to read 15 minutes a night. Please sign and list the title of the book(s) your child read on the right side of the weekly agenda page. You may also leave a note about your child's reading too :)

Box Tops
Pinebrook Elementary collects Box Tops for Education. Box Tops can be found on many items purchased. We have set a goal to collect 1,000 box tops in our classroom this year. There will be five collections throughout the year: September 15th, November 17th, January 12th, March 16th, May 18th. Students can bring in Box Tops any day of the week and we will place them in our class collection envelope. You may send your child's box tops in a baggie or envelope with their name on it so they have the chance to earn individual collection awards as well. If our class collects the most box tops and reaches our goal...we could earn an ice cream party at the end of the school year! Start collecting!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know via email (hillary.drumheller@lcps.org)

Week Two

Happy Friday!!

I just want to send a friendly reminder to everyone to sign up for the Remind text messaging service to be sent classroom reminders directly to your phone.  If  you have not done so, 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 @grade1dr to 81010. Also, I apologize if I am unable to respond to your messages right away. I know that some have sent messages during the day when our class is extremely busy learning, but I will always try to respond to your message by 8pm that evening. 

Thank you to the parents who have started following my classroom Twitter! It's great to show off what Room 3 and Pinebrook are doing!

We made it through one full week of school! Your children have really opened up their personalties and I have learned so much about them. I hope they are all enjoying first grade as much as I am. This week we focused mostly on following the 3 Rs (Ready, Responsible, and Respectful) and following directions. Your students practiced picking out just right books and created a purpose for reading. In math, we practiced counting to 20 forwards and backwards and created a My Number Book to showcase numbers in written form. 

I am still missing a few forms from students, so please be sure to check that all Back to School forms have been completed. Most forms were to be turned in today. The forms I am collecting include:

• ·         Blue "How Is My Child Getting Home?" Form
• ·         Yellow "Emergency Dismissal" Form
• ·         Pinebrook Handbook Acknowledgement Survey -- This is an online form you should complete and submit via the Pinebrook website.
• ·         Yellow "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
• ·         Green "Technology Use" Form 
• ·         Bright colored student information card
• ·         My Great Kid Form
• ·         Class Directory Form

A couple of reminders:

·         Please check for your child’s blue daily communication folder each day. It should travel back and forth daily with your child.

·         Please send in a small healthy snack (one, no more than two items) with your child each day, as well as a spill/leak proof water bottle. Please help your child to know whether his/her lunch box contains a full lunch or just a snack. Some children have been bringing snacks in a lunch box, but they are meant to buy lunch in the cafeteria. This has been a little confusing for some of our little ones.

Please reach out at any time with questions, comments or concerns.  

I hope you and your children enjoy the much needed three day weekend! I can't wait to hear all about the exciting memories they create being with friends and family. I am off to Pennsylvania to visit my parents who still live there...bring on the 4 hour drive tomorrow!

Week One Complete!

Hi Everyone!

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 @grade1dr to 81010.

We made it through our first two days!  Expect your little ones to be tired…they have been taking in a lot of information.  Your children are all so sweet and I am enjoying getting to know their personalities. We are going to build a strong community and have great fun this year in Room 3.

Please be sure that you are returning your forms to me (thank you to those of you who have already turned these in). The forms I am collecting include:

• ·         Blue "How Is My Child Getting Home?" Form
• ·         Yellow "Emergency Dismissal" Form
• ·         Pinebrook Handbook Acknowledgement Survey -- This is an online form you should complete and submit via the Pinebrook website.
• ·         Yellow "Student Rights and Responsibilities" Form
• ·         Green "Technology Use" Form 
• ·         Bright colored student information card
• ·         My Great Kid Form
• ·         Class Directory Form

Next week, I will begin to introduce some of our academic routines, such as morning work and morning meeting.  However, in a school environment -- and particularly with younger children -- the most important things I can do in the first few weeks are to 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 two weeks.

A couple of reminders:

·         Please check for your child’s blue daily communication folder each day. It should travel back and forth daily with your child.

·         Please send in a small healthy snack (one, no more than two items) with your child each day, as well as a spill/leak proof water bottle. Please help your child to know whether his/her lunch box contains a full lunch or just a snack. Some children have been bringing snacks in a lunch box, but they are meant to buy lunch in the cafeteria. This has been a little confusing for some of our little ones.

Please reach out at any time with questions, comments or concerns.  

I know that I am excited to unwind and relax a little from this busy week! I hope you all are getting out to enjoy the beautiful weather with a little relief from the heat!

I hope you all enjoy the weekend. I will look forward to seeing my new first graders back for a full week of school on Monday! 

Tentative Specials Schedule

Monday: Library and P.E.
Tuesday: Art
Wednesday: Music and P.E.
Thursday: Computer Lab, Guidance (A Week) SEARCH (B Week)
Friday: Music and P.E.

Thursday and Friday will be an A Week
Starting on Monday, August 28th will be a B Week
Students will not have their second special on Thursday, Friday, and Monday (first three days of school) so we can start dismissal/pack-up earlier to prepare for the end of the day. Starting on Tuesday, August 29th, students will be on their regular schedule.

Welcome to First Grade!

Hello First Grade!

I hope you all enjoyed Open House today! I am thrilled that I was able to meet many of my enthusiastic first grade students! I can't wait to learn more about all of you on our first day, Thursday, August 24th. :)

Parents:
Please make sure your child has a completed blue How is My Child Going Home form on the first day (if it is already completed and in my classroom...yay!)

First Day packets should also be returned with your child on Thursday.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Thank you!

Miss Drumheller

Changes!

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous end to summer! As I transition this year to first grade, I wanted to remind everyone to unsubscribe from my blog if you have not done so, so you do not receive further notifications of my blog posts. I am excited for my former fourth graders to become awesome fifth graders/leaders of the school! :)

SIGN-UP for STEAM-tacular CAMP!!!