Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Sometimes short weeks feel like long weeks, but this one flew by! I think the kids are settling into the year. On the whole, I am quite pleased with how quickly they're picking up our 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 Tuesday morning. We will honor those who lost their lives on September 11th, along with all service members and first responders who keep us safe. September 11th has stayed with me for all these years and now we teach it as a piece of history. Truly, we will never forget.

Here's your update for the week:

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Online Learning Resources
In yesterday's Thursday folder, I sent home your child's log-in information for 2 of our most popular online resources that we use at school...Dreambox Math and RAZ-Kids. These programs allow your child to practice literacy and math skills from any computer, and most tablets. This information is also listed on the right side of my blog with direct links to the sites. Later in the year when we begin learning about addition and subtraction, I will send home information about another program called Reflex math that we will use to build addition and subtraction fact fluency.

Scholastic News and Science Spin
If you have not done so, please send in your child's Scholastic News and Science Spin subscription money as soon as possible. This is a one-time fee of $7.50 cash or check (made payable to Pinebrook) Thank you!

Homework Update:
Homework will begin on Monday, September 17th. Next week, the kids will practice their homework routine by completing their homework in class each day with me. To promote consistency, our weekly homework routine is as follows:

• Monday: Read 15-20 minutes. Read your words of the week 3 times to an adult. (Words of the Week will be written in your child's agenda and written on my blog)
• Tuesday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Wednesday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Thursday: Read 15-20 minutes. Complete the assigned page in your Homework Journal using your Words of the Week. (The assigned page will have that day's date written at the top)
• Friday: Be ready to take a spelling quiz on your Words of the Week. You must be able to spell each word correctly. 

*Please note: I will collect and check your child's Homework Journal on Friday. Your child will receive a completion grade for homework. Feel free to email me with any questions. :) 

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.

Substitute:

I just wanted to make everyone aware the I will not be in the classroom on Friday, September 14th. Donal and I will be in Connecticut for a wedding. However, I will still be available via email and the Remind app. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will begin book shopping, picking out just right books, and practicing independent reading. 
• Writing- We will practice Handwriting, emphasizing proper letter formation, and starting our letters at the top.
• Math-We will begin establishing and practicing routines for Math Workshop as we focus on number sense, counting, ordering numbers, and comparing numbers. 
• Science/Social Studies- We will discuss the meaning of Patriot Day. We will define and discuss the 5 senses. We will begin to learn about the 4 seasons.

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

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I am traveling back to Pennsylvania tonight to visit my family. I have not been back since February so I am very excited to take the time to make the trip! (Especially after an Eagles win!) This will be Raleigh's first trip to Pennsylvania too! :) 

Thursday Folders

Thursday folders will begin today! Please empty your child's Thursday folder and return it to school every Friday.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Happy Thursday :)

Welcome to First Grade!

Hi Everyone!

We made it through our first full week of school.  I wonder if the kids are as tired as me?  While I try to make the first weeks fun and interesting, there are times when rules and procedures are downright boring.  I have to talk a lot, and the kids have to be quite attentive.  As such, the kids really learned the nuts and bolts of our classroom this week.  Next week we'll refine some procedures, and add a few details to the procedures learned this week.  We'll continue to get to know each other as we build our classroom community.  On that note, I am impressed and thankful with how beautifully the kids are getting along.  They're including each other during recess, introducing themselves to each other, and are a very social bunch.  :)

We had our first "Den Rally" last Friday!  It's a new assembly format Mr. Thiessen introduced this year as a way 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 the 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!

We had our first "real" fire drill on Monday. It went very well! We also had out first Lockdown drill on Thursday. I am very impressed with our first grade students and their attentiveness during these important drills.

I wanted to remind you all to please kindly take a moment to subscribe to my blog if you have not done so already. This will save me some time of having to send an email update on Friday and I can just post all of my information on the classroom blog. I use this blog to communicate all school and classroom news, information, and dates.  You can follow my blog by typing 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.*   My blog publishes each day between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.  This means that if I have content to share, you will automatically receive an email between 3:00 and 5:00 pm that contains the new content.  If you don't receive an email, I don't have anything new posted. I typically post new content every Friday, and on other days as needed.  

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 @grade1dru to 81010.

**Please remember that I may not be able to respond to your message right away. Please try to send me a message between 6:00am-7:00am and 2:30-5:30pm. When I am teaching throughout the day, I often don’t have time to respond to important information.**

If you haven't yet put money on your student's lunch account, you can sign up for an account on www.myschoolbucks.com and manage your child's lunch account on-line.  You can also send a check to school with your student, but our cafeteria staff really encourages www.myschoolbucks.com to avoid lost checks between home and school.  If you need a lunch menu, please visit the school website (www.lcps.org/pinebrook) and click "school menu" in the upper right hand corner. Our lunch time is 10:57-11:27.  Please begin to send your child's daily "power snack" to school Thursday.  Please refer to the green sheet in your Back to School Night folder for more specific guidelines about snack. Remember...we do not have an in-class water fountain, so water bottles are okay too.

If you didn't bring your student's school supplies to school yet, please kindly send those as soon as possible.  Many thanks!  :)  If your child is missing a critical supply, I will send a note home so you may send the missing item as soon as possible.

Scholastic News and Science Spin:

Please see yesterday's  Thursday folder for important information about Scholastic News and Science Spin.  We will be using these student newspapers in our classroom.  Please send your child's subscription fee ($7.50 cash or check made payable to Pinebrook) by September 14th.  Thank you! 


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!

PTA Volunteer Welcome Coffee:

The Pinebrook PTA will hold a Volunteer Welcome Coffee on Tuesday, September 11th at 8:35 am in the Pinebrook Cafeteria.  Please come find out how you can volunteer with the PTA.  Younger children are welcome!  

Specials Schedule:

·                Monday:  PE and Music, Guidance on B Weeks only

·                Tuesday:  PE and Music

·                Wednesday:  Computer Lab or SEARCH

·                Thursday:  Art

·                Friday:  Music and PE

Please note that this schedule will also posted on the right side of this blog. 

Lunch:

 Our lunch time is from 10:28-10:58am. You are welcome to eat lunch with your child any day, and you may bring your child lunch purchased from a restaurant (think places like Subway, Panera, or Chick-fil-A). If you'd like to eat lunch with your child, please sign in at the school office and meet us at the cafeteria at 10:28. Please plan to say goodbye to your child in the cafeteria at the end of our lunch period as our instructional day resumes right after lunch.

A couple of reminders:

•  Don't forget to send a daily snack with your child.  Snack should be something that can be eaten independently (no utensils, please) while we work.   Please label your child's snack! I have them put their snack in a crate when they get to school so they don't confuse their snack with their lunch.  I'm rethinking the plan to have snack in the afternoon.  Both yesterday and today the kids were really hungry by mid-morning, so I'm thinking I may move snack to the morning.

•  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.  For about the next month, homework will be nightly reading.  Please refer to the instructions in the inside pocket of your child's agenda for how to log your child's nightly reading.

•  Please remember to pack extra clothes in your child’s backpack in case of accidents—clothes should then be changed out appropriately for each season.  

•  Your child will be starting their Daily Behavior Chart on Monday. Your child’s Daily Behavior Chart will be in the back pocket of their Homework Folder. This is a way to communicate with you your child’s behavior for the day. We change behavior charts each month. Each day your child will color in the date box to indicate what color the ended the day on. Here is a reminder of colors:

      Light Blue-Homerun

      Purple-Base Hit!

      Green-At Bat

      Yellow-Strike 1

      Orange-Strike 2

      Red-Strike 3

      Students have been practicing using the behavior clip chart this week. If you have any questions about this process, please let me know.

       

      Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

•       Reading:  We will talk about how to use our classroom library, and procedures and expectations for Independent Reading.

•       Writing:  We will complete our Fall Writing Sample.  We will begin Handwriting practice, learning about proper letter formation and starting letters at the top.

•       Math:  We will continue our number sense unit.  We will count by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's, explore the concepts of odd and even, 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.

I think that's all I have for you this week.  Please reach out at anytime with questions, comments or concerns.  This weekend, I'll update the "Important Dates" section of this blog with many upcoming school and classroom events. Stay tuned!

I hope you have some family time planned in the waning days of summer too! Donal and I have some friends and family visiting from San Francisco and Connecticut. We are very excited to spend time with everyone!

Finally.....this is the first of many, many communications.  Thanks for your patience with me as I overuse emoticons, sometimes babble, and perhaps give you more information than you ever wanted.  Oh!  Please feel free to call me Hillary, both in writing and in person! Parents calling me "Miss Drumheller" makes me feel older! J

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! I know you Caps fans are over the moon today! Congratulations to those who have been waiting for this moment for a long time!

Meanwhile, we have a busy day today. We will serenade our wonderful volunteers at our Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast this morning, and celebrate the end of the year at our party! How can it be almost time to say goodbye?

A few items for next week:

Rock and Read:
Monday is school-wide "Rock and Read" in which classes take turns reading in certain hallways around the school. Your child may bring a small towel or blanket to sit on during our class's turn at Rock and Read.

Picnic Lunch on Tuesday:
Our cafeteria will be used as a polling place for Tuesday's election, so every class in the school is eating lunch outside at it's designated lunch time. If possible, please have your child pack lunch on Tuesday. Lunch will be available for purchase from the cafeteria; however, with the number of students in the school, it will help to have as many students pack as possible.

Yearbooks:
If your child ordered a yearbook, it will be coming home today. If your child did not order a yearbook, there will be a limited number of copies available for sale on a first-come/first-served basis on Monday, June 11th at the school store. Yearbooks are $25; students must have exact cash or check for $25 made payable to Pinebrook Elementary. We will take time in class to sign yearbooks on Tuesday. If your child purchased a yearbook and would like to have friends sign it, please have your child bring his/her yearbook on Tuesday.

Quarter 4 Report Cards:
Your child's 4th quarter report card will be viewable in your ParentVue account on Wednesday, June 20th.

Our schedule next week will be very fluid. We have some "this and that" items to finish...our 1st grade memory books, making our audiobooks, and a secret Father's Day project. Aside from that, we will continue to clean out our desks and supplies, attend some end-of-year assemblies, celebrate the 5th graders before their Promotion Ceremony, and enjoy some extra time with friends in the sunshine!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes yesterday! The kids were so excited to finally find out how old I am. We even made a little math game out of it. To continue the celebration tonight, my boyfriend and I are headed up to Baltimore after school to see Dave Chapelle...I'm so excited!

I hope you all have a super weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all so much for coming to our music program on Wednesday. It's the first time our 1st graders have performed this program. I hope you loved it as much as I did!

As we enter our last full week together, here is some information you need to know...

Family Reading Night:
Our Pinebrook Family Reading Night will be on Monday, June 4th at 6:30 p.m. here at school.  Come enjoy stories with your family, and complete some fun book-related activities.

Field Day:
Our 1st Grade Field Day will be on Tuesday, June 5th from 8:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m. During Field Day, students rotate through various stations set up by our PE teachers, Mr. McPherson and Mr. Lose. Some stations are inside, some are outside, and some involve water play. Please refer to the Field Day information page that I sent home for specific information about how to prepare for Field Day.

Pinebrook Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast:
Calling all volunteers! The annual Pinebrook Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast will be Friday, June 8th at 8:30 a.m. in the cafeteria at school. If you have volunteered in any capacity this school year, please come to enjoy breakfast courtesy of our staff and entertainment courtesy of our students.

End of Year Celebration:
Our 1st Grade End of Year Celebration will be Friday, June 8th in the afternoon after lunch (12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m.) All families are invited. A food permission form will be sent home soon!

Desk Clean Out:
Next week, we will begin to clean out our desks and supplies. We will do this slowly, over several days, so the kids' backpacks aren't overloaded with all the things they'll be bringing home.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will continue to record our audiobooks. Be sure to check out your child's SeeSaw page to see their audiobook!
• Writing-We will continue to look for inspiration all around us to make observations for writing poetry. 
• Math- We will complete our measurement unit
• Science/Social Studies- We will learn about Summer Safety and complete some fun End of hte Year activities! 

Enjoy your weekend! I hope it feels like summer soon!