Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Happy Friday! We celebrated Dr. Seuss all week. Fine Arts Night had a great attendance and it was a lot of fun!

My update is short this week!

Pinebrook Yearbooks are on Sale:
Please click HERE for information about ordering your child's Pinebrook yearbook. Yearbook orders are optional. The deadline to order is April 24th.

Camp STEAM-tacular:
Camp STEAM-tacular is coming back to Pinebrook this summer! Please click HERE for more information about how to register your child.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will talk about how good readers use tools to help them understand their reading and to help them solve unknown words. 
• Writing-We will continue our opinion writing unit. Instead of writing about a collection of items, we are now writing reviews about things like restaurants, games, toys, movies, etc. We are including details by adding reasons and giving examples. 
• Phonics-We will continue to study words by breaking them apart and looking closely at vowel teams. 
• Math-We will finish our quick little unit about fact families. Fact families are made up of 2 addition sentences and 2 subtraction sentences by using 3 numbers. Fact families are sometimes called "related" facts. For example:
• 2+3=5
• 3+2=5
• 5-2=3
• 5-3=2
• 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, concerns, or feedback.

It looks like we are back to winter again for a day, before we head back into sunny warm spring weather! Enjoy your weekend! :) 

Weekly Update

Happy Monday!

I hope that you all had a fantastic weekend! Last week we had a wonderful visit from the dentist to teach our students about dental health. On Friday we had a Den Rally to learn about Mr. Thiessen's nomination for LCPS Principal of the Year! Congratulations, Mr. Thiessen!

Here's a quick update...

No School Tuesday:
Don't forget there is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Celebrating Dr. Seuss:
Dr. Seuss' birthday is March 2nd. We will celebrate Dr. Seuss with a school-wide spirit week. A flier went home a few weeks ago with the themes for each day. Themes are as follows for each day:

• Monday: Wear many different colors of clothing in honor of My Many Colored Days
• Tuesday: STUDENT HOLIDAY! NO SCHOOL!
• Wednesday: Wear polka dots in honor of Put Me in the Zoo
• Thursday: Wear a crazy hat or crazy hair in honor of The Cat in the Hat
• Friday: Wear your favorite college or vacation shirt in honor of Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Focus Areas for This Week:

• Reading-We will discuss tools readers use to better understand books. We will explore rhyme, practice our triple check (does it make sense, sound right, and look right), and have some fun with Dr. Seuss favorites. 
• Writing-We will continue our opinion writing unit. We will also continue using our collections to gain inspiration for our writing. 
• Math-We will finish our subtraction unit and begin to learn about fact families using addition and subtraction. 
• Social Studies- We will learn more about Dr. Seuss and his life while enjoying some Dr. Seuss themed activities. 

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

Weekly Update

Hi Parents!

Happy Friday! We had a fun week! We celebrated the 100th Day of School and we celebrated Valentine's Day! I received so many sweet Valentine gifts! Feeling the love! The cards, candy, and notes just made my day :) Thank you for all who came to our party to help out!

As we head into the weekend, here is your weekly update...

Opinion Writing Collections:
I will be sending home a note on Tuesday about our upcoming writing unit. We will begin learning how to state an opinion and how to support that opinion. To do this, I am asking that each student to bring in a small collection of objects in a shoebox or other small container with their name on it. We will use these collections to help with our opinion writing. Please help your child bring in his/her collection to school by Monday, February 24th. We will keep your child's collection at school for the majority of this unit.

Random Acts of Kindness Week:
Next week is designated as "Random Acts of Kindness Week." We will be having a school-wide spirit week to celebrate this special week! 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

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will be learning about main idea and details, context clues, and practice retelling stories
• Writing- We will finish our nonfiction writing unit. We will end the week with a writing celebration by reading our nonfiction chapter books to 4th grade! We will edit and revise our writing to make a published piece. 
• Phonics-We will review contractions and compound words
• 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 Presidents' Day. We will talk about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and discuss their contributions to our country. 

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

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

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone; Happy Friday!

I hope you're excited for the weekend!

First Grade Music Program:
Please click HERE for a note from our music teachers about the First Grade Music Program. Planning has begun for this fun program, which will be held in May. Thank you!

100th Day of School:
The 100th Day of School is coming! Weather permitting, we will mark this special day on Wednesday, February 12th. (If we have more snow days between now and February 12th, we will adjust the date so it aligns with our 100th day). The 1st grade teachers and I have been busy planning for this fun day! As part of our fun, the students are invited to dress like a 100-year old boy or girl, or make and decorate a t-shirt with 100 items for our 100th day celebration. I sent home information about this optional project today with your child, so please check their Homework folder.

Valentine's Day Party:
Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day party will be held on Friday, February 14th from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in our classroom. All families are welcome to attend! The kids will exchange Valentine cards at the party, and I sent home information about this last week in Thursday folders. The card exchange is completely optional, however, if your child participates, please be sure he/she has one for every student in the class. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food...little items like pencils, erasers, temporary tattoos, stickers, etc. are fine. If you have not returned your child's party permission form, please do so by Wednesday, February 12th. Your child will not be able to participate in our special treat that day without a signed permission form. Also, if you would like to volunteer to help out at the party, please click HERE.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will continue our non-fiction unit. We will practice becoming super smart about nonfiction topics by chatting about pages, reading across words, and understanding nonfiction text features. 
• Writing- We will continue with our nonfiction informational writing unit. Now we are focusing on developing a nonfiction chapter book. We are learning to add nonfiction text features into our chapters. 
• Math-We will continue our addition unit. We will learn strategies for solving addition facts, and we will learn the process for 2 parts coming together to make a whole, so: Part + Part = Whole
• Science- We will finish our Matter unit and begin our Force and Motion unit. We will talk about pushes and pulls, paths of motion (forward, backward, and sideways), and sound and vibration. 

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything!

I will be traveling to Pennsylvania to visit my family and it will be Super Bowl Sunday! Exciting things to look forward to! Have an awesome weekend!

Weekly Update

Happy Monday!

Our 3rd quarter has begun! It's the sweet spot of the school year when we're between testing seasons, there are no long breaks comin up, and we can simply learn! Thank you for your support  during our first half of the year...our second half of first grade is going to be fantastic!

Quarter 2 Report Cards:
Second quarter report cards were issued on Friday. Report cards were issued electronically only; a paper copy will not be sent home. Your child's report card is available for viewing in your ParentVue account. If you need assistance logging into your ParentVue account, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office.

First Grade Music Program:
Please click  here for a note from our music teachers about the First Grade Music Program. Planning has begun for this fun program, which will be held in May. Thank you!

100th Day of School!
The 100th Day of School is coming! Weather permitting, we will mark this special day on Wednesday, February 12th. (If we have more snow days between now and February 12th, we will adjust the day so it aligns with our 100th day). The 1st grade teachers and I have been busy planning for this fun day! As part of our fun, the students are invited to to dress like a 100 year old boy or girl, or make and decorate a t-shirt with 100 items for our 100th day celebration. There's more information to come about our 100th day, but I'm passing this along so you and your child can start thinking about these optional, at-home projects, and whether you'd like to complete them.

Valentine's Day Party:
Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day Party will be Friday, February 14th from 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. in our classroom. All families are welcome to attend. The kids will exchange Valentine cards, and I sent home a roster last week for those of you wanting to get a head start on those. The exchange is completely voluntary. If your child brings Valentine cards, please be sure he/she has one for every student in the class. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food...little items like pencils, erasers, tattoos, stickers, etc. are fine. Attached to the class roster, was an instructional page on how to create your child's Valentine mailbox at home. I am asking that each child brings in a Valentine mailbox to collect their valentines at the party. If you have any questions about the directions, please let me know. Lastly, students will need to return their signed permission form to participate in the fun snack during our party. If I do not have your child's permission form, they will not be able to participate in our party snack. To volunteer/donate items for our class party, please sign-up HERE

Focus Areas for This Week:

• Reading- We will continue our nonfiction unit. We will learn strategies to help us tackle our super hard words in nonfiction reading. 
• Writing- We will edit our nonfiction picture books and begin to write nonfiction chapter books. We are including nonfiction text features, such as heading, diagrams, different kinds of pages, captions, glossaries, and a table of contents. 
• Math-We will begin our addition unit. We will learn strategies for solving addition facts, and we will learn that addition is a process of 2 parts coming together to make a whole, so: Part + Part = Whole. 
• Science-We will continue our matter unit. We will explore the 3 states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and conduct some matter experiments. We will test whether certain liquids mix and whether certain solids will dissolve in hot/cold water. 

Questions, comments, and feedback are welcome. 

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

This feels like our first "real" week back from break! I wonder if the kids are as exhausted as me? As we settle back into our academic routines, it feels good to get back to normal!

Quarter 2 Report Cards:
Second quarter report cards will be issued on Friday, January 24th. Report cards will be issued electronically; I will not be sending home a paper copy. Your child's report card will be made available for viewing on Friday afternoon in your ParentVue account. If you need assistance with logging onto your ParentVue account, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in the main office.

No Homework Next Week:
I will not send home a paper homework packet next week due to the three day school week. Please do not forget to read each night!

Valentine's Day Party:
Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day Party will be Friday, February 14th after lunch in our classroom. The party will begin at 11:45 a.m. and will last until about 1:15 p.m. All families are welcome to attend. The kids will exchange Valentine's Day cards at the party and I will be sending home a class roster in next week's Thursday folders. The card exchange is completely voluntary, but in the past, I have always had everyone participate in this fun activity. I will also be sending home information about making a Valentine's Day "mailbox" for your child to collect their cards. You will need an empty cereal box to make the "mailbox." If your child brings Valentine cards, please be sure that he/she has one for every student in the class. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food...little items like pencils, erasers, temporary tattoos, stickers are fine. Please watch for more details on how you can help and a food permission form soon!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading-We will continue our non-fiction unit. We will practice becoming super smart about our topics by tackling super hard words in our books in order to keep learning more. 
• Writing- We will continue our non-fiction unit. We will use readers to help us add more to our writing and we will set goals to improve our writing. 
• Phonics-We will continue our reading across words unit by dealing with trickier words!
• Math-We will finish our measurement unit. We will learn about capacity in terms of holds more, holds less. We will discuss determining the best measurement to use with an object. 
• Social Studies- We will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and learn about how he has demonstrated world peace. 
• Science- We will begin our Matter unit. We will begin to explore the 3 states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and conduct some awesome experiments! We will test whether certain liquids mix and whether certain solids dissolve in hot and/or cold water. 

As always, please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.

Enjoy the weekend! 

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday! I feel like we had 3 weeks off from school with our snow days this week! What a nice way to ease back into a school routine.

Mid-Year Literacy Testing:
I have started our mid-year literacy assessments this week. Please be sure that your child is reading every night, and is practicing retelling stories in sequence using the characters' names and providing as many details as possible. Please refer to the front of your child's weekly homework packet for more specific information about reading with your child.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading- We will begin our nonfiction reading unit. We will read nonfiction books about a variety of topics. We will study nonfiction text features such as table of contents, glossary, photographs, diagrams, bold words, index, labels, and captions. We will summarize books by stating facts we learn from the book. 
• Phonics- We will be studying words closely and reading across the whole word. Some lessons we will be learning: investigating the different sounds that -ed makes at the end of a word, tricky y, blends at the ends of words, reading words part by part.
• Writing-We will begin writing nonfiction chapter books. We will choose topics in which we are "experts" in. We take on the role of becoming a teacher to teach someone about our topic. 
• Math-We will continue to learn about measurement. We will continue to use nonstandard units of measurement to measure height, length, and with. We will also practice using a ruler to measure inches and feet. We will also learn about capacity, weight, and temperature.
• Science- We will continue discussing winter changes and adaptations people, plants/trees, and animals make to prepare for the winter. 

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

Have a wonderful warm weekend!