Weekly Update

Hi Parents,

I hope you enjoyed Spring Break!  The kids had many stories to share about their adventures, both traveling and at home.  I love this time of year.  The kids have completely settled into our 1st grade life, and they are so confident in our classroom, around our school, and in their academic abilities.  Teaching (like parenting) is an exercise in delayed gratification.  It's the time of year when I look around the classroom, remember how far we've come since the first day, and think, "Wow.  Just wow."  And then....I cry.   hahahaha!!!!  (You knew that was coming, right?)   Here's what I have for you this week...

End of Year Literacy Testing:
Our end-of-year testing is right around the corner!  To prepare for this critical time, please ensure your child is reading every night (weekends too!).  Your child should read a story out loud to practice fluency and expression.  After reading, he/she should retell the story in order using characters' names and providing as many details as possible.  Your child should practice identifying his/her favorite part of the story, making connections to the text, and stating the author's message (what does the author want us to learn from this story?).  Please see your child's weekly homework paper for a more detailed explanation of nightly reading.

 Quarter 3 Report Cards:
Quarter 3 report cards will go home Wednesday, April 26th.  Please look for your child's report card in his/her homework folder.  Please review the report card, sign the slip at the bottom of the last page, detach the slip, and return it in the report card envelope.  (We do reuse the report card envelopes!)

Take Your Child to Work Day:
Take Your Child to Work Day is Thursday, April 27th.  If your child will be accompanying you to work, please let the office know by filing an online absence excuse form.  

Save the Date for Our Poet's Tea:
Mark your calendar!  Our Poet's Tea will be Friday, May 26th from 9:50 - 10:35 am in our classroom.   All families are welcome.  This is the culminating activity for our current writing unit (Poetry), and one of my favorite events of the entire year!  More details to follow.

Spring Pictures:
I sent home your child's individual Spring pictures last week.  A friendly reminder that you must purchase the pictures you'd like to keep.  You may purchase any or all of the picture sheets by following the instructions included in the envelope.  There is no obligation to buy.  Please return any unwanted pictures. 

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will examine the sequence of events in fiction stories.
• Writing:  We will continue our Poetry Unit.  We will edit our writing for capitalization, punctuation, mechanics, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will continue our Money unit.  We are practicing counting groups of coins, and we are learning about coin equivalencies.  You can help!  Have your child practice counting groups of coins at home.  Say an amount of money less than $1.00, and have your child practice showing that amount in different ways.
• Science:  We will finish talking about Earth Day, the importance of conserving our natural resources, and the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.  As we head into our last quarter together, I look forward to a strong finish to our school year, and remain ever grateful for the support you continue to offer the kids and me.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!  

Important Information About Pictures

Important Information About Pictures!

Hi Parents!

Your child has his/her Spring pictures today.  Please read the following important information about what to do with these pictures.  I am copying and pasting this information directly from our school office....

1.       All students who took a spring picture should be receiving a package of individual pictures.     Parents must decide if they want the all or a partial set of pictures and then pay for them.  They may pay online by following the directions on the picture packet or they may send in a check (made check out to Lifetouch).  There is a portrait ID and Access Code located inside the picture packet. 

      2.       Parents do not have to pay for the pictures but they must return any unwanted pictures.

      Please be sure to send back any unwanted photos.  

      It was great to see everyone today!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Weekly Update

Hello Parents,

What a fun time we had with Career Day.  We listened to presentations from a Fireman, a therapy dog handler, an interior designer, and a sheriff's officer. The kids showed ready, responsible, and respectful choices as they listened to our presenters. They asked interesting questions, and seemed to enjoy learning about different careers.  Be sure to ask your child which career was a favorite.  Many thanks to those of you who helped at our Career Day!  :)

Spring Break Travel Notification:
Spring Break is coming!  There is NO school for students from Friday, April 7th - Friday, April 14th. School resumes Monday, April 17th.  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 notification found HERE. If you plan to pick up your child early on Thursday, April 6th, please use the online early dismissal notification found HERE.  I will send home a Spring Break reading incentive next week. 

Flat Student Projects:

I sent a note home in both yesterday's and last week's Thursday folder about our Flat Student projects. Please review this information and kindly return both stamps, and an address for someone to whom your child may mail his/her Flat Student.  The deadline for returning stamps and an address is Tuesday, April 4th.  

Coins for our Money Unit:

I sent a note home in last week's Thursday folder about our upcoming Money unit. We will start our money unit right after Spring Break, and I would like the students to have real coins to use during the unit. Please send a bag with 100 pennies, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, and 4 quarters to school by Thursday, April 6th.  Please label the bag with your child's name.  Coins will be returned at the end of the unit.

No Written Homework Next Week:
I will not give the kids new sight words or a new Sound of the Week next week.  We will complete some review and end-of-quarter activities in class.

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 7561117.  You will be prompted through the order and payment process.  

We Need Your Old Newspapers and Egg Cartons!
As part of our money unit, we will make piggy banks!  We need both newspapers and egg cartons for this fun project.  We will need some volunteers too!  (More details on volunteers later!)  For now, please send any old newspapers to school with your child.  Please also send egg cartons cut apart into the individual "egg cups" (we don't need the tops of the cartons).  Egg cups should look like this...

Thank you for your help with our piggy bank project!

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will practice identifying the climax in stories we read.  The climax is the pinnacle of the story.  It's the most exciting part of the story, and usually happens toward the end of book, right before the story problem is resolved.
• Writing:  We will finish our friendly letters unit as we prepare our Flat Student projects and focus on editing our writing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our Time unit.  I thought we would finish this week, but I'm finding we need some extra practice with telling time to the half hour.  
• Social Studies:  We will finish our study of the USA, its capital, its people, and its customs.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Enjoy your weekend!