School This Week & Break

Hello All!

I hope everyone stayed safe and warm on Saturday with all that ice! Yikes!

This week we have a few fun events going on at school!

Info for You:
- No new word study words: Word Study will resume the week of January 9th
- BYOT on Wednesday (bring headphones if possible!)
- I will give a reading "homework" on Wednesday - this is not mandatory, but will be optional for students who would like to participate and possibly earn a small prize :)
- Social Studies grades: You likely noticed on the interim reports emailed out to you that there were no Social Studies grades shown. We will be doing our Social Studies units when we return in January, as the Science units on habitats, adaptations, and food chains all go together.
- Winter break is Thursday, Dec. 22 - Monday, Jan. 2nd. Enjoy your break and New Year celebrations!

Outfit Fun
The teachers are wearing different "themed" outfits this week - your students are welcome to join in! Tomorrow is "tacky sweater day" (or ANY holiday/winter sweater), and Wednesday will be "holiday head gear" (make something to wear on your head out of gift wrap, antler headbands, etc.)


Monday (Today):
- Holidays Around The World: We rotated to different 3rd grade classrooms and learned about different holidays celebrated around the world. Ask your student what they learned today!

Tuesday, Dec. 19th
- Food Chains Quiz
- Mercer Middle School Band & Chorus visits in PM
*Holiday sweater day

Wednesday, Dec. 20th
- BYOT Day, with headphones if you have them!
- Holiday Sing-A-Long in PM
- Winter Reading Homework given -- BONUS, not mandatory.
*Holiday head-wear


I wish you all SAFE and happy travels and festivities over the break!

 

Dig It! Live Stream

Hello Families!

If you are not able to come today to Dig It, it will be LIVE STREAMED on Pinebrook's Facebook page! Here is the link if you're interested:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/403768889686837/

Enjoy!

 

Happy Friday! Updates and Information

Hello All!

THANK YOU so much to all the chaperones that came on our field trip yesterday! The kids all seemed to have a great time, and we couldn't do it without you! Also, thanks to the several parents that showed up at the zoo! The students always like seeing their parents at school events!

I posted a few pictures on my Twitter page if you'd like to see more about our day.

**Due to "field-trip-brain" I forgot to send home Thursday Folders yesterday! My apologies.
Please see your student's Thursday Folder, coming home TODAY (Friday). There are graded papers as well as flyers and sign-ups for Movie night so please look through the folder!


Upcoming Dates to Note:
- Dec. 10th @ 9-12 - Holiday Shop - Come visit me selling candy grams in the gym!
- Dec. 12-16 - Holiday Shop at school all week
- Dec. 12th - Animal Adaptations Test
- Dec. 15th @ 8:30am - 3rd Grade DIG IT Play in the Gym
- Dec. 16th @ 6-8:30pm- Teachers Makin' Tracks Movie Night
- Dec. 20th - Food Chains Quiz
- Dec. 22nd - Jan 2nd - Winter Break
*There will be no new word study words the 3 days before winter break (Dec. 19-21).


Further Information about the above dates:

Holiday Shop Week: Please send in money with your student, WITH the envelope specifying items they may purchase.

Dig It Play: Please see the half-sheet flyer in your student's "Thursday" (Friday) Folder today. There was a mistake with our clothing/classes. My class should wear DARK pants and LIGHT shirts, unless you are Taki, Tut, or Lucy characters. Here is what the sheet coming home looks like:

 

 

Movie Night: Need a night out to finish some shopping or have an evening without the kids?! Finding Dory is the movie being shown for movie night. The evening starts at 6:00pm in the gym, and ends promptly at 8:30pm. There is a flyer coming home in your student's Thursday Folder today with a sign-up sheet. Your student MUST register ahead of time so we know how many people to expect, and how much pizza to order! I'll be there to enjoy the movie as well!

 

 

Field Trip Tomorrow!

Hello All! 

 

Tomorrow is our ZOO FIELD TRIP! The kiddos are all VERY excited about it! In case you are a parent who would like to come along for the trip but did not get to chaperone, please check your email. I sent out a timeline of when we are leaving school, when we will leave the zoo, etc.

 

Parents who choose to meet us AT the zoo: You may NOT take your child home from the zoo!!! They MUST travel back to school with us on the buses. No exceptions.

 

Please see the zoo website if you'd like to print a map, see the schedule of events, or learn more about the animals!

 

Chaperones, please remember to bring a backpack or bag to carry lunches in. I also have printed maps of the zoo and their daily schedule of events if your group would like to see any of those (feedings, talks, etc.) 

 

The forecast for tomorrow is roughly 47 degrees, partly sunny, 10% chance of rain. It's looking pretty good! 

 

Please make sure your student comes to school with a JACKET, PANTS/LONG clothing that covers their legs, and appropriate shoes comfortable for walking and a small chance of rain. They are welcome to wear gloves, scarves, hat, etc. as well, however they are responsible for their own clothing!

 

Please let me know if you have any questions! Looking forward to a great trip to the Zoo!

 

Ms. Strong :) 

 

 

Welcome Back, This Week, Updated Dates

Hello All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We have a few fast-faced weeks before our longer break in December. Here's what's coming up!

Upcoming Dates
- Wednesday, Nov. 30th: Science test on habitats/ecosystems.
- Friday, Dec. 2nd: Word Study resumed this week. Your student will have a quiz on Friday.
- Thursday, Dec. 8th: Field Trip to the Zoo! Remember to pack a lunch and wear warm clothes!
- Wednesday, Dec. 14th: Interims sent home.
- Thursday, Dec. 15th: Dig It performance in the gym. Begins at 8:30am!
- Friday, Dec. 16th: Teachers Makin' Tracks Movie Night (MOVED from the 9th!)

*Please remember to send in headphones with your student tomorrow if possible!
*Please also remember to return you BYOT permission slips if you have not done so already! We will not start BYOT until all are returned.


That's all for now! As always, please email me with any questions or concerns.

 

Thanksgiving Break, Field Trip, and BYOT!

 

Hello all!

I hope everyone has done their grocery shopping and is ready for turkey this Thursday!

Here are some upcoming dates and things to know over the break:

----

Work/Homework:
There will be no word study this week (only 2 days of school!) We will resume word study next Monday, and the next quiz will be on Friday, Dec. 2nd.

- Please have your student go on Reflex Math 2-3 times over the break.
- I also asked the students to read every day for 15-30 minutes
- Science Habitats/Ecosystems test is coming up on Nov. 30th! Please be sure to study! Studying/Reading notes pages can count as reading... :)

- Teachers Makin' Tracks Movie Night is Friday, Dec. 9th - Movie TBA
- Dig It performance is Thursday, Dec. 15th @ 8:30am

Field Trip Chaperones:
Just a reminder that our field trip is on Thursday, Dec. 8th. We will be visiting the Smithsonian National Zoo! I have seen on the zoo website that the Giant Panda, Bao Bao, will be moving to China in January! We are going to the zoo at the perfect time to see her before she leaves!

Chaperones: THANK YOU so much to everyone who volunteered. I had so many respond on the first day that it was impossible to do a "first come first serve" so I put all of those in a bag and picked at random. Our 5 chaperones will be:
- Parent of Judah S.
- Parent of Nick F.
- Parent of Zainab M.
- Parent of Jack R.
- Parent of Natalie J.

Again, I do appreciate the number of you who responded that you would like to chaperone! I would like to point out that the zoo is a FREE entrance, so you're welcome to come walk around with us! However, if you do so, your student will need to come home with us after the trip and return to school to be picked up/go home.

The kids are all excited for this trip!

BYOT:
After Thanksgiving break, I would like to start implementing BYOT in our classroom. The students and I have been doing a few different activities and using technology to learn how to best use technology in our class. I plan on starting this by having students bring in their devices 2 days per week (I will set the days), to try it out and also see how much we use our technology. This way we can best determine the extent of our  technology use and how to use it effectively to support learning in the classroom. If at the start of 3rd quarter I find that we are using the technology effectively, I will increase the number of days that they can bring their devices.

For our class to use BYOT, ALL STUDENTS must return a contract. If you do not want your child to participate, or if you do not have a device for your child to bring, please still return the form UNSIGNED with a notice at the bottom letting me know they will not participate. If have a few laptops in the room that they can use at these times. I will send out the dates for students to bring in their devices after I have ALL forms returned.

I will send home contracts with your student TOMORROW in their home folder. If your child is not in school tomorrow, I will send home a copy with them on Monday, Nov. 28th, when we return to school.

In preparation for BYOT, I would appreciate if you could log on to LCPS GO with your student so they know how to access it from their device - Both ONLINE and via the APP (if they have the app on their device). We will use many apps on LCPS GO to start with BYOT.

Please know that it will be used as a tool to support learning in the classroom. Please also let me know if you have any questions about BYOT.


Headphones for BYOT:
To best utilize BYOT in the classroom, it would be beneficial for all students to have headphones. If you have a spare set of headphones your child could bring in on BYOT days, that would be great. If you have a pair they could keep IN school, that would be great as well!

It is NOT a requirement for students to have headphones. However, if you would like to purchase headphones for your student they can easily be found (CHEAP!) at dollar stores or places like Five Below: https://www.fivebelow.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=headphones

If your students has headphones to bring in, please send them into school on Wednesday, Nov. 30th.



I hope that everyone has a very relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving! Eat lots of food!

Weekly Update - Short Week & Holiday

Hello all!

This week is a short 3 days! We will be wrapping up a few things from first quarter, as well as preparing for upcoming units of study.

Word Study:
There will be no Word Study homework or quizzes this week. However, there will be some upcoming changes to Word Study and how it is taught. Please look for a note tomorrow in your student's Thursday Folder for more information on this. I will also post it here on the blog tomorrow when that goes home.

Field Trip:
Today your student is coming home with a permission slip and chaperone form about our Zoo field trip on December 8th! Your child needs to have a permission slip returned to school no later than Nov. 18th so we can give the busses and Zoo a final count. Your student will not be permitted to come on the field trip if the permission form is not returned.

Chaperones - first come first serve! I will keep track of the papers that are returned first and notify everyone when we have fulfilled each spot. Thanks for volunteering!

Read A Thon:
Please also see a reminder paper in your student's folder today about the Read-A-Thon. They need to set up their online account at home in order to receive credit for the number of hours/time that they read! We will record when we read at school as well, so if they set it up they will definitely get the time and can win prizes and money for our books and reading program at school!

Veteran's Day:
On Friday, we will have the opportunity to meet and hear stories from several veterans! We will also hold a parade through the school and a lunch for our special visitors. We are talking about Veteran's Day in school, but please also discuss it at home with your student and share about family members or others you know who are veterans!
 

Conference Days and Upcoming Dates & Units

Hello Families!

Conferences
Just a reminder, please sign up for a conference time to meet with me! I am creating my schedule for those two days (Nov. 7 & 8) and would like to have a final count/time schedule by Friday at the absolute latest.

If none of the times seem to work for you, please email me to set up a time to meet. I am happy to find a common time that works for both of us, even if it is not on those two days!


Homework
Please check your child's agenda and their Word Study notebook for homework each night. The homework is assigned on Monday and checked 2x per week (Wednesday and Friday) so your student has a few days to complete each assignment.

Upcoming
- Word Study quizzes this Friday
- No School for Students on Nov. 7 & 8
- Wednesday, Nov. 9th is a Monday Schedule in school
- American Education Week - Nov. 14-18
- Report Cards Sent Home - Nov. 16th
- Thanksgiving Break - Nov. 23-25
- Zoo Field Trip - December 8th. More info to come home soon!

Up Next...Quarter 2 Science and Social Studies Topics
Coming up in Social Studies and Science will be the following units (in this order):
- Habitats
- Adaptations
- Food Chains
- Geography
- Explorers


As always, contact me with any questions, concerns, or just to say hi!
Happy First Day of November (already?!)!

Word Study Homework

Hello all!

I hope everyone watched Penn State's domination over Ohio State this Saturday night... WE ARE! I was representing my Penn State clothing today at school :) WHAT a way to win the game! I also got to spend some time with friends from out of town and did all of the "tourist" things in Washington D.C.! I hope you enjoyed the pictures on the Remind app. I had a wonderful weekend! However, I was VERY jealous that my parents and brother were at the Penn State game!

Word Study Homework
I had some questions about the Word Study homework from several students, so I thought I'd better put it on here tonight. EACH night, they should be sorting their word cards for practice. They do NOT need to write their sort every night! That is only for homework on Monday!

Monday - Sort cards AND Write in NB

Tuesday - Sort cards, Write ABC order in NB

Wednesday - Sort cards, Write Rainbow Words (10) in NB, or make a word cloud with ALL words, print it, and glue in NB
- You can find the link to ABCYA's kid-friendly word cloud creator here.

Thurday - Speed sort cards 3x - write those TIMES in NB, Write practice test in NB
 - Practice test means set up the notebook page with your headers, have a partner say words and student puts it in the correct sort and spells it.

Friday - Quiz day


Please let me know if you have further questions!

 

Weekly Update and Information

Hello all!

Pictures
You should have seen today in your child's Thursday Folder their envelope of school pictures! If you are purchasing pictures, please see the information inside concerning how to pay. If you are NOT keeping the pictures, please RETURN THEM TO SCHOOL.


Fall Party Food Permission
I have received almost all permission slips for the food at our fall party - yay! If you have not yet turned this in, please do! Otherwise, your child will not be permitted to eat any of the snacks provided. Please make sure to sign up on the Sign-Up Genius that our room parents sent out today if you would like to help with the party! It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!


Upcoming dates
Tomorrow - Word Study Quiz
Friday, Oct. 28th - Science Test in the AM, Fall Party in the PM!
Monday, Oct. 31st - Halloween!
Nov. 7 & 8 - Conference Days, No School for students
Nov. 11th - Veteran's Day celebration at Pinebrook
Nov. 23rd - 25th - Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 8th - Field Trip! - More information coming soon

FOR TOMORROW...

Hello!
I hope everyone enjoyed a great weekend!

If possible, could you please send in your student with a pair of headphones tomorrow for class? They will be returned home at the end of the day, not remain in school. A simple pair of earbuds are fine. We have a few headphones in our classroom provided by the school, but not enough for every student.

We are experimenting with a program called Nearpod - the students get to interact with our class presentation on their own computer/devices. Because it is interactive and they can do it at their own pace, students will need headphones to hear video clips at different times than others.

We would love to use this more when we roll out "BYOT" this year! It is a great way for the kids to get their notes and other information right in front of them rather than copying from the board, and allows them to go through the pages at their own pace. I can also input questions to check their understanding and adjust teaching as we move along through the lesson.

Dates/Reminders:
- Wednesday, Social Studies Test (Famous Americans & Holidays)
- Friday, Word Study quizzes
- Fall Party Food Forms due back ASAP!


Please let me know if you have any questions!



 

Fall Party Food Items

Hello All!

 

On Friday, Oct. 28th, we will have our fall party! Our room parents are coming up with some creative and fun activities for our kiddos to do that day! Thanks!

 

We plan on having food at this party. The items we are thinking of having include:

 

1) Popcorn

2) Pretzel sticks

3) Assorted chocolate candies

4) Smartie candies

5) Whipped Cream (canned)

6) Candy corn

7) Oreo Cookies

8) Fanta - Orange falvored

I am aware that there are several students with allergies in the class. I am sending home a paper in Thursday Folders with this information today asking for your signature and OK of all food items. Please return this paper as soon as possible so our room parents can adjust the food list as needed.

Just a few reminders:
- Word Study quizzes will be NEXT Friday - no quiz tomorrow!
- Social Studies Test is next Wednesday, Oct. 19th

Homework This Week & Upcoming Dates

Hello All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! The weather was great - I hope you got outside!

A few notes about word study this week:

Word Study
Since we have a shortened week, we will not have our normal word study quiz this Friday. The kiddos got new words today, but the quiz will be NEXT Friday, Oct. 21st.

Homework for each night was written in their notebooks today:
Tuesday - ABC Order (all words)
Wednesday - Rainbow Words (10 words) - write each word in different colors, or each letter in different colors
Thursday - Your Choice of: Write out your sort, Speed Sort 5x (write times in NB), or Sentences (10).

Next week we will continue with the SAME words. Please let me know if you have questions.

Social Studies
From the looks of our last test (Science - Matter) everyone did very well! Yay!
We are now back into Social Studies. Our unit is Famous Americans and Holidays. As always, the study guide is available in the students' notebooks, and also is available here on my blog on the sidebar. The test will be Wednesday, Oct. 19th (this is a relatively short unit).

Math
Since we did not have school Monday, and I asked everyone to try to get on Reflex over the weekend, today should be a "normal" Tuesday homework day. Remember, even if your student can not get on Reflex Math on Mondays & Wednesdays, please do get on 2x per week on other days - let your teacher know if this is a problem!

Veteran's Day
We have Veteran's Day coming up on Nov. 11th! Please see Mr. Theissen's Pinebrook Message for more details about our celebration that day. If you know any past or current military members, please let them know and ask if they would be interested in attending or speaking to a class!

Class Party
Our Fall party for the class is being planned by our amazing room parents! It will be on Friday, Oct. 28th in the afternoon. Please let them know if you would like to help organize, purchase items, or volunteer on the day of! All parents, please be on the look out for a list coming home from the room parents about food that will be served that day. We need your "OK" for your student to eat these items at our party!

Enjoy the rest of your week and this GORGEOUS weather!

Smiles,
Ms. Strong :)

Important Disucssion

Hello Families,

I wanted to let you know about a conversation that happened in school today. Throughout the school - particularly in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades - there has been a lot of talk about the "clown issues" happening in various areas. The students have been very scared and concerned about these stories, and some started saying that they heard the clowns were coming for Pinebook, Mercer, John Champe, etc. Many students have mentioned they were afraid at recess because the woods/trees are there and that there might be clowns that come out of the trees and get them... and so on.

Mr. Thiessen had a grade-level conversation with each of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades (separately) today to address this concern and growing rumor amongst the students. He emphasized that students are very safe at school, and that if they feel unsafe or see something they are uncomfortable with to tell an adult immediately. He also asked that the 3rd-5th graders act as leaders if they hear other students, especially younger grades, talking about this. We want to ensure that facts are shared as much as possible, rather than rumors or stories that encourage fear. At the meeting, Mr. Thiessen assured the classes that thus far there is no reason for them to feel unsafe, and reminded everyone about the possible confusion or rumors that can be heard online, in the news, and so on.

After the whole-group meeting, we came back to our room and shared some of the fears the students had. Many were sharing things that, typically, kids their age are afraid of - being in the dark alone, something jumping out at them, etc. (ie: things that are normally seen in movies or other scary stories). Several also mentioned being a bit afraid to go out for Trick-or-Treating on Halloween this year. We discussed how these things, while scary and possible, are very rarely going to happen, and that we take many precautions here at school to keep them safe.

Many students left today letting me know they felt better about this issue, but many also said they did not feel any less worried. Please make sure to discuss this at home if your student brings it up.

I wanted to keep you informed in case you heard anything about this tonight! If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to email me.

Thanks for your continued support! (And, sorry for such a long message) 
Ms. Strong :)   

Word Study Homework

Hello All!

As I mentioned in my email earlier this week, I wanted to explain Wednesday's and Thursday's Word Study homework in case it caused any confusion. I did explain this in class, but I know how things can get lost in translation between school and home!

Just a reminder that they should be doing word study each night. I saw several "blank" homework pages today!

Wednesday: "Pick Your Own Sort"
- Students should COME UP WITH a new way to sort their words - NOT the way they are already sorted.

For example, if I had words such as the list last week (long e, short e, long a, short a), instead of sorting them into vowel sounds I might sort them into spelling patterns. I.e.:

                        "ea" words                                "not ea words"
                            break                                         playground
                            read                                           believe

And so on. Another way could be to sort them by word type. I.e.:

                        compound words                        non-compound words
                           playground                                   basket
                           backpack                                      math

Etc. They could sort them by category (words that go together), rhyming... anything they can think of that makes sense with their words.


Thursday: "Pyramid Words" (only 8 of them!) 
(Preferably 8 words OTHER than the ones they did sentences for already!)

I had the class write an example of this in their notebook already. Pick 8 of their words, and write them in a pyramid shape like so:

                                   basket
                                       b
                                     b  a
                                    b a s
                                 b  a  s  k
                               b   a  s  k  e
                             b   a   s  k  e  t



Please let me know if you have further questions about this!


Reminders: 
- Science Test on Friday (Matter)
          *If you like to study ahead, our next unit will be SS - Famous Americans
- Columbus Day Monday - No School
- MONDAY school schedule on Tuesday, Oct. 11th
- October 17th PTA Meeting @ 6:30

Enjoy the rest of your week!
Hopefully FALL(ish) weather is here to stay...???

 

 

Happy Monday! Book Fair, Walk to School, and Updates

Hello All!

Last week was busy with Ellie's Hats, picture day, evening events, and the fall festival! This week we also have a few things going on at Pinebrook!

In Class:

1. Word Study - This week will start our first week of Word Study groups. Your student will have word study homework each night - similar to what they have already had in previous weeks - and will be quizzed on Friday. The quizzes will be both sorting the words AND spelling them. Please be sure to complete the nightly homework to get in a bit of practice every day!
*Word Study Volunteers - This week I'll NOT have you come in, just since this is the first week of word study and I'd like to make sure the students know how to take the tests/what to expect, etc.

2. Science Test - is on Friday, Oct. 7th. The test is on Matter. Please see your student's notebook each night for completed notes and the study guide. You can also find the study guide on the sidebar to the right ---->

3. Interims - will be sent home this Wednesday.

4. Volunteers - Thanks for signing up! We still have room for lots of mystery readers! The kiddos really love having their parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc. surprise them for reading time! I will work with you to set up a time that works with both of our schedules. Also, I would love for a few Fluency helpers! Even if you can't come every Monday/Friday, we could work out a rotation or schedule with a few parents.
*I'll be emailing volunteers this week in the groups of things you signed up for. If you'd like to go ahead and contact other parents you see listed to work out a schedule or rotation, feel free!


Pinebrook News/Dates:

1. Scholastic Book Fair - will be open throughout the week. You're welcome to send in money for your student, or come shopping with them at the Family Book Fair night on Tuesday, Oct. 4th. Parents are also welcome to stop by and go book shopping during the school day. If you send in money with your student, please put the money in an envelope with their name on it and, if possible, the names of the books or items they are allowed to buy. There are no returns allowed at the book fair, so whatever they purchase is final.

2. Walk to School Day - is this Wednesday, Oct. 5th


Other Dates to note:

Monday, Oct. 10th - No School, Columbus Day
Tuesday, Oct. 11th - MONDAY schedule during school, "normal" Tuesday AFTER school (ie: Clubs)
Monday, Oct. 17th - PTA Meeting @ 6:30pm


This Steeler game is looking good! Sadly, I might have to miss the ending since it's getting late...

I hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Happy Monday! 

Weekly Info/Reminders

Hello all!

Volunteers: 

Several people have signed up, but I still would love some more people! If you would like to volunteer, please click here.

Reminder: School Picture Day is this Friday, Sept. 30th! 

Word Study/Spelling Homework:
I sent a Remind text message out last night about Word Study/Spelling homework, but wanted to post it on here as well. Some students seemed confused or unsure about what to do for the various homework assignments. To make it easier, here are some pictures of what I expect for this week's homework. Each page/homework should have the date and title of the work.

Quiz: on Friday, this week they are SPELLING words on their own also.

Monday: Sort words and write in notebook
Tuesday: Speed sort 2x, write in notebook

Wednesday: 8 sentences (any 8 words)

Thursday: Partner sort (2x) & write in notebook (only once)

Please let me know if you have further questions about this.