Have a great winter break!!!

One of the best ways to become a stronger reader is to practice every day. Remember to keep reading over winter break!!!  

Raz Kids, Reflex Math, and Dreambox are great resources to practice both reading and math skills!

First week back to school after winter break is an A week (Library on Tuesday)

Test Dates:

January 17th - Magnet Test

January 24th - Money Test

January 24th - Germs Quiz

Important Dates:

December 23rd-December 3rd - No School Winter Break

January 13th - PTA Meeting (7:00pm)

January 17th - Parents Night Out/Movie Night Hosted by Teachers Makin' Tracks (time TBD)

January 20th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No School)
January 21st - Teacher Planning Day (No School for students)
January 23rd - Monday Schedule
January 23rd - Get Fit with Family and Science Night 6:00pm
January 24th - Report Cards sent home via ParentVue
January 30th - Parent Coffee 8:30am

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

* Reading:  We will start a new unit about reading bigger books in order to amp up our reading power.

* Writing:  We will begin a new writing unit which is all about writing about the things that you read.

* Math:  We will start our unit on counting money.

* Health - We will begin our unit on germs.
* Science - We will begin our unit on magnets.

Important Dates and A Peek at the Week (One Day Early!)

Next week is an A week (Library on Friday)

Gingerbread Houses

Our class will be making individual gingerbread houses on Wednesday, December 18th from 8:30-10:00.  If you are interested in coming in to help out with this fun event, all are welcome.

Each student needs to bring in one can of vanilla frosting and unopened candy (no peanuts or nuts) to share and put on the gingerbread houses.  The more items sent in, the better the gingerbread houses will look!  Some candy treats might include:  Gumdrops, M&M’s plain, Peppermints, Skittles, Hershey Kisses, Pretzels, Cereals, Mini Candy Canes, Licorice bites, etc.

Students can bring in frosting and candy treats anytime between now and Wednesday, December 18th. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Test Dates:

December 18th - Maps and Globes Test

December 20th - Addition and Subtraction with Regrouping Test

December 23rd - January 3rd Winter Break (No School)

Important Dates:

December 18th - Pinebrook Caroling at KPF Gazebo

December 23rd-December 3rd - No School Winter Break

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

* Reading:  We will continue to work on nonfiction reading strategies and practice reading nonfiction text.  

* Writing:  We will finish our unit on nonfiction writing. We will continue to focus on capitalization and punctuation, and beginning, middle, end. 

* Math:  We will finish our unit on addition and subtraction with and without regrouping.

* Social Studies - We will finish our unit on maps and globes and begin our unit on magnets.

Important Dates and a Peek at the Week

Next week is an B week (Library on Tuesday)

Gingerbread Houses

Our class will be making individual gingerbread houses on Wednesday, December 18th from 8:30-10:00.  I am looking for parents to come in and help out with this activity.  If you are interested in coming in to help out with this fun event, please return the bottom portion of this page.

Each student needs to bring in one can of vanilla frosting and unopened candy (no peanuts or nuts) to share and put on the gingerbread houses.  The more items sent in, the better the gingerbread houses will look!  Some candy treats might include:  Gumdrops, M&M’s plain, Peppermints, Skittles, Hershey Kisses, Pretzels, Cereals, Mini Candy Canes, Licorice bites, etc.

We will also need boxes of plain graham crackers. Graham crackers will need to be sent in by Monday, December 16th so we can start putting the gingerbread houses together.  I am looking for 2 parents that can come in on Monday, December 16th to start assembling the graham cracker houses.

Students can bring in frosting and candy treats anytime between now and Wednesday, December 18th. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Holiday Shop:

We previewed the items for sale at the Pinebrook Holiday Shop yesterday. Students may purchase items Monday through Wednesday. If you would like to shop with your child, the Holiday Shop will be open Saturday morning from 9:00 - 11:30 am.

Scholastic Book Fair:

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held at school all next week. Students who bring money may shop at the Book Fair December 9^th-13^th. If you would like to attend the Book Fair to shop with your child, the Family Shopping Night will be Tuesday, December 10th from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm. 

Test Dates:

December 10th - Continents and Oceans Quiz

December 13th - Subtraction with Regrouping Test

December 18th - Maps and Globes Test

December 20th - Addition and Subtraction with Regrouping Test

December 23rd - January 3rd Winter Break (No School)

Important Dates:

December 10th - Allen/Peet Map Testing Reading

December 7th - 5th Grade Pancake Breakfast 8:30am

December 9th-13th - Book Fair Shopping

December 9th-11th - Holiday Shop Shopping

December 10th - Book Fair Family Night 3pm-6pm

December 11th - Interims issued via ParentVue

December 11th - Moes Spirit Night 5pm-8pm

December 18th - Pinebrook Caroling at KPF Gazebo

December 23rd-December 3rd - No School Winter Break

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

* Reading:  We will continue to work on nonfiction reading strategies and practice reading nonfiction text.  

* Writing:  We will continue to write  nonfiction pieces. We will continue to focus on capitalization and punctuation, and beginning, middle, end. 

* Math:  We will work on subtraction with regrouping.

* Social Studies - We will continue to learn about maps and globes.

Library

This week library is on FRIDAY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great Thanksgiving!  Remember no school Wednesday, November 27th - Friday, November 29th!

Important Dates and a Peek at the Week

Next week is an B week (Library on Tuesday)

Gingerbread Houses

Our class will be making individual gingerbread houses on Wednesday, December 18th from 8:30-10:00.  I am looking for parents to come in and help out with this activity.  If you are interested in coming in to help out with this fun event, please return the bottom portion of this page.

Each student needs to bring in one can of vanilla frosting and unopened candy (no peanuts or nuts) to share and put on the gingerbread houses.  The more items sent in, the better the gingerbread houses will look!  Some candy treats might include:  Gumdrops, M&M’s plain, Peppermints, Skittles, Hershey Kisses, Pretzels, Cereals, Mini Candy Canes, Licorice bites, etc.

We will also need boxes of plain graham crackers. Graham crackers will need to be sent in by Monday, December 16th so we can start putting the gingerbread houses together.  I am looking for 2 parents that can come in on Monday, December 16th to start assembling the graham cracker houses.

Students can bring in frosting and candy treats anytime between now and Wednesday, December 18th. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Test Dates:
November 22 - Lakota Quiz

November 26 - Native American Final Test 

Important Dates:

November 27th - November 29th Thanksgiving Break (No School)

December 3rd and December 10th - Allen/Peet Map Testing Math and Reading

December 5th - Holiday Shop Preview Day
December 5th - Book Fair Preview Day
December 9th-13th - Book Fair Shopping
December 9th-11th - Holiday Shop Shopping
December 23rd-December 3rd - No School Winter Break

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

* Reading:  We will continue to work on nonfiction reading strategies and practice reading nonfiction text.  

* Writing:  We will continue to write  nonfiction pieces. We will continue to focus on capitalization and punctuation, and beginning, middle, end. 

* Math:  We work on subtraction with regrouping.

* Social Studies - We will finish learning about Lakota Indians and review all 3 tribes.

Tomorrow

Wear NAVY to school tomorrow Friday, November 22nd  for the DEN RALLY!

REMINDER!!!

Native American 2nd Grade Performance 
Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19th!!!
Pinebrook Gymnasium 8:30am 

Students:  Please wear blue jeans and a white shirt

Important Dates and a Peek At the Week

Next week is an B week (Library on Friday)

Turkey of the Year:

Turkey of the Year voting has started and will continue for the next few Fridays! Your child must read to vote for the staff member he/she would like to see come to school dressed in a turkey suit.  One hour of reading equals one vote. Each Friday, please sign and return that week's voting slip, which came home in yesterday's Thursday folder.  If you lost the voting slips, please write a note to indicate how many hours your child read during the previous week, sign it, and send it to school on Friday.  

Mark Your Calendar 

Native American Performance:  

November 19th at 8:30am

The 2nd grade Native American Performance will be held on Tuesday, November 19th at 8:30am in the gym! Come watch your children perform skits and songs and learn about different Native American tribes!

Food Drive:

2nd grade is running a food drive! Please send in non-perishable items with your child or you can bring them the morning of the Native American performance.

60 Minutes of Dreambox  (Due Friday)

The DreamBox Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ program provides individualized instruction for every student, adapts lessons and pacing based on each student’s unique needs. As students work on math problems DreamBox captures, analyzes, and responds to every decision a student makes. DreamBox goes beyond tracking whether a student’s answer was right or wrong and assesses each student on around 60 different behaviors, including the amount of time it takes to solve a problem, the number of hints used, and the strategies they use to construct the answer to a problem.

The continuous assessment guides students through their math development and determines their optimal learning zone, which is where a student is continually challenged enough to stay interested but not too challenged to become frustrated. DreamBox is designed around the ideal of a personal math teacher for each student, with infinite time and infinite patience.

Gingerbread Houses

Our class will be making individual gingerbread houses on Wednesday, December 18th from 8:30-10:00.  I am looking for parents to come in and help out with this activity.  If you are interested in coming in to help out with this fun event, please return the bottom portion of this page.

Each student needs to bring in one can of vanilla frosting and at least one unopened candy treat (no peanuts or nuts) to share and put on the gingerbread houses.  The more items sent in, the better the gingerbread houses will look!  Some candy treats might include:  Gumdrops, M&M’s plain, Peppermints, Skittles, Hershey Kisses, Pretzels, Cereals, Mini Candy Canes, and Licorice bites.

We will also need boxes of plain graham crackers. Graham crackers will need to be sent in by Monday, December 16th so we can start putting the gingerbread houses together.  I am looking for 2 parents that can come in on Monday, December 16th to start assembling the graham cracker houses.

Students can bring in frosting and candy treats anytime between now and Wednesday, December 18th. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Classroom Behavior

There have been a number of behavior issues in the classroom.  The behaviors have become very distracting and disruptive to the classroom. To keep you informed of the daily behavior issues, we will giving students a verbal reminder and then students will be given a Think Sheet if that behavior continues.  This will help in documenting behavioral issues and keeping parents informed.  Thank you for your understanding.

Test Dates:

November 19 - Pueblo Quiz

November 22 - Lakota Quiz

November 26 - Native American Final Test 

Important Dates:

November 18th-November 22nd - American Education Week
November 19th - Parent Coffee (Meet Your School Counselors) 8:30am
November 19th - 2nd Grade Native American Performance 8:30am
November 22nd - Picture Retake Day
November 22nd - Wear Navy to support your Pinebrook School Spirit
November 27th - November 29th Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:
* Reading:  We will work on nonfiction reading strategies and practice reading nonfiction text.  
* Writing:  We will continue to write  nonfiction pieces using authors as mentors. We will continue to focus on capitalization and punctuation, and beginning, middle, end. 

* Math:  We work on addition with regrouping.

* Social Studies - We will learn about Native Americans. (Powhatan, Pueblo, and Lakota)