Spring Photos!

Today's Thursday Folders contain spring photos!

1.      Parents, you must decide if you want all or a partial set of pictures and then pay for them.  You may pay online by following the directions on the picture packet or you may send in a check (made check out to Lifetouch).  There is a portrait ID and Access Code located inside the picture packet. 

2.       Any pictures that have not been selected and paid for must be returned to Ms. Akbar.

3.       Students had to pre-order the class picture.  If you did not receive the class picture but want one, have your child bring me a check for $11 made out to Lifetouch - I have a few extra!

Weekly Update, Sunday, March 27th, 2016

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break!  I've already received some amazing photos of your fourth graders, please keep the photos coming!  Here are a few pictures from my trip to Laguna Beach, California:

I saw this on one of the sidewalks and immediately thought of when the class learned about our watershed!

My girlfriends and I biked along the coast to Manhattan Beach!

Beautiful views from every angle, there was a strip mall right behind me!

Morning walks on the cliffs!

Now back to the real world...

This week in Academia...

Virginia Studies: Students will finish learning about the Civil War and we will review what we've learned so far.  The Civil War test will be Thursday, March 31st!  Students will continue to work on their foldable this week as well as complete their final notepages in their notebooks.  As always, students should use their study guides and solpass.org to review and prepare for the test!  Additionally, students will receive the information regarding their Colonial Fair Project tomorrow.  Please review this information with your child and return the bottom portion of the form to let me know what topic your child has selected.  

Science: Students (and I) and loving our animals unit right now, we will continue to learn about animals and food chains and food webs.  The test on this unit will be next week.

Reading: Students will finish their book club book this week and have their final book club meeting on Tuesday, March 29th.   Students should have completed their book by then and be prepared to discuss characters, their opinions of the book, and summarize their book.  I will give students time to read tomorrow during class.

Writing: Students will receive their new Word Study words tomorrow.  This week students will learn about how to use singular possessives and how to spell irregular plural nouns.  

Other stuff:

CAREER DAY

Our annual CAREER DAY is scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, April 5. We are currently looking for volunteers to help make this year’s Career Day a success! We’d love you to join us!

If you would be willing to share your occupation with the students at Pinebrook or if you know someone in the community who might be willing to come speak at our school, please contact School Counselors Melissa Roberts or Heather Ross as soon as possible. We can be reached via email at melissa.roberts@lcps.org and heather.ross@lcps.org. Also, please see the Career Day volunteer form attached to this email. Thank you in advance!

Camp STEAM-tacular 

Pinebrook's summer STEAM camp -spots are filling up! Camp will be Monday, June 20th to Friday, June 24th, from 9 am to  3 pm each day. Open to Kindergarten through 5th grade. Each grade has it's own theme and will be fun and educational! Don't miss it!

Register at    www.campsteam-tacular.com

STEAM Expo:

Parent Volunteers NEEDED for our STEAM Expo on April 9th.  Two sessions available: 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and 11:30 am to 2:00 pm. You will help by running an activity - which is easy and fun! Please sign up by going to the Pinebrook website and clicking  on STEAM Expo.

Weekly Update, Sunday, March 13th, 2016

First things first!  This is the last week for Williamsburg money collection!!!  I will send you a personal email if I still need to collect money from you for the Williamsburg field trip.  All money needs to be in my Thursday, March 17th.  I will not be in school on Friday.  

The Read-a-Thon officially ends tomorrow!  As of Friday, our class was in the lead for both number of sponsors and minutes read.  Reading logged over the weekend still counts, so if your child hasn't logged their reading yet, please make sure they do tonight!  I am so proud of all the reading students have done, and all their efforts to bring in money to get new books for our school.  I can't wait to spend some quality time with the student who 1) read the most, 2) raised the most, and 3) had the most sponsors!

This week in academia...

Reading: We started our historical fiction book clubs last week, and students are working well to compare and contrast what they're learning about both characters, and the time period in which they are reading.  As always, students are expected to read a minimum of 20 minutes nightlight, and log their reading in their reading log.  Please note there is NO HOMEWORK over spring break.  Students are more than welcome to record their reading over spring break, but this is not required.

Writing: Because of Spring Break, I will not be giving new word study words tomorrow.  Students actually have a few interruptions this week for some events and we will be losing some of our writing time this week!  
VA Studies: Students have been learning about the Civil War.  We will begin to make our "War Between the States" foldable this week and learn about major battles and when West Virginia seceded from Virginia.

Science: Now that we've wrapped up our electricity unit, we will begin our unit on Animals!  It's by far one of my favorite units, and I know the kids will love it too!  

Thank you to everybody who came to the Scholastic Book Fair and Fine Arts Night, we had so much fun!!!

My weekend: Took my nephew to get his first haircut, and did a little shopping!  Don't forget to send me your photos!

Other stuff:

CAREER DAY

Our annual CAREER DAY is scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, April 5. We are currently looking for volunteers to help make this year’s Career Day a success! We’d love you to join us!

If you would be willing to share your occupation with the students at Pinebrook or if you know someone in the community who might be willing to come speak at our school, please contact School Counselors Melissa Roberts or Heather Ross as soon as possible. We can be reached via email at melissa.roberts@lcps.org and heather.ross@lcps.org. Also, please see the Career Day volunteer form attached to this email. Thank you in advance!

Camp STEAM-tacular 

Pinebrook's summer STEAM camp -spots are filling up! Camp will be Monday, June 20th to Friday, June 24th, from 9 am to  3 pm each day. Open to Kindergarten through 5th grade. Each grade has it's own theme and will be fun and educational! Don't miss it!

Register at    www.campsteam-tacular.com

Parent Volunteers NEEDED for our STEAM Expo on April 9th.  Two sessions available: 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and 11:30 am to 2:00 pm. You will help by running an activity - which is easy and fun! Please sign up by going to the Pinebrook website and clicking  on STEAM Expo. 

Weekly Update, Sunday, March 6th, 2016

Is it actually going to hit 70 degrees on Tuesday?!?!  I look forward to five consecutive days of outdoor recess!!!

THREE REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK:

• This is the last money for students to raise money for the Read-a-Thon, our class is doing SO WELL, but Ms. Davis' class is right behind us!!  I typically do not advocate for competition against other students but this is for such a good cause!  (and a pizza party)  Thank you to all of you who have already donated, reached out to your relatives, coworkers, and friends and asked them to donate, and for your overall support!
• Come back to Pinebrook on Tuesday after school for the Scholastic Book Fair Family Night from 3-6 pm AND Fine Arts Night!  (Seriously, she's asking us to come back on Tuesday to spend even more money for reading?)  Sorry.  If you want to skip the book fair, please come to Fine Arts Night, I'll be there, and it is GOING. TO. BE. SPECTACULAR!  6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
• Wednesday, March 9th is Spring Picture Day!  In your child's Thursday folder was a payment flyer/ envelope.  This is the only time students will have an opportunity to purchase the class photo! Your child must bring back their picture enveopes for a CLASS picture with payment inside or online payment information.  Your child will not receive a class photo if he or she does not return the envelope.  You may pay online, but the photographers will still need the payment envelopes. 

This week in academia...

Science: Electricity Test Part II will be on Thursday, March 10th.  This part of the test will cover different types of energy (mechanical, light, and heat), the three famous dudes who made contributions (Ben Franklin, Michael Faraday, and Thomas Edison), and electromagnets.  Students should use their science notebooks, solpass.org, and their study guides to review for the test.

VA Studies: Our Civil War Unit will begin tomorrow!  Students will receive their VA Studies Weekly tomorrow, and will have time to work on the crossword puzzle and read it in class.  The open-note quiz on the VA Studies Weekly will be on Wednesday, March 9th.  

Writing: Students will complete their American Revolution research paper this week!  Students have worked hard over the last two weeks to collaborate with teammates to write a cohesive five-paragraph essay on their given topic.  The Word Study Test will be on Friday, March 11th, and all assignments are due Friday as well.

Reading: We will begin historical fiction book clubs this week and begin reading Number the Stars.  Students are loving Absolutely Almost, a read-aloud I started two weeks ago.  As always, homework in reading includes reading for 20-30 minutes nightly, and logging minutes and pages read on both the Read-a-Thon webpage AND the reading log.  

Math: If your child is 100% fluent in Reflex Math, he or she should go on Dreambox at least once a week.  This program allows students to practice different math concepts, and adapts the activities and lessons based on what your child needs. The program may even start showing students 5th grade math concepts if it determines they are ready for it!  It is a great resource in addition to Reflex Math, as it does not solely focus on math facts.

We have not had time to use this program much in class this year, but students may have been exposed to it last year. The program is built so that it teaches your children what to do every step of the way. It is an engaging and fun way to review and practice important math skills!

Students can go to the link here Dreambox Math and scroll down to find my name from the list of teachers. They will then be prompted to enter a user ID and password. Their user ID is their school lunch number and their password is their birthday (mmdd).

I hope you find this resource useful to use at home. I am not making it mandatory to use this program as of right now, but I encourage you to allow your child sometime to explore it. 

OTHER STUFF:

STEAM EXPO!

WE NEED PARENTS to volunteer for STEAM Expo!

The STEAM Expo will be on Saturday, April 9th. Volunteer slots run from 9:30-12:00 and 11:30-:2:00. Any slot that you could fill would be appreciated! 

If you'd like to volunteer, please sign up at:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090a44a8ae2ba46-steam2

Camp STEAM-TACULAR Is Coming!

This summer, Pinebrook will host Camp STEAM-tacular.  This is a fun-filled week of STEAM related learning and exploration which takes place June 20th - 24th from 9 am to 3 pm here at school.  For more information and to register, click  HERE.