Parent's Night Out

Hello Families,

Tonight your child will be bringing home the registration form for our 3rd grade fundraiser. If you would like a night out/off before spring break, register your child to attend Parent's Night Out on Friday, March 16th from 6:00pm-8:30pm. The cost is $20 per family but all attendees MUST be students at Pinebrook! Your child may bring blankets, pillows, and snacks to enjoy while watching the Oscar Nominated Film Coco. Students will also be given pizza for dinner.  Sign up soon because space will be limited! If you cannot attend but are interested in donating to help us raise money to transport the caps to Indiana, you can send in cash or a check made out to Pinebrook Elementary School in any dollar amount you wish.Thanks for your support!

Reminders:

• Word Study Test tomorrow
• Food Chains Quiz tomorrow
• Steam Day is Friday

Have a great day!

Mrs. Martinson

Room 26 Updates and Reminders

Hello Families,

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Don't forget that this week is spirit week in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Tomorrow is CRAZY HAIR DAY! I can't wait to see what the kids show up with :-)

Read-a-Thon:
Pinebrook's Read-a-Thon officially start tomorrow. Make sure your child goes online nightly to log the number of minutes they read at home. I will log the minutes they read at school. Help your child share their page so that they can collect donations to support getting more books put into teacher's classroom libraries. Any dollar amount will help the school :-)

STEAM Day:
Third grade is still in DESPERATE need of volunteers for STEAM Day this Friday. If you are able to volunteer for an hour, it would help the day run smoothly. Please use the sign-up genius here to pick a time slot that works for you. Thanks in advance for your help!

Caps/Lids Update:
We have collected 300 pounds towards our 500 pound goal! Over halfway there! Thanks for your continued support in collecting and sending in those caps and lids. Don't forget that third grade will be hosting a parent's night out on Friday, March 16th for all students at Pinebrook. Cost will be $25 per family and all proceeds will go towards funding the trip to Indiana and purchasing the trash can. Students will be given pizza and water and will enjoy watching a movie with friends while parents can enjoy an evening alone (before spring break!)We will be sending home RSVP slips later in this week so keep a look out for those!

Dig It Play:
Students have been rehearsing in school for their Dig It play about Ancient Civilizations. Some students will be assigned speaking parts so please help your child rehearse if they have lines to remember. As we get closer to the event, I will send home information about what clothes students should wear for the performance (usually dark pants and white shirt). The play will be Friday, March 16th from 8:30am-9:30am. I will send more updates as needed!

Important Dates for your Calendar:

• Monday, February 26th---First Day of our Read-a-Thon (make sure your child logs their reading minutes nightly!) 
• Thursday, March 1st--Food Chains Quiz AND Word Study Test
• Friday, March 2nd--STEAM Day
• Monday, March5th--Critter Can Assignment will be sent home
• Wednesday, March 7th--Interims sent home electronically
• Friday, March 16th--Dig it Play--8:30am-9:30am
• Friday, March 16th--Parent's Night Out--6:00pm-8:30pm

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks and enjoy your day!

Mrs. Martinson :-)

Priority Registration Survey

Hello Families,

A form will be coming home today for you to fill out about registration for next school year. EVERYONE must complete this form and return ASAP. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Don't forget that SOL Night is tomorrow night at 6:00pm in the gym. It should not last longer than an hour. Hope to see you there!

Mrs. Martinson :-)

SOL Night

Hello Families and Happy Friday!

I wanted to send a quick reminder that 3rd grade is hosting an SOL Night on Wednesday, February 21st at 6:00pm in the Pinebrook Library. We will cover all topics relating to the SOLs--what it is, why students have to take it, what we are doing to prepare them, and how you can help them at home. If this is your first child that is taking the SOLs or you are new to the state of Virginia, then I would highly recommend attending. Feel free to bring a computer so that you can bookmark some of the sites that we will share with you. Please leave your kids at home as this is a parents night and students are discouraged from attending. Hope to see you there!

Caps/Lids Update--

• In one week, our class collected 20 lbs!
• In total, 3rd grade has about 235 lbs...hoping to get 250 lbs by the end of the day
• Check out our class twitter feed. I posted a video of the chaos that is sorting!
• The third grade teachers have secured transportation to Indiana! In order to cover the cost of gas and accommodations, we will be hosting a Parents Night Out on Friday, March 16th to try and raise money. We will have pizza and a movie for students to enjoy and ALL proceeds will go to the final stage of this Recycling Project. More information will be going home in a couple of weeks but wanted to let you know so you can mark the date on your calendar :-) 

Mrs. Martinson :-)

Critter Can Project

Hello Families,

It is almost that time of year in 3rd grade where students have their first at-home project. Every year students complete the critter can project. This project involves students doing research on a selected animal and then creating that animal to be displayed alongside their research. The research portion of the project will happen in school, and the creation of the animal portion of the project will be done at home. This project HAS NOT been assigned yet, but today I am sending home the list of animals that students can choose from. Students are to select three of the animals from the list and rank them from 1st choice to 3rd choice. I will do my best to assign students their 1st choice. Please help your child choose an animal that they are interested in learning more about (not an animal they are already an expert on) and one that you feel they would be able to create at home. I would like this paper returned TOMORROW so that I am able to go to the library to check out books on each animal as we prepare for the research portion of the project. If your child DOES NOT return the paper tomorrow, I will be choosing an animal for them.

More information will come home in the next couple of weeks about the at-home portion of the project. Please do not attempt to start it yet, as we have specific guidelines students have to follow. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Dates to Remember:

• Word Study Tests are TOMORROW 
• Saturday, Feb. 17th--Comfort Cases Packing Event 
• Monday, Feb. 19th--NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, Feb. 20th--Adaptations Test
• Wednesday, Feb. 21st--SOL Information Night 

Have a great rest of your week!

Mrs. Martinson

Room 26 Updates

Hello Families,

Happy Monday! It will definitely feel weird having school for a whole week ;-).

STEAM Day 2018
On March 2nd, Pinebrook will be celebrating it's annual STEAM Day during the school day. Students in 3rd grade will rotate around to 4 activities throughout the day that require them to use their problem-solving and creative-thinking skills to complete the activity. It is a fun day where students learn a lot! On Friday I sent home a list of materials that 3rd grade needs to be able to complete the activities. Most materials should be items you find laying around your house. Please send in any supplies you are able to donate. Any donation will be greatly appreciated!

In addition to supplies, we are in need of parent volunteers to run the activities. Your role as a volunteer would be to explain the activity and support students as they work on it. All activities will have clear instructions and will be available to you ahead of time. Activities include building a bird feeder, creating a PSA using iMovie or another software (let me know if you have experience with this so we can assign you to this room), and helping students with a habitats project. Below I have linked a sign-up genius with time slots to volunteer for. If you are able to donate a portion of your time, that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much :-)

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094eaaa928a3fc1-steam

Important Dates:

• Feb. 12th-Feb. 16th--Random Acts of Kindness week (Ask your child about what this is and the challenge they have been given to complete) 
• Wednesday, Feb. 14th--Valentine's Day Party (Please make sure to send in valentine's and any food you signed up for today!)
• Friday, Feb. 16th--Word Study Tests
• Saturday, Feb. 17th--Comfort Cases Packing Event at School. Sign up to join here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0f4ca9a62da2f94-packing 
• Monday, Feb. 19th--President's Day (NO SCHOOL)
• Tuesday, Feb, 20th--Adaptations Quiz
• Friday, Feb. 23rd--Length, Area, Perimeter Test (my math class)

Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, don't forget to keep sending in those caps. We are close to 200lbs! We have also secured free transportation to Indiana via a Pinebrook family which is AWESOME! Have a great week. 

Mrs. Martinson :-) 

Electronic Report Cards

Hello Families,

By the end of the day today, your child's report card will be available to view on Phoenix. Please make sure that you log on to Phoenix and view your student's grades and my comments. Please go over the report card with your child so that they are aware of their areas of strength and possible areas of improvement. Please email me if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!

Mrs. Martinson

Spirit Week Next Week!

Hello Families,

Below is a message from our School Counselors:

Next week is National School Counseling Week - which falls only one week before Random Acts of Kindness Week – and to celebrate we are going to focus on the character traits of Kindness and Acceptance. 

Please join us in a Spirit Week by doing the following:

Monday - Orange You Glad? Wear orange to celebrate being a part of the Pinebrook community, as in “Orange you glad you go to our school?”

Tuesday - Hats Off to You Wear your favorite hat to school. You may be asked to give a compliment to someone and say: "My Hat's off to ________ because _________________.”

Wednesday - Warm & Fuzzy Notes Wear your most comfortable fleece or sweatshirt.  Students may be asked to make cards to give friends, parents, and teachers to tell them how much they are appreciated. Parents: leave a note for your child on their pillow at home. 

Thursday - We Are All Different Wear different or crazy socks in honor of the Native American proverb "To know the heart and mind of a person, you must walk a mile in his/her moccasins.”  Classroom conversations may focus on diversity and empathy.

Friday - We Love Learning Wear your favorite Pinebrook gear or college shirt to celebrate learning here at Pinebrook and to ask your teachers about where they went to college, why they went there, what they liked about their college experiences

I hope your child will have fun joining in on the spirit week! Also....we have officially collected 150 lbs of caps. We will be collecting until May so keep them coming! Thanks and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend :-)

Mrs. Martinson