Pine Bend Elementary
November Family Newsletter
Principal Update
With winter weather on the way, please remember to have your student dress for the cold including dressing in layers. Students will have outdoor recess unless it is raining or the temperature falls to 0 degrees or -10 windchill.
Take a moment to read more Pine Bend news below, as well as our upcoming events for November and our staff spotlight on third grade teacher Amy Williams.
Also, follow Pine Bend on Instagram @pinebendelementary
Please Check and Update Your Contact Information in Infinite Campus
As winter weather approaches, please take a moment to check that your contact information in Infinite Campus is correct and that your preferred email and phone number are marked for “Emergency” and “General Notification.” The district will send information about school closings, emergencies, and other important matters to any phone number and email address marked for “Emergency” and “General Notification.”
How to Verify and/or Update Your Household Information
- Log in to Infinite Campus.
- In the side menu, under the “Family” header, click “Household Information.”
- In “Household Information,” use “Update Phone Number” and “Update Household Address” to update phone number and address.
- Click “Send Update” after each update.
- In the side menu under the “User Account” header, click “Contact Preferences.”
- In “Contact Preferences,” you can verify and/or update your email addresses and make changes to the preferences for each number or email address.
- **The district will use any phone numbers and email addresses you mark for “Emergency” and “General Notification” to contact you about school closings, emergencies, and other important information.**
- Click “Save” after updating.
Also, please add info@isd199.org to your email contacts. Any important emails for families are sent from info@isd199.org, so adding this address to your contacts will ensure that these messages will not be sent to your Spam folder.
Thank you for keeping your contact information current so the district can reach you in case of any urgent matters.
Literacy Night Is Thursday, November 8th!
Come and ENJOY a Fun Filled Night of Food, Friends and Fantastic Literature with an “everyday hero” theme. Your siblings are invited too!
5-5:30 pm - Pizza and cookies served in the cafeteria
5:30-6:30 pm - Interactive Author Presentation
After a light dinner Sarah Warren, a Minnesota Author, will spend about an hour with our Pine Bend Families! She will discuss heroes and leaders then give us an interactive reading of her book, Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers. Sarah will incorporate movement and an art activity to help us understand how we can be everyday heroes.
*Every child will receive a FREE book from The Friends of Inver Glen to take home!
Any questions, please contact Jenny Kelly at:
651.306.7750 or email kellyj@isd199.org
APEX Fun Run Coming Next Week!
If you'd like to volunteer during the Apex Fun Run, click here for more information and to sign up!
November Box Tops
The next monthly Box Tops for Education contest time is here!! Ask friends, family and neighbors if they will clip Box Tops labels for you. We will have a deadline every month to turn them in by. The class with the most Box Top labels turned in for that month will get the “Top Clippers” trophy (pictured). Our goal is to raise $1,000 and last year we raised $843.80 - so close, but still amazing!
With this collection deadline, 11/29/18, we are looking to capture the Box Tops that will expire on 12/1/18, plus any other non-expired ones you may have.
Don’t forget to write your students name and teacher name on the bag!
Preschool
In November, we will focus on solidifying our daily routine. We will remind our students on taking turns and sharing at school and at home. We are going to focus on different foods, family units and coming together as a community. At the end of the month we will have a Feast Celebration!
Kindergarten
We ended our October visiting the PB Pumpkin Patch!
Here's to an awesome November! You should be so proud of your Kindergartner!
K Team!
First Grade
First graders had another great month in October. They celebrated Fire Safety Week by welcoming firefighters into the classroom to show us how they dress to go into a fire. Many students attended conferences with their families to participate in the discussion of their progress. Students enjoyed attending the book fair and looking for some favorite books.
In language arts, they have been working on finding text features in non-fiction books and in math, they have been working on adding and subtracting and finding missing partners. First graders are looking forward to a wonderful November.
Second Grade
Third Grade
October in third grade has gone by so fast! We have been working on cross-curricular activities while learning about different types of communities. In reading, students made connections with their own lives, with other texts, and with the world. In social studies we discussed different cultures and the natural resources people depend on in their communities. In writing, we have been trying to banish boring words by picking better words to describe a particular community and describe Haunted Houses. In math, we are finishing place value concepts by rounding numbers into the tens of thousands. In art, we also studied value in the lightness or darkness of either warm and cool colors as we created the backgrounds for our Haunted House projects.
We ended our month with a series of STEM challenges that included a variety of minute to win it challenges, building the highest marshmallow tower, spinning a web to hold a number of “spider” rocks, and creating a container that could keep an egg from breaking when thrown from a height of over six feet.
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Phy Ed
As the weather starts to turn colder, we would like to remind you about the importance of your child’s physical activity education. The percentage of overweight youth has more than tripled in the past 25 years partially due to increased interest in sedentary activities such as television, phones, computers, and video games. A reduction in physical activity as well as an increase in caloric intake has contributed to an obesity epidemic.
It is a well-documented fact that Americans become increasingly less active as they age. Just as children and youth can learn the habit of regular physical activity, they can learn to be inactive if they are not taught skills and given opportunities to be active during their childhood. Physical activity education in school physical education programs is the cornerstone of an active lifestyle for all students. Our school program works to provide the skills, knowledge and attitudes that facilitate choosing physical activity after school, at home and in the community.
In the month of October, students worked on the following units: Football, soccer, scooters and fitness testing. November will be filled with students learning about: volleyball, floor hockey and healthy decision making. Please help your child (ren) stay healthy and active during the winter season!
Tennis shoes are encouraged daily!
Mrs. Koch and Miss Darrow
Music
Just a reminder of some of the big events we have planned this year. Save these dates!
December 19th - 11:00 (doors open at 10:45) 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Grades music program at Simley High School PAC (Peace Makers)
February 7th - 5th Grade's field trip to the Ordway (We Shall Overcome-a celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
March 7th - 3rd Grade's field trip to Orchestra Hall (Carnival of the Animals)
April 25th and 26th - 1st Grade "informances." Times for each class TBD. (Frog and Toad)
Late May or early June Kindergarten graduations.
We look forward to enjoying music with you throughout the year!
Musically,
Mrs. Hoffman and Mrs. Klotz
November Reading Connection Newsletter
Staff Spotlight- Amy Williams
Favorites Foods: Chicken strips, Kit-Kat, chocolate chip cookies, lemonade, Red Lobster
Like to shop: Target and Amazon
Family: Husband Nick and myself!
Years Teaching: 7
What inspired you to become a teacher? Helping students accomplish their goals and have "ah-ha" moments.
Upcoming Events
November 8 - Literacy Night, 5-6:30 pm
November 13 - PTSA Meeting, PB IMC, 6:30 pm
November 15 - APEX Fun Run
November 21 - Grandparent/Significant Adult Day
November 22-23 - NO SCHOOL
November 30 - NO SCHOOL