Pine Bend Newsletter
November 2017
Principal Update
Parents thank you so much for supporting our Read-A-Thon, Scholastic Book Fair, and Conferences this past month. I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming November school community events such as Literacy Night, Music Program for Grades 2-5, and Grandparents Day. Also, Pine Bend has a school forest that we working hard on restoring. The purpose of a school forestry is to inspire environmental awareness and future stewardship of the earth. The Pine Bend forestry team has been working with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota to restore our beautiful school forestry. If you have any knowledge on school forestry on how to manage or teach activities please contact Mr. Cooper at (651)-306-7702 or cooperq@isd199.org.
Also be sure to follow me on Twitter @mrcooperpb for school updates and photos of what is taking place at Pine Bend.
Upcoming Events
If you are unhappy with your previous picture package, you must return the complete package on picture day to have a new photo taken.
November 3 - Spirit Day with popcorn (bring a nickel or a canned food item)
November 7 - PBU Fall Session Begins
November 14 - Grades 2-5 Music Program at Simley PAC (see below for more information)
November 14 - PTSA Meeting, Pine Bend IMC at 6:30 pm
November 22 - Grandparent/Significant Adult Day 1:30-2:30 pm
More information will be sent home in an upcoming Wednesday folder
November 23 & 24 - NO SCHOOL
November 30 - End of Trimester 1
Free and Reduced Lunch Applications
After your application is processed, you will be notified by letter regarding the outcome, usually within a week. Applications cannot be processed until all required information is complete.
Read-A-Thon Success!
Music Program for Grades 2-5
Please have your students wear nice blue jeans and a plain t-shirt that is red, white, black, yellow or blue. Shirts with words or pictures can be turned inside out and the audience will not know the difference!
Your student can NOT be signed out from the high school. If you want to take your student after the program, they will need to be signed out at Pine Bend after they are bused back.
Hakuna Matata!
Mrs. Klotz and Mrs. Boudinot
Pine Bend Music Teachers
Preschool
We are so happy to have preschool at Pine Bend! We love the school community and we are excited to introduce Pine Bend to the preschool students and families.
The preschoolers practice developing skills every day—including letter names, counting, writing their name, as well as sharing with others and taking turns. We are finishing the month of October by having an apple tasting and learning about pumpkins!
In November we are going to focus on different foods, family units and coming together as a community!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten sure has been busy this month! We went on two field trips. First, students from Macalester College taught our students about environmental education topics that related to nature. For our second field trip, we went to Carpenter Nature Center and visited the apple orchard. Students learned parts of an apple tree, picked apples, and made apple juice!
In reading, we began learning the star words for the year as well as listening for beginning sounds. Students are also rhyming, listening and responding to stories.
In math we are learning to write numbers using correct strokes as presented by our handwriting series. We are also building number sense by comparing numbers to sets as well as matching quantities.
We are looking forward to our pumpkin party at the end of the month and appreciate the families that have come to help us--as well as those who volunteered for our field trip!
First Grade
First graders had a wonderful month in October. We welcomed the IGH firefighters into the classrooms for Fire Prevention Week and we learned about all the gear firefighters wear to keep themselves safe. We studied how schools long ago and today are similar and different and we brought in old items or interviewed an adult to learn more about life long ago. In math, we worked with place value and figuring out tens and ones. We can’t wait for another great month in November.
Second Grade
October was a busy month in 2nd grade. We spent a lot of time in September learning our routines and getting to know each other, and this month we really dug into our learning. In reading we focused on making connections in our stories; in math we practiced our math facts and place value; and we had a visit from the fire department to teach us about safety.
Second graders worked hard on their CogAt test during the last week of October. A blue letter came home earlier this month explaining that this test helps us understand more about how our students think and learn.
It was nice to see those of you who were able to make it to conferences. Thank you for taking the time to come and talk with us about your child's progress in second grade!
Third Grade
In third grade, we finished our first art project based on Kandinsky's concentric circles. The student's learned about primary and secondary colors as well as value. They were able to create their own concentric circles using what they learned and the artwork is on display in the 3rd-grade hallway!
In math, the students continue to work on place value as we move on to rounding.
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
The fifth graders are working hard on place value and learning how to use exponents with a base number. The students are enjoying reading novels as their small group books and making inferences from the evidence in the books. Many are also writing responses of these books in their Reading Journals.
We are excited for Monday, October 30th! Our fifth graders will have information presented to them about the brain and nervous system. The presentation will consist of interactive demonstrations of brain functions and the opportunity to look at a real human & animal brains. University faculty, staff and students with expertise in brain science will give the presentations to our individual classrooms.
Physical Education
This month we spent a great deal of time working with our Kindergarten - 5th graders on throwing, tossing and catching. Catching and throwing is a vital skill used in participation of most sports: it helps develop kinesthetic awareness and involves cross-lateral body movement which has been shown to increase brain function. For us, teaching the proper fundamentals of throwing goes hand-in-hand with developing an appreciation for fitness because it gives us the opportunity to use this skill in many different sports.
Students were able to use their lacrosse skills as well this month. Students were taught how to pass, cradle and shoot with lacrosse sticks. As we move into November, we will be focusing on dance and fitness testing! Please remember to send tennis shoes with your student each day they have physical education.
“Physical Education is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body; it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” John F. Kennedy
Literacy Night
DATE: Thursday, Nov. 9 from 5-6:30.
WHO: All Pine Bend families
THEME: READ TO ME
FOOD: A complimentary dinner of pizza, water and cookies will begin at 5:00.
ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: Library card sign up station, bookmark decorating craft station, an iPad area, picture book read alouds, etc
PARKING: Due to limited parking at Pine Bend, we will be providing a shuttle bus from the south side of Wal-Mart near Tractor Supply from 4:45-6:45 pm.
Each student will receive a FREE book from the Friends of Inver Glen!
Reserva la fecha - ¡Evento de alfabetización!
FECHA: El jueves 9 de noviembre de 5 a 6:30 de la tarde
QUIEN: Todas las familias de los estudiantes de Pine Bend
TEMA: LEER A MI
COMIDA GRATIS: Vamos a servir pizza, botellas de agua y galletas a las 5:00 pm.
LAS ACTIVIDADES INCLUYEN: Recibir su propia tarjeta para prestar libros en la biblioteca pública, decorar su propio marcador de libros, jugar con un iPad, un lector leyendo a todos, etc
ESTACIONAMIENTO: Debido al estacionamiento limitado en Pine Bend, proporcionaremos un servicio gratuito de autobus desde el lado sur de Wal-Mart cerca del Tractor Supply de 4:45 a 6:45 de la tarde.
¡Cada estudiante recibirá un libro GRATIS de nuestros amigos de la bibliotica pública Inver Glen!