Pancakes at Pinewoods

Thank you to everyone who came to our annual Pancakes at Pinewoods breakfast.  I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy time with other Pinewoods families, meet the local fire fighters who protect our community and have some breakfast.


A Buddy Bench at Pinewoods

Recently there was an article in Scholastic News about a student in Pennsylvania who found a simple but powerful way to address loneliness at recess.  He reached out to his community and the idea of a buddy bench was born.  Basically, the buddy bench is intended to foster friendships and give students a place to meet when they can't find a pal to play with.  Quinn, a first-year student in our class, decided that no one at Pinewoods should feel alone and that we "absolutely had to have a buddy bench so everyone would always have a buddy".

This week we are trying to make that happen.  We have hired Tim Wells, a local musician and craftsmen, to work with the elementary students and build a buddy bench.  Weather permitting, Mr. Wells will be on campus on Wednesday afternoon to help the class design and build a buddy bench.  Mr. Wells uses natural materials to create permanent structures in outdoor environments. Once the bench is built, I am hoping that someone in the community can help with wood burning the names of the 2013-2014 elementary class into the bench.

We will reschedule if the weather is too cold or wet.


The Great American Mail Race

The elementary class will start the Great American Mail Race this week. This project is a race to send letters to schools in all fifty states.  We will target Montessori schools as well as public, charter, and other private schools.  This activity reinforces letter writing skills, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure as well as map skills. (When was the last time you wrote a letter?)


Animal Research Project

We will continue to work on the animal research project in class this week. By the end of the week, I am expecting to have a better idea as to future deadlines. I will send an email before we leave for spring break with an updated timeline of the project.  This week we will also address the difference between an ecosystem, a biome, and a habitat.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, I can be reached at school, home, or through email. 

Classroom Quilt

Our classroom quilt is currently underway, but it is not to late to bring in a piece of fabric. 

We are also collecting bottle caps for a future art project. Please start sending in bottle caps to school.

Jo Ann