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TRANSCRIPT
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page
Franchesca Brown, Principal
Terry Davis, Assistant Principal
Laura Nossel, Editor
It is March Madness at Pinewood Elementary School and we have a tre-
mendous amount of fantastic events
planned! This month our boys and girls in grades 2-5 are competing in a First in
Math challenge to see which classes will
end up in the final four. Students are en-couraged to log onto their First in Math
accounts and start to earn points!
Despite the endless snowy con-ditions, our intermediate students are
completing the new national PARCC assessment with determination and forti-
tude. In addition to participating in the
national assessments, our fourth and fifth grade students are working diligently on
their science fair projects. We are anx-
ious to see their amazing work on display at our annual Science Fair scheduled for
April21st. Additionally, the fifth graders
will delight us all with their ballroom dancing skills at the end of the month.
Grade 5 families are encouraged to put
on their dancing shoes and join us for the finale on March 27th.
Pinewood’s SGA planned a fun-
filled week to support Baltimore County Public School’s Anti-Bullying Program
and Dr. Seuss’ Birthday. Their efforts helped us all remember how to be good
citizens and what it means to learn and
work in a bully-free environment. We also engaged in activities to support the
importance of reading. Each class is
working on ways to have students read 25 books before the end of the year. We
are encouraging everyone to pick up a
book and read! You can start by reading 5 books this month and earning a ticket
to an Orioles game courtesy of the Enoch
Pratt Library and the Baltimore Orioles. Pictures of the events from this month will
be posted to the main lobby monitor and
on our website for everyone to enjoy. As we begin to look towards the
warmer temperatures, the Pinewood PTA
is welcoming the first day of spring by hosting our annual Family Fun Night on
March 20th. We are celebrating spring
with a fun game, giveaways, and pizza dinner. DJ Spinnin’ Scott will be on hand
to entertain us! Thank you to the PTA,
Mrs. Lookingbill and her committee for coordinating it.
One of our main goals for Arts Inte-
gration is the expansion of clubs. We are thrilled to announce the production of our
first dramatic play, On the Radio. There will be two performances, Monday, March 30th
and Tuesday, March 31st, everyone is wel-
come to join us and tickets will go on sale shortly.
As you can see, while it may be
extremely cold outside, we are keeping it warm inside with the many events and
activities designed to engage our students.
We can’t thank you enough for your contin-ued support. Best wishes for a wonderful
spring season. Our next Herald will be
published on April 16th. Happy Spring!
From the Principal, Franchesca Brown
March 4, 2015
A message from the PTA
2
Proud
Penguins
3
General
Information
4
Health &
Guidance
5
Related
Arts
5 –7
Pinewood
Club
Happenings
8 & 9
Wellness Day
at Pinewood
10
Pinewood
Calendar
12
Pinewood
Information
11
Inside this
issue:
On the web
pinewoodes.bcps.org
200 Rickswood Road
Timonium, MD 21093
Phone 410-887-7663
Fax 410-252-1962
Arts Integration
March brings together two
celebrations—National Music in
our Schools Month and Youth Art
Month. Youth Art Month kicked off with a cele-bration of student work from all over BCPS and
two of our children Sajel S. and Ethan G. were
represented at the Walters Art Museum!
Music in Our Schools Month will feature
students performances of musical selections on
the announcements and they will participate in
a musical trivia contest.
Forty families gathered
to Believe Big, and paint and decorate mugs for this wonder-fully philanthropic organization
that provides spiritual support
for those facing the cancer
journey.
Pinewood Pinewood Pinewood Pinewood
HeraldHeraldHeraldHerald
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 2
School News School News School News School News
Special Transfer
Applications
For parents of children who reside outside of the Pine-
wood Elementary area, but who will be requesting special permis-
sion for their child to attend Pine-
wood for legitimate reasons dur-ing the 2015-2016 school year,
please be reminded that applica-
tions may be submitted from April 1-June 1, 2015. We cannot
accept any applications prior to
the April 1st date. If your child is already attending Pinewood un-
der special permission, it is NOT
necessary to re-apply.
Please Use Caution
Please refrain from cross-
ing the school driveway between
the crosswalk and bridge. We
don’t want any students or parents
to get hit by a car.
Ideas for Celebrations at School
We know that birthdays and holidays are important to
every child and that kids like to
celebrate with their classmates. Here are some suggestions for
your child’s celebration at school. Always check with your child’s
teacher to see what he/she finds
acceptable for their classroom
and be sure to provide advance notice to ensure a celebration fits
into their schedule.
☺ Party favor bag (pencils,
stickers, erasers, magnifying
glasses, notepads, etc.).
☺ Come into the classroom and
read a book to the class.
☺ Buy something for the class-
room (books, games, music).
☺ Decorate a box and send it
into the classroom. Also send in-dex cards or smaller pieces of pa-
per. Have the teacher ask each child to use one sentence to write
something nice about the birth-
day student and put it into the box. The birthday student gets to
take the box home at the end of
the day. You could also do the same thing using an autograph
book.
☺ Send in supplies and direc-tions for a craft for the students to
do. It is a bonus if the parent
comes in to help with the craft.
☺ Bring in an item that all chil-dren can sign as a birthday treat
for the birthday student (shirt/
sweatshirt, tote bag, , etc.)
☺ Ask the teacher if you can
have a show and tell time for
your child on their birthday. They can make a poster or tell the kids
about their favorite things, etc.
Lost and Found
Please remember to put your child’s name in their coat,
hats, lunchboxes, etc. This will make it a lot easier to get the
items back to your child. You will be amazed at the number
of items that are in lost and found
If you haven’t had your ID scanned, please stop by the office the next time you are at
Pinewood and we would be glad to do this for you. Thank you for your cooperation.
Pinewood Elementary
Kindergarten
Registration
for the 2015–2016
school year
will be held on
May 18th, 2015
from 9 A.M. — 3 P.M.
by appointment only.
Please contact the school office
at 410-887-7663 to schedule
an appointment and to pick-up
the registration packet.
Please note that the April 17th
date is full.
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 3
Proud Proud Proud Proud
PenguinsPenguinsPenguinsPenguins
Congratulations to the following students who
were chosen from all the students who were rec-
ognized during the month of December for being
“Prepared, Polite, and Persistent.” They had lunch
with Mrs. Brown: Lindsay H., Nikhil M., Abby D.,
Zach L., Maddie M., and Chris M.
Pinewood Author Celebration Bre
akfast
Students at es
timation station
Jack F.
Estimation Station winner
Math 24
On Tuesday, February 24th, the fifth grade students of the Math 24 club participated in a school competition to
see who will represent Pinewood at the county completion on March 7th. The
first place winners are Rijen G. for single digits and Katie Z. for double digits. If for
some reason those two students cannot attend, the two alternates Gabriel I. and
Owen G. will take their place. Way to go Math 24 club members, and good luck to Rijen and Katie in the county competition!
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 4
Lunch Account Pre-Payment
Please take advantage of the SNAP program to deposit money to your child’s lunch account. It is
important to fill out the pre-payment form, checks preferred,
with your child’s name (NO NICKNAMES). If you need to
send cash, please put it in an envelope with the pre-payment
form. Additional copies of this form are available in the school office.
CafeteriaCafeteriaCafeteriaCafeteria Mark your Mark your Mark your Mark your
CalendarCalendarCalendarCalendar
NEW FAMILY TOUR
April 1, 2015
9:30 am
Please contact Mrs. Esslinger at
[email protected] for fur-ther information and to RSVP.
Adults only.
Schools-out.com
Is a free public service
website to email parents
directly about unex-
pected changes in the
school schedule. The
schools-out.com web site
is tied directly to Balti-
more County Public
Schools and is updated
by BCPS staff. The BCPS
website www.bcps.org
provides the most defini-
tive information about
unexpected changes in
school scheduling. Par-
ents may also call 410-
887-5555 for information.
Vision & Hearing
Screening
Volunteers are needed to
help escort students to the
health suite for vision and
hearing screening April 16,
17, 20, 21, and 22, 2015. Students in grades, K,1,4
and all new students to
BCPS will be screened. If
you have a student in
grades 2,3,or 5 that you
would like added to the list
or can assist with escorting
students, please contact
Mrs. Frankle at rfran-
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 5
From your School Nurse From your School Nurse From your School Nurse From your School Nurse
Mrs. Pam FrankleMrs. Pam FrankleMrs. Pam FrankleMrs. Pam Frankle
Guidance Counselor’s CornerGuidance Counselor’s CornerGuidance Counselor’s CornerGuidance Counselor’s Corner
By Mrs. Linda Reines NCC, LCPCBy Mrs. Linda Reines NCC, LCPCBy Mrs. Linda Reines NCC, LCPCBy Mrs. Linda Reines NCC, LCPC
Physical Education Physical Education Physical Education Physical Education
by Pat Pilson by Pat Pilson by Pat Pilson by Pat Pilson
The month of February flew by. I can’t believe it is
March already. This month the third, fourth, and fifth grader
students are taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readi-
ness for College and Careers. We refer to it as “PARCC”.
I found out lately that students do not always under-
stand questions that are given in a test. When asked why, the
students shared that they don’t always understand some of
the words in the questions and that sometimes the questions
that are asked are long. Because of this, I have visited with
the students to teach them some “test taking strategies”. The
biggest strategy is to recognize key words that are asked in
the question. “Who, what, which”, indicate that they are look-
ing for people, things, ideas, and actions in the answer.
“When” indicates an answer about time. “Where” is looking
for a place in the answer. The words, “why and how” are
looking for reasons or explanations in the answer. We dis-
cussed other strategies, such as how to use charts and guides
when given in a problem. We also talked about the steps
when writing to answer a question after reading a passage.
The steps to writing are: 1. Identifying the task. 2. Plan your
essay. 3. Write. 4. Revise and edit. 5. Proofread. We dis-
cussed what they needed to do in each of these steps. The
number one strategy is to go back and check your answers
after finishing the test. Good luck Pinewood.
February was a very short month but we got a lot done in that time. Students were
introduced to “Drums Alive” An aerobic activity that combines music and using drum
sticks with movement. Then our students moved on to volley-
ball. As we played with the beach balls, I am sure they were
thinking of warm weather.
March will be just as exciting, with
our students learning basketball skills and cooperative games. Fifth grade students will experience Ballroom danc-
ing the last week of March. Please remind your child that tennis
shoes are a must in the gym and activity is so important to a healthy mind.
Don’t forget spring will be here soon.
Not every sore throat is a Strep throat. The only
way a strep infection can be identified is through a throat cul-
ture. You should seek medical attention for your child if any
of the following symptoms occur:
♦ Their sore throat came on suddenly.
♦ Their throat hurts mostly when swallowing.
♦ Their throat hurts when you press gently under the angle of
the jaw.
♦ The glands in the neck are swollen.
♦ Presence of fever, a temperature of 101 to 104 degrees can be
indicative of strep infection.
♦ Headache and/or nausea
♦ They have been in contact with children with strep throat.
♦ Their throat has been very sore and red and has lasted more
than 3 - 4 days.
♦ Fine red rash covering the entire body that feels like fine
sandpaper.
Home "Helps" For Sore Throat Pain
♦ Drink fluids.
♦ Gargle several times a day with 1/2 teaspoon salt in warm
water.
♦ Talk as little as possible.
♦ Suck on ice chips or iced drinks.
♦ Throat lozenges
♦ Anesthetics throat spray
♦ Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen
If your child has any of the above symptoms or has had a sore
throat for more than 3 to 4 days, please have a throat culture and
keep your child home until a diagnosis of strep throat can be
ruled out. If that is the diagnosis, your child can return to school
only after they have had at least 24 hours of antibiotics treat-
ment.
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 6
The kindergarteners will begin the month by
designing a beautiful March calendar with a spring
theme. We will continue with lessons that focus on
animals and their developmental changes. We will
study the developmental changes of the dog and the
pig when we read From Puppy to Dog and From Pig-let to Pig. The fiction books will include The Last
Puppy by Frank Asch and Emmett’s Pig by Mary
Stolz.
The first graders have selected a biography
about a famous person. They will use note taking
skills to obtain information about the person they
have selected. This will prepare them for the autobi-
ography they will write in their classroom.
The second graders will be learning about the purpose, importance, and location of the copy-
right date. They will also be introduced to the Cal-
decott collection. These are books whose illustrators
have won the distinguished Caldecott award for out-
standing illustrations. They will be able to use the
copyright date in their Caldecott book to locate the
book title on the American Library Association (ALA) list of Caldecott award winning books.
The students in third grade have completed
their Baltimore research and will be using speaking
and presentation skills to rely their information to
their classmates.
The fourth grade students will use note tak-
ing skills and citing all of their sources as they begin a new research unit on the Renaissance period. This
work will be on display in the library on April 28th
during the Renaissance festival!
The fifth graders will be concluding their
Revolutionary research. They will then compose an
information paper in their classroom describing how
the accomplishments of their Revolutionary War
characters or various events have impacted history.
Recommended Reading-
Picture Books:
1. Pearl Harbor, by Richard Tames,
nonfiction book, grades 4-7, ©2001.
2. Mind your Manners B.B. Wolf, by
Judy Sierra, grades K-3, ©2007.
3. The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost
Stories, By Dr. Seuss, grades 2-5, ©2011.
Chapter Books:
1. Cam Jensen and the mystery of the Dinosaur Bones, by David Adler, grades2-4, ©1981.
The above titles are found in the Pinewood Library
as well as the Baltimore County Public Library.
Library NewsLibrary NewsLibrary NewsLibrary News
bybybyby Marilyn LockwoodMarilyn LockwoodMarilyn LockwoodMarilyn Lockwood
The Art Beat by Sheldon Lebowitz
ART NEWS ALL AROUND!
Congratulations to kindergartener Sajel S. and second grader
Ethan G.! Their work was displayed at the Walters Art Museum for their
Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition. The show will remain up until March 22,
2015...stop and see it if you can!
Our new Our new Our new Our new Artist of the Month Artist of the Month Artist of the Month Artist of the Month for March is fourth grader for March is fourth grader for March is fourth grader for March is fourth grader
Sofia C. Sofia C. Sofia C. Sofia C. Come to the front lobby to view her terrific dancing Hopi Come to the front lobby to view her terrific dancing Hopi Come to the front lobby to view her terrific dancing Hopi Come to the front lobby to view her terrific dancing Hopi
KKKKaaaacccchhhhiiiinnnnaaaa ffffiiiigggguuuurrrreeee iiiinnnn aaaannnn aaaauuuutttthhhheeeennnnttttiiiicccc AAAAmmmmeeeerrrriiiiccccaaaannnn SSSSoooouuuutttthhhhwwwweeeesssstttt bbbbaaaacccckkkkggggrrrroooouuuunnnndddd!!!!
Kindergarteners Our kindergarten artists are putting finishing touches on their clay and watercolor painted Renaissance coats of arms. The final step had them brushing clear var-nish over the wa-tercolor painted surface to provide a glossy finish and preserve the color. They’ll look won-derful for our Ren-aissance Festival at the end of April. Next, we’re on our way to cutting and gluing construction paper shapes to make expressive African masks!
First graders First grade friends’ Renaissance goblets have both the under-glaze and overglaze applied correctly, and they will all be fired by the middle of this month. They will make a wonderful state-ment at our end of April Renaissance Fair! Now we are in the midst of working on city street draw-ings that combine the media of oil pastel and watercolor, to create colorful and exciting results by creating resists. The more colorfully outlined shapes there are, the more there will be to paint in with washes of watercolor.
Second Graders Our second grade artists’ clay Renais-sance-inspired self-portrait bust sculp-tures are becoming more and more de-scriptive and reflec-tive of ourselves. Using mirrors to see skin color, hair color, eye color, clothing, and any other physi-cal characteristics, the second graders are applying terrific acrylic painting skills to enliven these bust sculptures. This has proven to be a great skill building activity with color mixing and blending and creating different shades and tints of colors.
Third graders Our gruesome third grade gargoyles are gradually growing more grotesque...and rightly so. With the intent of scaring off evil-doers by their eerie appearance, now that we are painting the sculp-tures with acrylic paint, that goal is nearer in sight. Con-trasting color combi-nations or interest-ing paint application techniques (dabbing and sponging) are making the gargoyles incredibly interest-ing. With no two of these the same in appearance, our third graders have perfected their clay sculpture building and modeling skills!
Fourth graders The architecture during the Renais-sance was quite glo-rious, especially the castles that were so prominent during that era. Our fourth graders will explore the work of J.M.W. Turner and his wonderful paint-ings of castles. Us-ing the slab clay building technique to fashion low relief sculptures of cas-tles, we will create a descriptive shape and either add de-tails by building up areas, or taking ar-eas away by incising and cutting. Acrylic paint will further add character and interest.
Fifth graders Now that all dragons have been fired in the kiln, fifth grad-ers are well on their way to adding the interesting colors to their sculptures. With contrasting combinations or sim-ple color pairings, mood and feeling is created in these sculptures. There are many details to paint, so we will fo-cus on how to em-phasize features such as scales, claws, textures, eyes, and smaller details like fangs. The acrylic covers well and a glossy finish of varnish will really bring up the colors nicely!
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 7
Musical Notes from the desktop of Ms. Godfrey
Students are learning about
and listening to music from the roman-
tic time period. We are learning about
composers like Schubert, Schumann,
and Liszt.
Kindergarteners are learning
about the solfege pitches So and Mi.
We are practicing recognizing these as
high sounds and low sounds. We are
practicing Curwen hand signs as well
as notating sol and mi on a 2 line staff.
First graders have also been
learning about So and Mi. We are sing-
ing song games in order to practice
and apply our solfege pitches. Students
will be introduced to La shortly as we
continue to sing and play music games.
Second graders are learning
how to read and write rhythms, and are
learning about note values. Students
have been creating peter and the wolf
puppets in teams in order to present
the musical story with artwork and act-
ing. While we do this, students are also
reviewing knowledge of instrument
families.
Third graders are playing
pitches B, A, and G on the recorder.
We continue to practice rhythm and
reading notes on the treble staff. Please
remind your child that they need their
recorders each week in music class
along with their music folder. We will
be playing folk songs and other tradi-
tional pieces with our 3 pitches before
we move on to our next note.
Fourth graders are learning
about proper singing technique. We
have learned some vocal warm ups, the
importance of posture, and how to take
a good singing breath. We are building
upon our knowledge of harmony in or-
der to sing partner and part songs in
choir. We are also learning about
moods in music and how to show this
while singing. 4th Grade choir meets at
the end of rotation day 5.
Fifth grad-
ers are comparing
and contrasting
musical genres and we are currently
working on the blues. Students are
singing authentic blues tunes and play-
ing percussion instruments, both me-
lodic and rhythmic in order to accom-
pany themselves. Students are begin-
ning to learn about chord structure with
I, IV, and V chords. These roman nu-
merals represent specific groups of
pitches that can be used to accompany
many, many songs.
Fifth grade Chorus meets after
school on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 in
the vocal music room. Students are
singing popular songs as well as choral
favorites. Four of these students will go
on to participate in the All County Cho-
rus and Recorder Festival in April. Con-
gratulations to these girls who audi-
tioned and were accepted to be a part
of the Festival Choir: Erica L., Emme J.,
Kaci H., and Sasha L..
DRUMS ALIVE!
All of the students at Pine-
wood had an amazing week
of Arts Integration through DRUMS ALIVE! The stu-
dents met in the gym with
Mrs. Pilson and Miss Sew-
ard for a workout that rein-
forced steady beat and
rhythm. The students
“played” on stability balls and many classes even cre-ated their own routines! Students were able to work co-
operatively to create a rhythmic and aerobic pattern that
was not only FUN but also worked on motor skills and
steady beat! Mrs. Pilson and Miss Seward hope to do this
fun event again next year!
3rd and 4th Grade Exploratory
Exploratory classes are hard at work learning about the Woodwind family and learning simple songs on the clari-
net. We will continue this unit through March, and then
we will conclude the year with the STRING family.
Band and Orchestra News
Band and Orchestra Students are continuing to expand
their musical knowledge and performance skills! Stu-
dents that are demonstrating a high level of achievement will soon be invited to join Jazz Band or Chamber Strings.
These two “early bird” groups will perform along with
the Concert Band and String Orchestra at the Spring
Concert and Renaissance Fair.
Music in Our Schools Month
March is Music in our Schools Month! To celebrate, we
will have special performances on the morning an-
nouncements throughout the month by Band and Orches-tra students at Pinewood. Be sure to listen for our fine
musicians!
We will also have school-wide TRIVIA on the morning
announcements that every student can participate in and
WIN a prize! Miss Seward is very excited to celebrate
this special month!
From the desktop of Ms. Seward
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 8
Journalism Club
Every Wednesday, 22 fourth and fifth
grade students meet in the com-
puter lab to put forth a lot of Brain Power and to create the Penguin Pulit-
zer. Articles are driven by the inter-
ests and wishes of the students. They
cover serious topics like the history of
Pinewood or spotlighting fabulous
people around Pinewood, but love to
incorporate jokes, comics, puzzles and wacky stories too! So far, two editions
of the Pulitzer have been published
and distributed to all families. It is the
club's hope to publish two more edi-
tions this year. Be on the lookout for
the next exciting Penguin Pulitzer!
Pinewood Authors
In this club, each classroom teacher
submits a piece of writing to highlight a particular student as the author of
the month. The writing could demon-
strate the best effort, improvement,
creativity, or ability of a child. The
children meet one hour before school
and share their work verbally and
have the opportunity to ask questions and give comments about the written
work of their peers. There are great
conversations to be had all around.
This is truly a wonderful club for the
children. Mrs. Brown always makes it
a point to stop by to congratulate and
listen to the children during the meet-ing. This is a group effort to be sure.
The club is organized by Mrs. Lock-
wood and successfully runs with the
help and support of many other teach-
ers who perform various functions
such as photography, writing certifi-
cates, making a memory book, sup-plying store bought muffins and water,
and facilitating the event. Mrs. Maile is
taking care of the certificates and the
memory book. Ms. Brickley is doing
the photography. Mrs. Abbot is sup-
plying the food. Mrs. Baker and Mrs.
Maile are facilitating along with a guest teacher each month. The guest
teachers for the 2014/2015 school year
are Ms Caruccio, Mrs. Hake,
Mrs. Blatchley and Ms Kelbaugh.
Reading Clubs The purpose of this club is to encour-
age students to read award winning books outside of school. According to
leading researchers such as Stephen
Krashen and Richard Allington, there
is a positive correlation between read-
ing achievement levels and increased
reading. It has been well documented
that children who are engaged in si-lent sustained reading (independent
reading or reading for pleasure) show
an increase in reading comprehen-
sion, fluency, vocabulary, and stan-
dardized test scores, as well as acquir-
ing a greater knowledge base than
those who do not read on a regular basis. This is a fabulous after school
club for children who enjoy reading
simply for the enjoyment and beauty
of reading. This year our reading
clubs have been a huge success. The
club is open to third, fourth, and fifth
graders depending on the sessions offered. We have selected books by
Rosemary Wells, Linda Sue Park, and
Avi to read this year. The Reading
Club is run by Mrs. Lockwood and
Mrs. Blatchley.
Math 24
A club for fourth and
fifth grade students
run by Mrs. Maile,
Math 24 challenges
students to use their basic facts to ma-
nipulate a group of 4
numbers to create a
solution of 24. Stu-
dents have 15 seconds to review the
numbers, use mathematical opera-
tions (addition, subtraction, multipli-cation, and division) to solve the
card. Students must use all of the
numbers, but only once! One fifth
grade school winner
goes on to a county
competition in
March to win a
prize. Fourth grade students participate
in the club to pre-
pare for their fifth
grade year.
Pinewood
Garden Club
In our first year,
the students of
the Pinewood Garden Club are ex-
cited to learn about the many aspects
of gardening. We have the pleasure
of working with Master Gardener, Kathie Offutt. She has helped us learn
about the importance of gardening
through fun, interactive games and
activities. We have worked together
to complete beautiful garden collages,
explored seeds and plants, made our
own composting bags, played recy-cling relays, and used plastic gloves
to grow 5 different seeds in cotton
balls. We are excited to see how our
seeds have grown and plant them in
recycled water bottles! As spring ar-
rives, we look forward to getting out-
side to explore the grounds of Pine-wood. We aim to beautify Pinewood
by growing our own native plants
around the school!
Pinewood Club HappeningsPinewood Club HappeningsPinewood Club HappeningsPinewood Club Happenings
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 9
We’re vermicomposting!
On February 2nd two Master Garden-
ers from the University of Maryland
Extension Service taught the Pine-wood faculty and several community
members about vermicomposting at
an after school professional develop-
ment session.
What is vermicomposting and why are
we doing it at Pinewood? Vermicom-
posting is also known as red worm
composting. It is a process of turning
food scraps into compost. The worms
eat the food and bedding (shredded
paper) and produce castings which serve as soil conditioner and are a rich
source of plant nutrients. One pound
of worms can consume one pound of
food daily. It is a fascinating and edu-
cational project for the children. Five
classrooms currently have worm bins
and when they produce more worms, five more classrooms will start them.
The students are taking responsibility
for feeding the worms. In the spring,
the students in the Pinewood Garden
Club will use the compost for planting.
It is our hope and expectation that we
are making our students more envi-ronmentally conscious.
Black Saga
On February 3rd, the Black Saga team went to Dumbarton Middle school to
showcase their knowledge. Our stu-
dents have been working very hard,
and we received 7 out of the 11 ques-
tions correct! We are still awaiting our scoring placement. Stay tuned for
more news to come.
On March 14th, the Black Saga team
will be competing at Union Hall in Towson University at 8:00 a.m.
Good luck to the Black Saga Team!
Lego Club
Every
other
Wednes-
day over
100 stu-dents
gather to
build with
Lego’s. It is amazing to see what they
create! Parent volunteers are on hand
to help and Dulaney High Key Club
students will be joining us
to offer en-
couragement
and guidance.
This club, led
by Mrs.
Nossel and
Mrs. Reines affords the children an opportunity to
design and create a multitude of pro-
jects. They can also use the Lego
board to create on a vertical surface.
Most of the Lego's came from gener-
ous donations
from families, BJ’s Wholesale
Club and Target.
Bucket Band
The Pinewood Bucket Bands, led by
Miss Seward, are hard at work learn-
ing new rhythmic pieces to perform
this Spring! The groups meet on Tues-
day and Thursday mornings and each
group has members in 3rd, 4th, and
5th grade. Being in Bucket Band builds self confidence, teamwork, and musi-
cal skills! The students must work to-
gether for a common goal: A ROCKIN’
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE! We start
each rehearsal with a warm up, then
we get to work on our rhythmic
“jams!” The students help to compose some of the pieces as well. Come see
our performance at the Spring Con-
cert and our Renaissance Fair!
5th Grade Choir We are excited to sing together every
Thursday after school from 3:30-4:30.
11 hard working musicians come to-
gether to tackle tricky choral pieces and popular hit songs in order to pre-
pare for the spring concert. We are
also excited to be working on authen-
tic renaissance music for the Pine-
wood Renaissance Festival.
Drama Club Drama Club meets every Tuesday
from 3:30-4:30. Students are divided
into 3 different focus groups: Chorus,
Stage Crew, and Actors. These con-
centrations have been collaborating in
order to present the musical produc-tion, “On The Radio” this March. We
are getting near to the end and the
students are excited to present their
hard work and dedication in front of
an audience.
Art Service Club The Art Service Club
completed their year
with custom
designed themed
coloring books for
the children at the Johns Hopkins
Children’s Center.
These books (50 of
them!) will be sure to delight patients
and their families at this wonderful
facility. Along with the coloring books,
new packs of crayons and custom note cards were attached.
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 10
Wellness DayWellness DayWellness DayWellness Day BCPS “Rock your Red” was held on February 19, 2015.
Participating schools try to out- do each other with
healthy mind and healthy body activities to win awards.
Pinewood really “Rocked our Red” by participating and “tweeting” our activities all day long! Besides wearing
red, we danced hourly for a few minutes to “Shake it
Off” by Taylor Swift! Teachers also participated in a
healthy snack challenge by making a recipe which was
judged by the American Heart Association! Mrs. Reines
won a “Cook this, Not That” cookbook for being the
winner of the snack challenge! Pinewood staff also par-ticipated in doing a month’s worth of Acts of Kindness
for our healthy minds and many staff members are par-
ticipating in a steps per day program. On the 100th Day
of School we collected $290.00 and the check was pre-
sented to the American Heart Association representa-
tives. We had a lot of fun activities all day long and
teachers concluded the day after school hours by taking a Zumba class taught by our old friend Mr. Brigerman!
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 11
Thank you for saving these items for our school.
PLEASE SUPPORT PINEWOOD!
�Labels for Education — Point Value and UPS is needed
�Box Tops — Bar code is needed
�Office Depot – 5% Back to Schools Program – ID # 70047487
����Target – Take Charge of Education – 1% of purchases – Target.com/tcoe
����Recycle - Please send in your used printer ink cartridges, laser toner cartridges and un-
wanted cell phones
����Soda Tabs – Send your soda can tabs to school to benefit Ronald McDonald House
����GIANT A+ Bonus Bucks – ID # 01103
����Drink Pouches — Please save your drink pouches We receive $.02 per pouch.
����ShopRite Rewards for Education at eScrip.com/ShopRite or by calling 800-931-6258.
Special thanks to Mrs. Guikema and our
Pinewood students for recycling the
juice pouches. Pinewood received a
check for $119.04. Way to go!!!!!!!
Special thanks to our families
for supporting Pinewood by
shopping at Target. We
received a check for $667.13.
Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 12
March 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 Anti-
Bullying Week
2
4 5 6 Spirit Day
Wear Purple
7
8 Daylight
Savings
Spring
Forward
9 Mobile Agricul-
tural Science Lab
at Pinewood this
week
10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 Family Fun
Night
First Day of Spring
21
22 23 Ballroom Dancing
Grade 5 all week
SIT 3:30
24 25 Maryland Day 26 27 Ballroom Dancing
Performance
28
29 30 Drama Club
Production 6:00 pm
“On the Radio”
31 Drama Club
Production 6:00 pm
“On the Radio”
PARCC Testing—Grades 3, 4, & 5 - 3/2 through 3/13/15
PARCC Testing—Grades 3, 4, & 5 - 3/2 through 3/13/15
April 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 End of 3rd
marking period
Parent Tour 9:30
2
Spring Break
Begins
3 4
5 Easter 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13
School Re-Opens
14 Internet Safety
Presentation 6 pm
PTA Meeting 7 pm
15
Pastries with
Parents
16
Vision & Hearing
17
KG Roundup
Vision & Hearing
18
19 20
Volunteer Week
Vision & Hearing
21
Vision & Hearing
Science Fair
22 Earth Day
Administrative
Professional Day
23
Report Cards go
Home
24 Kindergarten to
visit Walters Art
Gallery
25
26 27 28
Renaissance Fair
29
Grade 2 to Goucher
30
Grade 3 to visit the
Meyerhoff