Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page

Franchesca Brown, Principal

Terry Davis, Assistant Principal

Laura Nossel, Editor

It is March Madness at Pinewood Elementary School!

This month our boys and girls are

tracking how many miles their Flat Stanley’s have traveled.

Leading the mileage race is fourth

grade with their Flat Stanley’s traveling over 41,000 miles and

not far behind is 3rd grade. Their

Flat Stanley’s have traveled a little over 39,000 miles. Including all of

our grade levels, our Flat Stanley’s have traveled a total of

82,000 miles across the world!

We are plotting the locations on a wall map in the main hallway for

the boys and girls to see. This has

been an exciting and rewarding experience for everyone. Thank

you for your support with this en-

deavor. Despite the endless

snowy conditions, our intermedi-

ate students are completing the Maryland State Assessments with

enthusiasm and determination.

Towards the end of the month, some students will have an oppor-

tunity to participate in the new PARCC assessment, which is a

prototype for a new national as-

sessment. In addition to partici-pating in both local and national

assessments, our fourth and fifth

grader students are working on their science fair projects. We are

anxious to see their amazing work

on display at our annual Science Fair scheduled for March 25th. As

an extra added bonus, the pri-

mary grades are preparing for Exhibits of Wonder which is

scheduled for April 8th. Everyone is invited to both events to see all

of the innovative projects!

Pinewood SGA planned a fun-filled week to support Balti-

more County Public School’s Anti

-Bullying Program. Their efforts helped us all remember how to

be good citizens and what it

means to learn and work in a bully-free environment. Pictures will

be posted to the main lobby moni-tor and on our website for every-

one to enjoy.

As we begin to look to-wards the warmer temperatures,

the Pinewood PTA is welcoming

the first day of spring by hosting our annual Family Fun Night on

March 21st. We are celebrating

spring with a fun game and pizza dinner. Thank you to the PTA, Mr.

Tarrant, and his committee for

coordinating it. On April 4th we will host a

very special fundraiser for pa-

tients suffering from cancer. Every family is invited to hand

paint and decorate a mug for the Pinewood Believe Big project.

We hope you will be able to join

us for this worthwhile family ex-perience. Please see pages 10

and 11 for more information.

As you can see, we are extremely busy and sincerely

thank you for your

continued support. Best wishes for a won-

derful spring season.

Happy Spring!

From the Principal, Franchesca Brown

March 6, 2014

Pinewood Pinewood Pinewood Pinewood

HeraldHeraldHeraldHerald

Pinewood Information 2

Proud Penguins 3

General Information 4

Health & Guidance 5

Special Areas 5 –7

Community News 8

Support Pinewood

Spirit Day

9

Pinewood Calendar 12

Believe Big Make a

Mug

10 &

11

On the web

pinewoodes.bcps.org

200 Rickswood Road

Timonium, MD 21093

Phone 410-887-7663

Fax 410-252-1962

Pinewood

Elementary

Inside this issue:

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

Pinewood Elementary area, but who will be requesting

special permission for their child to attend Pinewood for legitimate reasons during the

2014-2015 school year, please be reminded that applications

may be submitted from April 1-June 1, 2014. We cannot ac-

cept any applications prior to the April 1st date. If your child is already attending Pine-

wood under special permis-sion, it is NOT necessary to

re-apply.

Visiting Pinewood

When you visit Pine-

wood you are required to show your government issued

ID which will be scanned and once you are cleared a badge will be printed. Please wear

your badge at all times. When you are ready to leave, please

return to the office to check out.

Early Dismissal

If you have made any

changes in how your child should be dismissed during

an emergency or inclement weather, please send your signed changes to the office

as soon as possible. Thank you for your assistance in

helping us keep your children safe.

Attendance…BEE

On Time

We continue to focus on making

certain that our boys and girls are present

and on time to maxi-mize their instruc-

tional program. Please remember that we open at

8:45 A.M. and begin morning announcements at 9:00 A.M. School personnel will con-

tinue to contact parents of students who are tardy or

absent.

Teens for Jeans

Thanks to all who supported

the Pinewood SGA jeans col-lection project. You may also find more information about

this project on the BCSP.org/communitywebpage.

Vision: Pinewood Elementary believes every student is capable of

learning the skills and strategies necessary to be college and career ready.

Pinewood Elementary

Kindergarten

Registration for the

2014–2015 school year

will be held on

April 4th & May 1st, 2014

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.

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 recognized during the month of January for be-

ing “Prepared, Polite, and Persistent.” They had lunch

with Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Davis; Cameron F., Rachel O., Jake K., Min Joo K., Vanessa

H., and Haley G.

Author Breakfast Shelia R.

March Artist of the Month

Taylor V. Guest Announcer

Math 24

The Pinewood competi-tion was held and there were

two winners in fifth grade. Representing Pinewood for the single digit game is Sabrina Z..

and for the double digit game is Ryan G. Both students will be

competing in the County Com-petition in March.

Congratulations to our school winners!

Black Saga team

Spelling Bee participants

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 4

MSA Testing Please try to avoid scheduling appoint-ments or vacations during this time frame.

Volunteer Training

NEW: There is an online vol-unteer orientation available on the BCPS web site for use if

you are unable to attend the trainings at Pinewood. You can find the orientation and the in-

structions for users at http://www.bcps.org/community/

volunteer_info/.

Lunch Information

Homeroom lunch schedules

are available on the Pinewood web site.

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 NICK-

NAMES). If you need to send cash, please put it in an enve-lope with the pre-payment

form. Additional copies of this form are available in the

school office. This eliminates the need for children to carry

cash

CafeteriaCafeteriaCafeteriaCafeteria Mark your Mark your Mark your Mark your

CalendarCalendarCalendarCalendar

Schools-out.com

Is a free public service

website to email parents

directly about unexpected

changes in the school

schedule. The schools-

out.com web site is tied

directly to Baltimore

County Public Schools and

is updated by BCPS staff.

The BCPS website

www.bcps.org provides

the most definitive infor-

mation about unexpected

changes in school schedul-

ing. Parents may also call

410-887-5555 for informa-

Grade 3

Reading 3/11, 3/12

Math 3/5, 3/6

Grade 4

Reading

3/13, 3/14

Math 3/7, 3/10

Grade 5

Math 3/11, 3/12

Reading 3/5, 3/7

Please note date change

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

Not every sore throat is a Strep throat. The only

way a strep infection can be identified is through a throat culture. You should seek medi-

cal attention for your child if any of the following symptoms occur:

♦ Their sore throat came on suddenly.

♦ Their throat hurts mostly when swal-lowing.

♦ Their throat hurts when you press gen-tly 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 chil-dren 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 symp-toms 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 treatment.

The Movement Ed equipment or “Whittle” will be set up during the month of March.

Students will be exploring the various areas of Maryland as they travel around the equipment. They will start at the beaches of Ocean City, fish

off the Choptank bridge, travel across the Bay Bridge, note some attractions in the city, then

hike across the mountains in Western Maryland. Students in

grades 3-5 will include, with their travels, the understanding of mus-cular strength, endurance, flexi-

bility, and balance.

Volunteers are greatly needed to help with the kindergarten and 1st grade classes during their physical education time. If you have

been trained to volunteer, and would like to help, please contact me, ppilson@bcps.org.

Kindergarten class times are 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. on rotation days 1,2,3, & 5. First grade class

times are 1:40 to 2:30 p.m. on rotation days 2 thru 5.

Physical Education by Physical Education by Physical Education by Physical Education by

Pat Pilson Pat Pilson Pat Pilson Pat Pilson

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

The Pinewood SGA

celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday

by serving as guest readers.

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 6

The kindergartener children 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 dogs and pigs when we read From

Puppy to Dog and From Piglet to Pig. The fiction

books include The Last Puppy by Frank Asch and

Emmett’s Pig by Mary Stolz. The first graders will

use Venn diagrams to contrast fiction and nonfic-

tion literature. For this activity the students will listen to a true book about rabbits and then com-

pare it to a rabbit in the fiction classic Mr. Rabbit

and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow. The

second graders will be finishing their study of Ezra

Jack Keats. They will continue to improve their

skills of locating the copyright date in the book,

and they will check out and be able to use this in-formation to enter the book title on the American

Library Association (ALA) list of Caldecott award

winning books. The students in third grade are

beginning to select a topic pertaining to the

growth of Baltimore which they will research with

a partner and be able to subsequently use presen-

tation skills to relay this information to the entire class. The fourth grade students will continue with

the Greek Mythology research by selecting a

mythological character to research with their part-

ner. The fifth graders are writing short informa-

tional papers describing how the accomplish-

ments of their Revolutionary War characters have

impacted history. They will support their position using information from the text.

Recommended Reading

Picture Books:

1. The Camping Trip that changed America, Pic-ture book, BES nominee by Barbara Rosenstock,

grades 4-5 , lexile =740, ©2012

2. Tops & Bottoms, by Janet Stevens, nonfiction pic-

ture book, 1996 Caldecott Honor book, reading

level=3.8. Interest level=K-3, ©1995

3. Grow It, Cook It. DK Publishing, Interest level

=K-5, ©2008.

Chapter Books:

1. Fantasy Series: The Tales of Dimwood Forest, by

AVI, Interest and Reading levels-grades 3-5.

Ragweed, Book One, ©1999, Poppy, Book Two,

©1995, Poppy and Rye, Book Three, © 1998,

Ereth’s Birthday, Book Four, © 2000, Poppy’s Re-turn, Book Five, © 2005, Poppy and Ereth, Book

Six, © 2009

Library NewsLibrary NewsLibrary NewsLibrary News

by Marilyn Lockwoodby Marilyn Lockwoodby Marilyn Lockwoodby Marilyn Lockwood

The Art Beat by Sheldon Lebowitz

Kindergarteners As we move to March, our kin-dergarteners are going to be taking on the wonderful skill of paper weaving. This is a terrific way to build upon the skill of recogniz-ing and creating patterns. After having created patterns in their radial design triv-ets, paper weaving will reinforce the information of repeating art ele-ments in a work of art to create pat-terns.

First graders Our first grade friends will take on tempera painting as well as the chil-dren’s book, Amaz-ing Grace, as we paint self-portraits of us doing things we never thought we could or that we have dreamed of doing. It’s a great story that is inspi-rational and multi-cultural and deals with how stereo-types can affect our feelings. These self portraits will reveal the dreams of our grade one painters.

Second Graders Second Graders Second graders will move from sculp-tures of papier-mâché to sculptures in clay of birds in nests! This will take our skill of pinch pot building one step further as the children will create birds in nests all out of the clay. A textured clay pinch pot makes a won-derful nest as pinching and pulling clay can make a bird at rest sitting on the edge of the nest! Beautiful bird bowls!

Third graders Van Gogh would be thrilled with our pinch pots in-spired by him as we add colorful, beautiful glaze for the finish on these sunflower embellished bowls. Using common col-ors for the sun-flowers (oranges, reds, yellows, browns) the glazed will be brushed on in lay-ers, with the chil-dren picking their colors for the rest of the bowl, as well as the in-side. These bowls are bloom-ful!

Fourth graders Our relief slab cas-tle sculptures have the most beautiful colors as our fourth graders thoroughly painted these fantastic abodes with crea-tivity and fantasy. We’ll be moving on to a lesson in figu-rative sculpture next as we look at the fourth grade STEM-related ac-tivity of creating figurative Greek mythological gods and goddesses. Working in 3-D is delightful, daring, and dramatic, not to mention great fun!

Fifth graders The Aztec Sun God sculptures painted and varnished by our fifth grade sculptors are each uniquely and won-derfully created. They’ll look lovely displayed on a small plate holder as we bring the sun in-doors during the remaining weeks of winter. Then it is off to a drawing activity that deals with...wait for it...MATH! - as we learn the propor-tions of portrai-ture for our chalk pastel half-portraits.

Art Exhibit NewsArt Exhibit NewsArt Exhibit NewsArt Exhibit News This month we recognize the work of thirty Pinewood School students who were selected to have their art work displayed at the Pulaski Park annex of Baltimore County Public schools. From kindergarteners through grade five children, we are well represented at these offices of BCPS! Fifth graders Jay Y., Adam S., Sara B., Declan T., And James W. Fourth graders John G., Joseph V., Genevieve T., Chase N., Min Wei M., Brady M., and Holly L. Third graders Jack K., Christopher E., and Min Joo K. Second graders Libby T., Pizey G., Bryce C. Grade one, Sawyer P., Sarah P., Ashley J., and Jaeman S. Our kindergarteners are Shayan J., Gavin G., Jack R., Jett M., Kaleigh C., Eli L., Heidi G., and Rachel B. Super job, friends!

We also recognize six children in grades kindergarten through five who will have their work on display at the Walters Art Museum. This annual event draws hun-dreds of visitors and student artists from all around Baltimore County and I could not be prouder of our children: Maggie M., Patrick L., Jeremy R., Cassie H., Ava E., and Claire L. Great job, friends...I will see you at the Walters!

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 7

Musical Notes from the desktop of Mrs. Mahoney

Happy March from the

Vocal Music department! As we

approach springtime, there is a

lot going on down in this end of

the building!

Kindergarten students

will be exploring various instru-

ments that we have in the class-

room. They will learn the correct

way to play them and demon-

strate steady beat while playing

them along with the music.

First Graders will start out

the month by exploring Russian

music. They will also continue

learning the symbols that appear

in music, such as, bar-lines, dou-

ble bar-lines, accents, and meas-

ures.

Second Grade just fin-

ished taking a quiz to determine

their knowledge of their 8 rhythm

symbols plus other musical

symbols that we’ve been working

with this year. Next, we will learn

and perform sixteenth notes.

Third Grade students also

just completed a quiz, but theirs

was a playing assessment on the

recorder. It is good for me to hear

them play individually and get a

sense of their proficiency on the

recorder. As always, I highly en-

courage home practice!

Fourth Graders are very

busy right now. They are prepar-

ing for a recorder assessment on

the song, “Frog”, which is quite a

challenging piece. They are also

working hard preparing for their

spring choral concert on May13th.

We’ve only had 3 rehearsals, but

they are sounding amazing!

Fifth Grade is working

through recorder music that will

be performed at the county festi-

val in late April. Only a few stu-

dents will attend that festival, but

these songs are good practice for

all of them.

The Fifth Grade After

School Spring Chorus is also in

full force. They meet on Wednes-

days after school until 4:30, and

promise to be another fabulous

vocal ensemble.

THINK SPRING!!

The Band and Orchestra have had a won-

derful month! We completed our 2014 Band

and Orchestra Olympics! Students raced in

events that challenged them to use musical

knowledge, speed, communication skills,

and most importantly: TEAMWORK. I am

very proud of all the students! The final

medal count put the Orange Team in the

lead for Band, and the Black Team in the

lead for Orchestra. Congratulations to those

two teams and to all the students that par-

ticipated!

All Band and Orchestra students also com-

pleted their mid-year assessment which

included a performance portion, written test

of musical terms learned, and a self-

assessment of their progress.

Fourth Grade students are continuing

to explore the String Family of the Orches-

tra. Students have learned the science be-

hind how these instruments work and have

started learning Pizzicato (that’s Italian for

“pluck”) songs on the violin. As we con-

clude this unit in March, students will also

have a chance to use the bow and explore

other instruments of the family like: Viola,

Cello, and Double Bass.

Band and Orchestra notes

from Ms. Seward

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 8

Community News Community News Community News Community News

Mark your calendars for Camp Invention at Pinewood Elementary!

This year Camp Invention will be hosted at Pinewood on June 23, 25, 26 & 27, 2014. Camp offers fantastic, hands-on science activities for any students in grades K-5.

We’re honored to have connected with Camp Invention, a program of the National Inventors Hall of

Fame, to inspire children as our location’s Directors! Even though it’s a weeklong program, we know that the

skills the students build upon will forever impact them throughout their schooling and beyond.

If you haven’t heard, we are hosting the program again at Pinewood on June 23rd , 25th , 26th ,and 27th and we would love

to see some returning campers! If you have a child that hasn’t participated before, there’s substantial savings available for your

family. New participants get $25 off through March 28, but hurry, because we want as many children as possible to experience

it. This summer’s all-new program, Morphed!, combines the creation of an insect-themed pinball machine with challenges from

renowned National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees and so much more. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s great!

The Counselor-in-Training Program is another option if you have a son or daughter who will be entering 7th, 8th or 9th

grade this fall. Because Camp Invention was created for rising 1st-6th grade students, we’ve found students who are too old for the

traditional program enjoy staying involved.

Sign up at www.campinvention.org or call Camp Invention’s Customer Relations Department at 800.968.4332 between

the hours of 8AM-7PM EST Monday through Friday. Thanks for being a part of something BIG by investing in your child’s future

and believing in the power of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)!

Sincerely, Kelly Fetterolf and Kelly Rowe

Flat Stanley

visits the

2014 Olympics

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 9

PLEASE SUPPORT PINEWOOD!

Thank you for saving these items for our school. �Campbell Soup Labels & Box Tops. Only the 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

unwanted 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.

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 10

Dear Pinewood School Families and Friends,

We would like to invite you to an evening of fun, fellowship, and service that we have never held at Pinewood School before. Welcome to Believe Big! This wonderful organization brings emo-tional refreshment to patients suffering from cancer by distributing hand painted and decorated mugs created by children and adults in the community. It is hoped that every time a patient uses a mug, they are reminded that people care.

This is a wonderful way to provide support for those experiencing the difficult journey that cancer presents through a fun and creative means. For the low cost of $10.00 per mug, you and your fam-ily can express your compassion, care, and creativity and paint a mug that will enable Believe Big to help families face the cancer journey by providing resources, direction, and hope.

What a meaningful and fun way to spend an early Friday evening in April. On Friday, April 4, 2014, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., come up to Pinewood School’s cafeteria and Believe Big. Simply complete and turn in the attached form, along with $10.00 per mug to Mr. Lebowitz by Friday, March 21st, 2014. This will allow ample time for ordering the mugs needed.

What a great opportunity for you and your families and friends to help those in need and enjoy a fun, Friday evening. Questions? Feel free to email us at rfrankle@bcps.org or slebowitz@bcps.org.

Thanks for your support of this terrific organization and for helping to show that Pinewood School cares.

Sincerely,

Pam Frankle, School Nurse

Sheldon M. Lebowitz, Art Teacher

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 11

Pinewood Elementary School Herald Page 12

March 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

2 Anti-

Bullying

Week

3

Cool

Compliment Day

4

Rainbow Day

5

Suit Up and Be Super

6

Dress As Someone

You Admire

7 Spirit Day

MSA Gr. 4 Math

Lunch Mix Up Day

8

9 Daylight

Savings

Time

10

MSA Gr. 4 Math

11 MSA Gr. 3 Reading

MSA Gr. 5 Math

PTA Meeting 7 pm

12 MSA Gr. 3 Reading

MSA Gr. 5 Math

13 14 15

16 17 Happy

St. Patrick’s Day

18 19 Eco-trekkers

Grade 5

20 21 Vision and

Hearing Retest

22

23 24

PTA Reflections

Breakfast

25

Science Fair

26 MSA Science

Grade 5

27 MSA Science

Grade 5

28 Schools Close 3

hours early / End of

the marking period

29

30 31 Schools Closed

for Students

Prof Development

Mark your calendar. Spring Break

Schools are Closed 4/14 through

4/21/14.

April 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 Spirit Day

Kindergarten

Round-Up

Make a Mug

5

6 7 School

Improvement Team

4 pm

8 Exhibits of

Wonder 6—7 pm

PTA Meeting 7 pm

9 10

Report Cards go

home

11 12

13 14

Schools Closed

15

Schools Closed

16

Schools Closed

17

Schools Closed

18

Schools Closed

19

20 21

Schools Closed

22

Schools Reopen

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30