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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

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.


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!


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-

[email protected].


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.


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!


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


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


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.


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!


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.


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

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