As you know, TAKS writing in on Tuesday, March 1 for 4th graders. Your children are ready to show off their great writing skills and strategies.
Thank you for encouraging your child to do his/her best, take their time, take breaks as needed, and work hard.
Be sure to have your child get a good night's sleep on Monday evening and a healthy breakfast on Tuesday morning. Send a healthy snack or two to keep them going throughtout the day. I will provide some trail mix (cheerios, goldfish crackers, raisins, pretzels, M&M's) in small bags. Would someone like to donate small bottles of water? Let me know ASAP.
Remember that NO VISITORS will be allowed on campus on Tuesday and no one is allowed to drop off lunch for their child that day. Thank you for helping us with test security.
Most of let your child know how proud you are of their progress in writing this year. They all write with great details, good sequencing, strong words, and thoughtful reflections! I am certainly proud of all of their hard work!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Newsletter-February 21, 2011
Hi,
We had a wonderful time at writing camp! The kids worked so hard on their writing and did a great job. Thank you to everyone who donated time and/or items to help make our camp a success. The students loved receiving camp mail from you and thought our classroom looked awesome.
Each morning we started our day with camp songs with the entire fourth grade in the cafeteria. We had a guest reader on Tuesday. (Ask your child about Oraha Mae) Mrs. Lunkin and Mrs. Lehnick both talked to us about writing as well.
On Tuesday we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we were brave. We watched some Brainpop and Barry Lane videos about writing strategies and read some books with great writing to use as mentor texts. We also did a science demonstration with stream tables in the science lab with Mrs. Harper's class. We learned more about weathering, erosion, and deposition.
On Wednesday, we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we had an adventure. We wrote and practiced strategies like Show, not Tell, Explode the Moment, Use Strong Words, Use Thoughtshots and Feelings to engage the reader, etc... We also watched a movie about erosion and landforms.
Then on Thursday we read over both of our drafts and chose one of them to publish. We continued to revise and used our toolbox of writing strategies to be sure we were using our strategies and tools in our drafts. I conferenced with most of the children everyday (at least once a day) and we talked about all the wonderful things in their writing drafts and ideas for improvement. We also began editing for correct capitalization, punctuation, usage, and spelling. Some students began their final copies and/or created a cover for their story while they were waiting for a conference. Mrs. Brandt's kindergarten class came to visit our camp and brought us bat notes. They let us read our drafts for them and asked us questions about our writing.
Then on Friday, we continued to revise and edit our drafts, work on our final copies, and on our covers. We had a wonderful assembly about Africa and then came back and wrote some more. We had a visit from our first grade reading buddies in Mrs. Garcia's class. They also wrote us notes and we read our writing to them. After specials we were ready for our Writing Camp Celebration! Thank you all of the parents and grandparents who were able to attend. We all sat around our campfire while many of the children shared their creative, detailed, focused writing and everyone, at least, told us about their topic. We ended camp with some smores! I am so proud of the children and their hard work. They wrote some of their best pieces this week. They wrote with focus so they stayed on topic. They added thoughts, feelings, and details that helped the reader connect with the writer and feel like he/she was there. They made sure to tell the setting (when and where the story was taking place) and added some reflection at the end. (what did I learn from this experience, what did I notice or realize, what will I always remember) I was very impressed with the way they pulled together all of the strategies that we have been practicing this year and I am excited for them to be able to show off all their hard work on the Writing TAKS on Tuesday, March 1.
This week we will be continuing to practice writing skills and strategies. We will begin researching as a class on topics dealing with Civil Rights and Discrimination. We will be learning about 3D solids in math and weathering, erosion, and deposition in science. There will be a science study guide coming home tomorrow and a test on Thursday. We also will be having the ICAN students from University of Texas coming in to work with us tomorrow.
Dates to Remember:
Return TAKS writing form ASAP
ICAN activity=Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Writing Club afterschool=Thursday, February 24, 2011=2:45-4:00pm (Pick up at back car rider line)
FCE Service Club meeting=Monday, February 28= 2:45-4:00 pm
Writing TAKS for fourth graders=Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Cook-out for lunch and Hoe Down for K-2=Friday, March 11, 2011 (12:05-12:35 lunch)
Spring Break=March 14-18, 2011
Pen Pals to Forest Creek on Friday, March 25 to glaze our bowls
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had a wonderful time at writing camp! The kids worked so hard on their writing and did a great job. Thank you to everyone who donated time and/or items to help make our camp a success. The students loved receiving camp mail from you and thought our classroom looked awesome.
Each morning we started our day with camp songs with the entire fourth grade in the cafeteria. We had a guest reader on Tuesday. (Ask your child about Oraha Mae) Mrs. Lunkin and Mrs. Lehnick both talked to us about writing as well.
On Tuesday we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we were brave. We watched some Brainpop and Barry Lane videos about writing strategies and read some books with great writing to use as mentor texts. We also did a science demonstration with stream tables in the science lab with Mrs. Harper's class. We learned more about weathering, erosion, and deposition.
On Wednesday, we did prewriting to gather our ideas, made a plan, and drafted a composition about a time when we had an adventure. We wrote and practiced strategies like Show, not Tell, Explode the Moment, Use Strong Words, Use Thoughtshots and Feelings to engage the reader, etc... We also watched a movie about erosion and landforms.
Then on Thursday we read over both of our drafts and chose one of them to publish. We continued to revise and used our toolbox of writing strategies to be sure we were using our strategies and tools in our drafts. I conferenced with most of the children everyday (at least once a day) and we talked about all the wonderful things in their writing drafts and ideas for improvement. We also began editing for correct capitalization, punctuation, usage, and spelling. Some students began their final copies and/or created a cover for their story while they were waiting for a conference. Mrs. Brandt's kindergarten class came to visit our camp and brought us bat notes. They let us read our drafts for them and asked us questions about our writing.
Then on Friday, we continued to revise and edit our drafts, work on our final copies, and on our covers. We had a wonderful assembly about Africa and then came back and wrote some more. We had a visit from our first grade reading buddies in Mrs. Garcia's class. They also wrote us notes and we read our writing to them. After specials we were ready for our Writing Camp Celebration! Thank you all of the parents and grandparents who were able to attend. We all sat around our campfire while many of the children shared their creative, detailed, focused writing and everyone, at least, told us about their topic. We ended camp with some smores! I am so proud of the children and their hard work. They wrote some of their best pieces this week. They wrote with focus so they stayed on topic. They added thoughts, feelings, and details that helped the reader connect with the writer and feel like he/she was there. They made sure to tell the setting (when and where the story was taking place) and added some reflection at the end. (what did I learn from this experience, what did I notice or realize, what will I always remember) I was very impressed with the way they pulled together all of the strategies that we have been practicing this year and I am excited for them to be able to show off all their hard work on the Writing TAKS on Tuesday, March 1.
This week we will be continuing to practice writing skills and strategies. We will begin researching as a class on topics dealing with Civil Rights and Discrimination. We will be learning about 3D solids in math and weathering, erosion, and deposition in science. There will be a science study guide coming home tomorrow and a test on Thursday. We also will be having the ICAN students from University of Texas coming in to work with us tomorrow.
Dates to Remember:
Return TAKS writing form ASAP
ICAN activity=Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Writing Club afterschool=Thursday, February 24, 2011=2:45-4:00pm (Pick up at back car rider line)
FCE Service Club meeting=Monday, February 28= 2:45-4:00 pm
Writing TAKS for fourth graders=Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Cook-out for lunch and Hoe Down for K-2=Friday, March 11, 2011 (12:05-12:35 lunch)
Spring Break=March 14-18, 2011
Pen Pals to Forest Creek on Friday, March 25 to glaze our bowls
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thank you, Mrs. Scoggins, for planning a wonderful party. Thank you to all parents who helped or donated items. The kids seem to really enjoy passing out and reading the valentines, eating ice cream and candy, and making those cool lava lamps. It was very fun!
Camp Write Along!
Our room is ready for camp! We have trees, a camp fire and room for sleeping bags. We will have one small tent tomorrow. Children are welcome to bring their sleeping bags and a pillow. They are welcome to leave the sleeping bags here until Friday. We will be writing around the campfire and taking turns sitting in the tent to write. We will be doing a little science and math but mostly writing throughout the day. We will have black (Bartholomew Bats) bandanas to wear and the children are welcome to wear camping sort of clothing.
Feel free to send in camp letters for your child and I will deliver them after lunch each day. You can handwrite them, email them, whatever. You can send them for the entire week and I will give out some each day. Whatever works best for you.
I am very excited and know that it is going to be a great week. We will be reviewing all of the writing strategies that we have learned this year. We will be using mentor texts (books with great writing for us to model) and sharing ideas. We will be working on two rough drafts (one tomorrow and one on Wednesday) then choosing one draft to revise, edit, and publish. Don't forget to attend our Camp Celebration on Friday at 2:00 and read their writing!
Thank you again for a fun Valentine's Day and I am looking forward to a creative and exciting week of writing!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Thank you, Mrs. Scoggins, for planning a wonderful party. Thank you to all parents who helped or donated items. The kids seem to really enjoy passing out and reading the valentines, eating ice cream and candy, and making those cool lava lamps. It was very fun!
Camp Write Along!
Our room is ready for camp! We have trees, a camp fire and room for sleeping bags. We will have one small tent tomorrow. Children are welcome to bring their sleeping bags and a pillow. They are welcome to leave the sleeping bags here until Friday. We will be writing around the campfire and taking turns sitting in the tent to write. We will be doing a little science and math but mostly writing throughout the day. We will have black (Bartholomew Bats) bandanas to wear and the children are welcome to wear camping sort of clothing.
Feel free to send in camp letters for your child and I will deliver them after lunch each day. You can handwrite them, email them, whatever. You can send them for the entire week and I will give out some each day. Whatever works best for you.
I am very excited and know that it is going to be a great week. We will be reviewing all of the writing strategies that we have learned this year. We will be using mentor texts (books with great writing for us to model) and sharing ideas. We will be working on two rough drafts (one tomorrow and one on Wednesday) then choosing one draft to revise, edit, and publish. Don't forget to attend our Camp Celebration on Friday at 2:00 and read their writing!
Thank you again for a fun Valentine's Day and I am looking forward to a creative and exciting week of writing!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Newsletter-February 3
Hi,
Today was a short but very productive day! We worked on a difficult math problem which included comparing and ordering fractions and adding them. They used their fraction strips but it was still challenging and they did very well. They also took a released writing TAKS test. This included four passages to read and make corrections in spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation, capitalization, etc...This released test is longer than our benchmarks. Our benchmarks usually only have two passages to correct. We will be using the data from this assessment and from the recent benchmark to plan small group and whole group lessons.
The class worked so hard and was so calm and well behaved (maybe we should sleep late everyday!) that we are not having math or writing homework tonight. They are still required to read for their 100 minutes per week and write their reflection.
Happy Chinese New Year! We were so honored to have Mr. Lam (Theresa's dad) come to our classroom and teach us about Chinese New Year. We learned a lot of interesting information and were very excited to receive red envelopes and red Chinese candy. Thank you again, Mr. Lam, for sharing your knowledge and your time with us.
Tomorrow evening is our Math and Science Night. Look for more information about rescheduling if the weather becomes bad. If all goes well, we will be having fun with math and science activities from 5-8. Come find me in Mrs. Arnold's art room to read and act out a math story together!
Reading: We read a picture book called Crow Call by Lois Lowry, award winning author, and then read some autobiographical information about her. It was easy to see some similarities between events in her life and events in her book. We also read a bunch of Patricia Polacco books and will be reading her autobiography tomorrow and looking for similarities and differences. Next week we will be reading some persuasive text and working on some research.
Writing: We have finished revising our personal narratives and most of the class edited their stories and made final copies. We then started generating ideas for our next piece. We read a wonderful book called The Hickory Chair. We noted interesting, descriptive language and strong word choice. We also discussed how the author used a chair and the experiences with the chair to write her story.
We read a short story called Buffalo. Buffalo is what the author and his siblings called his father's big bathrobe. The experiences described and reflection centered around this object.
Next we made lists of objects that are important to us. We made a kernal story about their item and why it was important or significant to them. A kernal story is like a flow chart for their story. In the first box, they write where they are and when. The next book contains the first event that happened. It continues with a box for each event in the story and then the most important part of the story. Last box contains what they thought, what they learned, and what they will remember about this story and why.
We also read a short story called Your Name in Gold. We discussed the significance of the gold pin and how the characters changed in the story. We described ourselves and characters and how we changed in our story. We added more details to our first drafts. We will continue revising and editing these stories next week and publish them by next Friday.
Math: We are working hard to understand decimals, fractions, and how they relate to each other. We have used decimal squares, grids, and number lines to help us understand these concepts. We will be finishing up with this and moving on to geometry next week.
Science: Many of the children's science projects were quite impressive. Thank you for helping your children at home. We enjoyed the presentations and will be beginning learning about weathering and erosion tomorrow.
Look for progress reports and pen pal permission slips in Thursday Folders today. Please sign and return as soon as possible.
Dates to remember:
Feb. 3- Community Meeting with the Superintendent from 5:30-7:30 Canceled due to inclement weather
Feb. 4- National Heart Day-wear red
Science and Math Night- 5-8
Feb. 7, 8, 9- Book Fair in the Library
Feb. 7-Wear your favorite college shirt every Monday!
Feb. 10-Writing Club in art room 2:45-4:00
Feb. 11-Youth Art Month T-Shirt order forms due
Feb. 14-Pen Pal trip to The Court 9:15-11:15
Valentine Party-1:50-2:40
Service Club Meeting 2:45-4:00 in Mrs. Arnold's art room
Set up for Writing Camp in our classroom after 2:45
Feb. 15-Feb. 18=4th Grade Writing Camp!!!!!!!
March 1-Writing TAKS test for fourth graders
Stay warm tonight and tomorrow. Watch the weather reports.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your children with me.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Today was a short but very productive day! We worked on a difficult math problem which included comparing and ordering fractions and adding them. They used their fraction strips but it was still challenging and they did very well. They also took a released writing TAKS test. This included four passages to read and make corrections in spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation, capitalization, etc...This released test is longer than our benchmarks. Our benchmarks usually only have two passages to correct. We will be using the data from this assessment and from the recent benchmark to plan small group and whole group lessons.
The class worked so hard and was so calm and well behaved (maybe we should sleep late everyday!) that we are not having math or writing homework tonight. They are still required to read for their 100 minutes per week and write their reflection.
Happy Chinese New Year! We were so honored to have Mr. Lam (Theresa's dad) come to our classroom and teach us about Chinese New Year. We learned a lot of interesting information and were very excited to receive red envelopes and red Chinese candy. Thank you again, Mr. Lam, for sharing your knowledge and your time with us.
Tomorrow evening is our Math and Science Night. Look for more information about rescheduling if the weather becomes bad. If all goes well, we will be having fun with math and science activities from 5-8. Come find me in Mrs. Arnold's art room to read and act out a math story together!
Reading: We read a picture book called Crow Call by Lois Lowry, award winning author, and then read some autobiographical information about her. It was easy to see some similarities between events in her life and events in her book. We also read a bunch of Patricia Polacco books and will be reading her autobiography tomorrow and looking for similarities and differences. Next week we will be reading some persuasive text and working on some research.
Writing: We have finished revising our personal narratives and most of the class edited their stories and made final copies. We then started generating ideas for our next piece. We read a wonderful book called The Hickory Chair. We noted interesting, descriptive language and strong word choice. We also discussed how the author used a chair and the experiences with the chair to write her story.
We read a short story called Buffalo. Buffalo is what the author and his siblings called his father's big bathrobe. The experiences described and reflection centered around this object.
Next we made lists of objects that are important to us. We made a kernal story about their item and why it was important or significant to them. A kernal story is like a flow chart for their story. In the first box, they write where they are and when. The next book contains the first event that happened. It continues with a box for each event in the story and then the most important part of the story. Last box contains what they thought, what they learned, and what they will remember about this story and why.
We also read a short story called Your Name in Gold. We discussed the significance of the gold pin and how the characters changed in the story. We described ourselves and characters and how we changed in our story. We added more details to our first drafts. We will continue revising and editing these stories next week and publish them by next Friday.
Math: We are working hard to understand decimals, fractions, and how they relate to each other. We have used decimal squares, grids, and number lines to help us understand these concepts. We will be finishing up with this and moving on to geometry next week.
Science: Many of the children's science projects were quite impressive. Thank you for helping your children at home. We enjoyed the presentations and will be beginning learning about weathering and erosion tomorrow.
Look for progress reports and pen pal permission slips in Thursday Folders today. Please sign and return as soon as possible.
Dates to remember:
Feb. 3- Community Meeting with the Superintendent from 5:30-7:30 Canceled due to inclement weather
Feb. 4- National Heart Day-wear red
Science and Math Night- 5-8
Feb. 7, 8, 9- Book Fair in the Library
Feb. 7-Wear your favorite college shirt every Monday!
Feb. 10-Writing Club in art room 2:45-4:00
Feb. 11-Youth Art Month T-Shirt order forms due
Feb. 14-Pen Pal trip to The Court 9:15-11:15
Valentine Party-1:50-2:40
Service Club Meeting 2:45-4:00 in Mrs. Arnold's art room
Set up for Writing Camp in our classroom after 2:45
Feb. 15-Feb. 18=4th Grade Writing Camp!!!!!!!
March 1-Writing TAKS test for fourth graders
Stay warm tonight and tomorrow. Watch the weather reports.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your children with me.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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