Bartholomew Bats!


Our school is located in Round Rock, Texas which is near Austin. Austin and Round Rock both have huge populations of Mexican Free Tailed Bats that live under our bridges. A colony of bats lives beneath the Ann Richards/Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin and in Round Rock, another colony resides under the Interstate 35 bridge over McNeil Road. Each evening from March to about October, the bats fly out from beneath the bridge and search for insects to eat. The emergence of the bats is a wonder to watch. We are also thankful that all these millions of bats eat the bugs by our homes.

Our class mascot is the Bat to honor the mammals that live so close to us and help us. (also because Bat and Bartholomew both start with the letter B!) The bats in Central Texas live together in a group and help take care of the young. Then they migrate together as a team. Our class will also live together in our classroom, work together as a team, and help each other out. We are the Bartholomew Bats!





Thursday, May 26, 2011

Happy Summer! Read, practice math, and write stories and letters!

Hi,

Our class created some amazing bullying projects and the children have been going to other classes to teach them about bullying. They have been presenting their slide shows and performing their skits. Mrs. Rollans, our tech teacher, made movies of the skits using the green screen technology and movie maker. They are wonderful and I will show them during the party tomorrow.

If you would like to have a copy of your child's movie and/or slide show, send in a thumbdrive tomorrow and I will copy it for you.

Thank you again for sharing your child with me this year. I have enjoyed them all and they have made amazing progress. Be sure to practice facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) to make those facts automatic so that using larger numbers in 5th grade will be even easier. I am sending home a packet of math problem solving for your child to enjoy this summer, also. Keep reading this summer to prevent the "summer slide". (loss of reading level)

Did you know that according to Scholastic.com, students who read almost two million words per year outside of school score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests? Reading two million words means about 50 chapter books per year for a fifth grader or about four books a day for a first grader. That may sound like a lot but if your child reads about 20-30 minutes everyday, that goal will be easy to achieve.

Reading with your child (family book clubs are fun!) can strengthen the connection between you and your child. Have fun enjoying literature with your family this summer!

I am attaching a form with some reading programs in the area. These were also included in the children's Thursday folders today. There are some math links that would be helpful to use, also. Visit our class website as well as other FCE teacher websites to find other fun math and language arts games for practice.

I will also be sending home a stamped and addressed envelope for your child. If your child writes and mails me a letter, I would LOVE to write them back!

The report cards and some awards will be coming home as well.

Have a wonderful summer! I will see you around Round Rock (I'm sure!) this summer. Stay safe, keep learning, and enjoy your family!

Feel free to email me during the summer if you have any questions or concerns. I will miss each of the children. I know they will do well in 5th grade!

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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