Hi,
Everything went smoothly for our first day of STAAR testing. We will be completing Day 2 of the writing test tomorrow.
Remember:
Early to bed tonight.
Good breakfast tomorrow.
Healthy snacks are welcome.
No visitors at school.
Cell phones will be collected.
Positive attitudes and perseverance is encouraged!
Here is an email from the district.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The 2012 Parent Climate Survey is now available.
Each year Round Rock ISD seeks parent input about the quality of the school environment and its academic programs.
We welcome your thoughtful feedback to help us identify our existing strengths and areas that need improvement.
We encourage you to complete one survey per student.
The survey will be available through April 30, in English: http://tinyurl.com/parent12english and in Spanish: http://tinyurl.com/parent12esp Thanks for your participation!
Thanks for everything and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Writing STAAR test on Tuesday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 28
Hi,
We will be taking our first STAAR tests of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we will be revising and editing passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of a one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). On Wednesday, we will revise and edit some more passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of another one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). The children have been working hard and are ready to show off their awesome writing talents! I am excited for them.
Some things to remember:
No cell phones are allowed in the classroom. If your child has a cell phone in his/her backpack, then they will need to turn it into me and I will turn it into the office. All phones will be returned at the end of the day. The teachers will also be turning in their cell phones. Be sure that NO cell phones are left in back packs.
No visitors are allowed past the office tomorrow to be sure that our testing areas are secure. Please don't plan to come and eat lunch with your child.
Our school will be offering free breakfast in our cafeteria all this week from 7:15-7:45am. Be sure that your child has a healthy breakfast.
We will be testing for three hours then stopping for lunch (about 30 minutes earlier than our normal lunch time)and then we will test for one hour more for a total of four hours.
Your child may bring in a healthy, clean snack and a water bottle. (Nothing that will leave fingerprints on the test) If he/she needs a snack, he/she will need to stop testing, give me his/her test and answer dccument, and eat neatly and quickly at his/her desk. The time will not be stopped for snack breaks or bathroom breaks, it will only stop for lunch.
I have encouraged the children to take mental breaks as needed. They can put their head down for a few minutes, go take a drink from the water fountain, or go to the bathroom, then come back to their desk to get back to work.
The directions for the composition will come first on the test and then the passages to revise and edit. I will be reading all of the directions and then they are on their own to manage their time and get it all done in four hours. We have talked about reading the directions for the prompts very carefully so they know whether they are writing a personal narrative or an essay. Personal narratives will have the words "write about a time...." and the words "write about a personal experience" in the directions. Essays will have the words "explain" and the words "include a central idea". I am suggesting that they use their time in the following way. They will have to plan their composition by creating a graphic organizer, they will draft their composition, they will revise their composition (add details, show, not tell,include a strong conclusion, etc...) and they will edit their composition (check for correct sentence structure, paragraphs, spelling, capitals, punctuation, etc...)Then they will work on their multiple choice sections carefully. Finally, they will reread their rough draft and make any necessary changes and improvements. Lastly, they will write their final copy in their neatest handwriting with good spacing and they need to be sure to reread their final copy. They need to check that they didn't skip words or write words twice, and that it is the way that they want it.
Thank you so much for encouraging them this year in their writing. I am very proud of their progress and know that they are going to shine!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We will be taking our first STAAR tests of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we will be revising and editing passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of a one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). On Wednesday, we will revise and edit some more passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of another one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). The children have been working hard and are ready to show off their awesome writing talents! I am excited for them.
Some things to remember:
No cell phones are allowed in the classroom. If your child has a cell phone in his/her backpack, then they will need to turn it into me and I will turn it into the office. All phones will be returned at the end of the day. The teachers will also be turning in their cell phones. Be sure that NO cell phones are left in back packs.
No visitors are allowed past the office tomorrow to be sure that our testing areas are secure. Please don't plan to come and eat lunch with your child.
Our school will be offering free breakfast in our cafeteria all this week from 7:15-7:45am. Be sure that your child has a healthy breakfast.
We will be testing for three hours then stopping for lunch (about 30 minutes earlier than our normal lunch time)and then we will test for one hour more for a total of four hours.
Your child may bring in a healthy, clean snack and a water bottle. (Nothing that will leave fingerprints on the test) If he/she needs a snack, he/she will need to stop testing, give me his/her test and answer dccument, and eat neatly and quickly at his/her desk. The time will not be stopped for snack breaks or bathroom breaks, it will only stop for lunch.
I have encouraged the children to take mental breaks as needed. They can put their head down for a few minutes, go take a drink from the water fountain, or go to the bathroom, then come back to their desk to get back to work.
The directions for the composition will come first on the test and then the passages to revise and edit. I will be reading all of the directions and then they are on their own to manage their time and get it all done in four hours. We have talked about reading the directions for the prompts very carefully so they know whether they are writing a personal narrative or an essay. Personal narratives will have the words "write about a time...." and the words "write about a personal experience" in the directions. Essays will have the words "explain" and the words "include a central idea". I am suggesting that they use their time in the following way. They will have to plan their composition by creating a graphic organizer, they will draft their composition, they will revise their composition (add details, show, not tell,include a strong conclusion, etc...) and they will edit their composition (check for correct sentence structure, paragraphs, spelling, capitals, punctuation, etc...)Then they will work on their multiple choice sections carefully. Finally, they will reread their rough draft and make any necessary changes and improvements. Lastly, they will write their final copy in their neatest handwriting with good spacing and they need to be sure to reread their final copy. They need to check that they didn't skip words or write words twice, and that it is the way that they want it.
Thank you so much for encouraging them this year in their writing. I am very proud of their progress and know that they are going to shine!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Friday, March 9, 2012
Writing Camp-Huge Success!!!!!
Hi,
Your children worked so hard this week and actually produced 3 complete compositions! They wrote an essay completely independently on Monday during our practice test day. (tell about a special person and explain why that person is special) On Tuesday they planned, drafted, and revised a personal narrative. (write about a time that something unexpected or unplanned happened to you) On Wednesday, they revised, conferenced with me, revised some more,edited, and wrote their final copy of their personal narrative. On Thursday they planned, drafted, and began to revise an essay or expository piece of writing. (tell about a way that you can make your community a better place and give reasons or examples of what you can do). This was a little tricky for some of us so on Friday we planned an essay for another prompt (tell about a special place and give reasons why that place is special for you). Then we examined both of our essay plans and decided which one to draft, revise, conference about, revise more, edit, and publish.
I was very impressed with the way the children are revising independently. They are talking about ways they can improve their drafts and then doing it! It gave me goosebumps.
I was also amazed at the descriptions they are using. They are thinking about imagery (sensory words-describing using senses), exploding the moment (slowing down and telling an important part in great detail), and show, not tell (describe an action or emotion instead of just saying that it happened).
Your writers have grown a lot this week as writers. They worked hard and I pushed them hard to continue to focus and do their best and they did. I am very proud of them.
Keep talking about writing over spring break. Practice math facts and problem solving situations and be sure to read! Remember, 100 minutes is due on Monday, March 19 and students reading over 100 minutes will be rewarded!
Have a happy, safe, and relaxing spring break. Thank you for sharing your children with me. They did a wonderful job this week!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Your children worked so hard this week and actually produced 3 complete compositions! They wrote an essay completely independently on Monday during our practice test day. (tell about a special person and explain why that person is special) On Tuesday they planned, drafted, and revised a personal narrative. (write about a time that something unexpected or unplanned happened to you) On Wednesday, they revised, conferenced with me, revised some more,edited, and wrote their final copy of their personal narrative. On Thursday they planned, drafted, and began to revise an essay or expository piece of writing. (tell about a way that you can make your community a better place and give reasons or examples of what you can do). This was a little tricky for some of us so on Friday we planned an essay for another prompt (tell about a special place and give reasons why that place is special for you). Then we examined both of our essay plans and decided which one to draft, revise, conference about, revise more, edit, and publish.
I was very impressed with the way the children are revising independently. They are talking about ways they can improve their drafts and then doing it! It gave me goosebumps.
I was also amazed at the descriptions they are using. They are thinking about imagery (sensory words-describing using senses), exploding the moment (slowing down and telling an important part in great detail), and show, not tell (describe an action or emotion instead of just saying that it happened).
Your writers have grown a lot this week as writers. They worked hard and I pushed them hard to continue to focus and do their best and they did. I am very proud of them.
Keep talking about writing over spring break. Practice math facts and problem solving situations and be sure to read! Remember, 100 minutes is due on Monday, March 19 and students reading over 100 minutes will be rewarded!
Have a happy, safe, and relaxing spring break. Thank you for sharing your children with me. They did a wonderful job this week!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Friday, March 2, 2012
Happy Texas Independence Day! Writing Camp next week!
Hi,
Today is the day that Texas gained its independence from Spain in 1836. We celebrated by learning about Lorenzo de Zavala and Sam Houston. Later we will be comparing and contrasting these two historical figures and signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. We also went to a very fun website about Texas and played a 3D simulation of a girl or boy in 1836 who is traveling to Washington-on-the-Brazos in search of his/her father. We ran out of time to finish the game so your child may want to play at home. The site is http://www.txindependence.org/. Have fun and celebrate Texas!
Next week begins our Camp Write Along week! On Monday, we will have a practice writing test to practice completing the revising and editing multiple choice part of the test and planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing a final copy of a composition in the four hour time frame. We will have lunch at our normal time. We will test from 8:00-10:00, take a snack/stretch/bathroom break from 10:00-10:30. Continue testing from 10:30-11:30. Break and eat lunch then continue again at the end of the day.
Writing Camp begins on Tuesday! Our room will look like a campground and your children can bring in a sleeping bag/blanket, & pillow. They can dress up in camp type clothes and/or hiking boats. We will sing camp songs with a writing twist and review skills and practice our writing. We will then use the data from the writing test to help plan our fun and educational review of strategies during writing camp. We will also play some math games, and do some social studies activities. It will be so much fun and will help us become better writers. Let me know if you have any trees or camp type decorations that we could borrow to help transform our classroom into Camp Write Along-Bartholomew's Bat Campsite! I will be decorating at about 4:15 on Monday afternoon. Thank you Mrs. Slape for donating fire wood and red lights!
Don't forget to write letters for your camper! You can email letters to me or put them in my box in the teacher work room. I will be passing out a letter each day Tuesday-Friday. Encourage family members to write letters also! The kids will love to read your writing and read about your experiences!
Reading-We read articles about King Christian X of Denmark and compared the information learned in different sources. We learned that confirming your facts is important so we need to read more than one article when we research. We also continued to work on text structures and read about famous Texans.
Writing-What wonderful personal narratives were read today! We shared many of them and heard lots of great leads, interesting small moment stories, and strong word choice. We heard some super imagery (sensory words) and thoughtful conclusions. It is very difficult to get all that onto only 26 lines of paper! Our writers are rocking!!!!!
Math-We are working on measurement which will include area and perimeter. We will be doing many hands-on activities during our writing camp week to practice measuring using different tools and units. We will continue to practice math facts and problem solving as well.
Social Studies-We will be learning more about the Republic of Texas and challenges that the new country faced which led to statehood.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, March 5-Writing Test -4 hour testing-Reading Logs due
Tuesday, March 6-Friday, March 9-Writing Camp!
Wednesday, March 7-Early Release Day 12:45
Thursday, March 8-Writing Club 2:45-4:00 in library
Friday, March 9-Hoe Down for K, 1, 2
Monday, March 12-Friday, March 16-Spring Break
Monday, March 19-Back to school-Spring Break reading logs due!
Tuesday, March 20-Service Club 2:45-4:00
Thursday, March 22-Pen Pals visit for PE activities
Tuesday, March 27 & Wednesday, March 28-STAAR Writing Tests
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy Texas Independence Day Celebrations in Austin and UT Explore at the university! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Today is the day that Texas gained its independence from Spain in 1836. We celebrated by learning about Lorenzo de Zavala and Sam Houston. Later we will be comparing and contrasting these two historical figures and signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. We also went to a very fun website about Texas and played a 3D simulation of a girl or boy in 1836 who is traveling to Washington-on-the-Brazos in search of his/her father. We ran out of time to finish the game so your child may want to play at home. The site is http://www.txindependence.org/. Have fun and celebrate Texas!
Next week begins our Camp Write Along week! On Monday, we will have a practice writing test to practice completing the revising and editing multiple choice part of the test and planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing a final copy of a composition in the four hour time frame. We will have lunch at our normal time. We will test from 8:00-10:00, take a snack/stretch/bathroom break from 10:00-10:30. Continue testing from 10:30-11:30. Break and eat lunch then continue again at the end of the day.
Writing Camp begins on Tuesday! Our room will look like a campground and your children can bring in a sleeping bag/blanket, & pillow. They can dress up in camp type clothes and/or hiking boats. We will sing camp songs with a writing twist and review skills and practice our writing. We will then use the data from the writing test to help plan our fun and educational review of strategies during writing camp. We will also play some math games, and do some social studies activities. It will be so much fun and will help us become better writers. Let me know if you have any trees or camp type decorations that we could borrow to help transform our classroom into Camp Write Along-Bartholomew's Bat Campsite! I will be decorating at about 4:15 on Monday afternoon. Thank you Mrs. Slape for donating fire wood and red lights!
Don't forget to write letters for your camper! You can email letters to me or put them in my box in the teacher work room. I will be passing out a letter each day Tuesday-Friday. Encourage family members to write letters also! The kids will love to read your writing and read about your experiences!
Reading-We read articles about King Christian X of Denmark and compared the information learned in different sources. We learned that confirming your facts is important so we need to read more than one article when we research. We also continued to work on text structures and read about famous Texans.
Writing-What wonderful personal narratives were read today! We shared many of them and heard lots of great leads, interesting small moment stories, and strong word choice. We heard some super imagery (sensory words) and thoughtful conclusions. It is very difficult to get all that onto only 26 lines of paper! Our writers are rocking!!!!!
Math-We are working on measurement which will include area and perimeter. We will be doing many hands-on activities during our writing camp week to practice measuring using different tools and units. We will continue to practice math facts and problem solving as well.
Social Studies-We will be learning more about the Republic of Texas and challenges that the new country faced which led to statehood.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, March 5-Writing Test -4 hour testing-Reading Logs due
Tuesday, March 6-Friday, March 9-Writing Camp!
Wednesday, March 7-Early Release Day 12:45
Thursday, March 8-Writing Club 2:45-4:00 in library
Friday, March 9-Hoe Down for K, 1, 2
Monday, March 12-Friday, March 16-Spring Break
Monday, March 19-Back to school-Spring Break reading logs due!
Tuesday, March 20-Service Club 2:45-4:00
Thursday, March 22-Pen Pals visit for PE activities
Tuesday, March 27 & Wednesday, March 28-STAAR Writing Tests
Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy Texas Independence Day Celebrations in Austin and UT Explore at the university! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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