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!





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
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