Hi,
Writing Camp was a huge success! The campers worked hard, had fun,
and revised and edited two complete compositions! Many kids even
finished their final copies! Great word choice, slowing down the
heart of the story, and using inviting introductions and thoughtful
conclusions made these pieces amazing! We sang fun songs and loved
receiving letters from home. Our afternoon celebration today was fun. We
shared our stories and had some s'mores. (When you think you are done
writing...write s'more!) Thank you, Mrs. McCulloch for sending in
s'more poptarts for our snack today. I have two letters for Todd and
two for Kyra that I
printed and forgot to give them. I am sorry and will get the letters
to them on Monday.
Next Tuesday, our pen pals are coming. We will be participating in PE
activities with them at 12:55. We are so excited to be active with
them and see them again. Come and join us!
We won't have school on Friday, March 29 but will be working hard
during the week. It is challenging to stay motivated during these
bright, sunny, summer-like days. Thank you for continuing to
encourage your child to put forth a great amount of effort and to work
hard to focus and do his/her best in school.
In Reading, we will continue learning about World War II events through reading
literary non-fiction or historical fiction, biographies, and
non-fiction. We will be working on summary, inferences, and other
types of comprehension skills and talking about the themes in these
books and articles. A common theme is respecting others, be tolerant
of differences in others, don't judge others based on their race,
culture, etc...
In Writing, we will be continuing to revise, edit, and write final
copies of our pieces from writing camp (if they didn't get to do final
copies of both) and will be continuing to write personal narrative
entries and essay entries in school. We will also be working on lots
of editing and revising practice using multiple choice formats and
bubble sheets to prepare for our tests on Tuesday, April 2 and
Wednesday, April 3.
In Math, we will continue to work on geometry and measurement. We
will be having a test on geometry vocabulary on Monday, April 1 (Not
an April Fool's Joke!) and will be reviewing multiplication, division,
addition, and subtraction in multi-step problems.
In Science, we will continue to learn about natural resources and
which ones are renewable and nonrenewable. We will have a test on
those concepts on Thursday, March 28. A study guide will be coming on
Monday.
Have a wonderful weekend! I enjoyed our fun writing camp week! Let
me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Friday, March 22, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Writing Camp begins on Tuesday! Sack Lunches on Friday! Great Week Ahead!
Parents,
I hope that your spring break was fun, relaxing, and safe. Don't forget to bring in signed reading logs for prizes. Any student reading over 150 minutes will receive a prize. The readers who read the longest amount of time get to choose first.
Writing Camp is beginning on Tuesday! During writing camp, our classroom is transformed to resemble a campsite. We all wear orange bandanas (I have them for the kids), camp clothes, and bring in our sleeping bags! We set up camp in our classroom, sing camp songs with the other fourth grade classes, and work on writing all morning. During the week, we will plan and write a personal narrative and an expository draft. We will review ways to revise to make our pieces even more effective for the reader and will work a lot on editing. (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, etc...) We will be reading mentor texts or books and other pieces through a writer's eye and determine strategies and techniques that worked well for other authors. We will then use them in our own writing. Playing games that reinforce editing and revising skills will also be a part of our camp day. Writing Camp is one of the highlights of fourth grade and your child will have a wonderful week!
Our schedule is modified a bit this week so that the younger kids can use the cafeteria to practice the Hoe Down. We will be having our specials in the morning and our recess after lunch. We will also be having sack lunches on Friday in our classrooms due to the Hoe Down. Let me know ASAP if your child wants a sack lunch. The time before lunch will be mostly writing but we will be working on math and science in the afternoon.
Camp letters is a fun part of writing camp. Just like you would send your child a letter if he/she were away at camp, you can send your child a letter during writing camp! You can pretend that they are away at a sleepover camp and you miss them, you can write them a letter that includes stories and memories from your camping experiences, you can write them a letter that encourages them to enjoy this time writing and learning, or you can write about whatever you would like! You can write a letter a day (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) or write one letter. You can ask friends and family to write letters, also. You may email letters to me and I will print them out to give to the kids or send them into school in a sealed envelope to me and I will hand them out throughout the week. Whatever works for you! Letter writing is authentic writing and it is great for the kids to see more ways to communicate and how important writing is in our lives. Have fun with camp letters and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Dates to remember:
Monday, March 18-return spring break reading logs
Tuesday, March 19-Friday, March 22-Writing Camp!
Thursday, March 21-Writing Club 2:45-3:45
Friday, March 22-Hoe Down for K-2
Monday, March 25-Science test on Natural Resources
I am so excited about this week! We are going to have a great time!
Sincerely and Happy Camping!
Pam Bartholomew
I hope that your spring break was fun, relaxing, and safe. Don't forget to bring in signed reading logs for prizes. Any student reading over 150 minutes will receive a prize. The readers who read the longest amount of time get to choose first.
Writing Camp is beginning on Tuesday! During writing camp, our classroom is transformed to resemble a campsite. We all wear orange bandanas (I have them for the kids), camp clothes, and bring in our sleeping bags! We set up camp in our classroom, sing camp songs with the other fourth grade classes, and work on writing all morning. During the week, we will plan and write a personal narrative and an expository draft. We will review ways to revise to make our pieces even more effective for the reader and will work a lot on editing. (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, etc...) We will be reading mentor texts or books and other pieces through a writer's eye and determine strategies and techniques that worked well for other authors. We will then use them in our own writing. Playing games that reinforce editing and revising skills will also be a part of our camp day. Writing Camp is one of the highlights of fourth grade and your child will have a wonderful week!
Our schedule is modified a bit this week so that the younger kids can use the cafeteria to practice the Hoe Down. We will be having our specials in the morning and our recess after lunch. We will also be having sack lunches on Friday in our classrooms due to the Hoe Down. Let me know ASAP if your child wants a sack lunch. The time before lunch will be mostly writing but we will be working on math and science in the afternoon.
Camp letters is a fun part of writing camp. Just like you would send your child a letter if he/she were away at camp, you can send your child a letter during writing camp! You can pretend that they are away at a sleepover camp and you miss them, you can write them a letter that includes stories and memories from your camping experiences, you can write them a letter that encourages them to enjoy this time writing and learning, or you can write about whatever you would like! You can write a letter a day (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) or write one letter. You can ask friends and family to write letters, also. You may email letters to me and I will print them out to give to the kids or send them into school in a sealed envelope to me and I will hand them out throughout the week. Whatever works for you! Letter writing is authentic writing and it is great for the kids to see more ways to communicate and how important writing is in our lives. Have fun with camp letters and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Dates to remember:
Monday, March 18-return spring break reading logs
Tuesday, March 19-Friday, March 22-Writing Camp!
Thursday, March 21-Writing Club 2:45-3:45
Friday, March 22-Hoe Down for K-2
Monday, March 25-Science test on Natural Resources
I am so excited about this week! We are going to have a great time!
Sincerely and Happy Camping!
Pam Bartholomew
Monday, March 4, 2013
Newsletter-Published Book forms due ASAP, Early Release on Wed.
Hi,
We had a busy week! Our Pen Pals came on Wednesday and we glazed our bowls for the Empty Bowl Project with them. Our next Pen Pal visit will be on Tuesday, March 26 at 1:00 in the gym. We will be participating in PE activities with them. We will have fun playing seated volleyball, tossing baskets, dancing and other activities to promote physical activities and health with the children and the adults.
We also had a fun night at our carnival! Thanks to all who donated their time or items for our basket! Thank you so much to Jeanne McCulloch for all her hard work to make our basket look so amazing!
Last week, we took our STAAR ready tests in reading and math. They were challenging but gave us good information to move us forward and focus instruction. Thank you for working hard with your child at home.
STAAR PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS will be held on March 7th at 7:30am and 6:00pm. Both sessions will be held in the FCE Library. You may find some general information on STAAR at the following link: STAAR Standard Setting Questions and Answers. (go to website for active link)
We will have a reading challenge over Spring Break. Your child is expected to read at least 150 minutes over the break but we will have a little competition to see how many minutes we can all read. Prizes will be awarded to every child reading over 150 minutes. The children who read the most, get to choose their prize first. Thank you for encouraging reading at home!
Continue to practice math facts in all operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Have fun with multi-step problems, geometry vocabulary, and measurement vocabulary at home as well.
This week, we will be finishing up our published books! Please return the order form with a signature and mark whether you want to purchase additional copies or just check no. Each child will have their original pages bound into a hard cover book.
Fill out the parent climate survey form for our district. The link is on our school webpage. https://www.roundrockisd.org/surveys/surveys/13ParentEng1.htm?path=/surveys/surveys/
Read about our week:
Reading-We began learning about World War II and reading historical fiction or literary nonfiction books about this topic. We will be using this books about WWII to teach comprehension skills as well as to discuss tolerance and respectfulness.
Writing-We will be working on our published books as well as continuing to work on revising and editing skills. We are in the process of writing essays about weathering, erosion, and deposition in science and will begin gathering more entries for personal narratives this week. Writing Camp will be the week after spring break! Get out your sleeping bags and camp clothes ready for a fun week of writing activities in the morning mixed with math games in the afternoon. More information will be coming.
Math-We are finishing up more fun activities in measurement and will be working with geometry this week and after spring break. Be sure to work on facts, multi-step problem solving and vocabulary at home. We will have a geometry vocabulary test after spring break.
Science-We are finishing up weathering, erosion, and deposition or changes to the land and will begin learning about weather. We will have a test on Changes to the Land on Thursday. A study guide will come home on Monday.
Social Studies-Happy Texas Independence Day! It was actually on March 2, 1836 that the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. We will be discussing this and the Battle of the Alamo which was fought on March 6, 1836.
Dates to Remember:
Kindergarten Round up-March 5- 9am -2pm
Early Release on Wednesday, March 6 at 12:45
Thursday, March 7-Writing Club 2:45-3:45-Order forms for Published books are due
Thursday, March 7-STAAR PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS-7:30am and 6:00pm
Monday, March 11-Friday, March 15-Spring Break
Tuesday, March 19-Friday, March 22-Writing Camp!
Friday, March 22-Hoe Down for Grades K-2
Have a great week!
Pam
We had a busy week! Our Pen Pals came on Wednesday and we glazed our bowls for the Empty Bowl Project with them. Our next Pen Pal visit will be on Tuesday, March 26 at 1:00 in the gym. We will be participating in PE activities with them. We will have fun playing seated volleyball, tossing baskets, dancing and other activities to promote physical activities and health with the children and the adults.
We also had a fun night at our carnival! Thanks to all who donated their time or items for our basket! Thank you so much to Jeanne McCulloch for all her hard work to make our basket look so amazing!
Last week, we took our STAAR ready tests in reading and math. They were challenging but gave us good information to move us forward and focus instruction. Thank you for working hard with your child at home.
STAAR PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS will be held on March 7th at 7:30am and 6:00pm. Both sessions will be held in the FCE Library. You may find some general information on STAAR at the following link: STAAR Standard Setting Questions and Answers. (go to website for active link)
We will have a reading challenge over Spring Break. Your child is expected to read at least 150 minutes over the break but we will have a little competition to see how many minutes we can all read. Prizes will be awarded to every child reading over 150 minutes. The children who read the most, get to choose their prize first. Thank you for encouraging reading at home!
Continue to practice math facts in all operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Have fun with multi-step problems, geometry vocabulary, and measurement vocabulary at home as well.
This week, we will be finishing up our published books! Please return the order form with a signature and mark whether you want to purchase additional copies or just check no. Each child will have their original pages bound into a hard cover book.
Fill out the parent climate survey form for our district. The link is on our school webpage. https://www.roundrockisd.org/surveys/surveys/13ParentEng1.htm?path=/surveys/surveys/
Read about our week:
Reading-We began learning about World War II and reading historical fiction or literary nonfiction books about this topic. We will be using this books about WWII to teach comprehension skills as well as to discuss tolerance and respectfulness.
Writing-We will be working on our published books as well as continuing to work on revising and editing skills. We are in the process of writing essays about weathering, erosion, and deposition in science and will begin gathering more entries for personal narratives this week. Writing Camp will be the week after spring break! Get out your sleeping bags and camp clothes ready for a fun week of writing activities in the morning mixed with math games in the afternoon. More information will be coming.
Math-We are finishing up more fun activities in measurement and will be working with geometry this week and after spring break. Be sure to work on facts, multi-step problem solving and vocabulary at home. We will have a geometry vocabulary test after spring break.
Science-We are finishing up weathering, erosion, and deposition or changes to the land and will begin learning about weather. We will have a test on Changes to the Land on Thursday. A study guide will come home on Monday.
Social Studies-Happy Texas Independence Day! It was actually on March 2, 1836 that the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. We will be discussing this and the Battle of the Alamo which was fought on March 6, 1836.
Dates to Remember:
Kindergarten Round up-March 5- 9am -2pm
Early Release on Wednesday, March 6 at 12:45
Thursday, March 7-Writing Club 2:45-3:45-Order forms for Published books are due
Thursday, March 7-STAAR PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS-7:30am and 6:00pm
Monday, March 11-Friday, March 15-Spring Break
Tuesday, March 19-Friday, March 22-Writing Camp!
Friday, March 22-Hoe Down for Grades K-2
Have a great week!
Pam
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