Happy Holidays! Great Party! Holiday Reading Challenge! Practice Math Facts! Workon Science Projects! Be sure to also enjoy time with family!

Happy Holidays! December 20, 2013

Thank you to Mrs. Fitch, our room mother, for planning an amazing holiday party! Thank you also to all the parents who came today to help! It was wonderful! The children made ornaments, played bingo, decorated cookies, and made holiday cards for children at Dell Children's Hospital. They also ate fruit, veggies, brownie bites, and Rice Krispy treats! Our book exchange was a lot of fun! We chose books one at a time and kids could steal or chose an unopened book. Poor Gavin got his books stolen at least 3 times! He was a great sport and still ended up with a perfect book for him. The kids had a great time with all of our celebrations today! Thank you again!

Thank you also for the wonderful presents! You are all very generous. Thank you for your support and for sharing your children with me.

We began presenting our biography projects today and will continue on Tuesday, January 7. If your child hasn't completed it yet, go to smore.com to finish up. We will begin reading folk tales and other traditional tales in January. We will be discussing character traits (protagonist and antagonist), how characters change in stories, plot with rising action, climax, and resolution, and the impact that the setting (time or place) has on the story. The children will choose a tale to retell to the class.

In writing, we will work on revising and editing our essays on what we want to be when we grow up and why and will begin writing new personal narratives. Talk about small moments that occur during our winter break. Those moments may become your child's next great piece of writing!

In math, we will continue working with fractions and begin working on geometry. Look for problem solving situations over break especially involving fractions, geometry, and multiple steps. Be sure to practice math facts over break. Remember firstinmath.com is a great resource! Your child should be quick with those multiplication and division facts.

In science, we will have fun with some soil explorations. Be sure to continue working on science projects! Check point #3 will be due on Thursday, January 9.

In social studies, we will learn more about explorers in Texas.

Don't forget to record reading minutes on our Holiday Reading Log! 200 minutes is the requirement. Read more and receive prizes!!!!!! Are you up for the challenge?

Have a wonderful holiday break. My husband, daughters, and I are traveling to Philadelphia to see our extended family. We are especially excited to meet our great niece, who is 3 months old, and see our other great niece, who just turned three! Be sure to relax, be safe, and enjoy your time together.

I will miss seeing your child but look forward to a wonderful second part of 4th grade!

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew

Holiday Party tomorrow at 10:00 AM, Homework packets and reading logs are due. Holiday Reading Challenge will come home. Biography presentations begin tomorrow. Read more below.

Hi,

The class has been reading biographies and researching a person. They made flyers on a site called Smore.com. Many of the children have completed their Smore flyer and are ready to present their project tomorrow. (Jacob presented his today and did a great job!) If your child hasn't completed it, or if you want to go over it with them tonight, directions are below to locate it online.

Go to the FCE website, Our Teams, 4th Grade, Pam Bartholomew, Then go to the Bartholomew Bat Cave blog. At the Bat Cave, go to Reading/Writing Links then Smore is the first link.

Log in to Smore using your child's gmail account for the district.

Type s then your child's 6 digit number @student.roundrockisd.org (example: s123456@student.roundrockisd.org)

Password: your child's birthdate using 0, as needed. two digit month, two digit day and four digit year- (example: 01012004)

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks and enjoy! They have worked hard and their flyers look very good!

Have a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi, November 26, 2013

Your children did a wonderful job in the Boogie-O-Rama! Their outfits were groovy, their singing spectacular, and their dancing was awesome! Hats off to all of the children with singing or speaking parts. That can be difficult to perform in front of a lot of people. You were all amazing!

Thank you, Mrs. Dickson, for the beautiful apple pie! We tasted some last night and it tastes as wonderful as it looks. Thank you to everyone who baked or provided pies for our staff. We appreciate it a great deal!

Our school and the FCE Service Club donated 104 toys to OMS and Dell Children's Hospital! We didn't quite reach our goal but that is still A LOT of toys. Great job! The children will love them. We are having a FCE Service Club meeting on Monday, December 2 from 2:45-3:45. All 4th or 5th graders are welcome!

Don't forget that we will have a science test on Electricity, Insulators, and Conductors on Tuesday, December 3. Reading/Math log will be due on Monday, December 2 and Wednesday, December 4 is an early release day.

Encourage your students to go to Stemscopes to practice. (FCE website, For Students-right side, User Name-bartholomew, password-bats). They can also explore some fun Thanksgiving sites and videos on websites linked to our Bartholomew Bat Cave page. (FCE website, Our Staff, 4th grade, Pam Bartholomew, Bartholomew Bat Cave link on left side, social studies links, 2nd two sites listed)

There are tons of fun games and interactives linked to our Bartholomew Bat Cave website. Have fun exploring!
Have a wonderful holiday! See you on Monday!

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew