Hello, November 27, 2014
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am thankful for all of the wonderful fourth graders this year. They are all creative, hard-working, and very kind students. I enjoy going to work each day. Thank you all for all you do.
Reading logs are due on Monday, December 1. Write it on paper if you didn't get one. Read at least 100 minutes.
Happy Reading and enjoy time with family and friends!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Newsletter
Hi, November 15, 2014
Reflections Gallery Night
Congratulations to all the students who entered the Reflections Program! We had lots of creative responses to the theme: The World would be a Better Place if… We also had many students from our class receive medals and their work will move onto the next level. Congratulations to Madi for her photography work and Erin, Joshua, and Parker for their poetry. Great job!
Food Drive for the Round Rock Serving Center
We are collecting food to fill the pantry at the Serving Center. Canned food and non-perishable items can be placed in the barrels by the office. Donate food by Thursday, Nov. 20. Thank you for your help.
OMS Toy Drive
We passed our goal of 150 toys! As of Friday, our school donated 175 new toys to bring awareness to OMS or Opsocionus Myoclonus Syndrome. The toys will be delivered to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital over Thanksgiving break. Thank you so much for your donations!
Thanksgiving Day Meal
On Thursday, Nov. 20, FCE will celebrate Thanksgiving during lunch. Families are invited to join your child for lunch. Our lunchtime is at 11:00-11:30. If you are planning on coming for lunch, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QajBlS4z4RcltejLzkAoT7RkHuRWCBwVHUILGR540s8/viewform to RSVP. The office will have a badge printed for you.
Totally O-Rama
We will be celebrating the 1980’s on Friday! Your child is encouraged to dress in 80’s style and be ready to sing and dance. Our performance for 4th grade will be at 12:00 in the cafeteria. It will be totally awesome!!!!!
Thanksgiving Break
RRISD will be closed from Monday, Nov. 24-28 for Thanksgiving Break. Enjoy time with family and friends.
Thanksgiving Break Reading Challenge
Your child will have a reading log to complete over the November Break. At least 20 minutes should be read each day or at least 100 minutes. I encourage your children to challenge themselves and read as much as possible. Everyone is expected to read at least 100 minutes and a homework grade will be earned. All children who read at least 100 minutes will get to choose a prize. The children with the highest totals of reading time will have first choice of the prizes! Don’t forget that reading using I-Station counts as reading time. Read as a family and enjoy time with books together!
Reading
This week we read and discussed poetry. We learned about different types of poems and practiced finding the theme or message in the poem as well as elements of poetry such as stanzas, line breaks, metaphors, similes, adjectives, sensory words, etc… We will continue to examine and make inferences about poetry and will start comparing and contrasting nonfiction and fiction books with the same topic.
Writing
We enjoyed learning about poetry in reading then using that knowledge and our creativity to write poems. We each wrote and published a poem about weather as well as other poems of our choice. The poems will be displayed in the hallway. We will work on improving our writing of personal narratives next and will publish another personal narrative the week after the November break.
Spelling and Vocabulary-This week we will be spelling words with silent b and silent w. (example-thumb and wrist). In vocabulary, we will learn about types of questions and words with the roots-auto and port)
Social Studies
We researched the Caddo and Karankawa tribes. We also reviewed characteristics of all the Texas Regions. We talked about the resources that these tribes used in the Coastal Plains Region where they lived. We will continue studying tribes of Texas this week. We will also revise and edit our Texas Regions projects and will present them to the other homeroom on Friday morning.
Dates to Remember
Monday, November 17-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, November 18-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Bring in food for the food drive.
Wednesday, November 19-Summary and Responses due
Thursday, November 20-Thanksgiving Lunch at 11:00, Service Club from 2:45-3:45
Friday, November 21-Summary and Responses due, Spelling test and vocabulary test, Totally O-Rama at 12:00
Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28-No School-Happy Thanksgiving!-Be sure to read at least 100 minutes!
Monday, December 1-Reading Logs due-How many minutes did you read? AT least 100 minutes for a prize!
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Reflections Gallery Night
Congratulations to all the students who entered the Reflections Program! We had lots of creative responses to the theme: The World would be a Better Place if… We also had many students from our class receive medals and their work will move onto the next level. Congratulations to Madi for her photography work and Erin, Joshua, and Parker for their poetry. Great job!
Food Drive for the Round Rock Serving Center
We are collecting food to fill the pantry at the Serving Center. Canned food and non-perishable items can be placed in the barrels by the office. Donate food by Thursday, Nov. 20. Thank you for your help.
OMS Toy Drive
We passed our goal of 150 toys! As of Friday, our school donated 175 new toys to bring awareness to OMS or Opsocionus Myoclonus Syndrome. The toys will be delivered to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital over Thanksgiving break. Thank you so much for your donations!
Thanksgiving Day Meal
On Thursday, Nov. 20, FCE will celebrate Thanksgiving during lunch. Families are invited to join your child for lunch. Our lunchtime is at 11:00-11:30. If you are planning on coming for lunch, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QajBlS4z4RcltejLzkAoT7RkHuRWCBwVHUILGR540s8/viewform to RSVP. The office will have a badge printed for you.
Totally O-Rama
We will be celebrating the 1980’s on Friday! Your child is encouraged to dress in 80’s style and be ready to sing and dance. Our performance for 4th grade will be at 12:00 in the cafeteria. It will be totally awesome!!!!!
Thanksgiving Break
RRISD will be closed from Monday, Nov. 24-28 for Thanksgiving Break. Enjoy time with family and friends.
Thanksgiving Break Reading Challenge
Your child will have a reading log to complete over the November Break. At least 20 minutes should be read each day or at least 100 minutes. I encourage your children to challenge themselves and read as much as possible. Everyone is expected to read at least 100 minutes and a homework grade will be earned. All children who read at least 100 minutes will get to choose a prize. The children with the highest totals of reading time will have first choice of the prizes! Don’t forget that reading using I-Station counts as reading time. Read as a family and enjoy time with books together!
Reading
This week we read and discussed poetry. We learned about different types of poems and practiced finding the theme or message in the poem as well as elements of poetry such as stanzas, line breaks, metaphors, similes, adjectives, sensory words, etc… We will continue to examine and make inferences about poetry and will start comparing and contrasting nonfiction and fiction books with the same topic.
Writing
We enjoyed learning about poetry in reading then using that knowledge and our creativity to write poems. We each wrote and published a poem about weather as well as other poems of our choice. The poems will be displayed in the hallway. We will work on improving our writing of personal narratives next and will publish another personal narrative the week after the November break.
Spelling and Vocabulary-This week we will be spelling words with silent b and silent w. (example-thumb and wrist). In vocabulary, we will learn about types of questions and words with the roots-auto and port)
Social Studies
We researched the Caddo and Karankawa tribes. We also reviewed characteristics of all the Texas Regions. We talked about the resources that these tribes used in the Coastal Plains Region where they lived. We will continue studying tribes of Texas this week. We will also revise and edit our Texas Regions projects and will present them to the other homeroom on Friday morning.
Dates to Remember
Monday, November 17-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, November 18-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Bring in food for the food drive.
Wednesday, November 19-Summary and Responses due
Thursday, November 20-Thanksgiving Lunch at 11:00, Service Club from 2:45-3:45
Friday, November 21-Summary and Responses due, Spelling test and vocabulary test, Totally O-Rama at 12:00
Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28-No School-Happy Thanksgiving!-Be sure to read at least 100 minutes!
Monday, December 1-Reading Logs due-How many minutes did you read? AT least 100 minutes for a prize!
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Newsletter
Hi, Nov. 8, 2014
We had a great week! Congratulations to Lily P. and Celine for coming in 1st and 2nd place in the Healthy Plate Poster Contest!
Texas Regions Projects
We began presenting our Texas Regions Projects! We presented to our homeroom and the children wrote two compliments and a suggestion or question for each group. I compiled all the information and each group will have an opportunity to revise and make adjustments to their presentation and/or project based on the feedback. We will present to the other homeroom class later this week.
Atomic Learning
Round Rock ISD has purchased Atomic Learning for student, parent, and staff use. This learning tool contains a wealth of information on how to use software and hardware that benefits users. The use does not have to be related to school or children’s programs. For example, Atomic Learning has tutorials on Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc), Outlook, Blackboard Learning, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, GarageBand, Gmail, Chrome, iMovie, Internet Explorer, iPad, iPod, iTunes, Photoshop, Prezi, Safari, Skype, Windows, and Media Player to name a few. If you’re looking for a tutorial on how to do something on the computer, this is the place! Take advantage of this free resource!
URL: http://www.atomiclearning.com/login/roundrockisd
Username: roundrockparent
Password: learning
Veteran’s Day
Forest Creek will celebrate and honor Veterans this Tuesday. All Veterans are invited to come to school for breakfast then we will have two assemblies (one for K-2 at 8:15 and 3-5 at 9:00). The assemblies will include songs from our choir.
I-Station Reading online-Your child brought home a paper on Tuesday with information about downloading I-Station to work on reading at home. This is a wonderful program that adjusts to match your child’s reading level and works on many aspects in reading and writing. I am encouraging all students to work on I-Station for at least 20 minutes a week. This can be recorded in your child’s reading log and count for one day’s at-home reading homework. I can log into I-Station and check your child’s progress and the amount of time spent on the program. Thank you for working on I-Station at home and let me know if you have difficulty logging on or downloading.
TAG Information Night
There will be a TAG (Talented and Gifted) Information Night on Tuesday from 6:30-7:15. Come and learn about the TAG program and the procedures to request testing.
Reflections Gallery Night
Thursday evening will be the Reflections Gallery Night from 5-6:30. Come and see the projects!
PTA Family Fun Night at Austin Pizza on Thursday, November 13 from 5-8pm.
Reading
This week in reading we are reading and learning about poetry. We are comparing types of poems and elements of poetry such as stanzas, rhyme, meter, line breaks, similes, metaphors, etc… We are also writing responses to poetry and discussing the mood and feelings in poems.
Writing
We took a writing Curriculum Based Assessment this week. Overall, the students did very well on the multiple choice section. The fourth grade team will grade the compositions later this month. We are writing charts of sensory words and phrases for poems. We are experimenting with different types of poems. We are also examining our narratives and experimenting with revising them into poems. We will revise, edit, and publish at least one poem by the end of the week.
Social Studies
Revisions of our projects will take place this week. We will also begin learning about Native Americans in Texas. We will research tribes and the way they used the resources of their region to survive.
Dates to Remember
Monday, November 10, 2014-Reading logs due, tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, November 11, 2014-Veteran’s Day Assembly, tutorials from 2:45-3:45, TAG information night at 6:00 pm
Wednesday, November 12, 2014-Reading Summary and Response Due
Thursday, November 13, 2014-Writing Club in library from 2:45-3:45, Reflections Gallery Night from 5-6:30, PTA Family Fun Night at Austin Pizza from 5-8 pm
Friday, November 14, 2014-Reading Summary and Response Due, Spelling and Vocabulary Test
Thursday, November 20, 2014-Thanksgiving Meal during lunch at 11:00
Friday, November 21, 2014- Totally O-Rama at 12:00 for 4th grade
Have a great rest of the weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
We had a great week! Congratulations to Lily P. and Celine for coming in 1st and 2nd place in the Healthy Plate Poster Contest!
Texas Regions Projects
We began presenting our Texas Regions Projects! We presented to our homeroom and the children wrote two compliments and a suggestion or question for each group. I compiled all the information and each group will have an opportunity to revise and make adjustments to their presentation and/or project based on the feedback. We will present to the other homeroom class later this week.
Atomic Learning
Round Rock ISD has purchased Atomic Learning for student, parent, and staff use. This learning tool contains a wealth of information on how to use software and hardware that benefits users. The use does not have to be related to school or children’s programs. For example, Atomic Learning has tutorials on Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc), Outlook, Blackboard Learning, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, GarageBand, Gmail, Chrome, iMovie, Internet Explorer, iPad, iPod, iTunes, Photoshop, Prezi, Safari, Skype, Windows, and Media Player to name a few. If you’re looking for a tutorial on how to do something on the computer, this is the place! Take advantage of this free resource!
URL: http://www.atomiclearning.com/login/roundrockisd
Username: roundrockparent
Password: learning
Veteran’s Day
Forest Creek will celebrate and honor Veterans this Tuesday. All Veterans are invited to come to school for breakfast then we will have two assemblies (one for K-2 at 8:15 and 3-5 at 9:00). The assemblies will include songs from our choir.
I-Station Reading online-Your child brought home a paper on Tuesday with information about downloading I-Station to work on reading at home. This is a wonderful program that adjusts to match your child’s reading level and works on many aspects in reading and writing. I am encouraging all students to work on I-Station for at least 20 minutes a week. This can be recorded in your child’s reading log and count for one day’s at-home reading homework. I can log into I-Station and check your child’s progress and the amount of time spent on the program. Thank you for working on I-Station at home and let me know if you have difficulty logging on or downloading.
TAG Information Night
There will be a TAG (Talented and Gifted) Information Night on Tuesday from 6:30-7:15. Come and learn about the TAG program and the procedures to request testing.
Reflections Gallery Night
Thursday evening will be the Reflections Gallery Night from 5-6:30. Come and see the projects!
PTA Family Fun Night at Austin Pizza on Thursday, November 13 from 5-8pm.
Reading
This week in reading we are reading and learning about poetry. We are comparing types of poems and elements of poetry such as stanzas, rhyme, meter, line breaks, similes, metaphors, etc… We are also writing responses to poetry and discussing the mood and feelings in poems.
Writing
We took a writing Curriculum Based Assessment this week. Overall, the students did very well on the multiple choice section. The fourth grade team will grade the compositions later this month. We are writing charts of sensory words and phrases for poems. We are experimenting with different types of poems. We are also examining our narratives and experimenting with revising them into poems. We will revise, edit, and publish at least one poem by the end of the week.
Social Studies
Revisions of our projects will take place this week. We will also begin learning about Native Americans in Texas. We will research tribes and the way they used the resources of their region to survive.
Dates to Remember
Monday, November 10, 2014-Reading logs due, tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, November 11, 2014-Veteran’s Day Assembly, tutorials from 2:45-3:45, TAG information night at 6:00 pm
Wednesday, November 12, 2014-Reading Summary and Response Due
Thursday, November 13, 2014-Writing Club in library from 2:45-3:45, Reflections Gallery Night from 5-6:30, PTA Family Fun Night at Austin Pizza from 5-8 pm
Friday, November 14, 2014-Reading Summary and Response Due, Spelling and Vocabulary Test
Thursday, November 20, 2014-Thanksgiving Meal during lunch at 11:00
Friday, November 21, 2014- Totally O-Rama at 12:00 for 4th grade
Have a great rest of the weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Newsletter
Hi, November 1, 2014
We had a very busy, but fun week!
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week was exciting with visitors each day and fun ways to dress up. Our school had an essay contest for Red Ribbon Week and students from our class won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! Congratulations to Celine, Jordan, and Sebastien! Great job!
Pen Pals
Our pen pals came to visit on Tuesday and it was wonderful! The kids shared their personal narratives and their reflections pieces about making the world a better place. They talked to their pen pals about their thoughts on ways to make the world a better place and some of their favorite places. Then they all painted, played with play dough, drew, wrote poems, and played games together. We will see them again in December.
Expository Writing!
We completed our expository writing pieces on Friday! Expository writing explains and gives examples. We wrote lots of entries about things that we noticed around the school and pushed our thinking to make realizations about the observations. We also thought about some of our favorite things, places, people, sports, time of year, etc…. and chose one to write a central idea with supporting details and a strong conclusion. Very nice job, writers!
Reading
We are reading expository writing and worked on some poetry this week as well. Shel Silverstein wrote many poems and books of poetry. We read and examined one of his poems-Enter this Deserted House. We read it, noticed the stanzas and the rhyming pattern, and discussed the meaning for us. Then we watched two videos with different images interpreting this poem. One had beautiful images of nature then some spookier images and the reader changed the pace and intensity in his voice to make it suspenseful. The other video was very spooky and had some images from the old movie Psycho. It was interesting to see how different people can interpret the same words in very different ways. We will be discussing more poetry this week.
Writing
We will also be writing lots of poems in the next few weeks. We will be taking a writing CBA , which will give us some data and information about the progress of our students so far in writing.
Social Studies
We are finishing up our region projects! We will be presenting them to each other this week and will let you know about a time that you will be invited to come and see our projects as well. We will now start learning about Native people in Texas.
Dates to Remember
Monday, Nov. 3-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Running Club 2:45-3:15pm
Tuesday, Nov. 4-Walk/Bike to School Day, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Choir practice 2:50, Sr. Choir Concert-6:30 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 5-Reading summary and response due
Thursday, Nov. 6-Service Club Meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report cards go home
Friday, Nov. 7-Reading summary and response due, Spirit Day-Wear green, purple, or school shirt
Monday, Nov. 10-Reading Logs due, tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Nov. 11-Veteran’s Day Program at 9:00 am for 3-5, Veterans eat breakfast for free, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, TAG Parent Information Night-6:30-7:15 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 12-Reading summary and response due
Thursday, Nov. 13-Writing Club Meeting from 2:45-3:45, PTA Family Night at Austin Pizza 5:00 pm, Reflections Gallery Night at 5:00 pm
Friday, Nov. 14-Reading summary and response due, Spirit Day-Wear green, purple, or school shirt
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend. Stay warm!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had a very busy, but fun week!
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week was exciting with visitors each day and fun ways to dress up. Our school had an essay contest for Red Ribbon Week and students from our class won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! Congratulations to Celine, Jordan, and Sebastien! Great job!
Pen Pals
Our pen pals came to visit on Tuesday and it was wonderful! The kids shared their personal narratives and their reflections pieces about making the world a better place. They talked to their pen pals about their thoughts on ways to make the world a better place and some of their favorite places. Then they all painted, played with play dough, drew, wrote poems, and played games together. We will see them again in December.
Expository Writing!
We completed our expository writing pieces on Friday! Expository writing explains and gives examples. We wrote lots of entries about things that we noticed around the school and pushed our thinking to make realizations about the observations. We also thought about some of our favorite things, places, people, sports, time of year, etc…. and chose one to write a central idea with supporting details and a strong conclusion. Very nice job, writers!
Reading
We are reading expository writing and worked on some poetry this week as well. Shel Silverstein wrote many poems and books of poetry. We read and examined one of his poems-Enter this Deserted House. We read it, noticed the stanzas and the rhyming pattern, and discussed the meaning for us. Then we watched two videos with different images interpreting this poem. One had beautiful images of nature then some spookier images and the reader changed the pace and intensity in his voice to make it suspenseful. The other video was very spooky and had some images from the old movie Psycho. It was interesting to see how different people can interpret the same words in very different ways. We will be discussing more poetry this week.
Writing
We will also be writing lots of poems in the next few weeks. We will be taking a writing CBA , which will give us some data and information about the progress of our students so far in writing.
Social Studies
We are finishing up our region projects! We will be presenting them to each other this week and will let you know about a time that you will be invited to come and see our projects as well. We will now start learning about Native people in Texas.
Dates to Remember
Monday, Nov. 3-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Running Club 2:45-3:15pm
Tuesday, Nov. 4-Walk/Bike to School Day, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Choir practice 2:50, Sr. Choir Concert-6:30 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 5-Reading summary and response due
Thursday, Nov. 6-Service Club Meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report cards go home
Friday, Nov. 7-Reading summary and response due, Spirit Day-Wear green, purple, or school shirt
Monday, Nov. 10-Reading Logs due, tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Nov. 11-Veteran’s Day Program at 9:00 am for 3-5, Veterans eat breakfast for free, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, TAG Parent Information Night-6:30-7:15 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 12-Reading summary and response due
Thursday, Nov. 13-Writing Club Meeting from 2:45-3:45, PTA Family Night at Austin Pizza 5:00 pm, Reflections Gallery Night at 5:00 pm
Friday, Nov. 14-Reading summary and response due, Spirit Day-Wear green, purple, or school shirt
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful weekend. Stay warm!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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