Sunday, January 25, 2015
Newsletter
Hi, January 25, 2015
We had a busy, but great week! Kate Klise, author, came and led writing workshops with all the fourth graders. She writes books and her sister does the illustrations. She taught us about the clock graphic organizer that she uses to plan her fiction or narrative writing. She also worked for People Magazine and taught us about her template for writing expository. We were able to practice some writing with her and share our writing. It was a wonderful visit and we learned a lot.
Thursday was our FCE Talent Show! We have many talented students at Forest Creek! Congratulations especially to Madi, Isabelle, Sophia, Kyla, and April!
In Reading, we began reading literacy circle books and discussing them in groups. Each group has a calendar with their readings for each day. We are reading award winning books-The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Ghetto Cowboy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Bud, Not Buddy, Elijah of Buxton, and Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World. Talk to your child about his/her book. What is the setting of the book? What is the problem? How would they describe the characters and the setting? How are the characters changing in the book? What are his/her predictions? What do they think about the book so far and why? Feel free to read along and engage in your own discussions at home.
In Writing, we are working on personal narratives and reading mentor texts to get ideas for our own writing. We also use sentences from books to practice grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Vocabulary words this week include words with therm(hot or warm) and aud (to hear) and in spelling, we are learning prefixes dis and pre.
In Social Studies, we are learning about the American and Mexican Revolutions and how they affected Texas. We also learned about the Austin family and how Stephan F. Austin became the Father of Texas and brought the Old Three Hundred or the first 300 families to his colony in Mexican Texas. We will talk more about empressarios and early settlements this week.
Dates to remember:
Monday, January 26-reading logs due, tutorials after school from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, January 27-tutorials after school from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 28-summary and response due (only if not caught up with lit. circle writing and reading)
Thursday, January 29-Service Club after school from 2:45-3:45, Math and Science Night at 5:00 and Science Fair
Friday, January 30-spelling and vocabulary tests, summary and response due (only if not caught up with lit. circle writing and reading), Marathon Kids Logs due to Coaches
Wednesday, February 4-Early Release at 12:45, Kona Ice will be here
Have an amazing weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Monday, January 19, 2015
Newsletter
Hi, Jan. 18, 2015
Come to our Walk to Read Event on Monday, Jan. 19 at 2:00 at Forest Creek Elementary! We will meet in the library for a short presentation about Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa. Then we will go outside with a hardback book to donate. We will walk a few laps, stop and read our books together, then walk a few more laps. Monetary donations will also be accepted. So far, we over 300 books and $414 has been donated! Come and help us help the children in Africa.
Talent Show is on Thursday, January 22 at 6:30 pm. It will be a wonderful show! Come and enjoy!
We will have an Author Visit on Friday. Kate Klise will be at Forest Creek on Friday to do writing workshops with our fourth graders. We are very excited to meet her and learn about her techniques for writing.
In reading this week, we learned more about traditional literature and learned a bit about the Civil Rights Movement. We read a play called The Sticky Coyote about a trickster and a tall tale called Stormalong. We practiced fluency and reading with expression using a tale of King Midas and the Golden Touch. The story elements (setting, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution, and theme, characters-antagonist and protagonist) were discussed in many different books this week. We also read an article about Brown vs. Board of Education and the book, My Brother Martin, which is about Dr. Martin Luther King. We read The Story of Ruby Bridges, which is about school desegregation. We started new literature circles with novels that deal with civil rights issues and will be reading them, writing about them, and discussing them in groups.
In writing, we used mentor texts (Owl Moon and Papa, Who Woke Up Tired in the Dark) to discuss word choice, character changes, and setting. We noticed the effectiveness of slowing down the most important part of the story by adding specific details. Then we practiced in our own personal narrative entries. We will work hard to draft, conference, revise, edit, and publish this week.
In social studies, we role played life in a mission. I was the Spanish priest who ran the mission and the students were the Native Americans. They were able to experience how challenging it could have been to work in the field (picking beans off the floor), learn the Spanish language (writing Spanish words repeatedly), sleep in the dormitory (lying on the floor), make tools (drawing farm and cooking tools), and convert to Catholicism (listening to Gregorian chants on the computer). We had some interesting discussions after the activity about the viewpoints of the Native Americans and how it could have been hard for some to live in the missions, however, the missions helped others to survive. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution and the Austins in Texas this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 19, 2015-MLK Day No School-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 at FCE
Tuesday, January 20, 2015-Tutorials at 2:45-3:45, Reading logs due
Wednesday, January 21, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 22, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Talent Show at 6:30 pm
Friday, January 23, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, Spelling test
Hope you had a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at Walk to Read at 2:00 pm!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Come to our Walk to Read Event on Monday, Jan. 19 at 2:00 at Forest Creek Elementary! We will meet in the library for a short presentation about Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa. Then we will go outside with a hardback book to donate. We will walk a few laps, stop and read our books together, then walk a few more laps. Monetary donations will also be accepted. So far, we over 300 books and $414 has been donated! Come and help us help the children in Africa.
Talent Show is on Thursday, January 22 at 6:30 pm. It will be a wonderful show! Come and enjoy!
We will have an Author Visit on Friday. Kate Klise will be at Forest Creek on Friday to do writing workshops with our fourth graders. We are very excited to meet her and learn about her techniques for writing.
In reading this week, we learned more about traditional literature and learned a bit about the Civil Rights Movement. We read a play called The Sticky Coyote about a trickster and a tall tale called Stormalong. We practiced fluency and reading with expression using a tale of King Midas and the Golden Touch. The story elements (setting, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution, and theme, characters-antagonist and protagonist) were discussed in many different books this week. We also read an article about Brown vs. Board of Education and the book, My Brother Martin, which is about Dr. Martin Luther King. We read The Story of Ruby Bridges, which is about school desegregation. We started new literature circles with novels that deal with civil rights issues and will be reading them, writing about them, and discussing them in groups.
In writing, we used mentor texts (Owl Moon and Papa, Who Woke Up Tired in the Dark) to discuss word choice, character changes, and setting. We noticed the effectiveness of slowing down the most important part of the story by adding specific details. Then we practiced in our own personal narrative entries. We will work hard to draft, conference, revise, edit, and publish this week.
In social studies, we role played life in a mission. I was the Spanish priest who ran the mission and the students were the Native Americans. They were able to experience how challenging it could have been to work in the field (picking beans off the floor), learn the Spanish language (writing Spanish words repeatedly), sleep in the dormitory (lying on the floor), make tools (drawing farm and cooking tools), and convert to Catholicism (listening to Gregorian chants on the computer). We had some interesting discussions after the activity about the viewpoints of the Native Americans and how it could have been hard for some to live in the missions, however, the missions helped others to survive. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution and the Austins in Texas this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 19, 2015-MLK Day No School-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 at FCE
Tuesday, January 20, 2015-Tutorials at 2:45-3:45, Reading logs due
Wednesday, January 21, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 22, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Talent Show at 6:30 pm
Friday, January 23, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, Spelling test
Hope you had a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at Walk to Read at 2:00 pm!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Newsletter
Hi,
We had a great first week of 2015! It was wonderful to see everyone and hear all about the break. The weather has been a little crazy. Stay warm!
Walk to Read for Libraries of Love
Our school is participating in a Walk to Read Event on MLK Day January 19. Come to school at 2:00 and we will have a short presentation and then go to the track to walk. We will stop and read our hard back book then walk a bit more before donating the books to build libraries in Uganda, Africa. All friends and family are welcome to the walk. Monetary donations and more gently used or new hard back books are being accepted. We hope you can make it!
Author Visit on Friday, January 23
Kate Klise is coming to do a writing workshop with our fourth graders. Order forms for her books came home on Friday. All books purchased will be autographed by Kate Klise. Read more about her at http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/. It's going to be great!
Reading-We are reading traditional tales and determining the theme with text evidence.We are also examining characters and the way they change, feel, act, as well as their relationships with others. We wrote about characteristics of fairy tales like beginning with Once Upon a Time and ending with Happily Ever After, magic, royalty, good vs. evil, groups of 3 and 7, etc... We compared and contrasted Cinderella stories from around the world. We read a story within a story called Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and discussed it in literature circles. We will continue next week reading some fables, tall tales, trickster tales. We will also begin learning more about Civil Rights and begin reading novels and discussing them literature circles.
Writing-We are continuing to work with conventions using mentor sentences and will continue to work on revising and editing. We will be writing more personal narratives and work on improving them. We will also write some fantasy stories or fractured fairy tales.
Social Studies-We finished learning about explorers in Texas and are beginning to study missions, presidios, and early towns.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 12-Reading Log due, No Tutorials due to a district meeting
Tuesday, January 13-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting
Wednesday, January 14-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, January 15-Service Club meeting 2:45-3:45
Friday, January 16-Reading Response and Summary due, Spelling and Vocabulary tests
Monday, January 19-No school, MLK Day, Walk to Read Event for Libraries of Love at 2 pm at FCE-bring a hard cover book and your donation envelopes
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
We had a great first week of 2015! It was wonderful to see everyone and hear all about the break. The weather has been a little crazy. Stay warm!
Walk to Read for Libraries of Love
Our school is participating in a Walk to Read Event on MLK Day January 19. Come to school at 2:00 and we will have a short presentation and then go to the track to walk. We will stop and read our hard back book then walk a bit more before donating the books to build libraries in Uganda, Africa. All friends and family are welcome to the walk. Monetary donations and more gently used or new hard back books are being accepted. We hope you can make it!
Author Visit on Friday, January 23
Kate Klise is coming to do a writing workshop with our fourth graders. Order forms for her books came home on Friday. All books purchased will be autographed by Kate Klise. Read more about her at http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/. It's going to be great!
Reading-We are reading traditional tales and determining the theme with text evidence.We are also examining characters and the way they change, feel, act, as well as their relationships with others. We wrote about characteristics of fairy tales like beginning with Once Upon a Time and ending with Happily Ever After, magic, royalty, good vs. evil, groups of 3 and 7, etc... We compared and contrasted Cinderella stories from around the world. We read a story within a story called Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and discussed it in literature circles. We will continue next week reading some fables, tall tales, trickster tales. We will also begin learning more about Civil Rights and begin reading novels and discussing them literature circles.
Writing-We are continuing to work with conventions using mentor sentences and will continue to work on revising and editing. We will be writing more personal narratives and work on improving them. We will also write some fantasy stories or fractured fairy tales.
Social Studies-We finished learning about explorers in Texas and are beginning to study missions, presidios, and early towns.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 12-Reading Log due, No Tutorials due to a district meeting
Tuesday, January 13-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting
Wednesday, January 14-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, January 15-Service Club meeting 2:45-3:45
Friday, January 16-Reading Response and Summary due, Spelling and Vocabulary tests
Monday, January 19-No school, MLK Day, Walk to Read Event for Libraries of Love at 2 pm at FCE-bring a hard cover book and your donation envelopes
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! January 3, 2015
I hope that this finds you all well and ready for a wonderful 2015! I had a great break and traveled to Philadelphia to see family and friends, but now I am excited about our second half of fourth grade! I can't wait to see everyone and hear about their adventures and goals for the rest of the school year.
Reading Challenge Logs are due on Tuesday, January 6. Each child was required to read at least 200 minutes over the break and should record it on their log. If the log was misplaced, please write your total minutes on paper with parent signature. It will be fun to talk about all the books we read during break!
If you are still logging in your reading minutes, don't forget to check out the free ebooks from the FCE library. Go to http://www.forestcreeklibrary.com/ and click on Follett Shelf to find tons of online books. To log in, use your regular computer log-in (letter s with 6 digit id number, password is birthdate (two digit month, two digit day, four digit year).
I-Station is also an excellent way to practice lots of reading and language skills. Remember, you can always use I-Station minutes for your reading log!
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, January 6, 2015-Return to school, Reading Log due (200 minutes)Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 7, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 8, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Family Fun Night at Jason's Deli
Friday, January 9, 2015-Summary and Response due, Spelling test, Vocabulary test
Monday, January 12, 2015-Reading Log due, Tutorials from 2;45-3:45
Tuesday, January 13, 2015-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting at 6:30
Wednesday, January 14, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 15, 2015-Service Club meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report Cards in Thursday folders
Friday, January 16, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, spelling test, Talent Show Auditions at 3:00
Monday, January 19, 2015-No school-MLK DAY of Service-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 on the FCE track-donate money and books for Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa.
Have a wonderful weekend! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!!!!
Sincerely,
Pam
I hope that this finds you all well and ready for a wonderful 2015! I had a great break and traveled to Philadelphia to see family and friends, but now I am excited about our second half of fourth grade! I can't wait to see everyone and hear about their adventures and goals for the rest of the school year.
Reading Challenge Logs are due on Tuesday, January 6. Each child was required to read at least 200 minutes over the break and should record it on their log. If the log was misplaced, please write your total minutes on paper with parent signature. It will be fun to talk about all the books we read during break!
If you are still logging in your reading minutes, don't forget to check out the free ebooks from the FCE library. Go to http://www.forestcreeklibrary.com/ and click on Follett Shelf to find tons of online books. To log in, use your regular computer log-in (letter s with 6 digit id number, password is birthdate (two digit month, two digit day, four digit year).
I-Station is also an excellent way to practice lots of reading and language skills. Remember, you can always use I-Station minutes for your reading log!
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, January 6, 2015-Return to school, Reading Log due (200 minutes)Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 7, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 8, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Family Fun Night at Jason's Deli
Friday, January 9, 2015-Summary and Response due, Spelling test, Vocabulary test
Monday, January 12, 2015-Reading Log due, Tutorials from 2;45-3:45
Tuesday, January 13, 2015-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting at 6:30
Wednesday, January 14, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 15, 2015-Service Club meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report Cards in Thursday folders
Friday, January 16, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, spelling test, Talent Show Auditions at 3:00
Monday, January 19, 2015-No school-MLK DAY of Service-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 on the FCE track-donate money and books for Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa.
Have a wonderful weekend! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!!!!
Sincerely,
Pam
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