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!





Sunday, October 18, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 10/18/2015

Our fourth graders met the author Jarrett Krosoczka on Thursday during a Skype visit. They learned about his writing process and drew some illustrations together. It was wonderful. Thank you to Mrs. Smith, our librarian, for arranging it for us. Here is Mr. Krosoczka's website: http://www.studiojjk.com/activities3-6.html

Writing Club meets on Monday afterschool. The students will choose their writing pieces. We will talk about working on some poems and writing for Reflections and the UIL Writing Teams. The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area.

OMS Toy Drive continues. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 175 new toys. We have about 75 toys so far! Thank you in advance for your support.

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences-Thank you to all the people with whom we've met already. It has been great to talk with you and discuss your child's goals and progress. We have more conferences scheduled for this week. If you haven't signed up yet, here is the link. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4ba8ad292-student

Pen Pals are coming on Tuesday, Oct. 20! Residents from The Court at Round Rock Assisted Living Facility will come to FCE on Tuesday to meet with our class. We will interview them and learn about their childhood and then we will play games and enjoy hanging out together. You are all welcome to come and have fun with our new friends. We will be in the library from about 9:30 to about 10:45.

Reading-We are learning about non-fiction or expository text. We read an article about the history of candy and made some inferences. We will continue to read and explore non-fiction this week. We will also continue to work with our book clubs. We are working hard to keep track of our thinking on post-it notes as we read, then bringing that thinking to our book club meetings to share. We are also working on leading the conversations and extending our thinking together in our group by finding proof in the text and asking questions. We are also reading independently everyday and recording on our book logs. Be sure to read everyday at home and record on your log! The kids should turn in a complete book log about once a week.

Writing-We are gathering entries for Expository Writing and will chose a piece to go through the writing process this week.

Social Studies-We started reading about Native Tribes in Texas and will continue researching this week. We will also talk about our project choices to show our learning about a particular tribe.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about plurals this week. This week's words focus on adding es to nouns to make them plural. This is usually done if the singular word ends in ch, sh, x, or ss. Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on science words. Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, October 19-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45. Wear FCE t-shirts. Family Fun Night at Hat Creek from 5-9.

Tuesday, October 20-library check out-Pen Pal Visit from 9:30-10:45 in library-conferences continue afterschool

Friday, October 23-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts-Conferences continue afteschool.

Saturday, October 24-Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center with us from 9-10am. Let me know if you can come, so I can let them know. All are welcome. Bring some gently used books to donate for the bookshelf in the waiting room.

Monday, October 26-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club! Come to room 512 from 2:45-3:45.

Red Ribbon Week-Oct. 26-Oct. 30-More information to come

Wednesday, Oct. 28-Early Release Day at 12:45-Kona Ice is at FCE.

Picture Day-October 29

Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

--
Pam Bartholomew
4th Grade Teacher
Forest Creek Elementary School
Round Rock,TX 78664

512-464-5388
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