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!





Friday, October 30, 2015

Newsletter


Hello Bat Families, 10/30/2015

We had an amazing week of Red Ribbon Week activities. With Halloween and wacky weather, this week had the potential to be very challenging. The kids did very well. We had fun, learned about healthy choices, made art for Every Artist Live, smiled for our photographs, and also focused on our assignments. Great job!!!!!

Reflections Entry Form due Monday-Our class wrote poems or stories for Reflections. Your child brought home and entry form for you to sign and return on Monday. The poems and stories are inspired by the theme, "Let your Imagination Fly" and are quite creative. The writing is in your child's Google Drive. Thank you in advance for returning the Reflections Entry Form.

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 200 new toys. We have about 91 toys so far! Many of the Service Club Members went to talk to classes this week to encourage kids to help. We will collect toys until Nov. 9. Thank you in advance for your support.

Coins for Coats-Our school collected coins for Coats for Kids this week. Our class collected more than $100! Thank you so much for your generosity! (especially Samantha!!!!)

Mimeo !!!!-We now have a mimeo machine in our classroom. This device turns our white board into a smart board. A computer website is projected onto the whiteboard. We have a stylus as a mouse and interact with the site using the stylus. It can also be used to draw or take notes as well. We've used it to practice vocabulary and spelling on Quizlet, played Food Chain games, made a web for writing, and played some other games. We look forward to investigating more activities using this cool technology.

Writing Club meets on Monday after school. Writing Club is for kids who love to write. The students choose whatever they'd like to write. We will talk about UIL Writing Teams and do some practice prompts. We will have UIL Writing Club try-outs on Monday, November 16. Students in Writing Club are encouraged to try out, but not required.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, Dec. 5. 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.

Reading-We are completing our study of non-fiction or expository text for now. We will revisit nonfiction reading strategies throughout the year Poetry will be our focus for the next few weeks. 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 took a writing benchmark that included some revising and editing as well as writing an expository piece. We also wrote cards of appreciation for police officers and wrote poems or short stories for Reflections. We will write more poetry and complete our final copies of our expository essays.

Social Studies-We are continuing to learn about Tribes in Texas.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about plurals this week. This week's words focus on words that end in a consonant and y. To make these words plural, the y is changed to an i and es is added. (candy-candies, party-parties, etc...) Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on figurative language to get ready for working with poetry. 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, November 2-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45. Reflections Entry form due. Wear FCE t-shirts.

Tuesday, November 3-library check out, Senior Choir Concert at 6:30

Wednesday, November 4-Flu Mist at 8:30, Senior Choir performs for grades 3,4, and 5 at 1:50.

Friday, November 6-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Monday, November 9-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club! Come to room 512 from 2:45-3:45. Donate toys for OMS Toy Drive to benefit Dell Children's Hospital!

Tuesday, November 10-PTA meeting at 11 am, TAG Parent Information Night at 6:30

Wednesday, November 11-Veteran's Day Breakfast and programs

More info about Reflections-Welcome to PTA Reflections 2015-2016! Let your imagination fly! Time is fast approaching to turn in your entries. Our theme this year is “Let Your Imagination Fly!” The categories are Visual Arts, Literature, Photography, Musical Composition, Film/Video Production and Dance Choreography. Enter as many categories as you wish. Entries will be due by Monday, November 2, 2015. All entries are to be turned in to Ms. Arnold’s room. Gallery Night is scheduled for November 17, 2015 at 6:30pm where we will showcase all the participants and our Reflections winners! If you have questions, contact Sara Douglas atsara_denney@yahoo.com. You can get your Entry Forms and rules on the PTA Website at www.txpta.org/programs/reflections/participate/.

Happy Halloween! Stay safe and dry. Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam
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