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, November 22, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 11/22/2015

Happy Thanksgiving! We had an amazing week!

We had a Reading Party on Thursday to kick off our 20 Book Challenge! We are so excited to read and can't wait to get started! Don't forget to record your books and times. Challenge yourself to read more. Monthly Challenge is to read the first book in a series or a Bluebonnet Book! Be sure to take advantage of our week off of school to read, read, and read some more.

Our Tribe Project Presentations for social studies were wonderful. They were creative and included important information about each tribe. The kids worked hard and it showed. Great job everyone!

Groovy-O-Rama was fantastic! Everyone looked great and sounded even better. Every year I am excited to see so many students perfoming so well. The speakers did great and the singing solos were incredible. Excellent job everyone!

Thanksgiving Lunch-Thank you to everyone who came and shared lunch with your student. It was a fun day.

Art Field Trip to Blanton Art Museum on Tuesday, December 1. Don't forget to bring a lunch and a drink. Wear comfortable shoes and a Forest Creek shirt (or green or purple shirt) It will be a great day! Thank you to Mrs. Arnold and Mrs. Shore for arranging this trip for us.

Writing Club meets on Monday, Nov. 30 after school. We will announce the UIL Creative Writing and Ready Writing Teams. We will also work a creative writing game and free writing.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. 12. 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. (The date changed.)

Reading-The students read a short novel called Molly's Pilgrim and compared and contrasted two of the characters in the book. They also determined a theme or lesson from the book and provided evidence or proof from the text to support thier thinking. We finished our read aloud, Dancing Home. It is a touching book about a girl named Margie who's cousin from Mexico moves in with her. Margie struggles with wanting to be fully American and learns to appreciate her heritage. To get ready for Literacy Night on December 10, we will talk about heritage together and write Cultural poems. We will also research China and read Chinese traditional tales to create projects to present at Literacy Night. Be sure to come to Literacy Night on December 10. Each grade level will present a different continent and there will be projects to view and Ballet Folklorico. We will also learn about Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa. It will be a great night of learning and fun.
If you would like to present items or information about your ancestry, please contact Mariah Smith in the library at mariah_smith@roundrockisd.org.

Writing-We finished our final copies of our expository writing. We read Turkey Bowl by Phil Bildner and noted the strong word choice and alliteration. We then worked on some poems and stories about Thanksgiving.

Social Studies-We finished our presentations of our Texas Tribe projects. The kids did a great job. We will learn about bartering and then begin learning about the explorers in Texas.

Spelling-We reviewed plurals this week. New spelling words will come home on Monday, November 30. The list will include words with silent letters like lamb, write, and debt. Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- We won't have a new list for vocabulary this week.

Homework packet will come home on Monday, Nov. 30.

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:

November 23-27-Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 30- Wear FCE t-shirts. Writing Club 2:45-3:45 in library. 2nd-5th invited.

Tuesday, December 1-Field Trip to Blanton Art Museum

Wednesday, December 2-Early Release and Pajama Day

Thursday, December 3

Friday, December 4-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test

Monday, December 7-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club 2:45-3:45 in room 512. 4th-5th invited.

Thursday, Dec. 10-Passport to Literacy-Cultural Night 5-7-Return your paper portrait decorated with the country of your ancestry.

Friday, December 11-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Saturday, Dec. 12-Volunteer at RR Serving Center from 9-10.

I hope you continue to have a wonderful weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

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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