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, January 31, 2016

Newsletter

Hi,

We had a great week!

Monthly Reading Challenge Lunch was on Wednesday, January 27 during our lunch time. Most of the children from our two reading classes met the challenge! Congratulations! The February Reading Challenge is to read a historical fiction book. Happy Reading!!!!!

Bluebonnet Book Voting happened on Thursday and Friday. If you read at least 5 Bluebonnet Books, you were able to vote for your favorite. The Bluebonnet Breakfast will be after spring break. Be sure to keep reading them. You need to read 17 books to go to the breakfast. You can do it!!!!!

Science projects were due on Monday and the students worked hard on them. Thank you to the families who were able to come to the Math and Science Showcase on Thursday. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. Juliana won the estimation jar of M&Ms! Our science projects did well in the fair also!

Service Club Meeting on Feb. 1 from 2:45-3:45-The Service Club students will make bowls in Mrs. Arnold's room that will be donated to the Empty Bowl Project. All fourth and fifth graders are invited to come and be part of Service Club and make bowls. At another meeting, we will glaze the bowls.

Pen Pal Visit-Our pen pals will visit on Feb. 2 from 9:30-10:45. Come and meet our pen pals while we celebrate Valentine's Day with them.

Valentine's Day Party-Our party will be on Feb. 12 at 1:00. More information to come.

Remember-READING RESPONSE LETTERS DUE EVERY FRIDAY. Turn any missing letters in ASAP.

Read about our week:

Reading-We began reading traditional literature-fairy tales, trickster tales, and folk tales. We read Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and discussed the characters, (traits, protagonist, antagonist, trickster), summary, and theme. We will learn some more about tall tales and plot/theme this week and we will write about a traditional tale read independently for our 20 Book Challenge. We will also read more non-fiction.

Writing-We are working on some original traditional tales and including all the characteristics that we've discussed while reading them. (setting, plot, antagonist, protagonist, conflict, climax, resolution). We will finish them this week and work on more expository writing as well as grammar and combining sentences.

Spelling- Last week we added endings to verbs to change the verb tense-(chase=chases, chasing and chased). This week we will continue to work on verb tense but will work with doubling the final consonant when adding the ending.

Vocabulary-We will work on homophones or words that sound the same, yet are spelled differently and have different meanings. .Go to quizlet.com to practice and look for the words in the homework packet.

Social Studies-We had so much fun simulating life on a Texas Mission. The children were the Native Americans and Mrs. Espinoza and I were the priests or nuns running the mission. They all had to work in silence as they listened to chants in the chapel, picked food (beans) in the fields, learned to write Spanish words, slept in the dormitory, and made (drawings) tools in the workhouse. It helped them realize what life could have been like in a mission. We will learn a bit more about missions then will study empressarios. We will even create a plan for our own settlements.


Dates to remember:

Monday, Feb. 1-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club meeting from 2:45-3:45 with Ms. Arnold making bowls for the Empty Bowl Project-Jumprope for Heart all week!

Tuesday, Feb. 2-Pen Pals coming at 9:30 in Art Room

Wednesday, Feb. 3-Early Release Day at 12:45

Friday, Feb. 5-Spelling test, Vocabulary test, Reading Response letters due, Reading Logs due, Wear college shirts-Jump Rope Performance at 9:30

Monday, Feb. 8-Wear FCE shirts-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45.

Tuesday, Feb. 9-Library check out. Spring Pictures

Friday, Feb. 12-Spelling test, Vocabulary test, Reading Response letters due, Reading Logs due, Wear college shirts-Valentine's Day Party at 1:00

Monday, Feb. 15-No school for students

Have a great weekend. Enjoy this beautiful weather! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Pam
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