Newsletter-Happy Valentine's Day! Sister Teresita from Honduras comes to Service Club on Thursday after school!

Hi,

Valentine’s Day is coming up! If you didn’t receive the email with Sign-Up Genius for our party on Thursday, let me know and I will get it to you. Bring the Valentines to school on Thursday to pass out. Also, decorate a box or bag to use as your Valentine mailbox for receiving Valentines. Bring that in on Thursday, as well. Here again is a list of the children in our classroom for Valentines. We have 22 children in our class.

Kyra, Brianna, Braden, Jackson, Peyton, Sage, Todd, Amelia, Ethan, Trevor, Andrew, Abigail, Marley, Collin, Riya, Jared, Joaquin, Lauren, Dev, Rebecca, Tristan, Gabe

Read about our week:

Reading-We examined the genre of traditional tales this week. We began with fairy tales. We read and compared several Cinderella stories. We also read and discussed other fairy tales including fractured fairy tales. Pourquoi stories or stories that explain why or how things in nature occurred were another form of traditional tales that we read. We learned why frog and snake aren’t friends from an African tale. We will continue studying traditional tales next week and also plays. We will compare the format of a play with a narrative and the role of the narrator, stage directions, setting, etc…

Writing-We took a STAAR Ready Writing test last week. We looked at the types of revising and editing situations that are easy for us and ones that are trickier, so that we can improve in revising and editing in testing situations as well as our own writing. We will examine our planning, revising, editing, and final copies of our narrative writing and see what areas are strong for each of us and what improvements we can make. We will also continue to revise, edit, and illustrate our stories, poems, and essays for our individual published books.

Math-Decimals and fractions in problem solving situations has been our focus lately. We will be beginning measurement this week and will be tested on the vocabulary of measurement next Tuesday, February 19. We will measure length, mass, capacity, temperature, time, and volume using customary/standard and metric units. This concept has lots of hands-on activities and is very fun. Measure things at home and talk about measurement this week as well.

Social Studies-The Texas Revolution and the people involved in the revolution have been exciting and interesting for us to study. We have been practicing a Reader’s Theater about the Texas Revolution and will be video taping our performance on Wednesday afternoon. If your child would like to wear a costume or have props, they can do so. Bring in any necessary items on Wednesday.

Science-We will begin learning about weathering, erosion, and deposition on Friday with an experiment with our reading buddies from Mrs. Garcia’s class.

Reminders:
Jump Rope for Heart continues!

Tuesday, February 12-Math Club-Anyone invited to come play cool math strategy games in TAG portable until 3:45

Thursday, February 14-Valentine’s Day Party-Bring in Valentines and bag or box
Service Club meeting afterschool-Sister Teresita from Honduras will be here to talk with us. Feel free to join us and meet this amazing lady!

Monday, February 18-Student Holiday

Tuesday, February 19-Measurement vocabulary test

Thursday, February 21-Writing Club 2:45-3:45pm

Have a wonderful week and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Pam Bartholomew

Newsletter-Awesome Science Projects, Math & Science Night on Thursday at 5 pm, Pen Pal Visit at 1:00pm on Wednesday, Group Picture Day on Wednesday, Sign and Return your Black History Month Contest Forms

Hi,

Your children did some amazing science projects! They all presented their experiments and their findings to the class. Because they were so good and they worked so hard on them, we are going to share them with our pen pals also on Wednesday afternoon. The pen pals and the children will make bowls for the Empty Bowl Project on Wednesday then we will invite them to come to our classroom where we will have our projects on display around the room. I am sure that our pen pals will be impressed with their hard work and scientific discoveries. You are welcome to come to our pen pal visit on Wednesday! We will be in Mrs. Arnold's Art room at 12:55.

Reading: We chose historical fiction novels about the Texas Revolution. The kids decided on how many pages/chapters to read each weeknight and are doing some of that reading in class. They are writing summaries and responses and talking about the book and its events with their book club group. These novels help to bring the events of the Texas Revolution to life and make learning the facts in social studies more relevant. Ask your child about his/her book. These books can be used for reading log minutes at home and the summary/responses can count as homework (write "Home" with date, so I know that they were done at home)

Writing: We completed writing expository pieces or essays for Black History month. Your child worked hard on these by completing research using at least two sources, then organizing the research to show how their person journeyed toward equality and freedom and added some personal connections. Together we revised, edited, and cut the essays down to meet the 250 word limit. Your child brought home a copy of his/her essay stapled to an entry form for the RRISD contest. Please fill out the form, sign, and return so that we can submit the essays. We also wrote letters for our pen pals and will be working on some personal narratives next week.

Math: Decimals and fractions have been our focus. We are learning the concepts using manipulatives, drawings, and models and applying the concepts to problem solving situations. Be sure to point out uses in daily life of decimals and fractions and continue to practice math facts.

Social Studies-We will continue to learn about the Texas Revolution.

Science-We finished talking about science projects and will begin changes to land soon.

Dates to Remember:

Monday, January 28-Reading Logs due, Sign and Return Black History Month form
Wednesday, January 30-Pen Pal Visit at 1:00pm, Group Picture Day
Thursday, January 31-Science & Math Night at 5pm
Friday, February 1-Wear Red for Jump Rope for Heart

Homework this week:
Read and record on reading log-150 minutes at least
Math due daily
two reading responses (summary & response)
two writing entries (one personal narrative & one essay)

Thank you for your support at home! Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

I am impressed with the progress, dedication, and hard work of our class!

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew

Newsletter-Great Week! Science Projects due on Tuesday

Hi,

We had a busy and fun week! The children have been researching,
writing, and revising their Black History Month. They've used at
least two sources and note cards to record important information.
They wrote a central idea statement, then organized the information
into examples of the ways their person worked for equality and
freedom. We have worked together to revise and edit to make their
essay ready for publication. Most of the kids have finished typing
their essay! Great job!

Reading-We spent a lot of time researching. We read a wonderful book
called Granddaddy's Gift about a man in Mississippi who tries to
register to vote but is discouraged and threatened because he is
black. The kids wrote summaries and responses as well as participated
in great discussions about the book and its content. We are also
reading a new read aloud called Wonder. Ask your child about Auggie's
Halloween experience.

Writing-In addition to working on our essays, we practiced using
transition words to connect our sentences. We used the sentences- Dad
and I went fishing. Mom made our lunches. We came up with many
different ways to connect these sentences using transition words like:
while, before, but, then, first, etc... We are working on adding
more transition words to our writing to make our sentences flow
smoothly.

Math-Fractions and decimals are our focus. We used manipulatives to
help us understand various concepts in fractions and decimals and will
continue next week with more games and hands on activities as well as
problem solving.

Social Studies-The Texas Revolution is beginning. We are learning
about the reasons for the desire for Texas Independence and the early
battles. Next week we will continue our study by reading historical
fiction novels about the revolution as our new book club books. These
exciting stories will bring the true events to life for us and enable
us to practice comprehension skills at the same time.

Homework this week:
Read and record on log-150 min./week
1 reading response and summary due on Fri.
2 writing entries due-one narrative, one expository or essay due on Fri.
math paper each night
Convention sentences test on Fri.
Word Study Assessment on Fri.

Dates to remember:
Monday, January 21-No School
Tuesday, January 22-Science Projects due and Presentations begin
Thursday, January 24-Writing Club meets
Friday, January 25-Mad Science Assembly
Wednesday, January 30-Spring and Group Photos, Pen Pal Visit at 1:00
pm in art room
Thursday, January 31-Service Club meets, Math and Science Night
Friday, February 1- Feb. 8-Jump Rope for Heart, Book Fair in Library
Saturday, Feb. 2-Volunteer at Serving Center from 9-10am

Have a great weekend! Thank you for all your support at home. I
can't wait to see all the Science Project presentations! We have a
lot of very cool experiments with interesting results! It is
wonderful to see your children so excited about their accomplishments
and about science!

Sincerely,
Pam

Newsletter-Rdg Logs due Mon, Science Project Checkpoint #4-due on Wed, Service Club meets on Thurs. Talent Show on Fri, No School on Mon. 1/21, Science Projects due on Tues Jan. 22

Hi,

We had a great first week of 2013 and worked very hard. Thank you for
sending your kids to school ready to learn.

We have a new class pet for two weeks! A family of hissing
cockroaches! George, Gracie, and a baby will be in our room. We will
be observing and researching them next week.

Reading-We are working on improving the depth and quality of our
summaries and responses. They each have a checklist glued into their
reading response books that they can use to help them remember things
that can make a great summary and response. I showed them a model of
a summary and response to our new read aloud, Wonder. They read a
book written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s sister about their
childhood then wrote their own summary and response using the
checklist then met in small groups to share and discuss the book. The
students also chose an African American in history to research then
they will each write an essay about their person to enter into our
district's Black History Month contest.

Writing-The students will now be writing two entries a week at home.
One entry will be an expository piece and one will be a personal
narrative. These are drafts to help gather more ideas and practice
the format of each type of writing. Each child has two strips of
paper glued into their writing notebooks that they can use to remind
them the differences between these two forms of writing and help them
come up with a topic if they have difficulty with that. In class, we
are looking at mentor texts or books with great writing and taking
notes about what techniques the author then we will apply some of
those strategies to our own writing. We are planning and researching
for our expository pieces about famous African Americans for Black
History Month.

Math-We have been continuing our work on fractions. We have
been using fraction circles and color tiles to discuss equivalent
fractions, fractions that equal one whole, and fractions of a group.
They have been working very hard and sharing strategies that they use.
Ask them about the Horse and lasso game that they played today!
Applying these concepts to word problems while having a visual
representation in our heads will help us later to do better in later
problem solving throughout our lives. Thank you for continuing to
work on math facts at home.

Science-We finished up our properties of soil explorations and will
begin looking at changes to the land through weathering, erosion, and
deposition. Science Fair projects seem to be coming along nicely.
Thank you for working so hard on them at home.

Social Studies-Texas Revolution has been our focus. We are beginning
to look at the causes of the Texas Revolution and the events. We
explored an interactive site in the computer lab, began reading a book
together about the revolution called Remember the Alamo, and started
watching a movie about the Battle of the Alamo. We will continue to
study the revolution using text book reading, reading of historical
fiction novels, and looking at primary sources to gather information.
We will also look at important people in the Texas Revolution as
well.

Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 14-Reading Logs due
Tuesday, January 15-Math Club
Wednesday, January 16-Checkpoint #4 due
Thursday, January 17-Service Club Meeting
Friday, January 18-Forest Creek Talent Show-6:30 pm
Monday, January 21-No School- Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday, January 22-Science Project presentations begin in
class-tri-fold board or poster needed
Thursday, January 24-Writing Club
Wednesday, January 30-Pen Pal Visit, Spring Individual and Group Photos
Thursday, January 31-Service Club meeting and Science Fair/Math Night

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Pam

We want your student in school everyday!

We always want to see students in class but we understand that children get sick, and it is sometimes difficult to decide when to keep them at home. In order to make it easier, we encourage you to follow the guidelines below from the Texas Department of State Health Services and Round Rock ISD’s Health Services Director, Sandy Headley. If you have any questions, please contact your school nurse.

Don’t keep a child home for:
Sniffles, a runny nose and a mild cough without a fever. It could be a cold or an allergic response to dust, pollen, or seasonal changes.
Vague complaints or aches, pains or fatigue (being tired).
A one-time only episode of diarrhea or vomiting without any other symptoms.

Do keep a child home when they have:
A fever of 100 degrees or more.
A fever along with a rash, earache, sore throat, or nausea may indicate a highly contagious infection. Children must be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.
A persistent, productive cough and wheezing together with thick or constant nasal discharge.
Persistent vomiting and diarrhea (more than once) during the previous night.
An un-diagnosed rash, especially coupled with a fever and behavioral changes. Pinkeye in which there is a white or yellow discharge, often with matted eyelids after sleep, and eye pain, redness or itching.
Head lice. Once head lice have been treated and there are no more live lice, the student has to be cleared by the school nurse and then may return to school. Students cannot return until all lice are treated and removed.
Strep throat, scarlet fever, measles, chickenpox or any other communicable disease until released by a doctor.
Any physical or emotional condition that would prevent him / her from participating comfortably in class.

If a child misses a day of school because he or she is not feeling well, or if it becomes necessary for a student to leave school to be seen by a healthcare professional, parents must provide the front office with a note from themselves or the health care professional in order for the absence to be recorded as “excused” and the school to recover any potential state funding.

Thank you,
RRISD

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I look forward to seeing all of you on Monday at school and hopefully will see some of you at the Round Rock Serving Center tomorrow from 9-10 am.

I know that you have enjoyed reading over the holidays so remember to have your completed reading log (at least 300 min.) to turn in on Monday. Everyone is required to read 300 minutes, however, those students who read more than 300 min. will receive a prize. Those who didn't meet the 300 minutes expectation will need to go to study hall. :( If you didn't quite make it, read a lot this weekend and you will get there! We will be starting a different at home reading log that will need a parent signature for the new year.

Be sure to continue to practice multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction facts as well as problem solving and other math concepts. You can go to sites on our math links section of our class webpage or many other downloadable games and activities. Check with your parents first before downloading anything.

Science Project checkpoint #3 will be due on Thursday, January 10. You will need to think about uncommon words that you discovered or used so far in your project and list the word and the definition. Remember that a word may be easy for you but tricky for others so any words that could be tricky would need a definition. You also will need to include background information. What research are you doing or did you do to help you with your project? Write to explain it and be sure to remember the source for your bibliography.

Be sure to go to our Moodle page and have fun completing some activities as well as connecting with friends. Be sure to comment on other people's posts as well.

Enjoy this weekend and I can't wait to see you ready to go on Monday! Be thinking about your goals. We will revisit the goals set at conference time and adjust or modify for the new semester and the second half of fourth grade.

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew

Happy Holidays! Complete reading log, Go to Moodle, Service Club to RR Serving Center on Sat. Jan. 5 from 9-10,Have fun and be safe!

Happy Holidays!

Thank you to Mrs. McCulloch for planning an awesome holiday party. There were tons of fun activities and the kids had a great time. Thank you also to all the parents who were able to help and/or send in supplies. This party was a wonderful way to celebrate together and end the first half of 4th grade.

I can’t believe that the school year is half over. I have some grading to do over the break and will be entering those grades. We are leaving to go to Philadelphia on Saturday so the grades won’t be entered until January. Feel free to check out your kids grades so far on Home Access but be aware that some of the grades will change a little bit before they are finalized.

Visit our Moodle Page! I added lots of new activities for the kids to complete over the break. If they say that they are bored, send them there. They can write to respond to my questions and topics and they can respond to their friends’ posts as well. Go to the school web page, then students, then moodle. Sign in using their log on to the school computers. 126lastnamefirst initial, password-their school id number. Have fun! I love to read their posts and respond.

Holiday Reading Log-Be sure that your child is keeping up with their reading, writing, and math over the holiday break. I sent home a holiday reading log on Wednesday that had a chart to keep track of minutes and books read. All of the kids are required to read 150 minutes a week or 300 minutes for the two weeks off. Any child reading over 300 minutes will be receiving a special surprise! I will have several prizes on the table and the highest minute readers will get to choose first. Any child who doesn’t complete the 300 minutes of reading time will need to go to study hall when we return to catch up. Encourage your child to email me and let me know about their progress and what books they are reading. I am so excited to have more time to read over the break and look forward to hearing about the reading adventures of the kids. I set up a page on moodle and they can leave posts for each other also!

This week we worked on some problem solving using the Twelve Days of Christmas, we read and responded to The Christmas Carol, and performed some holiday plays.

We will be continuing with fractions and problem solving, reading book club books, continuing to learn about soil, writing expository and personal narratives, and learning about the Texas Revolution.

Service Club organized tons of food for our families. They were picked up on Thursday evening and the families were very grateful for the food! Thank you to all those who helped organize and those who donated food.

Service Club will be volunteering at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, January 5, 2013 from 9-10. All are welcome to join us.

Have a wonderful, safe holiday. Thank you for all the beautiful cards and gifts. I will enjoy spending time with my family over the break but will miss your children. Thank you for sharing them with me.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew