Hi, October 26, 2014
We have a busy week ahead!
This is Red Ribbon Week. The theme is: Be Yourself * Be Healthy * Be Happy * Be DRUG FREE
Monday – “Say Peace Out to Drugs” - wear tie dye
The Cedar Ridge Football Players will sign autographs at lunch – Bring a pen or pencil to lunch.
Tuesday – “Too Cool to do Drugs” – wear sunglasses
The Cedar Ridge Cheerleaders will hand out goodies at each entrance.
Wednesday – “Say Yes to a Healthy Heart and Body” – wear anything and everything RED
The Round Rock Fire Department will present assemblies: K-2
at 8:15 a.m. & 3-5 at 9:00 a.m.
Thursday – “I Picture Myself Without Drugs” – wear your school picture clothes
The Cedar Ridge Cheerleaders will hand out goodies at each entrance.
Friday – “Sock It To Drugs” – wear crazy socks
The Cedar Ridge Football Players will hand out goodies at each entrance.
Wednesday is an Early Release day. Students will be released at 12:45 p.m. We will also have a fire safety assembly during the day.
Kona Ice will be in front of school right after dismissal on Wednesday.
______________________________________________________________
Our next PTA Family Fun Night will be from 5-8 at Austin’s Pizza on Monday night, November 3rd.
Pen Pals will be coming on Tuesday, October 28! We are so excited to see them and will be interviewing them as well as exploring some watercolors, crayons, and play dough. We will create masterpieces together while we share time talking and enjoying each other’s company. We will also share our writing-personal narratives and Reflections writing. You are welcome to come and join us from about 9:15-10:30 in the library.
Reading-We began reading and taking notes on book club books for literacy circles. We are using post-it notes to take notes of our thinking, questions, comments, and/or tricky words. Then we meet with others reading the same book and discuss. These books are being read independently in class, however, if the children aren’t able to complete their assignment for that day, they can read this book for homework and it can count on the at home reading log. They can also use this book for their summary and response homework on Wednesdays and Fridays. We are also continuing our study of expository text and compared stated or explicit headings (An article about Mayans had a stated heading. The section was called Clothes and the section was about the clothing of the ancient and modern Mayan people.) and inferential or implicit headings (An article about electricity had inferential or implicit headings. These headings required the reader to make an inference or use background knowledge and text clues to figure it out. One head was Blow Wind, Blow and was about wind power being used for electricity.) We will continue to examine expository text and begin some poetry this week.
Writing-We researched information about healthy choices regarding food, exercise, drugs (over the counter and illegal drugs), alcohol, and smoking in our health book. We used some of the information to create Healthy Choice Plate Posters for a PE contest. We also wrote for the essay contest for Red Ribbon Week. We learned about outlining a bit to help organize our expository writing with a central idea then supporting statements with examples and a strong conclusion. We will be revising, editing, and publishing our expository writing this week.
Spelling-Plurals have been our focus. We learned a letter s is added to many words to change them from singular to plural. Words ending in s, ch, tch, z, sh, x, need an es added to make them plural. Some words are irregular and change completely like foot-feet, child-children. If the word ends with a consonant then a y, the y is changed to an i and es is added. That will be on our list this week.
Vocabulary-This week’s vocabulary is on figurative language. It includes simile, metaphor, imagery, sensory words, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, and hyperbole. These words and definitions will be in their agendas on Monday and are already on quizlet.com to practice.
Social Studies-We will work hard to finish our projects by Friday. Many are getting close and some have a lot to still work on. When our region projects are complete, we will begin studying the Native people in Texas.
Dates to Remember-
Monday, October 27-Reading logs due, tutorials from 2:45-3:45- wear tie dye
Tuesday, October 28-Pen Pals from 9:15-10:30, tutorials from 2:45-3:45, wear sunglasses
Wednesday, October 29-Early Release Day at 12:45, Fire Safety Assembly, Lunch from 10:45-11:15, Kona Ice after school, Summary and Response Due- wear anything and everything RED
Thursday, October 30-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45 in library, Picture Day during the day- wear your school picture clothes
Friday, October 31- Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary Test - wear crazy socks
Have a wonderful weekend! If you have any questions or concerns, let me know.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Newsletter
Hi,
It was nice to see so many of you at conferences and to get to talk about your child and his/her progress. If you were unable to attend a conference and would still like to schedule one, please email and let us know. Thank you so much!
Dad’s Day
All dads are invited to come to school with their student(s) on October 24 from 7:30 to 9:00am. Go to class with your child and then report to the cafeteria for juice, coffee, and donuts at 8:15. Dads will get a firsthand experience of life in the classroom. Make plans to attend! You may want to consider signing up to be a part of our Watch D.O.G.S. program.
TAG Information Night
Save this date if you’re interested in the gifted and talented program at Forest Creek Elementary! The TAG parent information night for testing is going to take place on November 11, 2014 in the library. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 7:15pm.
OMS Toy Drive for Dell Children’s Hospital
The FCE Service Club is still accepting donations for NEW toys to bring awareness of OMS. We have 74 toys so far and our goal is 150. We will collect toys until Nov. 14.
FCE Service Club
Our Service Club will meet on Thursday, October 23 from 2:45-3:45. All 4th and 5th graders are welcome to attend. We will count the new toy donations and begin writing notes and drawing pictures for children in an orphanage in Honduras. We will also talk about upcoming service projects. Bring some ideas.
Tutorials
Tutorials will be offered on Monday and Tuesday afternoons from 2:45-3:45. All students in Fry and Bartholomew’s classes are welcome to come to tutorials. Some come and work on homework and others work in small groups on specific assignments. Ms. Fry also does tutorials in the cafeteria on Tuesday mornings from 7:15-7:30.
Grading Period Ends on Friday
All missing or late assignments need to be completed and turned in by Friday. Any papers or tests that had correct and return for 70%, need to be turned in by Friday. Report cards will be sent home on November 6.
Pen Pals
Our pen pals are scheduled to come to FCE on Oct. 28 at 9:15. We missed seeing them this week and look forward to seeing them again. All are welcome to come and meet these wonderful friends.
Reflections Poems and Stories-Forms due ASAP
Your child brought home a poem or story with the theme-The World Would be a Better Place if… Stapled to their writing is a form to fill out to participate in the PTA Reflections Program. Please fill out the form with your child and return as soon as possible. It would be wonderful for everyone to participate in Reflections.
Our Week
In reading-we read non-fiction articles and determined the structure of the text. An article about the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park was organized in a compare and contrast format and the students compared and contrasted the opinions and actions of the ranchers and the wolf activists. Another article called “Hanging by a Thread” was organized in a problem/solution and was about the introduction of a non-native plant in Hawaii and the effects of that. We learned about making inferences (background knowledge + text clues=inference) by reading a book called Encounter, which is about Christopher Columbus but from a native boy’s point of view. We will continue working with non-fiction text and will begin literature circles or book clubs this week.
In writing-we published our poems and/or stories for Reflections and wrote more expository entries. We also worked on mentor sentences (to practice grammar, spelling, capitalization and punctuation. We took some writing time to work on our expository essays for social studies. We worked on plurals in spelling (adding es) and will continue with irregular plurals this week (foot, feet, etc…)
In social studies, we worked on our expository essays about our regions and began planning our projects with our groups.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, October 20-Reading Log due, Tutorials afterschool 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, October 21-Tutorials afterschool 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, October 22-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, October 23-Service Club Meeting-2:45-3:45
Friday, October 24-Dad’s Day from 7:30-9:00-Reflections forms due, Reading Response and Summary due, Grading Period Ends
Red Ribbon Week-October 27-31
Early Release Day-Wednesday, October 29 at 12:45
Have a great rest of the weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
It was nice to see so many of you at conferences and to get to talk about your child and his/her progress. If you were unable to attend a conference and would still like to schedule one, please email and let us know. Thank you so much!
Dad’s Day
All dads are invited to come to school with their student(s) on October 24 from 7:30 to 9:00am. Go to class with your child and then report to the cafeteria for juice, coffee, and donuts at 8:15. Dads will get a firsthand experience of life in the classroom. Make plans to attend! You may want to consider signing up to be a part of our Watch D.O.G.S. program.
TAG Information Night
Save this date if you’re interested in the gifted and talented program at Forest Creek Elementary! The TAG parent information night for testing is going to take place on November 11, 2014 in the library. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 7:15pm.
OMS Toy Drive for Dell Children’s Hospital
The FCE Service Club is still accepting donations for NEW toys to bring awareness of OMS. We have 74 toys so far and our goal is 150. We will collect toys until Nov. 14.
FCE Service Club
Our Service Club will meet on Thursday, October 23 from 2:45-3:45. All 4th and 5th graders are welcome to attend. We will count the new toy donations and begin writing notes and drawing pictures for children in an orphanage in Honduras. We will also talk about upcoming service projects. Bring some ideas.
Tutorials
Tutorials will be offered on Monday and Tuesday afternoons from 2:45-3:45. All students in Fry and Bartholomew’s classes are welcome to come to tutorials. Some come and work on homework and others work in small groups on specific assignments. Ms. Fry also does tutorials in the cafeteria on Tuesday mornings from 7:15-7:30.
Grading Period Ends on Friday
All missing or late assignments need to be completed and turned in by Friday. Any papers or tests that had correct and return for 70%, need to be turned in by Friday. Report cards will be sent home on November 6.
Pen Pals
Our pen pals are scheduled to come to FCE on Oct. 28 at 9:15. We missed seeing them this week and look forward to seeing them again. All are welcome to come and meet these wonderful friends.
Reflections Poems and Stories-Forms due ASAP
Your child brought home a poem or story with the theme-The World Would be a Better Place if… Stapled to their writing is a form to fill out to participate in the PTA Reflections Program. Please fill out the form with your child and return as soon as possible. It would be wonderful for everyone to participate in Reflections.
Our Week
In reading-we read non-fiction articles and determined the structure of the text. An article about the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park was organized in a compare and contrast format and the students compared and contrasted the opinions and actions of the ranchers and the wolf activists. Another article called “Hanging by a Thread” was organized in a problem/solution and was about the introduction of a non-native plant in Hawaii and the effects of that. We learned about making inferences (background knowledge + text clues=inference) by reading a book called Encounter, which is about Christopher Columbus but from a native boy’s point of view. We will continue working with non-fiction text and will begin literature circles or book clubs this week.
In writing-we published our poems and/or stories for Reflections and wrote more expository entries. We also worked on mentor sentences (to practice grammar, spelling, capitalization and punctuation. We took some writing time to work on our expository essays for social studies. We worked on plurals in spelling (adding es) and will continue with irregular plurals this week (foot, feet, etc…)
In social studies, we worked on our expository essays about our regions and began planning our projects with our groups.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, October 20-Reading Log due, Tutorials afterschool 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, October 21-Tutorials afterschool 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, October 22-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, October 23-Service Club Meeting-2:45-3:45
Friday, October 24-Dad’s Day from 7:30-9:00-Reflections forms due, Reading Response and Summary due, Grading Period Ends
Red Ribbon Week-October 27-31
Early Release Day-Wednesday, October 29 at 12:45
Have a great rest of the weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Newsletter-No school for students on Monday, October 13
Hi, October 12, 2014
Mad Science did an assembly for us on Friday afternoon and it was so much fun. The presenter used lots of volunteers performed demonstrations about the effects and power of air. It was very comical and educational. Ask your child about it.
Don’t forget that the students don’t have school on Monday, October 13. The teachers have staff development then we will begin our conferences on Monday afternoon. We look forward to seeing you this week. The conference is student led, so be sure to bring your child with you and we will all talk about goals and plans to reach those goals.
Writing Club will meet on Thursday, October 16. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome and we meet in the library from 2:45-3:45. If students need to make up homework or assignments, they are welcome to use this time in the library to do so.
Tutorials will be on Tuesday from 2:45-3:45.
Service Club continues to collect new toys for Dell Children’s Hospital. We have collected 55 toys so far and our goal is 150 toys by November 14. This toy drive is bringing awareness to OMS, which is a disease in which the child’s immune system tries to fight a tumor and ends up attacking the brain. Thank you so much for your donations.
In social studies, we continued to research our region and writing an expository essay to explain and teach about the region. We are working with our Texas group to help each other with continued research and writing about each region. We are in the process of peer editing and conferencing about the essays, then will type the essays and work on planning our projects this week.
In writing, we are collecting entries for expository writing. We walked around the school and in the gardens and made observations. Then pushed our thinking and wrote about what was interesting or important about our observations to try to lead us to big ideas. We also thought about special people and places and reasons and examples of their importance to us. Expository writing will include a central idea and supporting details and its purpose is to explain or teach information. When we think of expository, we think of explain and examples. Personal Narratives tell a small moment story.
In reading, we continued reading lots of expository or informational books. We looked for text features and their purposes and text structures. Text features include table of contents, index, glossary, photos, charts, captions, and subheading or subtitles. Text structures refer to the different structures of the text or how the information is organized. These include description, compare/contrast, problem/solution, question/answer, and sequential. We will also be making inferences (background knowledge +information from text=inference).
Vocabulary words are posted on Quizlet. These words are nonfiction text features. The children will have their notecards with the words and definitions written on them and the vocabulary words and definitions are also stapled to their agenda. Email me if your child is not able to access quizlet.com. Thank you for studying vocabulary words at home.
In spelling, we worked on words with changing words from singular to plural by adding an s. This week, we will look at plurals and ways that words change by adding es. Words that end in ch, sh, ss, x, and z become plural by adding an es. 12 of the words will be singular and plural (add es) and the other three words are from the student’s writing or words to work on from previous spelling tests. Thank you for studying spelling words with your child at home.
Nichole Allison, our student teacher, has been doing more of the planning and instruction for our class and is doing a wonderful job. We are so lucky to have her with us.
Dates to remember:
Monday, Oct. 13-no school for students, conferences begin
Tuesday, Oct. 14- Pen Pal Visit at 9:20. All are welcome to attend and meet our pen pals, Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 15-Summary and Response due, conferences continue
Thursday, Oct. 16-Writing Club after school 2:45-3:45 in library, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 17-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test
Saturday, Oct. 18-Conferences continue-come to the back car rider door and call 512-464-5388
Have a great rest of the weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Mad Science did an assembly for us on Friday afternoon and it was so much fun. The presenter used lots of volunteers performed demonstrations about the effects and power of air. It was very comical and educational. Ask your child about it.
Don’t forget that the students don’t have school on Monday, October 13. The teachers have staff development then we will begin our conferences on Monday afternoon. We look forward to seeing you this week. The conference is student led, so be sure to bring your child with you and we will all talk about goals and plans to reach those goals.
Writing Club will meet on Thursday, October 16. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome and we meet in the library from 2:45-3:45. If students need to make up homework or assignments, they are welcome to use this time in the library to do so.
Tutorials will be on Tuesday from 2:45-3:45.
Service Club continues to collect new toys for Dell Children’s Hospital. We have collected 55 toys so far and our goal is 150 toys by November 14. This toy drive is bringing awareness to OMS, which is a disease in which the child’s immune system tries to fight a tumor and ends up attacking the brain. Thank you so much for your donations.
In social studies, we continued to research our region and writing an expository essay to explain and teach about the region. We are working with our Texas group to help each other with continued research and writing about each region. We are in the process of peer editing and conferencing about the essays, then will type the essays and work on planning our projects this week.
In writing, we are collecting entries for expository writing. We walked around the school and in the gardens and made observations. Then pushed our thinking and wrote about what was interesting or important about our observations to try to lead us to big ideas. We also thought about special people and places and reasons and examples of their importance to us. Expository writing will include a central idea and supporting details and its purpose is to explain or teach information. When we think of expository, we think of explain and examples. Personal Narratives tell a small moment story.
In reading, we continued reading lots of expository or informational books. We looked for text features and their purposes and text structures. Text features include table of contents, index, glossary, photos, charts, captions, and subheading or subtitles. Text structures refer to the different structures of the text or how the information is organized. These include description, compare/contrast, problem/solution, question/answer, and sequential. We will also be making inferences (background knowledge +information from text=inference).
Vocabulary words are posted on Quizlet. These words are nonfiction text features. The children will have their notecards with the words and definitions written on them and the vocabulary words and definitions are also stapled to their agenda. Email me if your child is not able to access quizlet.com. Thank you for studying vocabulary words at home.
In spelling, we worked on words with changing words from singular to plural by adding an s. This week, we will look at plurals and ways that words change by adding es. Words that end in ch, sh, ss, x, and z become plural by adding an es. 12 of the words will be singular and plural (add es) and the other three words are from the student’s writing or words to work on from previous spelling tests. Thank you for studying spelling words with your child at home.
Nichole Allison, our student teacher, has been doing more of the planning and instruction for our class and is doing a wonderful job. We are so lucky to have her with us.
Dates to remember:
Monday, Oct. 13-no school for students, conferences begin
Tuesday, Oct. 14- Pen Pal Visit at 9:20. All are welcome to attend and meet our pen pals, Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 15-Summary and Response due, conferences continue
Thursday, Oct. 16-Writing Club after school 2:45-3:45 in library, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 17-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test
Saturday, Oct. 18-Conferences continue-come to the back car rider door and call 512-464-5388
Have a great rest of the weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Newsletter-Book Club orders due today, Bring in toys for OMS Toy Drive, Reading Log due on Monday, Summary and Response due on Wednesday and Friday, Spelling and Vocabulary test on Friday, Mad Science Assembly on Friday
Hi, October 5, 2014
We had another busy, but productive week. Many of our classmates went to other classrooms to give a presentation for Service Club. They spoke to other students about our Toy Drive for Dell Children’s Hospital. The drive will give toys to sick children at the hospital, but the drive is to also raise awareness for OMS, which is a disease in which the child’s immune system tries to fight a tumor and ends up attacking the brain. Please send in NEW toys for our toy drive and put them in the box by the office. Baby toys, stuffed animals, board games, matchbox cars, crayons, etc… are all needed. Our goal is to collect 150 toys by November 14. Thank you for your donation.
Service Club meets this week in our room on Thursday from 2:45-3:45. All 4th and 5th graders are welcome to join. This week, we will be continuing to promote our OMS Toy Drive by making more posters and hanging them in the hallways and making a thermometer to keep track of our donations. We will count the donated toys so far and learn more about OMS and Dell Children’s Hospital. We will also talk about possible projects for the future.
Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences are coming up! Ms. Fry and I will be conducting the conferences together with your child leading the 15 minute discussion. We will send out a Sign-Up Genius link for you to schedule your conference. We will have some afterschool times as well as during the day on Saturday, October 18. We will let you know specifics early this week.
Writing Club met on Thursday. We had a great turn out, but would always love to have more writers. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We talked about writing in general, then talked about graphic novels or comic book-like novels. Many of the kids made their own comic strips and others worked on their own writing. They all worked hard and were creative. Our next Writing Club meeting is on Thursday, October 16 from 2:45-3:45 in the library.
We met with our reading buddies on Friday and had a Cedar Ridge Football player come to our room to work with us. We shared our personal narratives with our buddies and with Noah, our football player.
Our counselor, Miranda Owens, came to do a lesson for us on Thursday. We played a game using information about her role and duties as a counselor at school and ways that she can help us.
In social studies, we continued to research our region and began writing an expository essay to explain and teach about the region. We are in the process of peer editing and conferencing about the essays, then will work on our projects this week.
In writing, we celebrated finishing our Personal Narratives and began planning our writing for Reflections. We will finish those this week and begin writing entries for expository writing. This writing will include a central idea and supporting details and its purpose is to explain or teach information.
In reading, we began reading lots of expository or informational books. We looked for text features and their purposes. Text features include table of contents, index, glossary, photos, charts, captions, and subheading or subtitles. We will continue to read expository books and examine the different structures of the text or how the information is organized. We will also be making inferences (background knowledge +information from text=inference) and examining fact and opinions in the text.
Vocabulary words are posted on Quizlet. These words come from our small books that we read and discuss during guided reading groups. The children will have their notecards with the words and definitions written on them and the vocabulary words and defintions are also stapled to their agenda. Email me if your child is not able to access quizlet.com.
In spelling, we worked on words with double consonants like address and difficult. This week, we will look at plurals and ways that words change from singular to plural.
Thank you for helping your child study vocabulary and spelling at home.
Book Club orders will be submitted tonight. Go to www.scholastic.com then parents then order from a reading club flyer. Our class activation code is GYTDB.
Nichole Allison, our student teacher, has been doing more of the planning and instruction for our class and is doing a wonderful job. We are so lucky to have her with us.
Dates to remember:
Monday, Oct. 6-Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Oct. 7-Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 8-Summary and Response due
Thursday, Oct. 9-Service Club after school 2:45-3:45 in room 512, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 10-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test, Mad Science Assembly
Tuesday, Oct. 14-Pen Pal Visit! 9:30-10:30 am in the library
Have a great rest of the weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had another busy, but productive week. Many of our classmates went to other classrooms to give a presentation for Service Club. They spoke to other students about our Toy Drive for Dell Children’s Hospital. The drive will give toys to sick children at the hospital, but the drive is to also raise awareness for OMS, which is a disease in which the child’s immune system tries to fight a tumor and ends up attacking the brain. Please send in NEW toys for our toy drive and put them in the box by the office. Baby toys, stuffed animals, board games, matchbox cars, crayons, etc… are all needed. Our goal is to collect 150 toys by November 14. Thank you for your donation.
Service Club meets this week in our room on Thursday from 2:45-3:45. All 4th and 5th graders are welcome to join. This week, we will be continuing to promote our OMS Toy Drive by making more posters and hanging them in the hallways and making a thermometer to keep track of our donations. We will count the donated toys so far and learn more about OMS and Dell Children’s Hospital. We will also talk about possible projects for the future.
Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences are coming up! Ms. Fry and I will be conducting the conferences together with your child leading the 15 minute discussion. We will send out a Sign-Up Genius link for you to schedule your conference. We will have some afterschool times as well as during the day on Saturday, October 18. We will let you know specifics early this week.
Writing Club met on Thursday. We had a great turn out, but would always love to have more writers. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We talked about writing in general, then talked about graphic novels or comic book-like novels. Many of the kids made their own comic strips and others worked on their own writing. They all worked hard and were creative. Our next Writing Club meeting is on Thursday, October 16 from 2:45-3:45 in the library.
We met with our reading buddies on Friday and had a Cedar Ridge Football player come to our room to work with us. We shared our personal narratives with our buddies and with Noah, our football player.
Our counselor, Miranda Owens, came to do a lesson for us on Thursday. We played a game using information about her role and duties as a counselor at school and ways that she can help us.
In social studies, we continued to research our region and began writing an expository essay to explain and teach about the region. We are in the process of peer editing and conferencing about the essays, then will work on our projects this week.
In writing, we celebrated finishing our Personal Narratives and began planning our writing for Reflections. We will finish those this week and begin writing entries for expository writing. This writing will include a central idea and supporting details and its purpose is to explain or teach information.
In reading, we began reading lots of expository or informational books. We looked for text features and their purposes. Text features include table of contents, index, glossary, photos, charts, captions, and subheading or subtitles. We will continue to read expository books and examine the different structures of the text or how the information is organized. We will also be making inferences (background knowledge +information from text=inference) and examining fact and opinions in the text.
Vocabulary words are posted on Quizlet. These words come from our small books that we read and discuss during guided reading groups. The children will have their notecards with the words and definitions written on them and the vocabulary words and defintions are also stapled to their agenda. Email me if your child is not able to access quizlet.com.
In spelling, we worked on words with double consonants like address and difficult. This week, we will look at plurals and ways that words change from singular to plural.
Thank you for helping your child study vocabulary and spelling at home.
Book Club orders will be submitted tonight. Go to www.scholastic.com then parents then order from a reading club flyer. Our class activation code is GYTDB.
Nichole Allison, our student teacher, has been doing more of the planning and instruction for our class and is doing a wonderful job. We are so lucky to have her with us.
Dates to remember:
Monday, Oct. 6-Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Oct. 7-Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 8-Summary and Response due
Thursday, Oct. 9-Service Club after school 2:45-3:45 in room 512, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 10-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test, Mad Science Assembly
Tuesday, Oct. 14-Pen Pal Visit! 9:30-10:30 am in the library
Have a great rest of the weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Newsletter-Writing Club on Thursday, Reading Log due Monday, Summary and Response due on Wednesdays and Fridays, Vocabulary and Spelling Test on Friday
Hi, Sept. 27, 2014
We had another great week! Education Go Get It week was fun! We enjoyed wearing our favorite college hats and shirts, dressing up in clothes for our future jobs, and talking about colleges and careers.
In social studies, we began researching our PBL or Project Based Learning activities. Our driving question is: How can we teach others about the regions of Texas? The children chose projects that they would like to do and regions that they would like to research and teach to others. We began using textbooks and a computer site to gather information about our region while working with other students who are studying the same region. This week we will share our information and each child will decide whether he or she needs to continue researching. The children will give each other feedback and work together to be sure that there is enough information for each region in their group. Then we will begin planning our projects. We will share our plans and give feedback to help each group improve their projects. As you can see, the PBL projects involve a lot of working together cooperatively in groups and offering and accepting feedback, as well as researching the regions of Texas. I am excited to see the children learning from each other. These projects incorporate many different skills such as reading, writing, social studies, and cooperating as a member of a team. All these skills are needed for children to be successful in their future in school and beyond.
In writing, we published our personal narratives! We worked hard to plan, draft, revise, and edit these small moment stories from our lives. We will share these stories with each other on Tuesday and then will begin working on some writing for the Reflections program based on the theme-The World would be a better place if… The children can choose to write a poem, fantasy, realistic fiction, personal narrative, expository, or song about this topic. We will go through the writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The students will decide if they want to enter their literary work in the PTA Reflections Program. We will then work on expository writing. In expository writing, we will explain and give reasons to support a central idea.
In reading, we worked on finding cause and effect relationships in our books and determining a possible theme for the book with examples and support from the text. We modeled using our read aloud, How to Steal a Dog, we then practiced using individual books. We are continuing to write detailed summaries of our reading and responses that include lots of our deep thinking. Thank you for encouraging your child to read at home each day and to work hard on their summaries and responses. We will begin reading expository text and working on skills to improve comprehension skills. Be sure that your child is studying the vocabulary words each week. This week’s words are a literary terms. They can be a little tricky, so be sure to go on Quizlet.com to study and use the cards that your child made to practice. We will have a test on Friday on the meanings of the words.
In spelling, we worked on some common homophones. We will continue to address the correct spelling and use of homophones (like their, there, they’re) all year. Next week we will work on the spelling of words with double consonants like address and success. Be sure that your child is practicing his/her individual spelling lists and reviewing words previously used on spelling tests because these words may appear in dictation sentences. Thank you for your continued support at home.
Writing Club begins this week on Thursday, October 2 from 2:45-3:45. Come and join us in the library as we free write and share our writing with others. This week we will celebrate National Comic Book Day and talk about graphic novels. The kids can experiment with this form of writing or write in any format they choose. They may choose to work on writing for the Reflections Program during writing club as well and respond to the topic: The world would be a better place if… Anyone in grades 2nd-5th can be part of writing club. We will meet every other Thursday in the library. Come and join the writing fun!
Service Club met last Thursday and will meet again on Thursday, October 9 from 2:45-3:45. We are organizing a toy drive to bring awareness to OMS, a childhood disease that affects a family from our school. We will donate toys to give to the patients at Dell’s Children’s Hospital. Please send in NEW toys and put them in the box by the office. Come to Service Club and help us help others!
Dates to remember:
Monday, Sept. 29-Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Sept. 30-Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 1-Summary and Response due
Thursday, Oct. 2-Writing Club after school 2:45-3:45 in the library, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 3-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had another great week! Education Go Get It week was fun! We enjoyed wearing our favorite college hats and shirts, dressing up in clothes for our future jobs, and talking about colleges and careers.
In social studies, we began researching our PBL or Project Based Learning activities. Our driving question is: How can we teach others about the regions of Texas? The children chose projects that they would like to do and regions that they would like to research and teach to others. We began using textbooks and a computer site to gather information about our region while working with other students who are studying the same region. This week we will share our information and each child will decide whether he or she needs to continue researching. The children will give each other feedback and work together to be sure that there is enough information for each region in their group. Then we will begin planning our projects. We will share our plans and give feedback to help each group improve their projects. As you can see, the PBL projects involve a lot of working together cooperatively in groups and offering and accepting feedback, as well as researching the regions of Texas. I am excited to see the children learning from each other. These projects incorporate many different skills such as reading, writing, social studies, and cooperating as a member of a team. All these skills are needed for children to be successful in their future in school and beyond.
In writing, we published our personal narratives! We worked hard to plan, draft, revise, and edit these small moment stories from our lives. We will share these stories with each other on Tuesday and then will begin working on some writing for the Reflections program based on the theme-The World would be a better place if… The children can choose to write a poem, fantasy, realistic fiction, personal narrative, expository, or song about this topic. We will go through the writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The students will decide if they want to enter their literary work in the PTA Reflections Program. We will then work on expository writing. In expository writing, we will explain and give reasons to support a central idea.
In reading, we worked on finding cause and effect relationships in our books and determining a possible theme for the book with examples and support from the text. We modeled using our read aloud, How to Steal a Dog, we then practiced using individual books. We are continuing to write detailed summaries of our reading and responses that include lots of our deep thinking. Thank you for encouraging your child to read at home each day and to work hard on their summaries and responses. We will begin reading expository text and working on skills to improve comprehension skills. Be sure that your child is studying the vocabulary words each week. This week’s words are a literary terms. They can be a little tricky, so be sure to go on Quizlet.com to study and use the cards that your child made to practice. We will have a test on Friday on the meanings of the words.
In spelling, we worked on some common homophones. We will continue to address the correct spelling and use of homophones (like their, there, they’re) all year. Next week we will work on the spelling of words with double consonants like address and success. Be sure that your child is practicing his/her individual spelling lists and reviewing words previously used on spelling tests because these words may appear in dictation sentences. Thank you for your continued support at home.
Writing Club begins this week on Thursday, October 2 from 2:45-3:45. Come and join us in the library as we free write and share our writing with others. This week we will celebrate National Comic Book Day and talk about graphic novels. The kids can experiment with this form of writing or write in any format they choose. They may choose to work on writing for the Reflections Program during writing club as well and respond to the topic: The world would be a better place if… Anyone in grades 2nd-5th can be part of writing club. We will meet every other Thursday in the library. Come and join the writing fun!
Service Club met last Thursday and will meet again on Thursday, October 9 from 2:45-3:45. We are organizing a toy drive to bring awareness to OMS, a childhood disease that affects a family from our school. We will donate toys to give to the patients at Dell’s Children’s Hospital. Please send in NEW toys and put them in the box by the office. Come to Service Club and help us help others!
Dates to remember:
Monday, Sept. 29-Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, Sept. 30-Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 1-Summary and Response due
Thursday, Oct. 2-Writing Club after school 2:45-3:45 in the library, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 3-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Friday, September 12, 2014
Newsletter-Jazz Concert Today, Pen Pal Visit on Tuesday, Reading Logs due Monday, Summary and Responses due Wednesday and Friday, Spelling test on Friday
Hi, September 12, 2014
We had a fun afternoon enjoying some cool jazz music from the Austin Jazz Workshop. Ask your child about it!
Our student teacher, Mrs. Allison, began teaching some of our social studies lessons. She is doing an amazing job and has been a wonderful addition to our classroom. She will gradually continue taking over the planning and teaching of the lessons.
Our pen pals will come to school on Tuesday! You are welcome to come and enjoy our visit with us. They will be here about 9:00 and stay until about 10:30. We wrote letters this week introducing ourselves. During the visit, we will interview our pen pals about their childhoods and play games together. The children are excited and can’t wait to meet their pen pals! Join us for the fun!
Friday is Spirit Day! We are all encouraged to wear Forest Creek shirts or shirts that are green or purple.
On Friday, we will begin meeting with our reading buddies in Mrs. Garcia’s class. We will read with them every other week. This helps us practice fluent reading and encourages the fourth graders to be role models for the younger kids.
Read about our week:
In reading, we read some realistic fiction books and wrote about the story elements. We took a reading assessment on a passage from the book, Piper Reed: Navy Brat, and will be reviewing the multiple- choice questions on Monday. We continued to read our choice novels independently. Please help your child to keep his/her choice novel inside the backpack when it is not being read. This way it is always available when there is some time to read.
I started assessing reading levels individually this week and will continue for the next few weeks.
Thank you for signing reading logs, encouraging your child to read daily, and complete books. A summary and response of the reading is due on Wednesdays and Fridays each week.
In writing, we continued collecting entries for personal narratives. We noticed that quality personal narratives are small moment stories, which have an interesting lead, a sequence of events, and lots of great details. They zoom in on the most important part and tell why the event was important or what was learned because of the experience. We will continue writing about our experiences next week and chose an entry to revise, edit, and publish.
We also had fun writing creatively about a Chris Van Allsburg illustration from the book, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. We then read a story by Tabitha King (Stephen King’s wife) about the same illustration. It was interesting the totally different stories that came from the same illustration. We will write about another illustration from this book next week.
Spelling lists began this week and we had our first spelling test today. Each week, your child will receive a list of words. Five of the words are the same for the class and they include words from our TEKS such as homophones, irregular plurals, Latin/Greek roots, etc… The other five words are individual to each child based on words misspelled in their writing/reading responses and tricky word patterns determined by a Words Their Way assessment. The words will be glued into your child’s agenda each week and a test is on Friday. During that test, the children will also be asked to write a few sentences from dictation. These sentences will be graded for spelling and capitalization/punctuation.
In social studies, we completed our posters of Texas landmarks. They are hanging in the hallway and the children did a great job describing their landmarks, finding quotes about them, and telling why that landmark is important to Texas. They also made beautiful illustrations. We began our study of the regions of Texas by going on a virtual bus trip through the Mountains and Basins Region, the Coastal Plains Region, and the Central Plains Region. We will visit the Great Plains Region on Monday and continue to study maps and the geography of Texas.
Thank you for sharing your child with me. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had a fun afternoon enjoying some cool jazz music from the Austin Jazz Workshop. Ask your child about it!
Our student teacher, Mrs. Allison, began teaching some of our social studies lessons. She is doing an amazing job and has been a wonderful addition to our classroom. She will gradually continue taking over the planning and teaching of the lessons.
Our pen pals will come to school on Tuesday! You are welcome to come and enjoy our visit with us. They will be here about 9:00 and stay until about 10:30. We wrote letters this week introducing ourselves. During the visit, we will interview our pen pals about their childhoods and play games together. The children are excited and can’t wait to meet their pen pals! Join us for the fun!
Friday is Spirit Day! We are all encouraged to wear Forest Creek shirts or shirts that are green or purple.
On Friday, we will begin meeting with our reading buddies in Mrs. Garcia’s class. We will read with them every other week. This helps us practice fluent reading and encourages the fourth graders to be role models for the younger kids.
Read about our week:
In reading, we read some realistic fiction books and wrote about the story elements. We took a reading assessment on a passage from the book, Piper Reed: Navy Brat, and will be reviewing the multiple- choice questions on Monday. We continued to read our choice novels independently. Please help your child to keep his/her choice novel inside the backpack when it is not being read. This way it is always available when there is some time to read.
I started assessing reading levels individually this week and will continue for the next few weeks.
Thank you for signing reading logs, encouraging your child to read daily, and complete books. A summary and response of the reading is due on Wednesdays and Fridays each week.
In writing, we continued collecting entries for personal narratives. We noticed that quality personal narratives are small moment stories, which have an interesting lead, a sequence of events, and lots of great details. They zoom in on the most important part and tell why the event was important or what was learned because of the experience. We will continue writing about our experiences next week and chose an entry to revise, edit, and publish.
We also had fun writing creatively about a Chris Van Allsburg illustration from the book, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. We then read a story by Tabitha King (Stephen King’s wife) about the same illustration. It was interesting the totally different stories that came from the same illustration. We will write about another illustration from this book next week.
Spelling lists began this week and we had our first spelling test today. Each week, your child will receive a list of words. Five of the words are the same for the class and they include words from our TEKS such as homophones, irregular plurals, Latin/Greek roots, etc… The other five words are individual to each child based on words misspelled in their writing/reading responses and tricky word patterns determined by a Words Their Way assessment. The words will be glued into your child’s agenda each week and a test is on Friday. During that test, the children will also be asked to write a few sentences from dictation. These sentences will be graded for spelling and capitalization/punctuation.
In social studies, we completed our posters of Texas landmarks. They are hanging in the hallway and the children did a great job describing their landmarks, finding quotes about them, and telling why that landmark is important to Texas. They also made beautiful illustrations. We began our study of the regions of Texas by going on a virtual bus trip through the Mountains and Basins Region, the Coastal Plains Region, and the Central Plains Region. We will visit the Great Plains Region on Monday and continue to study maps and the geography of Texas.
Thank you for sharing your child with me. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
Friday, September 5, 2014
Newsletter-Tutorials Offered on Tuesdays from 2:45-3:45, Reflections Workshop on Tuesday from 6:15-7:00 in FCE Library, Reading Logs due on Monday
Hi, September 5, 2014
We had a great second week! Your children are doing very well moving between two classes and two teachers and we are definitely enjoying them all.
It was nice to see many of you at Back to School Night on Thursday. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about homework, expectations, or anything.
We would like to invite our students to come to tutorials on Tuesday afternoons from 2:45-3:45 pm in one of our classrooms. We will be there to offer support as needed, give children time to complete assignments, or homework with some assistance. This is also a great time for re-teaching of tricky concepts and retaking of assessments, if scored below 70%. Miss Fry and I will be in the room together, so that we can both work with your children in any subject necessary. If your child is staying, let us know by email or note. We will walk the children out to the front of the school to be picked up at 3:45. If your child is walking home or riding a bike after tutorials, let us know. Be sure to encourage your child to take advantage of this extra opportunity for time together. We will begin offering tutorials this Tuesday, September 9.
In reading this week, we are continuing to develop routines and procedures for reading workshop. We have a mini-lesson during which we learn a skill or strategy, then we practice that skill or strategy during our independent reading of our choice novel. Your child should be reading the same choice novel to completion. Therefore, that book should be traveling back and forth from home to school and home again each day. It should live in his/her backpack and come out only when it is time to read, then return to the backpack. Thank you for your help with this.
We are reading How to Steal a Dog aloud and discussing elements of the story as well as comprehension strategies as we read. They are taking notes on sticky notes to leave tracks of their thinking as they are listening. They are writing their predictions, questions, connections, thoughts and feelings and using text evidence to support their thinking. They are making inferences using their background knowledge and the text clues. We are having great discussions about the moral dilemma of the main character. Should she steal a dog to try to get money for her family or is stealing something wrong, no matter what? It is wonderful to read their responses and listen to their conversations. Then we practice these skills as we read independently.
In Social Studies, we finished up our map vocabulary posters and will continue to practice reading and interpreting maps. We began learning about some Texas landmarks and making posters to explain them by researching a bit and describing the landmark. Then they are writing about why it is important and finding two quotes from the text (with page numbers) that tell about the landmark. An illustration is then created that represents it. We are practicing using a rubric to create our posters and to revise and edit to be sure that all of the components are evident. Next week, we will finish these posters and begin studying the regions of Texas.
In Writing, we are gathering entries for personal narratives. We planned, sketched, and wrote a rough draft about a time with a special person and a time at a special place. Many children shared their writing so far, and we are off to a great start. We will continue writing personal narrative entries, then will choose one to revise, edit, and publish. We watched a video of Lucy Calkins, who is a famous education researcher, talk to us about honoring our writing and the writing of our classmates by reading and listening as if the writing was precious as gold. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO29k1-RvsA I find it quite inspirational.
Don’t forget to encourage your child to read at least one day over the weekend to include in the reading log. Reading summaries and responses are due on Wednesday and Friday.
On Tuesday evening, there will be a Workshop for Kids about this year’s Reflections Program. I encourage all of the children to attend and have an opportunity to showcase their creative talents. It will be held in the FCE Library from 6:15-7:00 pm. Hope you can come!
Thank you for sharing your child with us. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
We had a great second week! Your children are doing very well moving between two classes and two teachers and we are definitely enjoying them all.
It was nice to see many of you at Back to School Night on Thursday. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about homework, expectations, or anything.
We would like to invite our students to come to tutorials on Tuesday afternoons from 2:45-3:45 pm in one of our classrooms. We will be there to offer support as needed, give children time to complete assignments, or homework with some assistance. This is also a great time for re-teaching of tricky concepts and retaking of assessments, if scored below 70%. Miss Fry and I will be in the room together, so that we can both work with your children in any subject necessary. If your child is staying, let us know by email or note. We will walk the children out to the front of the school to be picked up at 3:45. If your child is walking home or riding a bike after tutorials, let us know. Be sure to encourage your child to take advantage of this extra opportunity for time together. We will begin offering tutorials this Tuesday, September 9.
In reading this week, we are continuing to develop routines and procedures for reading workshop. We have a mini-lesson during which we learn a skill or strategy, then we practice that skill or strategy during our independent reading of our choice novel. Your child should be reading the same choice novel to completion. Therefore, that book should be traveling back and forth from home to school and home again each day. It should live in his/her backpack and come out only when it is time to read, then return to the backpack. Thank you for your help with this.
We are reading How to Steal a Dog aloud and discussing elements of the story as well as comprehension strategies as we read. They are taking notes on sticky notes to leave tracks of their thinking as they are listening. They are writing their predictions, questions, connections, thoughts and feelings and using text evidence to support their thinking. They are making inferences using their background knowledge and the text clues. We are having great discussions about the moral dilemma of the main character. Should she steal a dog to try to get money for her family or is stealing something wrong, no matter what? It is wonderful to read their responses and listen to their conversations. Then we practice these skills as we read independently.
In Social Studies, we finished up our map vocabulary posters and will continue to practice reading and interpreting maps. We began learning about some Texas landmarks and making posters to explain them by researching a bit and describing the landmark. Then they are writing about why it is important and finding two quotes from the text (with page numbers) that tell about the landmark. An illustration is then created that represents it. We are practicing using a rubric to create our posters and to revise and edit to be sure that all of the components are evident. Next week, we will finish these posters and begin studying the regions of Texas.
In Writing, we are gathering entries for personal narratives. We planned, sketched, and wrote a rough draft about a time with a special person and a time at a special place. Many children shared their writing so far, and we are off to a great start. We will continue writing personal narrative entries, then will choose one to revise, edit, and publish. We watched a video of Lucy Calkins, who is a famous education researcher, talk to us about honoring our writing and the writing of our classmates by reading and listening as if the writing was precious as gold. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO29k1-RvsA I find it quite inspirational.
Don’t forget to encourage your child to read at least one day over the weekend to include in the reading log. Reading summaries and responses are due on Wednesday and Friday.
On Tuesday evening, there will be a Workshop for Kids about this year’s Reflections Program. I encourage all of the children to attend and have an opportunity to showcase their creative talents. It will be held in the FCE Library from 6:15-7:00 pm. Hope you can come!
Thank you for sharing your child with us. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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