Hi, February 14, 2015
Happy Valentine’s Day! We had a great party yesterday! The chocolate fountain and pink cupcakes were definitely a hit! The kids also loved the valentine boxes and the scratch off cards. Passing out valentines cards and treats was also super fun and exciting. Thank you to all the families who donated supplies. Thank you to our homeroom moms, Colleen Komatz and Darcy Hollingsworth, for organizing and running our party. It was wonderful!
Friday evening, my mom, Ms. Fry, and I took dinner (lasagna, salad, bread, as well as cookie cake and cupcakes for dessert) to the STARRY Emergency Shelter. We also gave them bags filled with valentines made by our FCE students and candy. We even had some handmade bracelets and gift cards from Cinemark, Outback, Target, and Walgreens. The house parents were very appreciative and overwhelmed with the generosity of our FCE community! Thank you so much to the Service Club, to classrooms who made cards, and to our staff and families for the donations. It was wonderful to help the children to have a Happy Valentine’s Day.
FYI-Progress Reports were in last week’s Thursday folders.
On Tuesday, we had a great visit with our pen pals from The Court Retirement Facility. We interviewed them about their favorite people, places, and things to help us get some ideas for our expository writing. We shared our personal narratives and made words using the letters VALENTINE. We gave them decorated foam hearts with our photos on them and played some games together. It was a fun visit!
On Wednesday, we took a Writing Curriculum Based Assessment. The children worked hard and we will use data from the assessment to drive our instruction in writing.
Reading-In reading this week, we finished our literacy circle books and have been working hard on our Book Talk Presentations. Some are making Power Points, some are creating posters, and some are acting out a scene from the book then talking about the entire book. A few children are almost done and we will begin our presentations on Wednesday. They are working well in groups and doing very well. I can’t wait to see the finished products. We will then work on reading more nonfiction using books about Antarctica.
Writing-We will continue to discuss the characteristics of Personal Narratives and Expository Writing. We are gathering a few more entries and ideas for our expository pieces. Writing a central idea and then explaining it using reasons and examples with a strong conclusion, is our focus. We will also continue to work on revising and editing using mentor sentences.
Social Studies-Texas Revolution is our topic and we will read about it this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, February 16-No school for students
Tuesday, February 17-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, February 18-No Summary and Response due-Reading Homework packet due on Friday
Thursday, February 19-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45
Friday, February 20-Spelling Test, Vocabulary test, Reading Homework packet due
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your children with me.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Newsletter
Hi, February 8, 2015
Happy Valentine’s Day! We have a busy week ahead. It is going to be great!
Tuesday-Our pen pals are coming to visit! We will be decorating foam hearts for them with our photos on them and writing cards for them. We will interview them about their favorite people, places, and things with reasons to help us get more ideas for expository writing. We will also play games and make so crafts with hearts together. We love when our pen pals come. You are welcome to join us from about 9:30-10:30 in our classroom.
Group and Spring Individual Photos will be taken on Tuesday.
Wednesday-CBA for writing-We will have a Curriculum Based Assessment for writing. It will include some passages with multiple-choice questions about revisions and editing. Then the students will plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a composition in response to a prompt. The children will be working on this assessment for most of the day on Wednesday. The data from this test will guide our instruction. It will let us know what the students have mastered and what they still need to work on in fourth grade writing. Thank you for encouraging your child to try his/her best and work hard, but not be overly stressed out by this day.
Thursday-Service Club Meeting-We will make Valentines for the children at the STARRY Emergency Shelter in Round Rock. We will organize the valentines made by the classes into bags for the children and make little gifts for them. I will drop off dinner and the bags for the children at the shelter on Friday afternoon. If you would like to donate something for them, go to this link. Thank you so much! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4ba8ad292-valentine
Friday-We will have a Valentine’s Day party at 1:30. Here is a list of the names of the children in our class. If you bring valentines, please bring one for every child in class. We want everyone to be included in the fun. Ms. Komatz and Ms. Hollingsworth are very excited about the party. Here is the link to sign up to donate supplies for our party.
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0A4BA8AD292-valentines
Here are the names of the children in our class. Thank you for including everyone.
Rachel
Lilly B.
Erin
Madi
Kayla
Jacob
Alli
Isabelle
Luke
Joey
Celine
Jace
Hana
Lily P.
Sebastien
Parker
Graeme
Joshua
Jordan
Jayden
RRISD Strategic Planning
After our four community forums and our 14 focus groups, Round Rock ISD is now asking EVERY member of the community – all students, parents, community members, and partners – to complete our Strategic Planning Survey. The data collected from the survey, focus groups, and forums will be presented to our Design Team at the end of February. That group of 40 students, staff, parents and community members will be tasked with designing action plans to map out five-to-ten years of innovation and growth for Round Rock ISD. That plan will be presented to our Board of Trustees in spring 2015 for adoption, rejection or modification.
Upcoming PTA Meeting - February 10
The next PTA meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 10 beginning at 6:00pm. After the general meeting, we will hear a presentation titled "Don't Stand By, Stand Up." This anti-bullying presentation shares valuable information and will begin at 7:00pm.
Read about our week:
Reading-We will be finishing up our book club or literature circle books. YEAH! This week we will work on projects to share our books with others. The kids are very excited about being creative and choosing a project for their book. They will present their book talk/project on Thursday and Friday in class. Presentations will be about 3-5 minutes each. The projects need to include the title of the book, the author, a brief summary of the book (without giving away the ending!), and the theme of the book and why. They will also tell a description of one of the character and how the character changed in the book, using text evidence. Next week we will work with reading and responding to non-fiction text.
Writing-We finished writing personal narratives and shared them last week. We will gather entries for expository writing this week. We will also continue to work with mentor sentences to teach us about grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.
Social Studies-We learned more about empresarios last week and will begin learning about the Texas Revolution this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, February 9-Reading Logs due, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, February 10-Group and Individual Photos will be taken, Pen Pal Visit from 9:30-10:30, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA meeting at 6:00, Bullying presentation at 7:00pm
Wednesday, February 11-CBA Writing- No Summary and Responses due this week
Thursday, February 12-FCE Service Club-2:45-3:45
Friday, February 13-Spelling test, Vocabulary test, No summary and response due this week, Valentine’s Day Party 1:30-2:30
Monday, February 16-No school for students
Tuesday, February 17-Reading log due
Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and a great week!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Newsletter
Hi, January 25, 2015
We had a busy, but great week! Kate Klise, author, came and led writing workshops with all the fourth graders. She writes books and her sister does the illustrations. She taught us about the clock graphic organizer that she uses to plan her fiction or narrative writing. She also worked for People Magazine and taught us about her template for writing expository. We were able to practice some writing with her and share our writing. It was a wonderful visit and we learned a lot.
Thursday was our FCE Talent Show! We have many talented students at Forest Creek! Congratulations especially to Madi, Isabelle, Sophia, Kyla, and April!
In Reading, we began reading literacy circle books and discussing them in groups. Each group has a calendar with their readings for each day. We are reading award winning books-The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Ghetto Cowboy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Bud, Not Buddy, Elijah of Buxton, and Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World. Talk to your child about his/her book. What is the setting of the book? What is the problem? How would they describe the characters and the setting? How are the characters changing in the book? What are his/her predictions? What do they think about the book so far and why? Feel free to read along and engage in your own discussions at home.
In Writing, we are working on personal narratives and reading mentor texts to get ideas for our own writing. We also use sentences from books to practice grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Vocabulary words this week include words with therm(hot or warm) and aud (to hear) and in spelling, we are learning prefixes dis and pre.
In Social Studies, we are learning about the American and Mexican Revolutions and how they affected Texas. We also learned about the Austin family and how Stephan F. Austin became the Father of Texas and brought the Old Three Hundred or the first 300 families to his colony in Mexican Texas. We will talk more about empressarios and early settlements this week.
Dates to remember:
Monday, January 26-reading logs due, tutorials after school from 2:45-3:45
Tuesday, January 27-tutorials after school from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 28-summary and response due (only if not caught up with lit. circle writing and reading)
Thursday, January 29-Service Club after school from 2:45-3:45, Math and Science Night at 5:00 and Science Fair
Friday, January 30-spelling and vocabulary tests, summary and response due (only if not caught up with lit. circle writing and reading), Marathon Kids Logs due to Coaches
Wednesday, February 4-Early Release at 12:45, Kona Ice will be here
Have an amazing weekend and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Monday, January 19, 2015
Newsletter
Hi, Jan. 18, 2015
Come to our Walk to Read Event on Monday, Jan. 19 at 2:00 at Forest Creek Elementary! We will meet in the library for a short presentation about Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa. Then we will go outside with a hardback book to donate. We will walk a few laps, stop and read our books together, then walk a few more laps. Monetary donations will also be accepted. So far, we over 300 books and $414 has been donated! Come and help us help the children in Africa.
Talent Show is on Thursday, January 22 at 6:30 pm. It will be a wonderful show! Come and enjoy!
We will have an Author Visit on Friday. Kate Klise will be at Forest Creek on Friday to do writing workshops with our fourth graders. We are very excited to meet her and learn about her techniques for writing.
In reading this week, we learned more about traditional literature and learned a bit about the Civil Rights Movement. We read a play called The Sticky Coyote about a trickster and a tall tale called Stormalong. We practiced fluency and reading with expression using a tale of King Midas and the Golden Touch. The story elements (setting, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution, and theme, characters-antagonist and protagonist) were discussed in many different books this week. We also read an article about Brown vs. Board of Education and the book, My Brother Martin, which is about Dr. Martin Luther King. We read The Story of Ruby Bridges, which is about school desegregation. We started new literature circles with novels that deal with civil rights issues and will be reading them, writing about them, and discussing them in groups.
In writing, we used mentor texts (Owl Moon and Papa, Who Woke Up Tired in the Dark) to discuss word choice, character changes, and setting. We noticed the effectiveness of slowing down the most important part of the story by adding specific details. Then we practiced in our own personal narrative entries. We will work hard to draft, conference, revise, edit, and publish this week.
In social studies, we role played life in a mission. I was the Spanish priest who ran the mission and the students were the Native Americans. They were able to experience how challenging it could have been to work in the field (picking beans off the floor), learn the Spanish language (writing Spanish words repeatedly), sleep in the dormitory (lying on the floor), make tools (drawing farm and cooking tools), and convert to Catholicism (listening to Gregorian chants on the computer). We had some interesting discussions after the activity about the viewpoints of the Native Americans and how it could have been hard for some to live in the missions, however, the missions helped others to survive. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution and the Austins in Texas this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 19, 2015-MLK Day No School-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 at FCE
Tuesday, January 20, 2015-Tutorials at 2:45-3:45, Reading logs due
Wednesday, January 21, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 22, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Talent Show at 6:30 pm
Friday, January 23, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, Spelling test
Hope you had a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at Walk to Read at 2:00 pm!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Come to our Walk to Read Event on Monday, Jan. 19 at 2:00 at Forest Creek Elementary! We will meet in the library for a short presentation about Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa. Then we will go outside with a hardback book to donate. We will walk a few laps, stop and read our books together, then walk a few more laps. Monetary donations will also be accepted. So far, we over 300 books and $414 has been donated! Come and help us help the children in Africa.
Talent Show is on Thursday, January 22 at 6:30 pm. It will be a wonderful show! Come and enjoy!
We will have an Author Visit on Friday. Kate Klise will be at Forest Creek on Friday to do writing workshops with our fourth graders. We are very excited to meet her and learn about her techniques for writing.
In reading this week, we learned more about traditional literature and learned a bit about the Civil Rights Movement. We read a play called The Sticky Coyote about a trickster and a tall tale called Stormalong. We practiced fluency and reading with expression using a tale of King Midas and the Golden Touch. The story elements (setting, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution, and theme, characters-antagonist and protagonist) were discussed in many different books this week. We also read an article about Brown vs. Board of Education and the book, My Brother Martin, which is about Dr. Martin Luther King. We read The Story of Ruby Bridges, which is about school desegregation. We started new literature circles with novels that deal with civil rights issues and will be reading them, writing about them, and discussing them in groups.
In writing, we used mentor texts (Owl Moon and Papa, Who Woke Up Tired in the Dark) to discuss word choice, character changes, and setting. We noticed the effectiveness of slowing down the most important part of the story by adding specific details. Then we practiced in our own personal narrative entries. We will work hard to draft, conference, revise, edit, and publish this week.
In social studies, we role played life in a mission. I was the Spanish priest who ran the mission and the students were the Native Americans. They were able to experience how challenging it could have been to work in the field (picking beans off the floor), learn the Spanish language (writing Spanish words repeatedly), sleep in the dormitory (lying on the floor), make tools (drawing farm and cooking tools), and convert to Catholicism (listening to Gregorian chants on the computer). We had some interesting discussions after the activity about the viewpoints of the Native Americans and how it could have been hard for some to live in the missions, however, the missions helped others to survive. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution and the Austins in Texas this week.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 19, 2015-MLK Day No School-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 at FCE
Tuesday, January 20, 2015-Tutorials at 2:45-3:45, Reading logs due
Wednesday, January 21, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 22, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Talent Show at 6:30 pm
Friday, January 23, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, Spelling test
Hope you had a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at Walk to Read at 2:00 pm!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Newsletter
Hi,
We had a great first week of 2015! It was wonderful to see everyone and hear all about the break. The weather has been a little crazy. Stay warm!
Walk to Read for Libraries of Love
Our school is participating in a Walk to Read Event on MLK Day January 19. Come to school at 2:00 and we will have a short presentation and then go to the track to walk. We will stop and read our hard back book then walk a bit more before donating the books to build libraries in Uganda, Africa. All friends and family are welcome to the walk. Monetary donations and more gently used or new hard back books are being accepted. We hope you can make it!
Author Visit on Friday, January 23
Kate Klise is coming to do a writing workshop with our fourth graders. Order forms for her books came home on Friday. All books purchased will be autographed by Kate Klise. Read more about her at http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/. It's going to be great!
Reading-We are reading traditional tales and determining the theme with text evidence.We are also examining characters and the way they change, feel, act, as well as their relationships with others. We wrote about characteristics of fairy tales like beginning with Once Upon a Time and ending with Happily Ever After, magic, royalty, good vs. evil, groups of 3 and 7, etc... We compared and contrasted Cinderella stories from around the world. We read a story within a story called Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and discussed it in literature circles. We will continue next week reading some fables, tall tales, trickster tales. We will also begin learning more about Civil Rights and begin reading novels and discussing them literature circles.
Writing-We are continuing to work with conventions using mentor sentences and will continue to work on revising and editing. We will be writing more personal narratives and work on improving them. We will also write some fantasy stories or fractured fairy tales.
Social Studies-We finished learning about explorers in Texas and are beginning to study missions, presidios, and early towns.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 12-Reading Log due, No Tutorials due to a district meeting
Tuesday, January 13-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting
Wednesday, January 14-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, January 15-Service Club meeting 2:45-3:45
Friday, January 16-Reading Response and Summary due, Spelling and Vocabulary tests
Monday, January 19-No school, MLK Day, Walk to Read Event for Libraries of Love at 2 pm at FCE-bring a hard cover book and your donation envelopes
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
We had a great first week of 2015! It was wonderful to see everyone and hear all about the break. The weather has been a little crazy. Stay warm!
Walk to Read for Libraries of Love
Our school is participating in a Walk to Read Event on MLK Day January 19. Come to school at 2:00 and we will have a short presentation and then go to the track to walk. We will stop and read our hard back book then walk a bit more before donating the books to build libraries in Uganda, Africa. All friends and family are welcome to the walk. Monetary donations and more gently used or new hard back books are being accepted. We hope you can make it!
Author Visit on Friday, January 23
Kate Klise is coming to do a writing workshop with our fourth graders. Order forms for her books came home on Friday. All books purchased will be autographed by Kate Klise. Read more about her at http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/. It's going to be great!
Reading-We are reading traditional tales and determining the theme with text evidence.We are also examining characters and the way they change, feel, act, as well as their relationships with others. We wrote about characteristics of fairy tales like beginning with Once Upon a Time and ending with Happily Ever After, magic, royalty, good vs. evil, groups of 3 and 7, etc... We compared and contrasted Cinderella stories from around the world. We read a story within a story called Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and discussed it in literature circles. We will continue next week reading some fables, tall tales, trickster tales. We will also begin learning more about Civil Rights and begin reading novels and discussing them literature circles.
Writing-We are continuing to work with conventions using mentor sentences and will continue to work on revising and editing. We will be writing more personal narratives and work on improving them. We will also write some fantasy stories or fractured fairy tales.
Social Studies-We finished learning about explorers in Texas and are beginning to study missions, presidios, and early towns.
Dates to Remember:
Monday, January 12-Reading Log due, No Tutorials due to a district meeting
Tuesday, January 13-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting
Wednesday, January 14-Reading Response and Summary due
Thursday, January 15-Service Club meeting 2:45-3:45
Friday, January 16-Reading Response and Summary due, Spelling and Vocabulary tests
Monday, January 19-No school, MLK Day, Walk to Read Event for Libraries of Love at 2 pm at FCE-bring a hard cover book and your donation envelopes
Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! January 3, 2015
I hope that this finds you all well and ready for a wonderful 2015! I had a great break and traveled to Philadelphia to see family and friends, but now I am excited about our second half of fourth grade! I can't wait to see everyone and hear about their adventures and goals for the rest of the school year.
Reading Challenge Logs are due on Tuesday, January 6. Each child was required to read at least 200 minutes over the break and should record it on their log. If the log was misplaced, please write your total minutes on paper with parent signature. It will be fun to talk about all the books we read during break!
If you are still logging in your reading minutes, don't forget to check out the free ebooks from the FCE library. Go to http://www.forestcreeklibrary.com/ and click on Follett Shelf to find tons of online books. To log in, use your regular computer log-in (letter s with 6 digit id number, password is birthdate (two digit month, two digit day, four digit year).
I-Station is also an excellent way to practice lots of reading and language skills. Remember, you can always use I-Station minutes for your reading log!
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, January 6, 2015-Return to school, Reading Log due (200 minutes)Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 7, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 8, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Family Fun Night at Jason's Deli
Friday, January 9, 2015-Summary and Response due, Spelling test, Vocabulary test
Monday, January 12, 2015-Reading Log due, Tutorials from 2;45-3:45
Tuesday, January 13, 2015-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting at 6:30
Wednesday, January 14, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 15, 2015-Service Club meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report Cards in Thursday folders
Friday, January 16, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, spelling test, Talent Show Auditions at 3:00
Monday, January 19, 2015-No school-MLK DAY of Service-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 on the FCE track-donate money and books for Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa.
Have a wonderful weekend! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!!!!
Sincerely,
Pam
I hope that this finds you all well and ready for a wonderful 2015! I had a great break and traveled to Philadelphia to see family and friends, but now I am excited about our second half of fourth grade! I can't wait to see everyone and hear about their adventures and goals for the rest of the school year.
Reading Challenge Logs are due on Tuesday, January 6. Each child was required to read at least 200 minutes over the break and should record it on their log. If the log was misplaced, please write your total minutes on paper with parent signature. It will be fun to talk about all the books we read during break!
If you are still logging in your reading minutes, don't forget to check out the free ebooks from the FCE library. Go to http://www.forestcreeklibrary.com/ and click on Follett Shelf to find tons of online books. To log in, use your regular computer log-in (letter s with 6 digit id number, password is birthdate (two digit month, two digit day, four digit year).
I-Station is also an excellent way to practice lots of reading and language skills. Remember, you can always use I-Station minutes for your reading log!
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, January 6, 2015-Return to school, Reading Log due (200 minutes)Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, January 7, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 8, 2015-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45, Family Fun Night at Jason's Deli
Friday, January 9, 2015-Summary and Response due, Spelling test, Vocabulary test
Monday, January 12, 2015-Reading Log due, Tutorials from 2;45-3:45
Tuesday, January 13, 2015-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, PTA Meeting at 6:30
Wednesday, January 14, 2015-Summary and Response due
Thursday, January 15, 2015-Service Club meeting from 2:45-3:45, Report Cards in Thursday folders
Friday, January 16, 2015-Summary and Response due, Vocabulary test, spelling test, Talent Show Auditions at 3:00
Monday, January 19, 2015-No school-MLK DAY of Service-Walk to Read Event at 2:00 on the FCE track-donate money and books for Libraries of Love in Uganda, Africa.
Have a wonderful weekend! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!!!!
Sincerely,
Pam
Friday, December 5, 2014
Newsletter
Hi,
I hope you had a fun holiday with lots of family time. I had a relaxing, yet productive week, but am happy to be back in school with your children. We had a great week!
Scholastic Book Orders
I will submit a Scholastic Book Order for our class on Sunday. The items will be delivered before our holiday break. Have fun doing some holiday shopping! Go to https://clubs2.scholastic.com. Our classroom code is GYTDB.
Passport to Adventure Literacy Night
Forest Creek will be having its annual “Passport to Adventure” Literacy Night on
Thursday, December 11, 2014 from 5-7pm. Mark your calendar to come and enjoy
stories from around the world and fun activities, including a multicultural fair in the gym.
Promise Pizza will be available to purchase for $1 per slice. Round Rock’s Ballet
Folklorico will close the Literacy Night activities with a performance at 6:30pm.
Parents: Can you share something about your family’s country of origin for Literacy
Night? Maybe there is a game from your country, or special clothes, dancing, or type of artwork. If you would like to reserve a table at the multicultural fair to share
this rich culture, please call or email Mrs. Mariah Smith at 464-5359 or
Mariah_Smith@roundrockisd.org. Thanks so much.
Talented and Gifted Referrals
TAG Referral Packets will be available for downloading from the RRISD Gifted and Advanced Academic Services website. Referral forms are due in the Forest Creek office no later than Tuesday, December 9th at 2:45 pm. A TAG referral informational Powerpoint is available on the Forest Creek Parent Resources page. Only hard copies of the referral form will be accepted. Contact our TAG teachers with questions: Julie_Washburn@roundrockisd.org or Katharine_Riedlinger@roundrockisd.org.
Winter Party
Our classroom’s winter party will be on Thursday, December 18th from 9:30-10:30 am. You can RSVP on the Forest Creek Website and your badge will be printed in advance. More information will come soon about donations needed.
Music Class Performance
Students who would like to may share their musical talents in music class on the last days of music for the semester. Anyone may sing a song, accompanied by a CD, MP3 or A capella (unaccompanied). Students who wish to play piano must bring their book or sheet music, even if the song is memorized, and instrumentalists who play anything other than piano should bring their instrument. Our class will perform on Tuesday, December 16.
Curriculum Based Assessments
We had a Reading CBA on Thursday and will be taking a Science CBA on Monday and a Math CBA on Tuesday.
Reading
In reading, we read several expository articles and books about the Titanic. We used them to work on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words and to make inferences. We then read a biography of Molly Brown, a Titanic survivor, and compared the genre of biography with the articles and discussed how the background knowledge gained from the articles helped us have a deeper understanding the biography. We also read biographies of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and watched video of the first moon landing. We then read a poem about the moon and our background knowledge of the moon landing helped us understand the references in the poem. We will continue to read and respond to some more expository books about the moon next week.
Writing
Personal Narratives have been our focus this week and we are drafting leads and writing drafts. We will work on publishing our personal narratives by the end of next week and beginning writing an expository essay to finish before the winter break.
Social Studies
We researched Native Tribes of Texas and made webs or charts to organize information about each tribe. We discussed the ways each tribe used natural resources to survive and how they bartered or traded with other tribes to meet their needs. We will finish up learning about the tribes and begin learning about explorers in Texas next week.
Spelling
We have been working on words with silent letters. We’ve practiced words with silent k (knock, knowledge), silent b (climb, lamb), silent w (write, wrap), silent b (debt, doubt), silent g (sign, design), and silent g (gnat, gnaw). Next week, we will work on suffixes like ment (government, agreement), less (thoughtless, hopeless), and ful (hopeful, beautiful). Thank you for encouraging your child to study spelling words.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary words this week are homophones, which are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. The words are definitions are on Quizlet.com and the children will make cards on Monday.
Dates to Remember:
Sunday, December 7, 2014-Book Orders Due
Monday, December 8, 2014-Science CBA-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Reading Logs Due
Tuesday, December 9, 2014-Math CBA-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, December 10, 2014-Summary and Response Due
Thursday, December 11, 2014-Senior Choir Tour, Writing Club 2:45-3:45, Passport to Literacy Night 5-7pm
Friday, December 12, 2014-Gingerbread House Making with 1st Grade Reading Buddies, Ridgeview Concert from 9-9:45, Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test and Vocabulary Test
Sunday, December 14, 2014-PTA FCE Day at Barnes and Noble-9am-9pm
Monday, December 15, 2014- Reading Log Due, NO Tutorials today, Special Service Club Meeting
Tuesday, December 16, 2014-Pen Pal Visit from 9:15-10:30 in library, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45pm
Wednesday, December 17, 2014-Summary and Responses Due
Thursday, December 18, 2014-Reading log due for this week, Marking Period Ends-All assignments are due. Holiday Party from 9:30-10:30
Friday, December 19-January 5, 2015-Holiday Break-Reading Challenge at least 200 minutes required
January 6, 2015-Back to School! Holiday Reading Log due. (200 minutes required)
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
I hope you had a fun holiday with lots of family time. I had a relaxing, yet productive week, but am happy to be back in school with your children. We had a great week!
Scholastic Book Orders
I will submit a Scholastic Book Order for our class on Sunday. The items will be delivered before our holiday break. Have fun doing some holiday shopping! Go to https://clubs2.scholastic.com. Our classroom code is GYTDB.
Passport to Adventure Literacy Night
Forest Creek will be having its annual “Passport to Adventure” Literacy Night on
Thursday, December 11, 2014 from 5-7pm. Mark your calendar to come and enjoy
stories from around the world and fun activities, including a multicultural fair in the gym.
Promise Pizza will be available to purchase for $1 per slice. Round Rock’s Ballet
Folklorico will close the Literacy Night activities with a performance at 6:30pm.
Parents: Can you share something about your family’s country of origin for Literacy
Night? Maybe there is a game from your country, or special clothes, dancing, or type of artwork. If you would like to reserve a table at the multicultural fair to share
this rich culture, please call or email Mrs. Mariah Smith at 464-5359 or
Mariah_Smith@roundrockisd.org. Thanks so much.
Talented and Gifted Referrals
TAG Referral Packets will be available for downloading from the RRISD Gifted and Advanced Academic Services website. Referral forms are due in the Forest Creek office no later than Tuesday, December 9th at 2:45 pm. A TAG referral informational Powerpoint is available on the Forest Creek Parent Resources page. Only hard copies of the referral form will be accepted. Contact our TAG teachers with questions: Julie_Washburn@roundrockisd.org or Katharine_Riedlinger@roundrockisd.org.
Winter Party
Our classroom’s winter party will be on Thursday, December 18th from 9:30-10:30 am. You can RSVP on the Forest Creek Website and your badge will be printed in advance. More information will come soon about donations needed.
Music Class Performance
Students who would like to may share their musical talents in music class on the last days of music for the semester. Anyone may sing a song, accompanied by a CD, MP3 or A capella (unaccompanied). Students who wish to play piano must bring their book or sheet music, even if the song is memorized, and instrumentalists who play anything other than piano should bring their instrument. Our class will perform on Tuesday, December 16.
Curriculum Based Assessments
We had a Reading CBA on Thursday and will be taking a Science CBA on Monday and a Math CBA on Tuesday.
Reading
In reading, we read several expository articles and books about the Titanic. We used them to work on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words and to make inferences. We then read a biography of Molly Brown, a Titanic survivor, and compared the genre of biography with the articles and discussed how the background knowledge gained from the articles helped us have a deeper understanding the biography. We also read biographies of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and watched video of the first moon landing. We then read a poem about the moon and our background knowledge of the moon landing helped us understand the references in the poem. We will continue to read and respond to some more expository books about the moon next week.
Writing
Personal Narratives have been our focus this week and we are drafting leads and writing drafts. We will work on publishing our personal narratives by the end of next week and beginning writing an expository essay to finish before the winter break.
Social Studies
We researched Native Tribes of Texas and made webs or charts to organize information about each tribe. We discussed the ways each tribe used natural resources to survive and how they bartered or traded with other tribes to meet their needs. We will finish up learning about the tribes and begin learning about explorers in Texas next week.
Spelling
We have been working on words with silent letters. We’ve practiced words with silent k (knock, knowledge), silent b (climb, lamb), silent w (write, wrap), silent b (debt, doubt), silent g (sign, design), and silent g (gnat, gnaw). Next week, we will work on suffixes like ment (government, agreement), less (thoughtless, hopeless), and ful (hopeful, beautiful). Thank you for encouraging your child to study spelling words.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary words this week are homophones, which are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. The words are definitions are on Quizlet.com and the children will make cards on Monday.
Dates to Remember:
Sunday, December 7, 2014-Book Orders Due
Monday, December 8, 2014-Science CBA-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45, Reading Logs Due
Tuesday, December 9, 2014-Math CBA-Tutorials from 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, December 10, 2014-Summary and Response Due
Thursday, December 11, 2014-Senior Choir Tour, Writing Club 2:45-3:45, Passport to Literacy Night 5-7pm
Friday, December 12, 2014-Gingerbread House Making with 1st Grade Reading Buddies, Ridgeview Concert from 9-9:45, Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test and Vocabulary Test
Sunday, December 14, 2014-PTA FCE Day at Barnes and Noble-9am-9pm
Monday, December 15, 2014- Reading Log Due, NO Tutorials today, Special Service Club Meeting
Tuesday, December 16, 2014-Pen Pal Visit from 9:15-10:30 in library, Tutorials from 2:45-3:45pm
Wednesday, December 17, 2014-Summary and Responses Due
Thursday, December 18, 2014-Reading log due for this week, Marking Period Ends-All assignments are due. Holiday Party from 9:30-10:30
Friday, December 19-January 5, 2015-Holiday Break-Reading Challenge at least 200 minutes required
January 6, 2015-Back to School! Holiday Reading Log due. (200 minutes required)
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
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