Bartholomew Bats!


Our school is located in Round Rock, Texas which is near Austin. Austin and Round Rock both have huge populations of Mexican Free Tailed Bats that live under our bridges. A colony of bats lives beneath the Ann Richards/Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin and in Round Rock, another colony resides under the Interstate 35 bridge over McNeil Road. Each evening from March to about October, the bats fly out from beneath the bridge and search for insects to eat. The emergence of the bats is a wonder to watch. We are also thankful that all these millions of bats eat the bugs by our homes.

Our class mascot is the Bat to honor the mammals that live so close to us and help us. (also because Bat and Bartholomew both start with the letter B!) The bats in Central Texas live together in a group and help take care of the young. Then they migrate together as a team. Our class will also live together in our classroom, work together as a team, and help each other out. We are the Bartholomew Bats!





Sunday, November 22, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 11/22/2015

Happy Thanksgiving! We had an amazing week!

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

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

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

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

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

Writing Club meets on Monday, Nov. 30 after school. We will announce the UIL Creative Writing and Ready Writing Teams. We will also work a creative writing game and free writing.The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Dec. 12. from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area. (The date changed.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

November 23-27-Thanksgiving Break

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

Tuesday, December 1-Field Trip to Blanton Art Museum

Wednesday, December 2-Early Release and Pajama Day

Thursday, December 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

--
Pam Bartholomew
4th Grade Teacher
Forest Creek Elementary School
Round Rock,TX 78664

512-464-5388

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 11/14/2015

We had a great week and have a busy week ahead. Our Veteran's Day Assembly was wonderful. The singing by the choir and the audience was beautiful, hearing from some Veterans was amazing, and seeing all the children waving their American flags was awesome. Flashlight Reading in the library was so much fun! Thank you for donating for Coins for Coats to help us earn that prize.

Groovy-O-Rama-Dress groovy and join us at 12:00 on Friday for some groovy singing!

OMS Toy Drive! We collected 280 toys! Thank you so much to everyone for helping to increase awareness of OMS and to brighten the day of patients in Dell Children's Hospital.

World Class Leadership Conference-5 students from Service Club joined Ms. Reinlinger, Mrs. Bendetto, and me for a district conference on leadership. It was great to see so many excited and energetic children and adults talk about the importance of leading and being positive, goal setting, helpful, creative leaders now and everyday. We had the opportunity to share information about our Service Club and to learn about iMovie, Birthday Boxes, and lots more.

Writing Club meets on Monday, Nov. 16 after school. We will also have UIL Writing Club try-outs on Monday, November 16. Students in Writing Club are encouraged to try out, but not required.The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Dec. 5. from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area.

Reading-We read about Veteran's Day. We also learned about free verse and lyrical poems. Interpretation of poetry can vary based on the reader. We watched two videos of the same poem with very different interpretations. Watch them and see what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x587PpF-J1Q and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1I4uaRt6bM We talked about mood in poetry and made inferences while reading the poem DreamsDby Langston Hughes. We will work with poetry a bit more this week as well as read and discuss some Thanksgiving books.

Writing-We are publishing our Expository Writing and will write poems this week. We will write Character Cinquain poems about a main character from our book club books. We will write poems using lots of sensory words, imagery, similes, and metaphors.

Social Studies-We are working on our tribe projects. It is very exciting to see how engaged all of the children are in their work. Our driving question is how can we teach others about the tribes of Texas. Some are making dioramas, others are writing a play, others are creating gameboards, others making posters, and others are writing the lyrics to a song about their tribe. Our plan is to finish the projects by Tuesday, so that we can present our work to our homeroom on Wednesday. We will then get feedback from our classmates and spend Thursday revising and improving our projects. On Friday, we will do our final presentation at 9:30 for our 1st grade reading buddies. You are invited to come and watch our presentations at 9:30 on Friday.

Spelling-We are reviewing plurals this week. Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on science words. Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, November 16- Wear FCE t-shirts. Writing Club and UIL try outs 2:45-3:45 in library. 2nd-5th invited.

Tuesday, November 17-library check out

Wednesday, November 18

Thursday, November 19-Thanksgiving Lunch-11:05

Friday, November 20-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-Groovy-O-Rama 4th grade-12:00

November 23-27-Thanksgiving Break

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

Tuesday, December 1-Art Field Trip to Blanton Art Museum

Wednesday, December 2-Early Release-PJ Day

Friday, December 4-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Saturday, Dec. 5-Volunteer at RR Serving Center from 9-10.

Thursday, Dec. 10-Cultural Night 5-7


I hope you continue to have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 11/7/2015

We had a great week! We began working with poetry and enjoyed hearing our amazing Senior Choir sing. This week we will have fun with flashlight reading in the library and we will honor Veterans on Wednesday.

OMS Toy Drive ends on Monday. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 200 new toys. We have about 141 toys so far! Thank you in advance for your support.

Service Club meets on Monday from 2:45-3:45. We will wrap up our Toy Drive and discuss future projects. All fourth and fifth graders are welcome.

Writing Club meets on Monday, Nov. 16 after school. We will also have UIL Writing Club try-outs on Monday, November 16. Students in Writing Club are encouraged to try out, but not required.The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Dec. 5. from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area.

Reading-We began reading some poetry this week. There were poetry posters all over our room and we walked around with our reading partner to read and discuss the poems. We then wrote responses to the poems. We also read some friend poems. One poem included similes and one included metaphors. The Moon was a favorite poem this week. We read about the first moon landing and watched a video of Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind. Then we read the poem, The Moon, and used our background knowledge and text clues to make inferences. We also read independently everyday and record on our book logs. Be sure to read everyday at home and record on your log! The kids should turn in a complete book log about once a week.

Social Studies-We are finishing charts about Tribes in Texas and will begin researching one tribe and creating a project to teach others about the tribe.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about plurals this week. This week's words focus on changing the f to v and adding es to make plurals. (wolf-wolves, scarf-scarves, wife-wives.) Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on poetry words (stanza, meter, rhyme, etc...) and words with bio-(life), graph(write), ology (study of) Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, November 9-Service Club! Come to room 512 from 2:45-3:45. Donate toys for OMS Toy Drive to benefit Dell Children's Hospital!- Wear FCE t-shirts.

Tuesday, November 10-library check out, Flashlight Reading Party for winning Coins for Coats for our grade level, PTA meeting at 11 am, TAG information meeting at 6:30

Wednesday, November 11-Veteran's Day Breakfast at 7:15, K-2 program at 8:15, 3-5 at 9:00

Friday, November 13-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Monday, November 16-Wear FCE shirts. Writing Club and UIL try outs 2:45-3:45 in library. 2nd-5th invited.

Thursday, November 19-Thanksgiving lunch at 11:05

Friday, November 20-Groovy-O-Rama 4th grade-12:00

November 23-27-Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 30-School Resumes

Wednesday, Dec. 2-Early Release Day

Saturday, Dec. 5-Volunteer at RR Serving Center from 9-10.

Thursday, Dec. 10-Cultural Night 5-7


I hope you continue to have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

Friday, October 30, 2015

Newsletter


Hello Bat Families, 10/30/2015

We had an amazing week of Red Ribbon Week activities. With Halloween and wacky weather, this week had the potential to be very challenging. The kids did very well. We had fun, learned about healthy choices, made art for Every Artist Live, smiled for our photographs, and also focused on our assignments. Great job!!!!!

Reflections Entry Form due Monday-Our class wrote poems or stories for Reflections. Your child brought home and entry form for you to sign and return on Monday. The poems and stories are inspired by the theme, "Let your Imagination Fly" and are quite creative. The writing is in your child's Google Drive. Thank you in advance for returning the Reflections Entry Form.

OMS Toy Drive continues. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 200 new toys. We have about 91 toys so far! Many of the Service Club Members went to talk to classes this week to encourage kids to help. We will collect toys until Nov. 9. Thank you in advance for your support.

Coins for Coats-Our school collected coins for Coats for Kids this week. Our class collected more than $100! Thank you so much for your generosity! (especially Samantha!!!!)

Mimeo !!!!-We now have a mimeo machine in our classroom. This device turns our white board into a smart board. A computer website is projected onto the whiteboard. We have a stylus as a mouse and interact with the site using the stylus. It can also be used to draw or take notes as well. We've used it to practice vocabulary and spelling on Quizlet, played Food Chain games, made a web for writing, and played some other games. We look forward to investigating more activities using this cool technology.

Writing Club meets on Monday after school. Writing Club is for kids who love to write. The students choose whatever they'd like to write. We will talk about UIL Writing Teams and do some practice prompts. We will have UIL Writing Club try-outs on Monday, November 16. Students in Writing Club are encouraged to try out, but not required.The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Dec. 5. from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area.

Reading-We are completing our study of non-fiction or expository text for now. We will revisit nonfiction reading strategies throughout the year Poetry will be our focus for the next few weeks. We are also reading independently everyday and recording on our book logs. Be sure to read everyday at home and record on your log! The kids should turn in a complete book log about once a week.

Writing-We took a writing benchmark that included some revising and editing as well as writing an expository piece. We also wrote cards of appreciation for police officers and wrote poems or short stories for Reflections. We will write more poetry and complete our final copies of our expository essays.

Social Studies-We are continuing to learn about Tribes in Texas.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about plurals this week. This week's words focus on words that end in a consonant and y. To make these words plural, the y is changed to an i and es is added. (candy-candies, party-parties, etc...) Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on figurative language to get ready for working with poetry. Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, November 2-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45. Reflections Entry form due. Wear FCE t-shirts.

Tuesday, November 3-library check out, Senior Choir Concert at 6:30

Wednesday, November 4-Flu Mist at 8:30, Senior Choir performs for grades 3,4, and 5 at 1:50.

Friday, November 6-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Monday, November 9-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club! Come to room 512 from 2:45-3:45. Donate toys for OMS Toy Drive to benefit Dell Children's Hospital!

Tuesday, November 10-PTA meeting at 11 am, TAG Parent Information Night at 6:30

Wednesday, November 11-Veteran's Day Breakfast and programs

More info about Reflections-Welcome to PTA Reflections 2015-2016! Let your imagination fly! Time is fast approaching to turn in your entries. Our theme this year is “Let Your Imagination Fly!” The categories are Visual Arts, Literature, Photography, Musical Composition, Film/Video Production and Dance Choreography. Enter as many categories as you wish. Entries will be due by Monday, November 2, 2015. All entries are to be turned in to Ms. Arnold’s room. Gallery Night is scheduled for November 17, 2015 at 6:30pm where we will showcase all the participants and our Reflections winners! If you have questions, contact Sara Douglas atsara_denney@yahoo.com. You can get your Entry Forms and rules on the PTA Website at www.txpta.org/programs/reflections/participate/.

Happy Halloween! Stay safe and dry. Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 10/24/2015

Be safe and stay dry this weekend. We are not volunteering at the Round Rock Serving Center today. I will let you know if we reschedule. Our next scheduled volunteer trip is on Dec. 5 from 9-10. Hope you can join us.

We had a wonderful visit on Tuesday with our pen pals! We interviewed them, played games, drew pictures, and shared some Halloween gifts. It was very fun and we look forward to seeing them again in December.

RED RIBBON WEEK

OCTOBER 26-31

Monday 26th: “Put a Cap on Drugs”

Wear your favorite hat!



Tuesday, 27th: “Texans Give Drugs the Boot”
Yeehaw! Put on those boots, bandanas and anything Texas today! (If wear boots, please make sure tennis shoes are in backpack for PE classes.)



Wednesday, 28th: “We Mustache You to be Drug Free!”
It’s Mustache Day! Wear mustache anything, shirts, socks, or accessories.



Thursday, 29th: PICUTRE DAY: “A Happy Smile is a Healthy Smile”
Say “cheese” and smile BIG for your pictures to show your Pledge to be DRUG FREE!



Friday, 30th: “It’s CRAZY to do Drugs”
Students can dress CRAZY…have fun and be creative with your crazy outfits! mismatched clothes, socks, shirts inside out/on backwards, hair styles, etc.

Writing Club meets on Monday, November 2. The students will choose their writing pieces, however we will talk about UIL Writing Teams. Try-outs for the UIL Writing Teams (2-5) will be on November 16 during Writing Club. The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

OMS Toy Drive continues. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 200 new toys. We have about 75 toys so far! Thank you in advance for your support.

Bring in coins for Coins for Coats and Newspapers for Garden Club.

Reading-We continue to learn about non-fiction or expository text. We read an article about the wolves in Yellowstone National Park. We compared the views of the wolf activists and the ranchers. We also watched a cool video about how the wolves changed the park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q We also continue to work with our book clubs. We are working hard to keep track of our thinking on post-it notes as we read, then bringing that thinking to our book club meetings to share. We are also working on leading the conversations and extending our thinking together in our group by finding proof in the text and asking questions. We are also reading independently everyday and recording on our book logs. Be sure to read everyday at home and record on your log! The kids should turn in a complete book log about once a week.

Writing-We are gathering entries for Expository Writing and have chosen a piece to go through the writing process. We will continue to revise and edit.

Social Studies-We made charts about Native Tribes in Texas and will continue researching this week. We will also talk about our project choices to show our learning about a particular tribe.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about irregular plurals this week. Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on words with ation. We have a Shel Silverstein poem that will help us practice. (conversation, exaggeration, etc...) Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, October 26-Service Club from 2:45-3:45. Wear FCE t-shirts.

Tuesday, October 27-library check out

Wednesday, October 28-Early Release Day at 12:45-Kona Ice at FCE

Thursday, October 29-Picture Day

Friday, October 30-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Monday, November 2-Wear FCE shirts. Writing Club! Come to library from 2:45-3:45.

Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Newsletter

Hello Bat Families, 10/18/2015

Our fourth graders met the author Jarrett Krosoczka on Thursday during a Skype visit. They learned about his writing process and drew some illustrations together. It was wonderful. Thank you to Mrs. Smith, our librarian, for arranging it for us. Here is Mr. Krosoczka's website: http://www.studiojjk.com/activities3-6.html

Writing Club meets on Monday afterschool. The students will choose their writing pieces. We will talk about working on some poems and writing for Reflections and the UIL Writing Teams. The club is from 2:45-3:45. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome. We will meet in the library and pick-up is in front of the school.

Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9-10. All are welcome to come and volunteer. Email me if you will be coming so that I can let them know. Bring some gently used books to donate to the bookcase in the waiting area.

OMS Toy Drive continues. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 175 new toys. We have about 75 toys so far! Thank you in advance for your support.

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences-Thank you to all the people with whom we've met already. It has been great to talk with you and discuss your child's goals and progress. We have more conferences scheduled for this week. If you haven't signed up yet, here is the link. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4ba8ad292-student

Pen Pals are coming on Tuesday, Oct. 20! Residents from The Court at Round Rock Assisted Living Facility will come to FCE on Tuesday to meet with our class. We will interview them and learn about their childhood and then we will play games and enjoy hanging out together. You are all welcome to come and have fun with our new friends. We will be in the library from about 9:30 to about 10:45.

Reading-We are learning about non-fiction or expository text. We read an article about the history of candy and made some inferences. We will continue to read and explore non-fiction this week. We will also continue to work with our book clubs. We are working hard to keep track of our thinking on post-it notes as we read, then bringing that thinking to our book club meetings to share. We are also working on leading the conversations and extending our thinking together in our group by finding proof in the text and asking questions. We are also reading independently everyday and recording on our book logs. Be sure to read everyday at home and record on your log! The kids should turn in a complete book log about once a week.

Writing-We are gathering entries for Expository Writing and will chose a piece to go through the writing process this week.

Social Studies-We started reading about Native Tribes in Texas and will continue researching this week. We will also talk about our project choices to show our learning about a particular tribe.

Spelling-We are continuing to learn about plurals this week. This week's words focus on adding es to nouns to make them plural. This is usually done if the singular word ends in ch, sh, x, or ss. Each child will also have individual spelling words.

Vocabulary- This week we are working on science words. Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, October 19-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45. Wear FCE t-shirts. Family Fun Night at Hat Creek from 5-9.

Tuesday, October 20-library check out-Pen Pal Visit from 9:30-10:45 in library-conferences continue afterschool

Friday, October 23-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts-Conferences continue afteschool.

Saturday, October 24-Volunteer at the Round Rock Serving Center with us from 9-10am. Let me know if you can come, so I can let them know. All are welcome. Bring some gently used books to donate for the bookshelf in the waiting room.

Monday, October 26-Wear FCE shirts. Service Club! Come to room 512 from 2:45-3:45.

Red Ribbon Week-Oct. 26-Oct. 30-More information to come

Wednesday, Oct. 28-Early Release Day at 12:45-Kona Ice is at FCE.

Picture Day-October 29

Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam

--
Pam Bartholomew
4th Grade Teacher
Forest Creek Elementary School
Round Rock,TX 78664

512-464-5388

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Newsletter-read and record everyday-even on weekends :)

Hello Bat Families, 10/10/2015

We had another busy and great week in fourth grade. Our pen pals had some issues with their van, so we rescheduled our visit for Tuesday, Oct. 20. We are very excited to meet them and learn about their lives.


OMS Toy Drive continues. Donate new toys to bring awareness to OMS. The toys will go to patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. Our goal is 175 new toys. We have about 63 toys so far! Thank you in advance for your support.

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences are beginning on Monday. We are looking forward to talking about progress so far and goals for the year. Please bring your student to the conference, so he/she can be part of setting the goals for the year. If you haven't signed up yet, here is the link. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4ba8ad292-student

Skype Author Visit on Thursday-On Thursday, author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka will be skyping with our fourth graders. He will lead a writing workshop session with them. His website has lots of great activities and information about him. Check it out: http://www.studiojjk.com/activities3-6.html


Reading-We are learning about non-fiction or expository text. We read a nonfiction book of our choice and worked on some facts and opinions. We also summarized part of an article in our Time for Kids publication. Book Clubs has also been a focus this week and we are working hard to keep track of our thinking on post-it notes as we read, then bringing that thinking to our book club meetings to share.

Writing-We continued gathering entries for writing essays or expository pieces. In expository writing, the author explains or gives reasons and examples to support a central idea. (Football is the best sport. –central idea. Reason 1, Reason 2, conclusion) We will also read a quote about teamwork and wrote about our thoughts and opinions of the quote and gave an example of a time in our life where the quote applied to us.

Social Studies-In our teams, we finished our maps of Texas that include regions, landforms, cities, rivers, and resources! We will have an open book quiz on the regions on Tuesday and will begin learning about Native People in Texas.

Spelling-We are beginning to look at plurals this week.

Vocabulary- Words with ian are our focus this week. Magic becomes magician when ian is added. A magician is someone who performs magic. Music becomes musician. A musician is someone who plays music. The words are attached to the homework packet. Practice on quizlet.

Go to Learn2earn to log in reading time (use your paper reading log also) and respond to your reading. You can also earn coins to change your owl avatar.
https://www.learn2earn.org/


Dates to remember:

Monday, October 12-Conferences begin.

Tuesday, October 13-library check out-conferences continue

Thursday, October 15-Author Skype Visit

Friday, October 16-Homework packet is due, Reading Response Letter is due.
spelling test, vocabulary test-wear college shirts

Monday, October 19-Wear FCE shirts. Writing Club! Come write with us from 2:45-3:45.

Tuesday, October 20-Pen Pal Visit! 9:30-10:45

Have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your child with me.

Sincerely,
Pam