News for 3/26

Spring is in the air! We hope everyone is enjoying the cool mornings and warm afternoons. We are in spring mode here as well. As we head into the final months of school we will continue to stay focused as well as have fun with our learning!

Math:

3rd Grade- 

Third grade wrapped up their fraction unit this week. We learned how to adjust the fractions to increase and decrease a recipe. As a culminating activity we celebrated with a "Fraction Feast" today. Each student was invited to bring in the dish that matched their recipe. We really enjoyed tasting everyone's math project!

4th Grade-

Fourth graders have continued to explore the world of personal financial literacy.  We have talked about choosing a method of payment this week, focusing specifically on cash, check, credit/debit cards.  The conversations have been amazing, and we have learned a lot about money management.  We brought in some language arts skills by writing a short story about purchasing an item from a store, and choosing a method of payment to buy it.  Students were surprised to be writing in math class, but did a great job on the assignment!

5th Grade-

Fifth graders started the week by learning about box and whisker plots- a type of graph completely new to all of them.  They did a great job learning about the plots, quartiles and interquartile range.  I was very pleased with how quickly they learned all the new info!  We also studied frequency tables and relative frequency.  We wrapped up the week with a set of task cards around the room of all measure of variation vocabulary from the last two weeks.  It's been a fabulous week of learning new things!

ELA Enrichment & ISP:

1st Grade- 

First graders have worked hard this week at researching for their ISPs.  We explored the MackInVIA app to find eBooks.  They are working so hard!  Please send in a trifold board for your child as soon as possible.  You may also want to start talking to your student about what they would like to create for their model to go along with their ISP.  Please let me know if you have questions about this!

2nd Grade-

Second grade has been hard at work this week researching their ISP projects. Students are starting to wrap up their note taking and are beginning to write their introduction paragraphs.

3rd Grade-

Third graders worked hard on ISP research and "Rump" this week. They are learning so much about their ISP topics. They can't wait to show what they have discovered!

4th Grade-

Fourth grade the giant story timeline continues to grow. The students have tracked the first five chapters of the novel. They are learning to decipher major events from minor ones. 

5th Grade-

Fifth grade has displayed their "Mysterious Benedict" novel sets and scripts in the library. Be sure to stop by and take a look. They turned out great!

We also began our next ELA unit this week. The students are very excited to be diving into the world of graphic novels. We will be exploring the components of graphic novels as well as comprehension strategies.

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Important Dates:
3/30 No School Spring Holiday
4/2-4/6 4th Grade Cruise Write Along
4/3 Report Cards go home
4/6 4th Grade Field Trip
4/10 4th Grade STAAR Writing Test
5th Grade STAAR Math Test
4/11 5th Grade STAAR Reading Test
4/16-20 Book Fair
4/17 PTA Meeting/2nd Grade Performance 6pm (Book Fair open late)
4/20 Family Movie Night 6pm
4/23-27 Teacher Appreciation Week
4/27 1st Grade Ocean Day 1pm

News for 3/19

We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Spring Break. It was so great to see all of the kids back this week. We hit the ground running and have been busy, busy!

Math:

3rd Grade- 

Third grade continued their study of fractions this week. We worked on comparing fractions, adding and subtracting, as well as locating them on a number line. We will wrap up our unit next week with our Fraction Feast project. Don't forget to bring your recipe to class on Monday!

4th Grade-

Fourth graders have spent the week exploring financial literacy.  We started the week by exploring how to set a savings goal and make a plan to achieve it.  We also spent a couple of days learning all about income, payroll, sales and property taxes, as well as gross and net income.  Students took on the role of teachers for this task by reading about one kind of tax, making notes, and then presenting in groups to the class to educate their peers about what they learned.  They did a great job and we had a great, meaningful discussion about the application of taxes to real life!  We wrapped up the week by creating a simple student budget, and figuring out how to make it balanced.  Students have had great ideas for how to make income and trim expenses!

5th Grade-

Fifth graders started a new unit on data representation and analysis this week.  We have explored dot plots, stem and leaf plots and histograms through some fun videos, notes in a journal foldable and lots of practice.  We've also incorporated center and spread of data by identifying median, mode and range.  Students have done a great job learning lots of new information, and are learning a lot!  We ended the week by playing a partner challenge game on desmos.com.  Students created scavenger hunts for a partner based on characteristics of histograms.  It's been a great week!

ELA Enrichment & ISP:

1st Grade- 

First graders started the week with some fun domino math.  We made chains of dominoes and used them to create different numbers.  It was fun to see them making the numbers and problem solving to create combinations to make different numbers.  We've spent the rest of the week fine tuning our research skills by reading, reading and reading some more in our selected books on ISP topics.  They are all working so hard!

2nd Grade-

Second grade has been spending time writing their own final chapter to the "Classroom 13" novel. We will be posting them on SeeSaw on Monday and putting them in a collection for a class book. They are also working very hard on their ISP research. We have a few more weeks of collecting information and then we will begin writing our papers!

3rd Grade-

Third graders are working hard on their ISP research. They have made great progress and are moving towards the end of this portion. In a few weeks we will begin writing our research papers. In ELA, they are wrapping up a lengthy "Rump" project and hope to have all parts completed in a few weeks. We have our next novel selected, and will release the title soon!

4th Grade-

Fourth grade has been hard at work on their giant story timeline. As we work through the novel the group with continue to track important events in the story. This will be displayed in the hall at the end of our unit. The students have also been working very hard on their research for their ISP projects. We only have a few more weeks for them to collect their information before we begin writing our papers.

5th Grade-

Fifth grade has completed their sets and scripts for their novel study unit. They will be on display in the library beginning Monday. They have turned out really well. Be sure to pop in and take a look! The fifth graders are also working hard on the research for their ISP projects. Some are planning their display item as well!

Next week we will begin our next ELA unit. The students will find out on Monday what we will be exploring next. Be sure to ask your student what the surprise was!

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Important Dates:
3/12-16 Spring Break
3/28 3rd grade Econ Expo 3:00pm
3/30 No School Spring Holiday

News for 3/5

We are half way through March! We hope you all have a wonderful, restful Spring Break. We will see everyone back at school on March 19th!

Math:

3rd Grade- 

Third grade completed their Tiny Houses and placed them in the library for viewing. They also began their unit on fractions. This week we reviewed fractions and began discussing equivalent fractions and fractions on a number line. We will continue our fraction unit when we return from Spring Break.

4th Grade-

Fourth graders have started studying Personal Financial Literacy.  We have explored fixed and variable expenses through note taking, cutting and categorizing expense cards and studying a lemonade stand and a pet bunny's expenses.  We wrapped up the week by talking about saving our money, and discussing various options for where to save.  Students will complete a small project after spring break to help them make a plan for saving up money to buy something they would like to have.

5th Grade-

Fifth graders wrapped up our unit on perimeter, area and volume this week.  We started the week with some practice volume problems, and then reviewed measurement conversion proportions, scale factor, and using proportions to measure shadows.  Students took at DCA Thursday.  Grades are in HAC. It was so much fun to see them all launch their balloons this morning!  I could tell they had all worked hard on the project and seeing the pride in their work was so great.

ELA Enrichment & ISP:

1st Grade- 

First graders had a great week of working on their ISPs.  All students now have two books on their subject, and they have started researching.  We've tweaked their 3 questions just a bit, and all of them are ready to answer them!  They spent two days reading their books and taking notes to answer their questions.  They have demonstrated perseverance and focus so well on this task.  I'm so proud of them!  Over spring break, you might want to brainstorm a bit about what kind of model your child would like to make for their project!

2nd Grade-

Second grade had a surprise skype visit with Matthew J. Gilbert, author of the Classroom 13 series. The students have read book 1 of the series, "The Unlucky Lottery Winners of Classroom 13". They had such a great time talking with Mr. Gilbert and asking their questions. 

3rd Grade-

Third grade began their research for their ISP projects. They are busy reading and taking notes for their reports.

4th Grade-

Fourth grade is busy reading "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" and developing a timeline of the events in the book. They also began researching their ISP topic and taking notes.

5th Grade-

Fifth grade "Mysterious Benedict Society" sets will be complete and out for viewing when we return from Spring Break. The fifth graders are also working on researching their ISP topics and taking notes.

Have a wonderful holiday break and see you next year!

Important Dates:
3/12-16 Spring Break
3/28 3rd grade Econ Expo 3:00pm
3/30 No School Spring Holiday

News for 2/26

We can't believe it is already March. We are full steam ahead through this second semester. The students are busy learning and having fun while doing so. We enjoyed all of the activities of the past week and had a great time at the campus Multi-Cultural Fair. It was so great to see so many of our kids and families there!

Math:

3rd Grade- 

Third grade tiny houses are complete! We will be setting them up in the library on Monday. The students also completed their STAAR Ready assessment and did a fantastic job! This next week we will begin our unit on fractions. We will be exploring equivalent fractions, adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators, equating fractions to decimals in tenths and hundredths, and representing fractions in various ways. It should be a great unit!

4th Grade-

Fourth graders had a shortened week in TAG due to STAAR Ready testing and a field trip.  They did get to spend one day solving a geometry puzzle from Archimedes that's been around for over 2000 years!  They had fun stretching their brains to think about how to use the pieces to solve various puzzles.  They ended the week by taking a DCA test Friday.

5th Grade-

Fifth graders have spent the week exploring area, perimeter and volume.  They used their skills to find area by choosing types of flooring to put in a house.  Pairs were given a house blueprint, and used homedepot.com to choose new flooring for the entire house.  They calculated the area, and then the price based on the price/square foot from Home Depot.  It was fun, and they learned a lot about how much money it takes for a project like that!

They also explored volume by measuring the dimensions of flat rate shipping boxes from USPS, along with objects that would fit.  They had to find the volume of each box, and then decided which box fit each object best.  This was a challenging activity, as some of the objects weren't perfectly rectangular or square (like a stuffed animal!), and some would fit in more than one box.  we will wrap up this activity Monday with a discussion about which objects go with each box, and even throw in the shipping cost! 

ELA Enrichment & ISP:

1st Grade- 

First graders spent significant time on their ISPs this week.  All students have narrowed down their topic choice and have 3 great questions to answer for their topics!  We should see some great projects in May!

We also spent some time solving some logic puzzles together.  Students had a great time using their logical thinking skills to solve them!

2nd Grade-

Second grade complete their chapter 31 contributions to our novel study. We are putting them together in a class book. We can't wait to share our part of the story!

3rd Grade-

Third grade has been hard at work completing their "Rump" novel study project. They also have finalized their ISP topic and research questions. On Thursday, we went down to the library to begin checking out our research resources. 

4th Grade-

Fourth grade continued their work on their new novel "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell". They are loving their new book. They also have worked on selecting their ISP topic and writing their research questions.

5th Grade-

Fifth grade "Mysterious Benedict Society" sets are almost complete. We will be placing them in the library next week along with the scripts they wrote. They are turning out very well! The fifth graders also made their final ISP topic selection this week and finalized their research questions. They headed to the library on Thursday to begin checking out their resources.

Have a wonderful holiday break and see you next year!

Important Dates:
3/4 Green Team Work Day on campus
3/6 Career Exploration Fair at Round Rock HS at 6:00pm
3/7 Kinder Round Up 9am-2pm in CCE library
3/9 5th Grade Balloon Launch 8:00am
3/12-16 Spring Break
3/28 3rd grade Econ Expo 3:00pm
3/30 No School Spring Holiday