News for 2/18

It's been a short but busy week. We have accomplished a lot in this short week!

1st Grade Talent Development

First graders have had a great week working on their ISP research.  They are all well on their way to taking great notes and having some great projects!

2nd Grade Talent Development

Second grade is rocking along with their spring ISPs. Many students are coming to the end of their research. We are beginning to have conversations about writing a research report. The students are very excited about their topics.

3rd Grade Math

Third graders wrapped up their tiny house projects this week, and we put them in the library to display for all of CCE to see!  We started a new unit on fractions this week as well.  Friday was spent working on ISP research.  Everyone is taking great notes on their topics!

4th Grade Math

Fourth graders have spent the week working on volume of 3-D objects.  We have done some practice problems, discussed the formulas used to find volume, and had some fun as well.  Students really enjoyed building replicas of various sized boxes using centimeter grid paper and calculating the volume of them as well!   Friday was spent working on ISP research.  Everyone is taking great notes on their topics! 

5th Grade Math

Fifth graders have spent the week working on measurement conversions, within one system and between customary and metric systems.  They've been working hard, and learning so much!   Friday was spent working on ISP research.  Everyone is taking great notes on their topics! 

3rd Reading

Third grade continued their trip around the world. We visited Mexico City and talked about how the physical location effects it. We discussed the natural resources, landforms, and challenges the city faces.

Third grade had a visit from Mrs. Owen this week. They explored the Dash robots and learned how to operate them. They will be buddying up with a class next week to share their knowledge. We are excited about the opportunity to be mentors and practice our leadership and communication skills.

4th Reading

Fourth grade continued exploring drama this week. We are analyzing characters and using the script to infer character traits. The students will be creating characterization posters to express the traits of their chosen characters. The students will be incorporating Depth & Complexity icons into their posters to show the various elements of their characters. 
We also visited the library this week and had a fun lesson on GarageBand with Mrs. Bamford. We learned how music can change the mood and tone of things. We will be creating music tracks to convey the mood and tone of our characters from the drama we are studying.

5th Reading

Fifth grade continued to work on their dramas this week. They are practicing their plays in preparation to perform them for our group. We also visited the library and learned about GarageBand from Mrs. Bamford. We discussed how mood and tone can be conveyed through music. The students will be creating a music track to convey the mood and tone of their character in their play.

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Important Dates:
2/26 PTA Meeting 6:00pm & 4th Grade Performance 6:30pm
3/8 Multicultural Fair 5:30pm
3/11-15 Education Go Get It Week
3/13 Kinder Round Up 9:00am 
Grade 3 Field Trip 9:00am
Kinder Field Trip 9:30am
3/18-22 Spring Break
3/28 3rd Grade Economics Expo 3:00pm

News for 2/11

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We hope you all had a great week filled with fun, friends, and family! Just a friendly reminder, Monday and Tuesday are student holidays.

1st Grade Talent Development

First graders have spent the week working on our ISPs.  All students checked out books from the library, and are really working hard on researching to answer their questions on their topics.  I'm really proud of how well they are doing!  We ended the week with a couple of fun Valentine activities exploring a glyph and a bar graph.

2nd Grade Talent Development

Second grade has made great progress on their spring ISPs. Many students have completed researching and are beginning to write their essays. It has been a lot of fun to see the kids get excited and dig deep into their topics. They are doing great work!

3rd Grade Math

Third graders wrapped up their unit on geometry, area and perimeter this week.  They have been working hard on their tiny house projects and they are looking great!  If they don't finish by Friday, they will need to bring them home to finish over the long weekend.  We will display them in the library when we finish!  Students also took a DCA Thursday.  Grades will be in HAC by early next week.  We ended the week with some work on our ISPs- they are all well on their way to creating great projects with deep thinking!

4th Grade Math

Fourth graders have spent the week studying area and perimeter.  We have done task cards and example problems to test our skills.  We had some fun by studying the blueprints for the new CCE playground, coming next school year.  There are two proposals for how to fill the area, and we calculated the surface area of the playground to see which plan works best.  We also created animal sanctuaries, and calculated the area and perimeter of each cage, thinking about which animals could be next to each other and which ones could not be.  These will be brought home on Friday if not finished in class.  We ended the week with some work on our ISPs- they are all well on their way to creating great projects with deep thinking!

5th Grade Math

Fifth graders only came to TAG two days this week, due to I Love Math on Monday and STAAR Ready testing Tuesday and Wednesday in their homerooms.  Thursday, we started a new unit on measurement conversions.  Students practiced converting measurements within one system (customary and metric) by completing a scavenger hunt, puzzle and practice problems.   We ended the week with some work on our ISPs- they are all well on their way to creating great projects with deep thinking!  

3rd Reading

Third grade worked hard on their drama this week. They were super excited to perform it for some our kindergarten classes. They did a great job! 
This week we also discussed communities. We took a "trip" around the world to learn about different communities. We looked at their locations and the various resources available in each place. We learned a lot about several very different places.

4th Reading

Fourth grade wrapped up their unit on drama this week. They completed their scripts and Comics Head cartoons. We enjoyed sharing them with the group on Friday.

5th Reading

Fifth grade had limited time in TAG this week due to I Heart Math and the STAAR Ready exams. But even with limited time we learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Thursday was spent sharing out our commercials from our persuasive text unit. We had some campus visitors come and view our commercials and help decide who was most persuasive! We will upload our commercials in our Seesaw accounts next week. 

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Important Dates:
2/18-19 Student Holiday-No School
2/22 5th Grade Grisham Buddy Day
CCE School Spirit-Twin Day
2/26 PTA Meeting 6:00pm & 4th Grade Performance 6:30pm
3/8 Multicultural Fair 5:30pm

News for 2/4

February is off to a great start. The students are digging deep into spring ISP projects and enjoying the new units in our curriculum.

1st Grade Talent Development

First graders spent the first part of the week narrowing down their choices for their ISPs.  All students have chosen a topic and are ready to research!  We will make a trip to the library next week and begin learning about our topics.  We are excited!

We finished the week by making a snowman glyph about our favorite winter activities.  They will be up in the hallway soon!

2nd Grade Talent Development

Second grade has been hard at work on their spring ISP projects. They have selected their topic and have begun reading and researching. They are very excited to be diving into these passion projects.

3rd Grade Math

Third grade has spent the week exploring area and perimeter.  We have made notes in our journals, discussed tips on how to differentiate between the two, and solved word problems to practice these skills.  They started a big project to wrap up this unit- creating tiny houses!  All students will create their own tiny house from card stock grid paper, and include calculations of area and perimeter for all pieces of furniture in their house.  We are all so excited about this project, and showing off our skills!

4th Grade Math

Fourth graders finished up unit 7- Measurement this week.  Students started the week with a DCA, and grades are up in HAC.  They have also been working on some challenge problems in class utilizing our measurement conversion skills.  Ask your student about the cloud storage  and Kerbey Lane problems we worked on to find out more!

5th Grade Math

Fifth graders have spent the week wrapping up our unit on Financial Literacy.  We had some great discussions on the four types of taxes, different options to pay for college and finding your net worth.  This unit has been so much fun, and we are really enjoying our discussions in class!  It's so fun to talk to the students about these real life math skills.  5th graders took a DCA Thursday and grades are up in HAC.

3rd Reading

Third grade dove into their unit on drama this week. We have learned about the elements of drama and how to spot them in plays. We are also practicing a reader's theater based on Bluebonnet List novel "The Unlucky Lottery Winners of Classroom 13" by Matthew J. Gilbert. The students are having so much fun bringing this short play to life.

4th Reading

Fourth grade is enjoying exploring their unit on drama. They have written scripts based on traditional literature pieces. They are then translating their stories into comic strips using the Comics Head app. The students are really enjoying their work.

5th Reading

Fifth grade wrapped up their unit on persuasive texts this week. We are excited to show our commercials to some of the CCE staff next week. They will help us determine who was most persuasive in advertising their product. 

We also began a unit on drama this week. The students are working in groups to prepare and present short reader's theater scripts based on Bluebonnet List novels. We are excited to see these short plays come to life next week!

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Important Dates:
2/13 Coffee Chat with the Principal 7:45am
2/14 Valentine's Day Class Parties 2:00pm
2/18-19 Student Holiday-No School
2/22 5th Grade Grisham Buddy Day
CCE School Spirit-Twin Day
2/26 PTA Meeting 6:00pm & 4th Grade Performance 6:30pm
3/8 Multicultural Fair 5:30pm