Thank you for a great 2016-2017 year!

Out first day of school this fall is Tuesday, August 22, 2017. The new school hours will be 7:40-2:55. Have a great summer!

Carnival Coming Soon; Report Cards & Other Info in Thursday Folders

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.

Food Drive: Thank you for donating for our food drive. We donated about 300 items to the Round Rock Serving Center.

Field Trip forms came home on Thursday. The permission slip is pink. We will travel to the Bob Bullock Museum on Tuesday, May 2. Let me know if you want to be a volunteer chaperone for the trip. Be sure that you are up to date with your Volunteer Application through RRISD and are an approved volunteer. Here is the link: RRISD volunteer application

Report Cards also came home on Thursday. Please return the envelope and one copy signed.

Kids Kicking Out Hunger Kickball Tournament-On May 7, we will participate in a kickball tournament against Gattis, Blackland Prairie, and Cactus Ranch Elementary Schools. To play, fill out the form and bring it in with $10. All money will go to Copprome Orphanage in Honduras. We will also collect food for the Round Rock Serving Center. Our sponsors will provide you with a FCE Kickball t-shirt to wear on the day of the event. When you register, you will get an email with a google form to fill out t-shirt sizes and give you more information. You can create your own team or register and we will place you on a team. We can't wait to see you there!!!!!! Ask Mrs. Bartholomew or Mrs. Shogan if you have any questions.

April 7th, April 12th, and April 13th. Food will be sold the night of the carnival - check out this flyer for all the details! Questions? Please contact Laila Gregory at fcepta.carnival@gmail.com.

Volunteers needed for the Carnival on April 21-We cannot pull off this huge event without your help!

We need 107 Adult volunteer hours and we only have 42% filled. Even if you can’t help the evening of the carnival, we need lots of help during the day, too!

Adult Volunteers -
We need another 96 Student volunteer hours so please have your middle school and/or high school students sign up here
If you can’t give your time, please consider volunteering baked goods for our Bake Sale -
Ask your child’s teacher if they need help putting together their silent auction item
Ask your child’s homeroom parent if they need help putting together the class basket for the raffle
Please contact Danielle Martinez at fcepta.volunteer@gmail.com if you have any questions.


Dates to remember:

Monday, April 10-Wear College Shirts
Wednesday, April 12-Family Night at Zaxby's
Thursday, April 13-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green.
Friday, April 14-No School-Keep reading and enjoy time with family and friends.
Monday, April 17-Wear College Shirts, Rising Star Entries due to teachers
Friday, April 21-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green-Kickball Tournament Registration Due-FCE Coyote Carnival from 5:30-9:00
Monday, April 24-Wear College Shirts, Bond Election Early Voting Opens
Friday, April 28-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green.STEAM DAY-Presenters needed- contact lorilyn_brown@roundrockisd.org or laura_queton@roundrockisd.org.

volunteers needed: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4aa8ab2aaaf58-forest


Monday, May 1-Wear College Shirts, Service Club from 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, May 2-4th Grade Field Trip to the Bob Bullock Museum
Friday, May 5-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green
Sunday, May 7-Kids Kicking Out Hunger Kickball Tournament 12-4pm at Gattis Elementary School
Monday, May 8-STAAR Testing-4th grade Math
Tuesday, May 9-STAAR Testing-4th grade Reading
Thursday, May 11-Rising Star Night-6:00 pm
Friday, May 12-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green
Monday, May 15-Wear College Shirts
Friday, May 19-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green-Field Day 4th Grade-12:30-2:30
Monday, May 22-Wear College Shirts
Thursday, May 25-Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast-7:30, PTA General Meeting at 8:00
Friday, May 26-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green
Monday, May 29-No school-Memorial Day
Thursday, June 1-Last Day of School- End of the year party TBA


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

Writing, Writing, Writing

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Writing STAAR Test- Tuesday, March 28 is the big day! Be sure to help your child realize that this is a great opportunity for them to show their best. There will be free breakfast on testing day. The kids will need a book to read, and some neat, nutritious snacks (no juicy or messy fingers, please). Our lunch will be later than usual so that we can get in our testing time without interruptions. Please send a few extra snacks with your child to help them have energy to do their best. Encourage your child to take breaks as needed. They can put their head down for a few minutes, go to the bathroom, and/or get a drink to help refocus. Let me know if you have any questions. The kids have been working so hard and their best effort on testing day will bring them success!

Writing Camp!- We had a wonderful time at Writing Camp. Each child published TWO expository essays! We worked together to revise and edit and be sure that each expository had specific details to explain what they wanted to do and why. We worked on exciting leads, engaging transitions that help make the essay flow and are interesting, and strong conclusions that leave the reader thinking.

Writing Camp was about practicing all of our strategies to make our essays the best they can be. We also practice some spelling and revising and editing with lots of fun games and some passages. However, Writing Camp also had some catchy songs. Ask your child to sing Camp Write Along, Write, Write Baby, and That Writing Feeling! I had a great time with your children during writing camp and was impressed with their hard work.


Dates to remember:
Monday, March 27-Wear college shirts. Bring in food for our food drive.
Tuesday, March 28-STAAR Writing Test
Friday, March 31-Wear FCE shirts or purple and green.
Monday, April 3-Wear College Shirts
Tuesday, April 4-9:00 PTA General Meeting
Wednesday, April 5-Early Release Day, Kona Ice Sales
Thursday, April 6-Food Drive Ends
Friday, April 7-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green.
Saturday, April 8-Empty Bowl Event-We hope many of you will join us at The Festival on April 8 from 11-2pm at Cedar Ridge High School - for more information, visit emptybowlsroundrock.com or on social media @rremptybowls

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

Camp Write Along

I hope you all had a wonderful spring break with lots of time for family fun.I am excited to see all of the children tomorrow and hear about their adventures.

Writing Camp!- Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be our amazing fourth grade Camp Write Along!!!!!!! We will write most of the day and engage in some fun camp activities. Your child can bring in a sleeping bag or blanket, pillow, small stuffed animal,and flashlight. They can dress in camping clothing during Writing Camp.

Camp Letters-Thank you to those families who have sent me letters already for their campers. I encourage you to write a letter to your camper. You can ask family members also to write about camping experiences, write about writing, write to tell your camper how much you miss your camper while he/she is away at camp, or whatever! Be creative! We will have a mail call each day and many families send a letter for each day. You can send letters in or you can email them to me and I will print them out. In the past receiving letters at Writing Camp is a big deal for the kids. Thank you in advance.



Dates to remember:

Monday, March 20-Writing Camp-Wear camp clothes. Service Club from 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, March 21-Writing Camp
Wednesday, March 22-Writing Camp-Family Fun Night at Zaxby's-6:00
Friday, March 24--Wear FCE shirts or purple and green.
Monday, March 27-Wear college shirts. Writing Club 2:50-3:50.
Tuesday, March 28-STAAR Writing Test
Friday, March 31-Wear FCE shirts or purple and green.
Monday, April 3-Wear College Shirts Service Club from 2:50-3:50
Tuesday, April 4-9:00 PTA General Meeting
Wednesday, April 5-Early Release Day, Kona Ice Sales
Friday, April 7-Wear FCE shirts or purple or green.

They Are Finished!!

Thank you all for the amazing projects and the hard work it took to get them there. I hope everyone had fun doing them, and if you came to Math & Science Night, I hope you had fun then, too!

There are 14 projects from our fair that are eligible to continue to the Regional Science Fest. I am pleased and proud that FIVE of the seven fourth grade projects advancing are from our trio! Congratuations to:

• Lawson Bowers "How Air Pressure Affects the Bounce"
• Hannah Hobbs "Seeing the Power of Light"
• Aziza Otallah "Will it Grow Faster If ..."
• Musa Shamsi "Why is a Limnic Eruption Lethal"
• Gabriella Zulfker "Which Popcorn Pops the Best"

Presentations to the class will continue. Unfortunately, they will be delayed until later this week because I am off campus. In the meantime, I will still accept any late projects, or parts of projects/checkpoints. Please contact me with questions or concerns.

Background Information

The research should be a few paragraphs (bare minimum: one) on the basics of the science concept covered by the experiment. An experiment on popcorn should have some references to pressure, steam, etc. A greater depth of an explanation is great, but I am expecting fourth grade level, not collegiate quality - other students should be able to understand it.

Additional information that is optional to include is an explanation of how the student came up with the idea, or how the science connects to a real world application.

I am attaching another board example, along with a zoom in of the background information. This was a third grade project that won first place in the FCE Science Fair, and went on to win first at the Austin Area Regional Science Fest. There are very minor issues with grammar, but the writing is authentic and useful to the project.

I hope this helps! Please don't hesitate to email me with questions and concerns. Everyone has been really patient with my response time, which has improved throughout the week. Thank you all for your support with these projects. The kiddos are completing great work!

Plagiarism

Students have been reminded of the concept of plagiarism, and they know that it will result in a failing grade. There will be an option to redo, and I understand that sometimes students plagiarize accidentally, but there should be an effort to phrase everything in the students' own words.

The following BrainPop video is a great refresher on the basics.

https://www.brainpop.com/technology/digitalcitizenship/plagiarism/

Project Boards

Some of you have asked for an idea of what a finished board should look like. Students will vary in the precision they use in putting together a display, but all projects should have each component of the checkpoints. These components can also be found on the rubric/criteria for the science fair (in the green packet).

The final project board will count as an assessment grade, and the presentations will count as an assessment grade. If an item is not included on the board, that item will receive zero points on the rubric, even if it was previously submitted in a checkpoint. Students should double check the criteria list when they put together their boards.

Science Project Checkpoints

Happy new year! I have received several emails regarding projects, and I will continue to try and respond to everyone today. In the meantime, here is some important info:

• Checkpoint #3, originally due 1/4 (tomorrow) will be extended to 1/6 (Friday). 
• All remaining checkpoints (including #3) will be on PAPER, not on a Google form. 
• Students will receive a form tomorrow with info on checkpoints #1 & #2, however, grades for these were returned via Google Classroom. 
• Students reviewed deadlines and expectations for checkpoints with me today in class; have your kiddos show you their agendas if it can help. 
• I was able to conference with a few students today and provide them with the papers for Checkpoint #3, but will finish with everyone tomorrow. 

I understand that many families had technical difficulties, and so I am adjusting back to the paper format. If students wish, they may continue to type responses and attach them to forms they receive from me from here forward.

Thank you for everything you are all doing on these projects. I know they can be overwhelming, but students really do benefit tremendously from the experience.

Please continue to email me with questions; and I appreciate your patience -- I am responding as quickly as I can!