Dear Parents,
The spelling words for the week of November 16, 2009 are:
1. connection
2. perspective
3. reflection
4. responsibility
5. sailor
6. weather
7. collar
8. temper
9. proper
10. harbor
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you,
Mrs. Zirczy
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Student Led Conferences and Bubbles!!
Dear Parents,
Thank you to everyone that attended Student Led Conferences today. The student's always love to share their work with you. It was wonderful to see and speak with you all. This week has been a bit different because we have been having benchmark assessments (released TAKS tests). Although this testing is not a favorite of the students (or me :)) it gives me valuable data which allows me to plan more focused instruction. It is a bit overwhelming for students because they are being given old versions of 4th grade tests that are officially given much later in the year. Thank you for bearing with us through the week!
We now have an official class mascot: Bubbles the Red-Eared Slider. Although very cute it has been a bit of a project getting her habitat set up and functioning. I was misinformed by several pet store employees. I was reassured that a 10 gallon tank would be big enough for her...but it turns out she is quite a bit bigger than anticipated and we will need to get her a 30+ gallon tank before long. Her UV light stopped working on Monday (I will take it back to the pet store and return it ASAP), and her heat lamp bulb went out on Tuesday. Mind you, we have only had her since last Thursday. I fed her crickets on Friday to hold her over the weekend and now she does not want to eat anything else. I do appreciate all that you have done to donate money toward Bubbles. It took the money that was donated, plus a very happily donated sum from me to get all of her equipment and now we are having problems. I do not want to ask for anything else, but I am not in the position at this time to spend more on her. If you would like to donate any of the following items it would be greatly appreciated. Bubbles :) is in need of:
Thank you to everyone that attended Student Led Conferences today. The student's always love to share their work with you. It was wonderful to see and speak with you all. This week has been a bit different because we have been having benchmark assessments (released TAKS tests). Although this testing is not a favorite of the students (or me :)) it gives me valuable data which allows me to plan more focused instruction. It is a bit overwhelming for students because they are being given old versions of 4th grade tests that are officially given much later in the year. Thank you for bearing with us through the week!
We now have an official class mascot: Bubbles the Red-Eared Slider. Although very cute it has been a bit of a project getting her habitat set up and functioning. I was misinformed by several pet store employees. I was reassured that a 10 gallon tank would be big enough for her...but it turns out she is quite a bit bigger than anticipated and we will need to get her a 30+ gallon tank before long. Her UV light stopped working on Monday (I will take it back to the pet store and return it ASAP), and her heat lamp bulb went out on Tuesday. Mind you, we have only had her since last Thursday. I fed her crickets on Friday to hold her over the weekend and now she does not want to eat anything else. I do appreciate all that you have done to donate money toward Bubbles. It took the money that was donated, plus a very happily donated sum from me to get all of her equipment and now we are having problems. I do not want to ask for anything else, but I am not in the position at this time to spend more on her. If you would like to donate any of the following items it would be greatly appreciated. Bubbles :) is in need of:
- One small fish net (for scooping out uneaten food)
- A turkey baster (used is perfect, to allow us to clean out her tank water weekly without emptying everything out)
- 75 Watt basking heat bulb for reptiles
- A 30 gallon tank with a screen top (or donations towards a tank)
- Large gravel - 6 small bags, or 1 large bag (for bigger tank)
- Crickets: large - you can bring them by any day, any time and I can keep them in Mrs. Kasner's cricket keeper, they cannot live overnight in the plastic bag, she will eat 5-10 at a time
- meal worms (to start a meal worm colony - to feed to Bubbles)
- One large box of dry oatmeal (for the meal worms)
I apologize for agreeing to such a complicated pet!! However, the children are really enjoying her!
On to academic matters....The students started a Native American research project today. They are researching Native American Tribes that lived in Texas. They will be doing a PowerPoint presentation to organize their information. If they have a flash drive it would be helpful if they could bring it to school to use over the next few weeks. It is not necessary that they have one because I can always save their work on mine as well. They do not need to research at home, they will have plenty of class time for that. They are working with one other person on this project. I am hoping that the smaller size of these groups will be easier for the students than the size of the region groups.
We will be starting decimals and fractions next week. I had hoped to star this week, but benchmarks got in the way a bit. We will also spend some time looking over the most missed questions from the Math benchmark and working on strategies to tackle those types of problems.
We will soon start a new novel and continue working on writing. When we start our new novel the Reading Log will be geared toward the novel, although I would still like students to be reading books of their choice in their extra time. I will tell the students more about this next week. In writing we will be working on using our five senses to add important details into our writing. We are always striving to allow our readers to see what we see, feel what we feel, and think what we think.
This week's spelling words:
1. Native American
2. form
3. function
4. causation
5. change
6. forever
7. meanwhile
8. understand
9. railroad
10. fireplace
Upcoming Dates:
Friday, Nov. 13th: Jon Levitt will be coming to share some of his scientific knowledge with the 4th grade!
Monday, Nov. 16th and Tuesday, Nov. 17th: Book Fair at Barnes and Noble
Wednesday, Nov. 18th: Hansel and Gretel Opera performance at Mark Twain
Friday, Nov. 20th: Diabetes Walk 8:10-8:20
Wednesday, Nov. 25th - Friday, Nov. 27th: Thanksgiving Break
Monday, December 1st: Marathon Kids Mileage Logs Due
Tuesday, December 2nd: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the girls
Thursday, December 4th: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the boys
Thursday, December 10th: Holiday Program Featuring the 4th Grade!!!!
December 10th: Holiday Program starring the 4th Grade!!!!
I am enjoying every day with your children! Thank you for your support and appreciation!!
Mrs. Zirczy
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Early Dismissal on Wednesday/Parent Conferences
Dear Parents,
The weeks are already getting busy as the holiday season approaches! We are having a wonderful time in class, but there is not enough time in the day to do all that we want to!
This Wednesday, November 4th students will be dismissed at 12:30. Report cards will be sent home with them. I will be available for parents conferences between 1:00 and 4:00. Please let me know if you would like to schedule a conference to discuss your child's school work, behavior, or any other questions or concerns. I would be happy to schedule a conference on a different date or time if you are not available on Wednesday. My e-mail address is rzirczy@hosutonisd.org.
We have been in LDC this past week and will continue through next week. The children are reading "The Green Book", which they seem to really be enjoying. This book works perfectly with our planner on resources. They are also practicing writing character journals from the point of view of characters in the story. It is challenging but they are improving every day!
We have started our 2nd planner on resources and the students are working very hard on their first research project. They are researching a region in Texas and creating a presentation to go along with their findings. As a class we came up with research questions that are aligned with the Key Concept questions which are an important part of our PYP curriculum. They students came up with wonderful, but challenging quesitons. The plan was to have them present their regions using PowerPoint presentations, but due to time constraints they were willing to do a paper presentation for this research project. However, I have promised that their Native American research project will be presented on PowerPoint.
In math we have been working on multiplication, division, and a bit of algebra and will continue that through part of this week. We will soon be moving on to decimals and fractions, although we will continue to revisit many concepts throughout the year. This Friday the students will have their 3rd multiplication quiz on facts from 0-9. So far, they have been doing a wonderful job on these quizzes! Please continue to encourage them to work on their multiplication facts, it simply makes more complicated math so much simpler if they know those facts.
We are preparing for Student Led Conferences on Nov. 11th. Students will be choosing items that they would like to put in their portfolios to share with you. Please try and sign up for a 30 minute time slot on Nov. 11th so your child can show off their work. If that date and time is not convenient for you please let me know what time would work for you. If needed, I can schedule times before school, or after school on different days. Any family member is welcome to come! There is a sign up sheet with time slots outside my door. If you have e-mailed me or returned the Student Led Conference form I have penciled you in.
You will see on the important dates that on December 2nd and 4th Nurse Cleary will be giving a Human Growth and Development talk. This consists of a video and short discussion. Please know that there will be permission slips going home and no student will attend without a singed permission slip. I was present for the talk last year for both the boys and girls and would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.
Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Spooky Spaghetti. I had booked a ticket to Washington D.C. this summer before Spooky Spaghetti was scheduled. I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Lux for the wonderful job they did with the cake walk. I cannot tell you how many parents and staff members have stopped me to tell me what a wonderful booth it was! Thanks to all of you who were able to donate cakes and to Mr. and Mrs. Lux for their donation to the turtle fund for each cake provided from our students!
Now, the important stuff, the turtle! The students have raised enough money for the turtle! They have been very patient and have worked hard for their class pet. I admire their dedication. I went shopping today and bought the set-up for the turtle and will buy the turtle this week after we have the habitat in place and ready. Thank you for your support in this, it has been a wonderful incintive for the students.
A thank you to all of the parents who have been ordering books through Scholastic! I have been able to order so many free books through Scholastic already! I really appreciate your help in building our classroom library. A special thanks to Janet Schwind for setting up and organizing our orders, it is a big job!
As many of you may know, Monica Phillips, a first grade teacher at Mark Twain has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in her lungs. She will not be able to return to school during her treatment. The PTO has organized a calendar online where families can sign up to provide dinner one night for Monica and her family. There are also other ways to help detailed on the website. I believe an e-mail was sent out to all Mark Twain families, but if you would like more information about how to help please let me know. I know many of my students had Mrs. Phillips in Kindergarten.
This week's spelling words are:
1. tenth
2. hundredth
3. thousandth
4. decimal
5. landform
6. plateau
7. curl
8. shirt
9. search
10. cure
Important Dates:
Monday, Nov. 2nd: Last call for March of Dimes Reading Champion Donations
Wednesday, Nov. 4th: Early Dismissal Day, Report Cards, Parent Conferences
Wednsday, Nov. 4th: "Field Trip" to Paershing to watch a performance of the Aztec
Dancers from Mexico 10:30 - 11:30
Thursday, Nov. 5th: Library Day (and every Thursday from now on :))
Wednesday, Nov. 11th: Student Led Conferences
Thursday, Nov. 12th: Jon Levitt will be coming to share some of his scientific knowledge with the 4th grade!
Monday, Nov. 16th - Friday, Nov. 20th: Benchmark Week
Monday, Nov. 16th and Tuesday, Nov. 17th: Book Fair at Barnes and Noble
Wednesday, Nov. 25th - Friday, Nov. 27th: Thanksgiving Break
Monday, December 1st: Marathon Kids Mileage Logs Due
Tuesday, December 2nd: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the girls
Thursday, December 4th: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the boys
Thank you for your continued support!
Rebecca Zirczy
The weeks are already getting busy as the holiday season approaches! We are having a wonderful time in class, but there is not enough time in the day to do all that we want to!
This Wednesday, November 4th students will be dismissed at 12:30. Report cards will be sent home with them. I will be available for parents conferences between 1:00 and 4:00. Please let me know if you would like to schedule a conference to discuss your child's school work, behavior, or any other questions or concerns. I would be happy to schedule a conference on a different date or time if you are not available on Wednesday. My e-mail address is rzirczy@hosutonisd.org.
We have been in LDC this past week and will continue through next week. The children are reading "The Green Book", which they seem to really be enjoying. This book works perfectly with our planner on resources. They are also practicing writing character journals from the point of view of characters in the story. It is challenging but they are improving every day!
We have started our 2nd planner on resources and the students are working very hard on their first research project. They are researching a region in Texas and creating a presentation to go along with their findings. As a class we came up with research questions that are aligned with the Key Concept questions which are an important part of our PYP curriculum. They students came up with wonderful, but challenging quesitons. The plan was to have them present their regions using PowerPoint presentations, but due to time constraints they were willing to do a paper presentation for this research project. However, I have promised that their Native American research project will be presented on PowerPoint.
In math we have been working on multiplication, division, and a bit of algebra and will continue that through part of this week. We will soon be moving on to decimals and fractions, although we will continue to revisit many concepts throughout the year. This Friday the students will have their 3rd multiplication quiz on facts from 0-9. So far, they have been doing a wonderful job on these quizzes! Please continue to encourage them to work on their multiplication facts, it simply makes more complicated math so much simpler if they know those facts.
We are preparing for Student Led Conferences on Nov. 11th. Students will be choosing items that they would like to put in their portfolios to share with you. Please try and sign up for a 30 minute time slot on Nov. 11th so your child can show off their work. If that date and time is not convenient for you please let me know what time would work for you. If needed, I can schedule times before school, or after school on different days. Any family member is welcome to come! There is a sign up sheet with time slots outside my door. If you have e-mailed me or returned the Student Led Conference form I have penciled you in.
You will see on the important dates that on December 2nd and 4th Nurse Cleary will be giving a Human Growth and Development talk. This consists of a video and short discussion. Please know that there will be permission slips going home and no student will attend without a singed permission slip. I was present for the talk last year for both the boys and girls and would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.
Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Spooky Spaghetti. I had booked a ticket to Washington D.C. this summer before Spooky Spaghetti was scheduled. I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Lux for the wonderful job they did with the cake walk. I cannot tell you how many parents and staff members have stopped me to tell me what a wonderful booth it was! Thanks to all of you who were able to donate cakes and to Mr. and Mrs. Lux for their donation to the turtle fund for each cake provided from our students!
Now, the important stuff, the turtle! The students have raised enough money for the turtle! They have been very patient and have worked hard for their class pet. I admire their dedication. I went shopping today and bought the set-up for the turtle and will buy the turtle this week after we have the habitat in place and ready. Thank you for your support in this, it has been a wonderful incintive for the students.
A thank you to all of the parents who have been ordering books through Scholastic! I have been able to order so many free books through Scholastic already! I really appreciate your help in building our classroom library. A special thanks to Janet Schwind for setting up and organizing our orders, it is a big job!
As many of you may know, Monica Phillips, a first grade teacher at Mark Twain has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in her lungs. She will not be able to return to school during her treatment. The PTO has organized a calendar online where families can sign up to provide dinner one night for Monica and her family. There are also other ways to help detailed on the website. I believe an e-mail was sent out to all Mark Twain families, but if you would like more information about how to help please let me know. I know many of my students had Mrs. Phillips in Kindergarten.
This week's spelling words are:
1. tenth
2. hundredth
3. thousandth
4. decimal
5. landform
6. plateau
7. curl
8. shirt
9. search
10. cure
Important Dates:
Monday, Nov. 2nd: Last call for March of Dimes Reading Champion Donations
Wednesday, Nov. 4th: Early Dismissal Day, Report Cards, Parent Conferences
Wednsday, Nov. 4th: "Field Trip" to Paershing to watch a performance of the Aztec
Dancers from Mexico 10:30 - 11:30
Thursday, Nov. 5th: Library Day (and every Thursday from now on :))
Wednesday, Nov. 11th: Student Led Conferences
Thursday, Nov. 12th: Jon Levitt will be coming to share some of his scientific knowledge with the 4th grade!
Monday, Nov. 16th - Friday, Nov. 20th: Benchmark Week
Monday, Nov. 16th and Tuesday, Nov. 17th: Book Fair at Barnes and Noble
Wednesday, Nov. 25th - Friday, Nov. 27th: Thanksgiving Break
Monday, December 1st: Marathon Kids Mileage Logs Due
Tuesday, December 2nd: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the girls
Thursday, December 4th: Human Growth and Development Presentation for the boys
Thank you for your continued support!
Rebecca Zirczy
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