Sunday, November 26, 2017

Week of November 27-December 1

Hi everyone! We hope that you all had a wonderful week and were able to spend a lot of time with your families for Thanksgiving. Below we have a few updates to share with you all. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog!

Things Happening at TCE:

Holiday Toy Drive:

 November 27-December 14


Holiday Parties: December 14th

We are looking forward to our upcoming Winter Party on Thursday, December 14th from 2-3pm. 
The Room Moms need at least 5 parents from each class to help setup and run the party (starting at 1:40pm). If you are available to help please reach out to your child's Room Mom. We would also appreciate it if someone would be willing to take a few photographs of all five classes during the party - if you are interested in being the 4th grade photographer, please let us know. The week leading up to the party we will be collecting new or gently used stuffed animals and books that will be donated to children in homeless shelters through Project Night Night. Please consider donating any extra stuffed animals or books you may have around your house - they will be well-loved by another child!

Early Dismissal: December 15th 

We will have early dismissal at 12:15 pm on Friday, December 15th. You can find the district Early Release Information here

Curriculum Tidbits:

Math:

In math, the learners will be testing over the Personal Financial Literacy vocabulary terms. Then, we will begin our next unit, fractions. They will be learning how to identify and create equivalent fractions, compare fractions with different numerators and denominators, and solve addition and subtraction problems involving fractions with the same denominator.

Science:

In science, we will be wrapping up our first ADI. The learners will finish preparing a claim about magnets and will do a gallery walk to see every group's claim. We will also be starting our unit on Earth’s surface. The learners will be taking a pre-assessment and will be participating in stations to learn about weathering, erosion, deposition, and soil.

ELAR:

Our learners have just wrapped up their study of genres. They should now be experts on the difference between historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction - just to name a few. When we return from the break, we will be starting our first Junior Great Books story. Junior Great Books is a curriculum that promotes critical thinking and higher level questioning.

In writing, we will be finishing up our expository piece about our favorite time of the year.


Social Studies:

In social studies, learners will continue their study on European exploration. Students will understand the motives for exploration and expansion in new lands.


We really appreciate you taking a few minutes to read our blog post. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your son or daughter's homeroom teacher. 

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Week of November 6th-10th

Hello TCE Families! Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. Please take a look at all the exciting and fun events happening between now and Thanksgiving Break at TCE!

Things Happening at TCE:


3rd Grade Music Program - November 7 at 8:15 am & 6:00 pm

Veteran’s Day Program- November 10 at 9:00
Spring Creek BBQ Night- November 13th
TCE Turkey Trot- November 14th (4th Grade time: 9:30-10:20)

Take a look at the awesome submissions for the TCE Pumpkin Design Challenge! Click here to see a video!


Notes from Dr. Applegate:


We have received feedback from about 25 people on our survey looking at ways support social/emotional needs of our learners at TCE. This data will help guide us in lessons for our learners which are supported by our counselor and teachers. Also, it can help guide us for specific resources, presentations or supports we could implement at PTO Meetings/ Roundtables. Please click here to complete the survey.


We would also like for you to complete a survey about your careers, hobbies, or talents. Feel free to fill out all of the answers below or just one!




Curriculum Tidbits:


In math, we are wrapping up our unit over addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals. We will soon begin our unit over Personal Financial Literacy. Here are some of the terms that your child will be learning: fixed expense, variable expense, profit, savings, allowance, spending, financial institution, borrowing, and lending. Real connections will help your child gain a better understanding of these terms. If you can, it would be helpful to have discussions with your child about how these vocabulary terms relate to your lives.

In science, we are wrapping up our unit over Force, Motion, and Energy. The learners will be taking a test at the end of this week over the topics we covered during the unit. Next week the learners will be participating in their first Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI) activity. We are very excited to introduce this to the learners. They will have the opportunity to design their own experiment and will use their writing skills to show what they learned from their experiment.

In writing, we will be going through the writing process to write a complete expository piece. If you get a minute, you might ask your son/daughter about his/her favorite time of the year. For their writing assignment, they will be explaining why it’s their favorite.

In Social Studies, learners will be completing reading and writing activities to help them learn about exploration and colonization in Texas. Students will also be participating in Mind Missions to deepen their understanding of the benefit of Exploration.