Updates: Week of September 11

Updates: Week of September 11

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog! We will update this blog every couple weeks with some important information, as well as what we are learning in the classroom. 

If you were unable to attend Curriculum Night, please see the previous blog post. Here is the link to the presentation that was shared that evening.

Things Happening at TCE:

• Tonal Texans: Mr. Miller will have auditions for the 4th Graders interested in Tonal Texans this Tuesday, September 12th, before school. Last week, your learner was given a handout with information about the Tonal Texans. Here is the link to a copy of the handout. Please contact Mr. Miller (pmiller@coppellisd.com) if you any questions.

• Book Fair: "Share your talents and join us in creating memories for our learners! Our TCE Book Fair is right around the corner and we're looking for volunteers to help make it a huge success. Please sign up at: tinyurl.com/TCEBF17"

The learners will be attending a "Book Fair Preview" later this week, and will have the opportunity to purchase items from the TCE Book Fair during the week of September 18th-22nd.

• Texan Town Popcorn Subscription: The learners have the option to purchase popcorn on Fridays during Texan Town, which will begin this week. They can pay $3.50 for a popcorn subscription for the entire fall session, or they can bring $0.50 for a single purchase.

• Special Friends Day: Special Friends Day at TCE is right around the corner! On Friday, September 22nd from 12:30-1:30 learners may invite special friends (such as family members or close family friends) to visit during this time. During their visit, the learners' special friends will have the chance to visit our classroom, the book fair, and other areas of our school. Please let us know if you have any questions!

• Fall Family Picnic: TCE's Annual Fall Family Picnic will be Friday, September 22nd at 5:30 PM at the Town Center pavilion right next to our school. This is a fun event for the whole family, and we hope to see you there!

Curriculum Tidbits:

Math: 

The 4th graders have been learning about place value of whole numbers to the billions place by engaging in a variety learning experiences. The learners will understand that patterns in our place value system inform how numbers are formed, written, and expressed, and that rounding gives us an approximate number that is useful for estimating and solving problems.

Science:

In Science, we will be exploring matter. The learners will learn how to measure mass, weight, and volume. They will also be learning the differences between solutions and mixtures.

ELAR:

In reading, we will continue to discuss and learn about what real reading looks like, sounds like, and feels like. We will practice strategies to be metacognitive while we read.
Here is the link to the reading requirement presentation. You can also find this presentation on Miss Peccarelli's and Miss Natherson's websites. Please let us know if you have any questions.

In writing, we will continue to practice building our writing stamina with a variety of brainstorming strategies. We will also begin to explore the Six Traits of Writing.

Social Studies:

In SS, we will continue our study on the different regions of Texas. In addition, we will be participating in Celebrate Freedom Week this week with different activities.

Updates - August 27th

We had a really outstanding first week of school! We have loved getting to know our new fourth graders, and we are looking forward to a really fantastic year. 

Important Reminders & Updates

Family Pictures
As a reminder, we would like for each fourth grader to share a picture of his/her family. You may send in a printed picture or you may email a copy of a picture to your child's teacher. 

Google Calendar
You may have noticed that we have a Google Calendar embedded at the top of this blog. We will keep this calendar updated with important dates throughout the year, so please be sure to check it whenever you visit our blog. 

Upcoming Events 

Curriculum Night

Town Center Curriculum Night will be this Thursday, August 31st from 6:30-7:30 in the TCE Library. During Curriculum Night, we will share a short presentation that will cover important curriculum details and procedures for the year. We would love it if you could be there! We will also share our presentations on this blog next week, so if you are unable to make it to Curriculum Night, we will still be able to share the information with you. 

What's Happening in Fourth Grade
This week, we will continue to set up procedures for the classroom, including workshop, mini-lessons, and independent work time. 

If you are interested in seeing pictures and updates from inside our classrooms, please take a minute to visit our Twitter Accounts. You may also search the hashtag #tce4th on Twitter to see posts from all five of us. 

What's Happening at TCE

Safety Reminders
Our principal, Dr. Applegate, sent an email with some important safety reminders for TCE, which we are including here as well. 

As we start each school year, I ask that you please review the safety items below. Safety is a high priority for our campus and we appreciate you all doing your part to help ensure our whole school community is looking out for one another each day.   

• Please make sure that you always are using the crosswalks in the front and back loops when walking your child across our driveways into school.  There is a teacher stationed at the crosswalks with a stop sign from 7:20am-7:35am and 3:05p-3:15p.
• Also, please avoid parking anywhere that might block another vehicle in (such as along a curb in the front parking lot) and only use the front and back loops for dropping off. (single lane drop off only, not double lane)  
• If you are dropping your child off in the parking lot, you must park your car in a space and walk them to the crosswalk.  Then we will help to cross them.  If you are late and our crossing guards are no longer there, you must park, get out of your car and walk your child across.  

• Please do not stop your vehicle in the traffic loops to get out of your car as this can become a danger to other cars as well as create a block in our flow of traffic. Our front loop is designated for Kinder-2nd grade and our back, cafeteria loop is for 3rd-5th grade pick up and drop off.

School Supplies & Grade Level T-Shirts

• If you would like to order a grade level t-shirt for your son or daughter, you may order them online at https://towncenterpto.membershiptoolkit.com/. You will need to register for PTO before you will be able to order a shirt. 
• If you still need to order school supplies, you may also order from the same link (above). 
• If your son or daughter already has supplies, but still needs an agenda, earbuds, or a recorder, they may buy those from the front office. 

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. Our emails are below: 

• mpeccarelli@coppellisd.com
• kseifert@coppellisd.com
• mnatherson@coppellisd.com
• jltaylor@coppellisd.com
• hbass@coppellisd.com