Bee Doh Alerts - Nov. 21

This week I learned how to make a social contract about how we want to be treated. ~Leila
I learned how to divide and put things in groups. ~Isaiah
Today I learned that bold letters in a book tells the reader that something is important. ~Laken
I learned that there are cotton fields in Texas. ~Kristos
I learned how to double double to multiply by 4. For example, 4 x 3, you would double the 3 to get 6, then double the 6 to get 12. ~Riley Cook
I learned how to draw lines and count down to solve division. ~Travis
I learned in math to make tables by counting by 2s or 4s. ~Jon
In social studies, I learned about our new social contract which is how we want to treat each other.  Visitors will also sign it so they know what we agreed to. ~Malavika
Today I learned how to use multiplication and patterns to make a table. ~John Luke
We wrote in our social contract how we want to handle a conflict. ~Joseph
I learned in reading that every text feature has a purpose.  For example, maps show where things are in the world. ~Riley Carroll
I learned that when you multiply by 4 you can double double a number.  For example, to find 4 x 6,  you double 6 to get 12, then double the 12 to get 24. ~Aadi
I learned that double double double is used for multiplying by 8. ~Dominic

In science, I learned African words such as masala. ~Kaia

Today I learned about the double strategy.  So if you have 4 apples with 2 rows, you can double the 4 to get 8. ~Meredith

Today in reading I learned how to find the meaning of words I don't know by looking at the sentences around it. ~Macy

I learned double double double strategy is used to multiply by 8 to find the product. ~Xavier

In math I learned the double double strategy for multiplying by 4. ~Adelina

Blanton Museum of Art Field Trip

Bee Doh Alerts - Oct. 31

This week in writing, I learned about expository versus personal narrative.  A personal narrative is a story that has happened to them and an expository explains something. ~Malavika
I learned that the main idea is the main thing the story is about without details. ~Dominic
In social studies, I learned interesting facts about 3 different types of communities: urban, rural, and suburban.  For example, up to millions of people live in urban communities.  Suburban has less traffic and more room and rural has tons of room and own a horse. ~Kaia
Today I learned to write better stories by drawing a web. ~Leila
I learned that you could add money just like you can normally add numbers. ~Kristos
I learned you could make boxes and bullets by using data from a web. ~Aadi
In art, we painted our background of a picture. ~Jon
Today I learned what an urban, suburban, and rural community is.  It is a country, city, and a place like Round Rock.  ~Laken
I learned how to use boxes and bullets.  The main idea goes in the box and the details are listed as bullets. ~Isaiah
I learned how I can count dollar bills. ~Travis
I learned that you can take an idea from a web and make boxes and bullets to write an expository piece. ~Joseph
In art, I know how to make a new painting. ~Asher
I learned that we create more ideas by drawing a My Interests chart. ~Riley Cook
I learned how to use boxes and bullets for summarizing expository text. ~John Luke
In math,  learned that using an open number line is more efficient to use because you can start at any number you want and you don't have to start at zero. ~Adelina
In writing, I learned how to use a web to write an expository story by writing your topic in the middle, then putting ideas around it. ~Riley Carroll
In PE, I learned how to keep my hands on the ground by sitting down and kicking a ball.  It was called Master Blaster. ~Xavier
Today in reading, I learned how boxes and bullets is supposed to help summarize certain books. ~Meredith
Today in math, I learned how to make a number line with time.  You put the time down and then do a jump to add or subtract time. ~Macy

Bee Doh Alerts - Oct. 24

I learned how to tell time to the minute on a clock. ~Isaiah
I learned that summaries have a beginning, middle, and end. ~Dominic
In writing, I learned how to edit and revise by adding and crossing things out.  This helps me get better at writing and might make me want to be an author or illustrator. ~Macy
In math, I learned about rounding like 25 = 30 and 52 = 50. ~Asher
I learned you can add and subtract time. ~Aadi
Today I learned that you can even make friends with a bully. ~Leila
I learned that subtracting time is different than subtracting with normal numbers. ~Kristos
Today I learned some fun facts about Vincent Van Gogh. ~John Luke
In writing, I learned what you should edit in your story like punctuation, spelling, and it should make sense. ~Riley Carroll
In math, I learned to round and subtract numbers.  For example, round 421 to 420 and 313 to 310. Then subtract to get 110. ~Kaia
Today I learned in social studies about how communities develop which means how it evolves. ~Malavika
I learned that adding punctuation is important because it sounds weird when there is no punctuation. ~Adelina
Today in reading, I learned about expository text. ~Meredith
I learned how different communities look. ~Riley Cook
I learned to add numbers that equal 100. ~Xavier
Today in math, I learned that adding numbers to 50 is harder than adding to 100. ~Laken
I learned our new central idea is Human and geographic factors shape communities.  The theme is Sharing the Planet. ~Joseph

Batter batter batter, swing!

Bee Doh Alerts - Oct. 17

Today I learned how to estimate. ~John Luke
I learned that the heart of the story means it is the most important part of the story. ~Xavier
Today in math, I learned how to estimate with addition by rounding first and then adding. ~Malavika
I learned that Tengo hambre means I am hungry in Spanish. ~Laken
We learned to estimate numbers by seeing what number they're closer to on a number line. ~Joseph
I chose Abraham Lincoln as my hero because he helped free the slaves. ~Jon
Today I learned that my hero matches my values: courage, bravery, and hard work. ~Aadi
I learned to round to the tens place. ~Travis
Today I learned about Clara Barton.  I chose her as my hero because she helped people who were hurt and made the Red Cross. ~Meredith
In reading, I learned that making a summary helps me understand the story and helps me remember what happened in the story or the chapter. ~Adelina
I learned in math that if the digit is higher than 5, you round the number up to the next number.  But if it is smaller, it stays the same.  For example: 27 rounds up to 30 and 23 rounds down to 20. ~Kristos
Today in reading, I learned how to write a summary by writing the name of the character, what they wanted, what got in the way, and what they did about it. ~Macy
I learned to round with tens because it's easier to add. ~Riley Cook
I learned that Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs.  I wish I could do that.  I also learned that everyone has different values. ~Isaiah
Today I learned how to work the computers by going to PebbleGo and looking up my hero. ~Leila

Bee Doh Alerts - Oct. 10

I learned that a role model is someone who helps people and other people look up to them. ~Asher
I can make an inference by using my background knowledge and text evidence. ~Xavier
I learned about revising my story which means fixing the big stuff to make the story better. ~Malavika
I learned to check your thinking in math by going back and relooking at your work. ~John Luke
In social studies, I learned how to take your values and find a hero that matches them. ~Riley Carroll
I learned how to explain how a character changed in a story by thinking about how they were at the beginning and at the end. ~Riley Cook
I learned that in some math problems, you have to do addition and subtraction. ~Dominic
Today I learned about qualities of a hero.  We read about Amanda who helped people who were sick and Michelle who planted trees to help with clean air. ~Meredith
In social studies, I learned that heroes are different from role models because heroes might save people but role models don't. ~Adelina
I learned that an ending to a story could be a wish or a hope. ~Laken
I learned how to do regrouping in subtraction problems. ~Jon
I learned to write an ending to the story that will make someone want to read more. ~Joseph
In reading, I learned how characters change. For example, a woman named Magda used to be unkind to humans but at the end she felt sad for a buy and was kind to him. ~Kaia

Students' Action

In our IB Unit, we've been learning about the characteristics of good citizens such as respect, equality, honesty, truthfulness, justice, responsibility in daily life (taking care of our community), and participation in government (learning about community issues, voting, holding government accountable for what they said they'd do).  Students brainstormed ideas for how they could be good citizens in our community.  Their ideas included writing letters to people in the government, fostering or adopting pets from a shelter, planting trees, having a contect for cleaning up litter, raising money for charities, mowing grass and cutting weeds in the neighborhood, and spraying for insects.  Then they selected cleaning up litter as their action item and created posters to hang around the school.  One student commented how we cannot expect others to do something that we don't do ourselves.  I was so excited to hear their critical thinking! I hope you're as proud as I am because these beliefs and values come from you!  We talked about how this thinking applies to other things as well such as being kind and respectful.  
The class then decided we should pick up litter around the school.  Yesterday we carried trash bags around the major areas of the school and the students picked up every last tiny piece of trash that they saw!  Here are some photos of your children's great work!

Look at all the trash we picked up around the school!

Bee Doh Alerts - Oct. 3

Today I learned that a lead is the beginning of a story.  At first it might sound boring, but using an exciting lead makes it better. ~Meredith
I learned in Spanish that De donde eres? means Where are you from? ~Josheph
I learned how to borrow with zeros in subtraction. ~Travis
I learned that one type of lead for a story is a flashback lead. ~Dominic
I learned that there are not just adjectives and synonyms but also homophones.  Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently. ~Kristos
There are all kinds of leads for a story like action lead, snapshot, talking lead, question lead, flashback, and sound effect lead. A question lead means a lead that starts with a question. ~Isaiah
Today in math, I learned how to do partial sum.  You do it by adding the ones, then the tens, then the hundreds.  Then you add those totals together. ~Macy
I thought we could make posters and hang them up in the school about how we want to improve our community.  ~Laken
In social studies, I learned the qualities of a good citizen such as justice.  For example, justice is the quality of doing what is right or fair. ~Kaia
I learned in reading how to find character traits like being sad, mean or weird. ~Riley Cook
In social studies, I learned that justice means doing what is right or fair. ~Aadi
In math, I learned that using more than one strategy to solve a problem is important because you can check your answer. ~Adelina
I learned how to use different strategies like drawing an array to find 7 x 3. ~Asher
I learned that we can fix our story by using interesting words when we revise boring sentences. ~Jon
I learned that I can write better by practicing more in my journal. ~Leila
I learned in math that when borrowing for a 0, you go to the closest number that has a number. If it is also a 0, you go to the next number to borrow. ~Riley Carroll
In PE, I learned that you can hear a ball coming toward you. ~Xavier
In reading, I learned how to develop ideas about characters like if they are kind or mean based on what it says in the story. ~Malavika
I learned how to write different leads in the beginning of a story like saying "Woohoo!" or "We won!" ~John Luke

Bee Doh Alerts - Sept. 26

I learned how to make a better seed story in writing by crossing out the things I don't need in my story. ~Macy
I learned how to visualize during a story by imagining what is happening. ~Isaiah
I learned how to use the compensation strategy to make numbers easier to add such as 27 + 16.  You take 4 from the 27 and add it to the 16 to make it 20.  Then add the remaining 23 + 20. ~Riley Carroll
I learned in social studies that Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod to save people's houses from catching on fire when they got hit by lightning. ~Adelina
I learned the part part whole strategy for math.  You draw a rectangle and divide it half.  You put one number in one side, the other number in the other side, add them together, and write the whole (total) in a rectangle at the top. ~Leila
I learned how to say "Te gusta...?  Si, me gusta.... and No, no me gusta..."  These mean Do you like...? Yes, I like... and No, I don't like... ~Malavika
I learned to write a reading response. ~Dominic
I learned that Benjamin Franklin was a hero in American history for many reasons.  One of those reasons was that he asked the French for help in the war. ~Kristos
I learned in Spanish what some vehicles are called. ~Aadi
I learned that some heroes are people that save others. ~Joseph
I learned that you can stack numbers and draw lines through them to help you add them. ~Laken
I am learning how to use punctuation. ~Travis
I learned that we use thinking stems, like I'm noticing...  I'm wondering... to help us take notes when we're reading. ~Jon

Minion Mayhem

Baskin Robbins Spirit Night!
I will be serving up delicious flavors of ice cream at the COE Spirit Night at Baskin Robbins in 1890 Ranch shopping center on Monday, Sept. 22 from 7:30  - 8:00!  The Spirit Night actually starts at 6:00.  Please stop by so I can create a colossal cone or sumptuous sundae for you and the kids!  I'd love to see you outside of COE!

Spanish "Country Club"
In Spanish, the students are learning about all the different countries in South America.  They can be in the "Country Club" by naming all the countries on a map for Mrs. Imperial, the Spanish teacher.  Please feel free to download this map if your child wants to practice at home.
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/s_america.pdf

Extracurricular Activities
I love to see what your child is doing outside of school.  Please let me know about events or activities that he / she is involved in and I will do my best to attend when I can!  I've attached a few photos of a recent performance of Rats! that Mrs. Barnett and I attended at the Georgetown Palace Theatre.  Three students from our class performed on a real stage!

Bee Doh Alerts - Sept. 18

I learned in math how to multiply by 10. ~Asher
I learned that it's ok to make a mistake.  You just need to correct your work and you will get better at it.  ~Macy
I learned in Spanish that Como estas? Bien, gracias. Y tu?  means How are you?  Good, thank you. And you? ~Riley Cook
I learned that Walt Disney created Disneyland and Disney World. ~Dominic
I learned in math that the word product means answer to a multiplication problem and factors means the numbers that you multiply together to get the product. ~Kristos
I learned that Como estas? means How are you? in Spanish. ~Aadi
I learned in social studies that everyone has a hero. ~John Luke
I learned in math that you don't always get the right answer but you can go over it and correct it. ~Adelina
I learned that a DEAR Day is a day when you Drop Everything And Read! ~Leila
I learned how to compare 3 digit numbers in math. ~Travis
It is fun to imagine when I read. ~Xavier
In writing, I learned how to make words in my story more juicy to make it more interesting. ~Malavika
I learned in math about place value and noticed that each place (ones, tens, hundreds) are 10 apart.  For example, 1,000 is 10 hundreds. ~Riley Carroll
I learned that your hero can be anybody. ~Isaiah
I learned that Rosa Parks was a slave. ~Jon
I learned what a DEAR day is and that we could write a poem, song, or rap about our book. ~Laken
I learned to make my story more interesting by adding new words. ~Joseph
In art, I learned that suminagashi is from Asia and means "floating ink".  You place paper on the ink and rub it to make art. ~Kaia

Bee Doh Alerts - Sept. 12

I learned that molecules in solids stay close together and molecules in liquids more around slowly and bump into each other.  ~Malavika
I learned that we can find solids, liquids, and gases around the school. ~Leila
I learned in reading that we can write sticky notes and thinking stems to write about what we're thinking when we read. ~Macy
In writing, I learned that using a time line helps you remember what you need to write. ~Adelina
I learned how to sort words into groups by what they have in common. ~Dominic 
I learned how to tell the teacher what you're working on when you have a writing conference with her. ~John Luke
I learned that air molecules move around fast. ~Riley Cook
I learned that I can count by 5s and 10s to solve multiplication problems. ~Jon
In writing, I learned how to make a good beginning for my story by describing what happened beforehand. ~Kaia
I learned that there are more genres in fiction than in nonfiction. ~Laken
In math, I learned how to multiply by 5 using the halving strategy.  For this, you multiply the number by 10 instead of 5, then cut the product (answer) in half to find the answer for multiplying by 5. ~Kristos
I learned in science that solid molecules are close together, liquids are farther apart and move slowly, and gases move quickly and take up the whole space of their container. ~Riley Carroll
I learned how to revise my story using carrots to add words in a sentence. ~Travis
I learned that metal things are magnetic and plastic, wood, and rubber are not. ~Joseph
I learned that the RU CUBED strategy in math can help you understand word problems. ~Aadi
I learned how to make a piece of art using shaving cream and paint swirled together with a bamboo stick and then a piece of paper put over it. ~Asher
I learned that you can write shorter stories with seed ideas. ~Isaiah
I learned multiplication using arrays. ~Xavier
I learned that the molecules in a solid are stuck together and can't move. ~Meredith