Summer Break

I'm on summer break.

American Symbol 10-11 Kid Pix

Example

Kleenex, Kleenex, Kleenex....

We are now out of tissues (again)... Please send a box or two with your child as soon as possible. We want to keep our noses clean. Thanks for helping us out.

Please list in the comments if you can bring some tissues...

No Place for HATE... No Bullying

May is Cyber Bullying Awareness month. We have talked extensively about bullying/ cyber bullying and its effects on students. We have watched a number of webisodes, and I feel that it is something that needs to be addressed at home as well. I would not say that we are having major problems with it, but I want our students to be aware of what bullying is and that it isn't just the big stuff. Many times students look over the small stuff. We talked about how little stuff like this leads to depression and in some cases even suicide.

I am including a Bullying Links sidebar on the blog, that would be a great resource for students and parents to use at home in their discussions.
I will also post some videos that can be viewed about bullying. One involves an incident of cyber bullying at local high schools in our district. It is now national news. You will also find a folder in the "Lost Papers" section with resources on bullying from our School Psychologist. With all of the spotlight and media coverage that we have had on bullying lately, we don't want to have any problems in this area.

Please address this at home. There is no place for hate in our lives. No Bullying!!

Fine Arts Night & Book Fair Thurs., May 6, 6:00 p.m.

Come out and support the school by attending the Spring Fine Arts/Book Fair Night. We have a wonderful program for all to enjoy, the children’s beautiful artwork is on display, and plenty of books are available for you to purchase from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. First, Third and Fifth grade will be performing.

Grade Level/ Arrival Time / Performance Time
First Grade 5:45 p.m. (line up in First Grade Hallway) 6:00 p.m.
Third Grade 5:55 p.m. (line up in Music Room) 6:10 p.m.
Fifth Grade 6:05 p.m. (line up in Gym) 6:20 p.m.

The Scholastic Book Fair flier will be going home this week for students to "pick out" book fair items. Students will also have a chance to "preview" the book fair during their enrichment times on Monday and Tuesday. The librarian has set up a website on Scholastic to browse titles and give more information as well. Students may also make a printable wish list online that they can bring to the book fair next week. If the link below does not work, click on the title of this blog post to take you to librarians book fair website.

Preparing for our Technology Test in May and Science Related Comics

Preparing for our Technology TLA Test in May

Fifth grade students will be taking the TLA test to represent our school in the next coming weeks. We will be having a technology boot camp during school to prepare students during school, but we are asking students to complete Learning.com assignments online each night. Each week I am setting a certain amount of lessons for students to finish at home or during free time in class by the time we go to the computer lab each week. For example, we went to the lab last Friday, and the students who had completed lessons 1-8 got to create their own science related comic using my account in Pixton.com as an incentive to finish outside of classtime.

Students were really excited to make their own comics. Pixton.com is a great website that gives students an idea of what graphic designers do for a living. Students signed in using my account and I monitored student use in this website very closely. Many students expressed an interest in creating their own account that they could use at home, but Pixton user guidelines state that you must be 19 to create your own account. Users under 19 may sign up with parent permission, if parents are willing to activate their account (parent email and phone number required).

The comic strip above is still in the editing process, but is an example of what you are able to create in Pixton. For a larger view, you may click on it. It was done by Taylor and Ashlin from our class. We are anxious to see what other students create.

Kool Aid Man by David & Daniel D.

Our Last TAKS Test is coming up... SCIENCE, Thursday, April 29

We have been gearing up for the Science TAKS. In your students' Wednesday folder (that was sent home on Thursday of this week) there was a form that needs to be signed for Science TAKS. It is similar to the form that was signed for the Reading and Math TAKS. If you need another copy of the form, I have put it in the "Lost Paper Section". The document is called "TAKS Extended Testing". Please remember that because QVE students (not necessarily fifth grade) will be taking TAKS tests all next week, the building will be closed to visitors.