Upcoming Dates

Dear Parents,

     Science Fair was due today, I know you are all relieved that it is behind you, but I think it was a wonderful experience for the children.  The boards and projects look beautiful!  I truly appreciate your support with the this.

     With Reading AND Math TAKS tests only 4 weeks away we have been working very hard on specific objectives as well as familiarizing students with the format of the test.  You will start to see Reading passages as homework.  It is extremely important that students underline their "proof".  For each question they need to locate a sentence or two that support the answer they have chosen.  This does two things, it slows students down so they do not rely only on their memory and rush, and it also helps them to choose only answers that are supported by the story.  Please check over these reading passages with your children and encourage them to show their "proof".  Students need to realize that the TAKS test is very important and that they need to put forth their best effort in our practice and on the day of the test.  On the same note, if students get too stressed out about the tests, they will not do well and it is not healthy for them to be overly concerned.  As parents, you know your children best and should discuss the upcoming tests in the best manner for you and your child.

     We completed our soil summative today, and will be working on our heroes planner.  We will be learning about the Texas Revolution and studying many "heroes" from the U.S. and around the world. 

We could use the following items for our classroom:

1) pencils

2) hand sanitizer

3) expo markers

4) scotch tape

    There are many upcoming tests, activities, and events.  Here are a few:

Jump For Heart forms due: Friday, March 27th

Class Picture Orders Due: Monday, March 30th ($10)

Book Orders Due:  Tuesday, March 31st 

Come and view all of the science fair projects: April 1st

Report Cards Go Home: April 1st

Bingo Night: Friday, April 3rd - 6:30pm

Student Holiday: April 10th

Student Led Conferences: April 15th - 3:00-4:30 

Math TAKS: April 28th  

Reading TAKS: April 29th

4th Grade Awards Ceremony:Thursday, May 21st - 1:30pm

Thank you for your continued support!  Hope to see you on April 1st!

Mrs. Zirczy

Upcoming Writing TAKS - March 3rd!

Dear Parents,

     The most pressing matter this week is that the Writing TAKS test is next Tuesday, March 3rd.  We will be working diligently for the next 4 days to prepare for the revising and editing section, as well as composing written essays.  We have been working on these things for several months and will do all that we can to put the polishing touches on our skills.  Please remind students to get to bed early on Monday, eat a substantial breakfast, and remain positive.  The students will have the entire day to revise, edit, and write.  We are working on a five step process with our writing: brainstorming, rough drafting, revising, editing, and final drafting.  It will take the majority of the day for students to complete this process if they are working to the best of their abilities.  Please make sure students arrive on time, and are not picked up early unless absolutely necessary.  There is no writing re-take and I want all of the students to show off their best writing.  Please continue to encourage your children to believe in themselves.  I want this to be a positive experience for them.

     

On a lighter note, we have some upcoming events:

Free Dress/Go Texan Day - Friday, February 27th

LDC Begins - Monday, March 2nd

Last Day for Reading/Writing Tutorials - Monday, March 2nd

Huckleberry Bash - Friday, March 6th 7:00PM

End of 3rd Nine Weeks - Friday, March 13

Spring Break - March 16-March 20

Report Cards - Wednesday, April 1st

Bingo Night - Friday, April 3rd 6:00-8:30

TAKS Math Test - Tuesday, April 28

TAKS Reading - Wednesday, April 29

This week I only gave the students 10 spelling words.  This is due to the fact that I did not get the words to them on Friday.  Reminder: All spelling homework and tests are to be done in cursive.  I am not requiring student's essays to be in cursive because they are free to choose print or cursive on the TAKS writing test.  This weeks words are:

1) composition

2) adventure

3) elated

4) excited

5) hero

6) admire

7) 

8)

9)

10)

(the list is at school but I will update it!  My apologies, my memory fails me!

A big thank you to Ms. Mills for putting together our classroom creation!  That is a major project to undertake!

Thank you to those parents who donated bedding for Pumpkin!  She is thoroughly enjoying it!

We are in need of:

#2 Pencils (what came in the school supplies packages has just run out)

Cap Erasers

EXPO markers (skinny or thick)

Germ-X (or any brand of hand sanitizer)

One last thing ... Science Fair:

• This Friday the students should bring in the data from the experiments.  If experiments are still in progress please send a note along with any data that has been collected. Completed projects are NOT due, I only want to ensure that students are well into their experiments.
• Science Fair boards ($2.75), Subtitle Cards ($.25), and 1MG memory sticks ($5.00) available in the school store.
• Please write out any specific questions about science fair projects and send them with your child.  Some questions have been "lost in translation". :)
• Thank you for your part in this project!  I realize it takes a great deal of time and energy, but I know this is a wonderful and important experience for the students. 

Thank you for your continued support!

Mrs. Zirczy

Valentine's Day/Writing

Dear Parents,

     Just a quick update to let you know that I will allow the students to exchange valentine's and treats on Thursday February 12th.  I will be out of town on Friday, and I do not want to leave that type of activity for a substitute.  Let's just say the children tend to be extremely excited :). If you choose to send valentine's to school please send one for every student, so there are not hurt feelings.  If you would like to send candy or treats, that will be fine, but I will have to give them out at the end of the day (during the card  exchange) for the children to take home with them.  We are only allowed to have 2 official parties a year (winter break and the last day of school) so we will not be taking the entire afternoon, or eating in class. 

 

     I will also be sending home more writing in the next few weeks for homework.  I will be giving them different types of writing prompts.  The idea is not for them to write a large quantity each night, but to write well thought out pieces with voice.  It would be best if they do not get too much advice on their writing, because they will be writing without any aid on March 3rd.   

Thank you for your continued support!

Mrs. Zirczy

Upcoming Fieldtrip/Science Fair

Dear Parents,

     I apologize for the long break in posts.  It has been a crazy few weeks with Stanford, etc. HISD is requiring that we give a writing and math benchmark this week.  The writing benchmark will be Tuesday, February 3rd exactly one month before the actual TAKS writing test.  This will be a full day of revising, editing and writing.  Although this will make for a long day of hard work I believe that it will be extremely beneficial for the students to experience what March 3rd will really be like.  The math benchmark will be given on Thursday, February 5th in the morning.  This test will probably take the entire morning.  

There are a few things that I need your help with:

* I need one more parent volunteer for the field trip on Wednesday.  We will leave school at 9:00am and return at approximately 12:45.

 

*We are in desperate need of some bedding for Pumpkin.  The bedding is a bit pricey and I have used all of the extra Pumpkin money we had collected.  Any type of bedding is fine as long as it is soft.  Guinea pigs have sensitive feet :)

*Please make sure to send a sack lunch on Wednesday for your child.  We will be returning to school to eat, but the cafeteria will be closing down at that time.

Science Fair:  I know that this has been a bit of an overwhelming experience so far.  It is a big step for students to be designing and carrying out an experiment along with all of the paperwork involved.  Please know that we are performing experiments in the classroom and going through the same steps that the students are asked to go through.  Please look at the schedule in the science fair packet as well as the second to last page that talks about the Science Fair Log.  We discussed the log in class today, but detailed instructions are in the packet as well.  Please bear with me, as this is my first time working with science fair projects as a teacher.  Please let me know what guidance is needed, but also know the bulk of the work should be done by the students at home.  I have explained that they are the leader of the project, and although they will need help, they should be doing the work associated with the project.  Please make sure that they are filling out their science fair packets according to the schedule and bringing it on the due dates.  If they are unable to finish a step on time please send a note.  

Spelling Words were given out this week and I let the students know that all homework is now to be done in cursive.  This will include the weekly spelling test.  

Spelling words are coming...

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Thank your support with the science fair projects!

Mrs. Zirczy

2009 is here!

Dear Parents,

     One week has passed and we are officially back in the swing of things. Here are some important upcoming dates.

January 12th: Tutorials Begin 3:15-4:15

January 14th: Report Cards Go Home

January 16th: School Spelling Bee: 8:30am, Bingo Night: 6:30pm, Aeros Night: 7:35pm

January 19th: School Holiday MLK Day

January 20th - January 27th: Standford Testing Window.  We will be testing at least 5 days during this time.  Please make sure your children are getting lots of sleep and a hearty breakfast each day.  

January 21st: Scholastic Book Orders Due (2)

January 31st: Mark Twain International Festival

March 3: TAKS Writing Exam

March 6: Huckleberry Bash

April 28th: TAKS Math Exam

April 29th: TAKS Reading Exam

This week's spelling words are: 

1) fraction

2) numerator

3) denominator

4) anterior

5) posterior

6) conservation

7) agriculture

8) soil profile

9) horizon

10) bedrock 

*You may have noticed that there were only 10 spelling words this week.  That is because we are going to start taking on cursive by storm.  I am requiring that all spelling homework, except definitions, to be done in cursive.  Also, starting the week of January 20th cursive will be required for all spelling tests. All students have shown improvement, which is very encouraging.

*Report Cards will be going out on Wednesday, if you have any questions, or would like to schedule a conference please let me know.

*We are currently in LDC and working on writing.  Mrs. Gee is not giving them much homework this turn, because she is trying to help them to be more independent writers.  We are working diligently to prepare the students for the quickly approaching Writing TAKS.

*We have started our 3rd planner, Soil is Essential.  In this planner we will be discussing soil as a renewable resource that we need to preserve.  We will be looking at soil's affect on our life, as well as our affect on soil.  We are learning about soil layers, soil types, soil characteristics, soil permeability, farming and earthworms. We currently have a worm compost bin in our classroom.  I have encouraged students to bring in a sample of soilfrom around their home or garden as well as vegetable and fruit peels to feed our worms.  We can also put crushed egg shells into the bin.

*As we get closer to the TAKS tests I have high expectations for the students.  I have spoken with them about remaining focused and responsible.  Although I do not agree with "teaching the test" I do want students to be as prepared as possible to ensure their success.  We will be doing lots of experiments and fun things along with a little test preparation.  I am dedicated to helping your student to achieve their full potential.

Thank you for your continued support!!

Mrs. Zirczy

Upcoming Week

Dear Parents.

There will be a spelling test this week. These are the words:

Spelling 12/15/08
1) menorah
2) dreidel
3) stocking
4) snowman
5) snowflake
6) candy cane
7) Kwanzaa
8) reindeer
9) nutcracker
10) Christmas
11) gingerbread
12) surprise
13) naughty or nice
14) wreath
15)sleigh

The children gave a wonderful performance at Sheltering Arms. Everyone there seemed to really enjoy it! I was very proud of them!!

We will have our holiday party Friday afternoon. If you would like to send any type of treat for the class, please feel free. There are 23 students in our class. More details about the party will be sent home later this week.

We will be taking three benchmark tests this week. They are released TAKS tests that will allow us to assess the student's growth so far this year as well as what to focus on in the spring. I know this will be a difficult week for students to test, but these are the dates chosen by the district. Please support me in asking students to do their very best this week on the benchmark tests.

Thank you,

Mrs. Zirczy

Holiday Giving Opportunities

Dear Parents,

What a busy week we have! A few reminders about this week:

*Students will be having a "dress rehearsal" at 8:30 on Thursday morning. Students are to dress in black pants and red shirts, according to the notice that Mrs. Bardin sent home. They will be able to change clothes following the rehearsal, so you may send a change of clothes with them.

*The Holiday Program is this Thursday, December 11 at 7:00pm. Students are asked to report to my room before the program. I will walk them to the stage at the appropriate time. Feel free to drop them off and find a seat in the cafeteria.

*Tuesday and Wednesday night, instead of math homework, I have asked students to look over the songs for the program. There were a few songs in which very few students knew the words today at rehearsal.

*Students will travel to Sheltering Arms on Friday from 9:50-10:40. Please make sure that their permission slip has been turned in.

Other Announcements:
*Our class is sponsoring a child from our community for the YMCA Holiday Project. We drew a 10 year old girl that would like:

Wish List:

1-a bicycle
2-barbies
3-a cupcake maker

Needs:

Shoes: Size 8
Clothes: shirts: large, pants: 14
Blanket Set (she prefers Hannah Montana blankets :))

Many times these are the only gifts that this children will receive for the holidays.
I will be accepting cash donations or toy/clothing/shoe donations. The money donated will go toward an item from the wish list which will be purchased by one of the room parents or myself. All items must be collected and delivered by Monday December 15th, so please have any items in by Friday, or first thing Monday morning.

*Mark Twain student council is collecting items for Compassionate Care Hospice to make gifts baskets for children under Hospice care. A list of possible items went home in the Tuesday folders, today, on a pink sheet. Dollar Store items are perfect for these baskets.

*Progress Reports will go home on Wednesday. Please sign and return as soon as possible. Feel free to e-mail me, call me, or stop by with any questions or concerns.

*Tutorials will begin on January 16th and be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the spring.

*If you would be interested in babysitting Pumpkin over the holiday break please let me know. All student's whose parents are willing to host Pumpkin for two weeks :) will have their name put into a drawing. Pumpkin has a very large cage, however I believe that it would fit in a SUV type vehicle. I think it is easiest to take the large cage as opposed to purchasing a small cage, because it is for such an extended amount of time.

*Holiday party plans are in the works for December 19th.

This week's spelling words are:

1. vertices
2. convex
3. concave
4. polygon
5. pentagon
6. hexagon
7. heptagon
8. octagon
9. nonagon
10. perpendicular
11. intersect
12. obtuse
13. acute
14. equilateral
15. artifact

Thank You,

Mrs. Zirczy