November 24, 2009
General News:
1) TAG Referral/Testing Information:
If you were unable to attend the meeting on Wednesday, November 11th,
referral and testing information is available via the RRISD web site. There
is a convenient link to the district web site at the bottom of the Spicewood
homepage. Once on the RRISD homepage, click on ACADEMICS, then click on
GIFTED AND ADVANCED ACADEMIC SERVICES. Finally, click on IDENTIFICATION OF
THE GIFTED CHILD. On this page, you will find many separate links that
provide information and answers to all your questions regarding the referral
process as well as our testing procedures.
****Please note: The referral window is from Monday, November 16th-
Friday, December 4th. All referral forms will be available for
downloading through this web site only beginning Monday,November 16th.
ALL REFERRALS MUST BE SIGNED AND TURNED INTO THE SPICEWOOD OFFICE NO LATER
THAN FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4TH. NO EXCEPTIONS!
2) Below is a letter from the district Guidance director with an offer to
girls interested in engineering!
Rosemary Kelly, M.A., Ed.S.
Director of Guidance and Counseling
Round Rock ISD
1311 Round Rock Avenue
Round Rock, Texas 78681
512.464.5075
Dear Texas Educator,
Every year the National Academy of Engineering sponsors an engineering essay
contest on our EngineerGirl website for students across the nation. The
contest for this year, entitled “Survival Design Challenge”, has just been
posted, and I am writing to you in hope that you will help us reach
interested students and educators in your area. Students in grades 3-12 can
compete for cash prizes, and we would like to get the word out to as many
young people as possible!
You can find the announcement, guidelines, and related information about the
contest on the EngineerGirl website:
http://www.engineergirl.org/CMS/Contest.aspx
The deadline for this year is March 1, 2010. Feel free to contact us with
any questions you may have. We look forward to reading some exciting and
creative essays this year, and we hope you will help us to spread the word!
If you know of any alternate emails or mailing lists where it would be
appropriate for us to send an announcement, please let us know. You can
contact us by sending an email to EngineerGirl@nae.edu.
Best regards,
Carrie Brubaker
3) CHECK OUT THE THANKSGIVING (OPTIONAL, BUT FUN) BLOG! This is for
everyone! No age limits, this time around. So, if you're tired of turkey,
your cousins, football, or just plain bored... Oh, the silliness! I
can't wait to see your lists. At my monthly district TAG meeting last
Friday, the assistant director of the TAG department had all of the
elementary TAG teachers make this same sort of list. We came up with some
doozies!! Hilarious, I must say. I'll share mine after reading all of
yours! Don't be shy!
4) SIG News: Summer Institute for the Gifted~~~~~~
Visit the SIG web site ( www.giftedstudy.org) to find out more
about the summer program offered at UT. This wonderful learning opportunity
is open to students of all grade levels. The program at UT will take place
Jyly 11-31st.
5) Please notice the DOWNLOADS page. I've added the S/V Units for both
grade levels as well as 3rd Grade's FEAST reading activity. Now, if one of
these activities is "misplaced", you'll be able to download it from home!
Hopefully, I'll be able to include more documents in the future. If you
notice that I've forgotten something, be sure to let me know!
6) THE CLOTHES CLOSET NEEDS YOUR DONATIONS!!! 'TIS THE SEASON, SO
PLEASE HELP WITH YOUR DONATIONS. SPREAD THE WORD; THERE CAN NEVER BE TOO
MUCH IN THIS CLOSET!
_____________________________________________________________________________
Third Grade News:
Tech Tuesdays-------Today, we practiced our keyboarding skills on
Connected Tech's Typing Pal. For those who have had trouble signing on at
home, we hope the kinks were worked out today. Your child should've written
down the exact username and password needed to sign on. Keep your fingers
crossed.
I am thrilled with the tremendous progress being made. Many students
are becoming proficient in their typing skills: hands on "home row", fingers
hitting the correct keys without looking, etc. If you are able to sign on
from home, I encourage you to continue nightly practices.
Please remember to return your Tech Tuesday homework folder each Tuesday
so the Tech Moms and I can keep track of your progress.
Next Tuesday, we will continue what we started today: summarizing the
myth, "The Seasons".
FEASTING ON SOME GOOD READING is a new at-home reading assignment
that should come home in your child's binder today. This assignment involves
reading a chapter book that is at least a 4th grade reading level. Once
complete, the student will choose one option from the eight on the menu to
produce and turn in on Friday, December 11th.
Should the student decide to come up with a project that is not on the
menu (FREE SPACE), then he/she must write a proposal outlining the desired
project and submit it to me for approval.
Students need to use books they have not read before or have just begun
reading. Since our class does not have an assigned library check-out time,
the books will need to be checked out during the homeroom library
time.
A student asked a very good question regarding library books: "Do we
have to use a library book?" Not exactly... BUT, the book must be
available in our library. This allows me to go to the library to look at the
book if I have any questions about the project. SO, a student may use
his/her own personal copy of one of our school library books or may check the
book out of the public library.
Fourth Grade News:
Writing Workshop: Expository Essays... Hmm... Well... not the
most exciting writing assignment, right? Well, by using all of the writing
techniques acquired so far, what would ordinarily be somewhat dry and boring,
isn't! I am pleased with the progress being made. Each student is indeed
working to master the craft!
Hey, I forgot to mention this in class today, but maybe you noticed
the new blog! This blog is optional, so if you get bored over the holiday,
you can have a little fun with this one. Makes me smile just thinking about
what you might come up with. I mean, really! Just what can you do with a
turkey besides eating it?