The Wacky and Wild World of Wallace
September 20, 2019
Student Led Conferences
You are invited to sign up for a Parent/Teacher Conference with Mr. Wallace. This year we will be conducting Student Led Conferences. These conferences allow your child to be a part of the conference where he/she can showcase what they have been learning and together we can celebrate accomplishments and discuss future goals. If needed at the end of the conference, parents may request a few moments to speak to the teacher without the child present.
DATES: September 30th – November 15th
TIMES: 20 minute increments
PLACE: Room Number 4
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday, September 27th
To pick a time slot, enter this link in your Internet browser: https://signup.com/go/byGxxHN
If you do not have Internet access, please send me a note with your available times/dates. I will schedule you in an open time slot and send you a note with the information.
Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to discussing your child's progress with you.
Conner Prairie Study Trip
Elearning Day
If your child does not turn in these assignments by Monday, they will be counted as absent for that day.
Grandparents Day!!
Liger Mile
TCE Movie Night
Your child should have come home with a flyer earlier in the week.
Why Writing Workshop? By the Partnership for Inquiry Learning
You may be wondering why we using writing workshop for writing. This article by the Partnership of Inquiry Learning will help answer some of your questions.
We believe writing workshop is the instructional framework that best supports all students. Through rigorous teaching, students learn to write with clear vision and skillful intention, positioning them well for lifelong academic and workplace success. Here's why:
Writing workshop engages students in meaningful work.
A key element of writing workshop is choice in writing topics. Students are not prescribed topics; they are taught to mine topics from their own experiences. They write about things that move them, whether that's baseball, grandma's death, Styrofoam waste in the cafeteria, a new Labrador puppy or another topic. Because their texts are driven by desire to convey meaning to readers, students are deeply engaged in crafting the most articulate text they can achieve. Choice of writing topic increases the volume of writing students do. The more a student has to say about a subject, the more opportunities there are to teach him/her how to write about it well.
This Week in Global Studies
We learned about the 3 different Japanese writing styles. Katakana used mainly to create names for outsiders or to create words for foreign objects (things they don't have words for). Hiragana the more common form of the written language in Japan and finally Kanji. Kanji is a system of writing that was adopted from China. It uses symbols that look more like small pictures to create words. The students were then able to try to write a few of the Kanji words and they really seemed to enjoy this activity. The words are harder than one would think to write them ourselves and to make them look like the Japanese written language. An example of Kanji is
良い週末を
Lunch Visitors
Lunch Visitors Are Now Welcome: Visitors with approved background checks and who have also viewed the anti-bullying video may now eat lunch with their child/children. There is a ten visitor maximum, so please be sure to call the TCE office at 594-4310 by 9:30am on the day you would like to visit for lunch.
Mystery Birthday Gift
•School policy states that food may not be sent from home. A great idea is a Mystery Gift: Surprise your child by purchasing a game or book for the classroom on his/her birthday! Have your child bring this wrapped “mystery gift” to the classroom to open with us. I will then write your child’s name in the donated item, and it will be available for each student to use. This is not mandatory; it is only a choice. Your child’s birthday WILL be acknowledged in class, after all, it is a special day!
•If your child would like to hand out pencils, erasers, bookmarks, or any other non-edible item to help celebrate his/her birthday, I will be happy to accommodate a time when this can be arranged.
•It is also school policy that invitations to parties not be passed out at school unless the whole class is invited. Otherwise, they must be mailed from your home.
Library Volunteers
Library volunteers are needed to help with shelving and checking in books in our TCE Library. Volunteering in the library is fun and the schedule is flexible! If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Mrs. Hopper, TCE Librarian (lhopper@hse.k12.in.us).
*A safe visitor background check is required for all school volunteers. For more information on background checks, visit https://www.hseschools.org/services/other/school-safety/visiting-and-volunteering.
Book Fee/iPad Rental Update
On September 6, 2019 elementary families will be able to view book fees on Skyward. Pat Lines, TCE Treasurer will email families an invoice on Friday evening as well. Book fees and any ipad rentals payments are due October 4, 2019. For those who qualified for café/textbook/ipad free/reduced assistance, you should see a “Textbook Assistance” (TA Code) plus a fee credit (zero balance for 2019-2020 school year).
Just a reminder, for free/reduced assistance families must apply every year on or after July 1, 2019. If you have any questions about this assistance or if you would like a payment plan, please contact Pat Lines, TCE Treasurer at (317) 594-4310 or plines@hse.k12.in.us.
Wanting to help out at TCE?
Important Information for Next Week
Mark Your Calendar!
September 27th- Grandparents Day
September 27th- Movie Night
October 12th- Fall Break Begins
October 21st- School Resumes from Fall Break
Next Week's Related Arts Schedule
Tuesday, September 24- Day 1: P.E.
Wednesday, September 25- Day 2: Global Studies
Thursday, September 26- Day 3: Music
Friday, September 27- Day 4: Art
We Are Learning...
Reading
We focused on author's intentions again this week. After looking at how the authors of our books have powerful parts in their books and how they do it last week, we looked at how they use all the techniques to create their stories. We also talked about how even though a lot of the books that we are reading are fiction books, the author is still teaching us things. These things might not be facts necessarily but more life lessons and other bits of wisdom. We will begin to discuss nonfiction books in the upcoming weeks.
Writing
After using Monday and Tuesday to take one final look at our writing and make our last edits, we had our celebration of personal narrative writing on Wednesday. Our class took some time to go outside with Mrs. King's class and read our stories to members of her class while also enjoying their stories. The beautiful weather coupled with the children beaming with pride because of their hard work in writing made for a joyous celebration. Our writing focus will shift to nonfiction writing in the upcoming weeks.
Word Study
Math
Social Studies
Project/Inquiry Work
We are just getting started with this project. Each focus group will meet together sporadically and discuss their findings and deepen and further their focus based on their conversations. It will be interesting to see where this inquiry-based project will lead but I am excited to be along for the ride.
Mr. Matt Wallace
Email: mwallace@hse.k12.in.us
Location: 14642 E 126th St, Fishers, IN, United States
Phone: 317-594-4310
Twitter: @MrWallaceTeach