The Willis Weekly
November 1, 2019
Cool Creek Park
Scholastic Book Fair is Coming!
The Fall Book Fair is coming to TCE! It will be open Tuesday, November 5 – Friday, November 8, during the school days AND on Friday, November 8, until 7:00 pm prior to PTO Movie Night. Our class will shop the Book Fair on...
Friday, November 8, 10:30am - 11:00am
If you choose to send in money for your child to shop, send it in a clearly marked envelope with your child’s name and teacher's name. You are welcome to sign in at the office and shop with your child as well. **You must have a background check on file in the office if you wish to shop during the school day with your child. Please visit HSE's website for more info: https://www.hseschools.org/services/other/school-safety/visiting-and-volunteering.
Thank you for supporting the library and the reading lives our students!
Writing Workshop Enables Individualized Instruction
You may be wondering why we are using writing workshop for or writing instruction model. This week's topic about writing workshops from an article by the Partnership of Inquiry Learning may help answer some of your questions.
Writing workshop mirrors the work of' “real writers”
Writing workshop is a highly structured research-based curriculum that engages students in a complex, multi-layered process that resembles the work of professional authors. Other curriculums may move students through a process (pre-write, draft, revise, edit and publish) to achieve a desired product, but writing workshop goes further, engaging students in activities that include cultivating a writerly life— exploring, collecting, reading, talking, contemplating, co-authoring and questioning. Like professional writers, students in writing workshop know that “making something” takes substantial time and thought. The writing process is not a rigid formula. Students, like professional authors, learn to manage their writing projects through these complex and sometimes “slippery” stages.
A Moment with Mrs. Chadwell - The TCE Global Study Instructor
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.
Important Information for Next The Week(s)
Mark Your Calendar!
November 8 - PTO Movie Night
November 26 - Spirit Day - TCE Spirit Wear
November 27 -29 - Thanksgiving Break
Next Week's Related Arts Schedule
Tuesday, November 5 - Day 2: Global Study
Wednesday, November 6 - Day 3: Music
Thursday, November 7 - Day 4: Art & Library
Friday, November 8 - Day 1: P.E.
We Are Learning...
Reading
In reading this week we learned/reviewed the following skills/ concepts when reading non-fiction: the keys to learning what keywords within a text mean and how to pronounce unfamiliar keywords. We first started out this week with the three keys that will help readers understand what keywords (or words that are really only used with that particular topic) mean: 1) Look at the surrounding photos, 2) Read the words around the keyword, and/or 3) Look for the definition of the word in the book's glossary. We also learned that the key to unlocking how to say difficult keywords we see in our non-fiction reading is to play with the word over and over until it sounds correct. This play means we could try saying the word using long, short, or a mix of long and short vowel sounds when appropriate.
Writing
This week in writing we reviewed the following concepts/skills: goal setting. As we are finishing our non-fiction books about our chosen topics, we are intentional about using our best practices checklist for non-fiction writers to set goals to wrap up our non-fiction book writing experience. The checklist we are using comes from our Lucy Calkins units of study. It shares craft moves, or strategies, that master writers of non-fiction writing use. Please see the following image to learn more!
Math
This week in math we learned/reviewed the following concepts/skills: Clocks - digital versus analog, and about the hands of an analog clock. This week we discussed the types of clocks that we see in our world, which are the digital and analog clocks. Digital clocks are clocks that represent time using the numbers separated by a colon (4:30). We noticed that digital clocks “are everywhere,” like iPads and iPhones, while "analog clocks are in a lot of buildings." The students observed analog clocks as having 3 hands (second, minute, and hour hands), but there are 2 hands that really help us determine what time it is, the hour and minute hand. We noticed that the hour hand moves slower than the minute hand and that they each make revolutions around the clock. Next week we will dive deeper into telling relative time.
Inquiry - Trains
Mr. Willis
Email: CWillis@hse.k12.in.us
Location: 14642 E 126th St, Fishers, IN, United States
Phone: 317-594-4310 (2205)
Twitter: @TCEWillis