The Willis Weekly
August 30, 2019
Upcoming Study Trips
The other form you received is for Conner Prairie! At Conner Prairie we will learn more about what life was like in Fishers when William Conner lived here! We will also be discussing what brought the first settlers to Fishers to start a new community!
If you haven't returned your child's permission slips and payment, please do that as soon as you can! I appreciate your help!
5 Things Writing Workshop Teachers Want Parents to Know by Libby Duggan
I recently came across a wonderful article sharing 5 things writing workshop teachers want parents to know. I loved it so much, I thought I'd share one of the things for the next 5 weeks! This was written by Libby Duggan with the Partnership for Inquiry Learning.
3. We write best when we choose our own topic and write about things that matter to us. Writing is easier and more enjoyable for both the writer and his readers when the subject is important to the author. Children may choose to to write about the same subject across genres, and this should be encouraged. If you have a child who likes dinosaurs, for instance, he may want to write a personal narrative about the time he went to a dinosaur exhibit at a museum, a feature article about Triceratops and a poem that uses a dinosaur as a metaphor for something old or outgrown. Many authors return to the same subject over and over again because it is meaningful to them.
Welcome, Lunch Visitors!
Lunch Visitors Are 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.
A note from Mrs. Chadwell about Global Studies
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.
TCE Student Handbook
Dear Thorpe Creek Parents and Guardians,
All HSE Schools student handbooks (K-12) are now online for easier access. The handbook for Thorpe Creek Elementary can be found at this link:
We encourage you to review it at your earliest convenience. Should you have any questions, please contact the TCE main office at 317-594-4310. Our staff is available to assist you. Have a great school year.
Sincerely,
Sara Curran, Principal
Jana Allen, Assistant Principal
Grandparents Day!
Grandparents Day is celebrated around the United States in the month of September. We would like to honor grandparents on Friday, September 13, by inviting them to TCE for a special Grandparents Day! The event will take place from 9:15-11:35 with each grade level hosting a specific time slot.
During this special visit the grandparents will get a chance to see your child’s classroom and do some memorable activities with your child. With assistance from our teachers, students may also connect with grandparents that are farther away via tools like Facetime/Skype, etc.
TCE will have FPD here to on this special day since we know that some of our grandparents will not have an HSE background check on file.
Below is the timeline for the day's activities:
9:15-9:50 Kindergarten
9:35-10:15 3rd Grade
10:00-10:40 1st Grade
10:30-11:10 2nd Grade
10:55-11:35 4th Grade
Grandparents might find an open slot of time as they wait for a grandchild in another grade level. The PTO will be hosting a waiting room in our TCE library for that open time period. Refreshments will be served and student work will be on display for them to enjoy.
As you can imagine with a school population as large as ours, Grandparents Day will likely be a very well attended and full event. Because of the large crowd we will not have visitors joining us for lunch on this day.
This Grandparents Day is an extra special day as it is also the day of the HSE vs. FHS football game - the Mudsock! We will celebrating a PTO sponsored spirit day on this day. We encourage our Cardinals to wear BLUE for HSE High School or RED for FHS to show support for our high schools.
We look forward to this special event! Watch for information from your me as that time nears!
Communication About Classroom Happenings This Year
This year you will be receiving the 2nd grade newsletter by email each Friday (please know occasionally it might come on Saturday as well). The newsletter will contain important information regarding 2nd grade curriculum, upcoming events, and photos of our learning!
You may also follow the 2nd grade teachers on Twitter to find out what we're up to throughout the week! We are excited to share our learning with you!
Mrs. King @MrsKing2nd
Mrs. Ochieng @MrsOchiengTCE
Mr. Wallace @MrWallaceTeach
Mr. Willis @TCEWillis
Mrs. Sieman @LindseySieman
Mrs. Buck @_MrsBuck_
Miss Dyer @MissDyer_
Wanting to help out at TCE?
Important Information for Next Week
Mark Your Calendar!
August 30 - Fall Fundraiser Begins
September 2 - NO SCHOOL Labor Day
September 5 - PTO Meeting 7-8
September 13 - Grandparents Day & PTO Spirit Day Proudly wear Blue (HSE) or Red (Fishers) to support the two high schools!
Next Week's Related Arts Schedule
Tuesday, September 3: Day 3 - Music
Wednesday, September 4: Day 4 - Art
Thursday, September 5: Day 1 - P.E. & Library
Friday, September 6: Day 2 - Global Study
We Are Learning...
Reading
This week in reading we have learned that sometimes when readers read tricky words, they might have to use more than one strategy at a time. When we come to tricky words we might try: checking the picture and think, "does that make sense?", use what is happening in the story, look through the WHOLE word, part-by-part, look for a word inside a word, and to never give up! Try something...take a guess! By using more than one of these strategies we hope our readers will do better at tackling those tricky words!
Writing
In writing we are continuing to learn about small moments. This week in writing we have been taking a closer look at some on our favorite authors and studying what they do in their writing to make it so powerful. This week's craft move came in the form of a powerful ending. This week's powerful ending strategy was a repeated beginning. We learned that repeating something of significance that happened at the beginning of the book, at the end of the book, makes for a very powerful ending.
Word Study
Math
Mr. Willis
Email: cwillis@hse.k12.in.us
Location: 14642 E 126th St, Fishers, IN, United States
Phone: 317-594-4310 (2205)
Twitter: @TCEWillis