Hillcrest Happenings

Last week was full of celebrations! Our students won the attendance challenge and had 96% or better average all week. Mr. Oubre’s math team won the Sumdog Math Competition and are National Champions! Ms. Martinez, PK teacher, was recognized as our August/September Hillcrest Best staff member. The staff and students are really elevating to the next level.

A few reminders:

1. Class starts at 7:45. We have several students who are being dropped off at 7:45. Please arrive a few minutes earlier to give your child time to get to class by 7:45.

2. Sign up for the teacher’s Remind! They are sending important information via Remind that you don’t want to miss.

3. ThinkCamp begins tomorrow. Please make sure your child's invitation is returned!

Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is going to be a great year at Hillcrest PDS!

Haley Dean, Principal

#elevAte

Reminder: Please no u-turns at the back during morning drop-offs. Please enter the line from Hillcrest Dr.

Parents,

You are invited to join us for our 30th year celebration Homecoming Parade. We are celebrating 30 amazing years in partnership with Baylor University as a Professional Development School. We are planning a student parade at the school where several classrooms will choose a "float" that represents a Baylor tradition (such as the Baylor Line) and the whole class will dress accordingly and walk together, parade style. Save the date if you would like to attend. More logistical information to come.

This month we are talking about Responsibility. One way to define Responsibility is “taking action and understanding the impact of our choices.” Taking action can mean doing the right thing or completing the tasks you have been assigned. Understanding the impact of our choices means that our actions matter. Positive and responsible actions can help people and irresponsible actions can hurt others.

Our theme for the next two weeks is My Family and Friends. This week we are focusing on our pets.

Wonderful Word of the Week: veterinarian

Letters of the Week: Aa, Bb, Pp

Math: Counting up to 5

Phonological Awareness: Sentence segmentation

This week we will continue our Beginning of the Year assessment. This week we will be assessing letter names, letter sounds, vocabulary, and phonological awareness (onset-rime, rhyming, syllables).

As it is beginning to get cooler, please make sure you are labeling jackets with your students name. :) This makes is much easier to return if they leave it at specials, on the playground, etc.

If you haven’t already, please join your students class on Remind:

Mrs. Martinez: @hpdsmtz

Mrs. Campbell: @4663b9

Please let us know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Martinez - Rachel.Martinez@wacoisd.org

Mrs. Campbell - Rosalie.Campbell@wacoisd.org

This week in Kindergarten:

We continue administering the Kindergarten state assessment Tx-KEA. This assessment is required by the district and is given 3 times a year. The assessment is administered individually and has many components. The assessment window is Sept. 19-Oct. 21

Reading Workshop- We will use question words to ask questions about a story before it is read aloud.

Word Study- We will identify rhyming words.

Sight Words- at, it, up

Letters of the week- Nn, Pp

Writer’s Workshop- We will edit writing by capitalizing the first letters of sentences and names.

Math- We will compose and decompose numbers up to 10.

Science-Students will observe and record the shape and color of objects.

Please check take home folders and return them daily.

Stay connected by adding yourself to our classroom Remind 101.

Rabine (Remind): @rabine22

kendal.rabine@wacoisd.org

Whatley (Remind): @whatley22

mary.whatley@wacoisd.org

Whitley (Remind): @24kh7d

patrecia.whitley@wacoisd.org

Reading: Kevin Henkes is one of our favorite authors and this week we will focus on his delightful stories that focus around a spunky little mouse named Lily. We will identify how these fiction books are different from the nonfiction books we read last week.

Spelling:: bake, cake, take, gate, late, name, game

HFW: need, try, would Bonus: noun

Math: This week we will continue our focus on subtraction. We will continue to review addition as well. Keep on the lookout for a math homework page.

Science: This week we will start our study of the States of Matter: Liquid, Solid, and Gas.

FIELD TRIP: Please be sure to send back the field trip permission forms. If a grown up from your family wants to follow us or meet us there we need the $11.00 admission price and a waiver signed. No siblings are allowed on this trip.

PICTURE DAY: We will be smiling for the camera on Thursday! No money needed ahead of time, you can order online. If you choose to pay early, they will not make change.

Look in your child's blue folder daily for notes and info. Please initial each day so we know you’ve seen it. Thank you!

This Week in 2nd Grade:

RLA - [Phonics] We’re reviewing the floss rule this week in phonics, and our spelling words will be following that rule as well. [Reading] We are learning all about the author's purpose for writing this week and will be reading books for each piece of the Author’s Purpose P.I.E. (to persuade, inform, and entertain). Ask your student what their favorite read-aloud was this week and have them tell you why the author wrote it! [Writing] Last week we learned about and practiced writing a small moment personal narrative. This week, we will put those skills into practice by writing about a favorite small moment memory we have from the Fall season.

Spelling Words:

*Sight Words

1. class

2. bell

3. dress

4. chill

5. stuff

6. pass

7. fizz

8. fluff

9. *hill

10. *goes

11. *even

12. *part

Bonus: October

Math - We are continuing to learn about coins this week and will be practicing counting collections of coins and comparing the amounts of two collections of coins.

Science - This week we will be continuing our investigation of patterns in weather by focusing on precipitation/cloud coverage, as well as learning how to read a rain gauge.

Social Studies - We will begin our unit on civic pride in our community by learning the meaning behind and purpose for saying the Pledge of Allegiance and will read the book Our Pledge, Our Promise: The Pledge of Allegiance Explained by Sheri Wall.

Please check blue take-home folders and planners daily!

Stay Connected! Please add yourself to our messaging platforms:

Holt (Remind): @Holt22-23 or email emily.holt@wacoisd.org

Ronnenberg (Remind): @missronne or email alexandra.ronnenberg@wacoisd.org

Whyburn (Class Dojo): link here or email ashley.lenhardt@wacoisd.org

Hillcrest PDS Space Cadets reporting for duty! This week we are taking our third graders out of the human population on Earth (subtracting) and adding them to aliens from Outer Space, as we begin to learn about the other seven planets in our solar system! Turning into aliens is probably a good thing too, since last week these students turned into lions, grasshoppers, ants, mice, tortoises, and rabbits! We are so proud of our Storytellers, both in the classroom and on that stage!

Calendar Events

October 3- Big Kahuna Party Bus

October 7- Student Holiday/Teacher In-Service

What’s going on in the classroom?

Math: We are on the Addition and Subtraction unit, but don’t be surprised when you hear about number lines, rounding, and some operations when you ask your students what they did at school. If you want to get extra practice in with your students, we would love for you to work on addition and subtraction fluency. This means asking them addition and subtraction problems that are simple one digit by one digit problems (i.e 2-2, 8+6). The faster they can answer you the better. Schools define fluency as answering in less than 5 seconds. We also ask that they move away from using their fingers. Ask them about Touch Math…

Reading: We are continuing our work on Author’s Purpose and craft. If you’re asking your students about what they’re learning or reading please have them give you text evidence. Have them give you specific examples from their day.

Writing: We are continuing our work on the Wax Museums… We are going to be working fast and hard on these for the rest of September through October to have them ready by the 25th instead of January 31! We will let you know what or if we need anything from you all.

Social Studies: This is a science week!

Science: We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocketship, zooming through the sky 3rd grade Einsteins! I don’t know about you, but My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos! Yours may have served you nine pizzas, but we lost our pizza so nachos was the best choice.

We had a great time listening to and participating in Book Talks on Thursday! This week we will begin our new character trait for the month Responsibility. We are working on multiplication in Math, keep practicing those facts! In Reading we will be working on genres of nonfiction. In Social Studies we will be learning about the first Texans. Looking forward to amazing week in 4th grade!

Just a few reminders:

Picture day is October 6th. We are collecting forms.

No School on Friday, October 7th or Monday October 10th

Units of Study in 4th grade :

ELAR: Author’s Craft/ Genres

Math: Multiplication

Science: Investigating Earth’s Changes

Social Studies: American Indian Life in Texas

Make sure you have signed up for Remind notifications by texting your class code to 81010.

Mrs. Braswell @gd7662a

Mrs. Hall @bhall4

Ms. Reeves @he9b73

This week:

Math: We are beginning our decimals unit with decimal place value.

Science: We are designing experiments to measure Force and Motion.

Reading: We are using text-evidence to help us answer questions and determine the meaning of words.

Social Studies: We are reading about the beginning of the American Revolution.

Picture Day is on Thursday!

Please read 20 minutes every night!

Please make sure to send a water bottle. We do not have access to water fountains during the day and students get very thirsty! We do have the ability to fill the bottles.

Feel free to contact us through remind or email us!

~The fabulous fifth grade team~

Mrs. Land holly.land@wacoisd.org

Mr. Dossey lenard.dossey@wacoisd.org

Ms. Hardin tracey.hardin@wacoisd.org

This week's news brought to you by Mrs. Telep in the HPDS Library

Parents:

The PTA has created a Google Form that allows you to sign up for membership from home. Please click on the link below and fill out the membership form if you are interested in joining the HPDS PTA. If you have already filled out a paper form to join this school year, there is no need to complete this online form.

Thanks!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfG9FG-7QV2bY87-SIcMPTsA0JwSjxQjVZ4iUd2R_JvPD4CaQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Lunches are free to all students, however if you would like for your student to have money on their accounts for ice cream ($1.00) or chips ($0.75) on Friday's or for extra helpings, please see the schoolcafe app information below. From this app, you can manage your student's balance, as well as see menus and nutritional information.