Week of January 28

Hi everyone! 

Please see the Google calendar embedded above with important dates and reminders. 

Important Reminders: 

• The next Sky Ranch payment of $50 is due Friday, February 1st. 

What's Happening Around TCE? 

Reminder: YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! 
It's that time of year to purchase a yearbook for your child. Yearbook cost was not part of the Trailpass this year, so the only way to purchase is through balfour.com at a cost of $25. You can also purchase an ad to appear in the yearbook to make this year extra special. Optional ads come in multiple sizes ranging from $15-$120. We sold out last couple of years, so don't miss out! 

Yearbook Submissions
PTO would love your help as they continue the process of collecting pictures throughout the year to spotlight in the yearbook. For more information on submitting pictures, please see our previous blog post. 

Friendship Friday in Fifth Grade
As a reminder, we will be having "Friendship Friday" every other Friday during lunch, starting this week. You can read more about this in our previous post. 

Author's Visit
We are excited for author Aisha Saeed to visit our Town Center Elementary 4th and 5th graders on February 12! Ms. Saeed is the author of Amal Unbound, which was the 2018 Global Read Aloud Upper Elementary/Middle Grade selection. If you would like to order a book for your 4th/5th grader, please look for the order form in your child's backpack or print it from this link. The order form AND complete payment must be turned in to our librarian, Mrs. Keene-Carlson, no later than Friday, February 1. Families are also welcome to purchase their own copy of Amal Unbound from Amazon or another bookseller. Those copies of Amal Unbound should be brought to Mrs. Keene-Carlson before the date of Ms. Saeed's visit so that we can get the books prepared for her to sign. If you have questions, please email Alena Keene-Carlson at acarlson@coppellisd.com. 

Sky Ranch Updates

Sky Ranch Payments 

As a reminder, the third Sky Ranch payment of $50 is due Friday, Feburary 1st. You may pay by check (payable to Town Center Elementary), cash, or credit card. Visit this link to pay by credit card. As of February 1st, your balance should be $150. If you have not yet made any payments, or your balance is less than $150, please contact your son/daughter's teacher to provide an update on your plan for payments. As always, if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Sky Ranch Parent Meeting & Information Packet
As you know, we had a Sky Ranch informational parent meeting last week. We sent information packets home with the students whose parents did not attend the meeting, so by now each family should have a packet. A few reminders: 

• Chaperone Interest Forms are due Feb. 8th
• All Sky Ranch Paperwork is due April 10th. 

Want to Know More About Sky Ranch? 
We thought it might help if you could look at some pictures as a family. Click here to see the pictures! 

Spring Creek BBQ Night
We will have our annual Lewisville Spring Creek Barbecue Spirit Night Monday, January 28th from 5-9PM. Come join us for fabulous food and socializing with all your favorite TCE friends and teachers. Spring Creek will donate 20% of all the evening's proceeds to our school. Also, the class with the best attendance will win a special prizes. 

A Peek into Our Classrooms

Congratulations to this stud for winning the Town Center Elementary Winter 2019 Chess Club World Championship!

From Mr. Miller: What an incredible day of music making. Love our Town Center students so much. 

5A loved visiting the library to talk to Mrs. Keene-Carlson about the upcoming Author's Visit. 

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math
This week in math, we will continue our unit over operations with fractions. We will be dividing whole numbers by unit fractions and dividing unit fractions by whole numbers. (A "unit fraction" is a fraction with 1 as the numerator. Ex: 1/2, 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, etc.)

Math Homework: As a reminder, the homework will include a STAAR Prep section and a section to practice the concepts currently being taught in class. You can find the link to the homework here.

Science
This week in science, we will starting our unit over patterns in the natural world. The learners will begin the unit by investigating the reasons why our models of the solar system are flawed. They will then create their own model of the solar system. During this unit the learners will be posting to Flipgrid to showcase their learning. If you would like to see your learner's reflections, please visit https://flipgrid.com/tceconnect and enter the password Patterns!


Social Studies
Learners will continue their study on Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny. This week, learners will understand the significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexation, Acquisition of Oregon Country, and the Mexican Cession.


Reading & Language Arts
This week in readers workshop, we will wrap up our study of nonfiction with a Unit 2 assessment. We will start to look forward to our Poetry Unit.

This week in spelling, we will be focusing on the latin root, rupt. The learners will spell words with rupt in them and will learn the meaning of the word

This week in writing, learners will take their Middle of the Year writing assessment.

Week of January 21st

Hi everyone! We hope that you and your family will enjoy a long three day weekend. We'll look forward to seeing our awesome 5th graders on Tuesday morning!  

Please see the Google calendar embedded above with important dates and reminders. 

Important Reminders: 

• The learners will not have school on Monday, January 21st. 
• Sky Ranch Parent Meeting - This Wednesday, January 23rd. (See info below.) 

What's Happening Around TCE? 

Reminder: YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! 
It's that time of year to purchase a yearbook for your child. Yearbook cost was not part of the Trailpass this year, so the only way to purchase is through balfour.com at a cost of $25. You can also purchase an ad to appear in the yearbook to make this year extra special. Optional ads come in multiple sizes ranging from $15-$120. We sold out last couple of years, so don't miss out! Yearbook sales end January 18, 2019.

Yearbook Submissions
PTO would love your help as they continue the process of collecting pictures throughout the year to spotlight in the yearbook. For more information on submitting pictures, please see our previous blog post. 

Friendship Friday in Fifth Grade
As a reminder, we will be having "Friendship Friday" every other Friday during lunch, starting this week. You can read more about this in our previous post. 

Sky Ranch Updates

Sky Ranch Payments 

As a reminder, the third Sky Ranch payment of $50 is due Friday, Feburary 1st. You may pay by check (payable to Town Center Elementary), cash, or credit card. Visit this link to pay by credit card. As always, if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Sky Ranch Parent Meeting 
We would like for all 5th grade parents to attend an informational meeting on this Wednesday, January 23rd at 5:30. The meeting will be in the Town Center cafeteria, and it will last about an hour. We will go over basic information for the trip (sample schedules, packing list, meal options, classes, sleeping arrangements, etc.) and we will provide time for questions. Please note that this meeting is for parents. 

Want to Know More About Sky Ranch? 
In addition to holding our parent meeting, we have also gathered some pictures from our 2017 Sky Ranch trip (which is the last time this team of teachers went). We have heard from some of the kids that they are unsure about going on the trip, and we thought it might help if you could look at some pictures as a family. Click here to see the pictures! 

Spring Creek BBQ Night
We will have our annual Lewisville Spring Creek Barbecue Spirit Night Monday, January 28th from 5-9PM. Come join us for fabulous food and socializing with all your favorite TCE friends and teachers. Spring Creek will donate 20% of all the evening's proceeds to our school. Also, the class with the best attendance will win a special prizes. 

Pictures from the Winter Party 
During our Winter Party, our wonderful room moms set up a photo booth. Click here to see the pictures from our photo booth. 

A Peek into Our Classrooms

The learners in Miss Natherson's classroom worked on their One Little Word Projects on their iPads! 

The learners in Miss Natherson's classroom worked on their One Little Word Projects on their iPads!

The learners in Miss Natherson's classroom worked on their One Little Word Projects on their iPads!

Sharing our One Little Words for 2019!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math
This week in math, we will continue practicing multiplying whole numbers by fractions and fractions by whole numbers. In addition, we will transition to the next portion of our operations with fractions unit by learning how to divide whole numbers by unit fractions and divide unit fractions by whole numbers. (A "unit fraction" is a fraction with 1 as the numerator. Ex: 1/2, 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, etc.)

Math Homework: Starting this week, the homework will include a STAAR Prep section and a section to practice the concepts currently being taught in class. You can find the link to the homework here.

Science
This week in science, we will be wrapping up our unit over Earth's Changing Surface. The learners will be finishing their landforms stations. They complete their review for the test in class this week. We will be going over the answers to the review in class and then the learners will bring the review home to study.

Social Studies
This week in social studies, learners will begin a new unit covering Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion. Specifically, students will begin the unit exploring the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark.

Reading & Language Arts
This week in readers workshop, we will continue our study of nonfiction, focusing on different levels of questioning and author's viewpoint.

This week in spelling, we will be focusing on words with vowel changes from long vowel sounds to schwa.

This week in writing, learners will continue working on expository writing. Learners will focus on organizing their ideas, adding supporting details, and editing their writing.

Week of January 14th

Hi everyone! We have had a wonderful week back at school. We hope that you and your family have enjoying getting back into your routines and that you've had a happy start to the new year. 

Please see the Google calendar embedded above with important dates and reminders. 

Important Reminders: 

• The learners will not have school on Monday, January 21st. 
• Sky Ranch Parent Meeting - January 23rd. (See info below.) 

What's Happening Around TCE? 

Reminder: YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! 
It's that time of year to purchase a yearbook for your child. Yearbook cost was not part of the Trailpass this year, so the only way to purchase is through balfour.com at a cost of $25. You can also purchase an ad to appear in the yearbook to make this year extra special. Optional ads come in multiple sizes ranging from $15-$120. We sold out last couple of years, so don't miss out! Yearbook sales end January 18, 2019.

Friendship Friday in Fifth Grade
As many of you know, each class sits at a specific, designated table during lunch. Well, we are going to start something new with the learners next week. Every other Friday, the learners will have the chance to sit with any friend in the fifth grade at any of the designated fifth grade tables. Our hope is that they will enjoy the chance to visit with a friend they don't see as often and that this choice will help prepare them for the open seating options in middle school. We wanted to make you aware of this change because many of you come to have lunch with your learner on Fridays. 

Yearbook Submissions 
PTO would love your help as they begin the process of collecting pictures throughout the year to spotlight in the yearbook. We'd love to send any pictures you have from school events, field trips, and spirit rallies, etc. through the platform "Imageshare". Please see Ms. Martin's Parent Blog for information on how to submit pictures. 

Sky Ranch Updates

Sky Ranch Payments 

As a reminder, the third Sky Ranch payment of $50 is due Friday, Feburary 1st. You may pay by check (payable to Town Center Elementary), cash, or credit card. Visit this link to pay by credit card. As always, if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Sky Ranch Parent Meeting 
We would like for all 5th grade parents to attend an informational meeting on Wednesday, January 23rd at 5:30. The meeting will be in the Town Center cafeteria, and it will last about an hour. We will go over basic information for the trip (sample schedules, packing list, meal options, classes, sleeping arrangements, etc.) and we will provide time for questions. Please note that this meeting is for parents. 

Spring Creek BBQ Night
We will have our annual Lewisville Spring Creek Barbecue Spirit Night Monday, January 28th from 5-9PM. Come join us for fabulous food and socializing with all your favorite TCE friends and teachers. Spring Creek will donate 20% of all the evening's proceeds to our school. Also, the class with the best attendance will win a special prize!

Needing to Contact Your Child's Teacher?
We love connecting with families and being available to answer any questions or address any concerns you have! If you need to contact us, please use one of the options below.

• CISD Email: All TCE staff have an official CISD email address that is checked each day.
• mpeccarelli@coppellisd.com
• kseifert@coppellisd.com
• mnatherson@coppellisd.com
• jltaylor@coppellisd.com
• rperry@coppellisd.com 
• CISD Phones: While our classroom phones do not push through phone calls from outside the school during the day, you may call our CISD phones and leave a message. For a more time sensitive manner, please contact the front office. They are able to relay messages to us. **We recently received new phones and our numbers will be changing. Once we have our new numbers, we will post them on the blog. 
• In Person: Our designated conference time is 9:55-10:50 on Mondays-Thursdays and 11:10-12:00 on Fridays. Please contact your teacher via their CISD phone number or CISD email to set up a conference time, if needed. We would be happy to meet with you! 

A Peek into Our Classrooms

Our Town Center Spelling Bee Champion studied really hard to be prepared for the District Spelling Bee on January 9th. She did a great job and made it through to the 6th round which is extra impressive because she was competing against students in 5th-8th grades! 

Learners created canyons and shorelines and explored the effects of erosion on their landscapes during our science lab!

Learners created canyons and shorelines and explored the effects of erosion on their landscapes during our science lab!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math
This week in math, we will continue our unit over operations with fractions. We will be multiplying whole numbers by fractions and fractions by whole numbers. You can access and print the optional math homework here.

Science
This week in science, the learners will be investigating physical weather and landforms. The learners will also be participating in a practice Science STAAR on Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Social Studies
This week in social studies, the learners finish their unit on the Constitution. Students will be given an exam review at the beginning of the week, and will continue to review for the remainder of the week. Learners will have an exam over both the Constitution and the three Branches of Government at the end of the week.

Reading & Language Arts
This week in readers workshop, we will continue to work on nonfiction skills. Specifically, we will focus on the organizational structures of nonfiction texts and how recognizing these structures can help us understand what we read. We will also focus on summarizing what we've read by identifying the big ideas.

This week in spelling, we will be focusing on the Greek root, meter. Learners will learn to spell words containing graph as well as understand the meaning of the root.

This week in writing, learners will continue working on expository writing. Learners will focus on organizing their ideas, adding supporting details, and editing their writing.

Week of January 7th

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! We hope that you and your family had an enjoyable holiday break and a Happy New Year! We are so excited to start 2019 with these wonderful 5th graders! 

Please see the Google calendar embedded above with important dates and reminders. 

Important Reminders: 

• The learners will not have school on Monday, January 21st. 

What's Happening Around TCE? 

Reminder: YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! 
It's that time of year to purchase a yearbook for your child. Yearbook cost was not part of the Trailpass this year, so the only way to purchase is through balfour.com at a cost of $25. You can also purchase an ad to appear in the yearbook to make this year extra special. Optional ads come in multiple sizes ranging from $15-$120. We sold out last couple of years, so don't miss out! Yearbook sales end January 18, 2019.

Yearbook Submissions 
PTO would love your help as they begin the process of collecting pictures throughout the year to spotlight in the yearbook. We'd love to send any pictures you have from school events, field trips, and spirit rallies, etc. through the platform "Imageshare". Please see Ms. Martin's Parent Blog for information on how to submit pictures. 

December Spirit Rally 
The Spirit Rally just before the break was a lot of fun. Our very own 5th Grade Student Council Officers planned and lead the entire spirit rally. We were really proud of their hard work and bravery. Ms. Martin shared a video of the spirit rally in her parent blog. Take a look if you have a minute! 

A Peek into Our Classrooms

Just before the break, the 5th graders had the opportunity to participate in a few service learning projects. We were overwhelmed by the number of donations that you, our 5th Grade Families, sent in for both the Bridge Homeless Shelter and the Gateway House. Thank you! 

An abundance of donations came in for the Holiday Boxes for the homeless shelter!

The learners enjoyed being able to "shop" through the donations to add to the Holiday boxes. 

The learners loved getting to wrap the boxes and add a little holiday cheer to the donations! 

We ended up with 24 shoeboxes full of donations, and we had lots of leftovers to take to the shelter! 

The Gatehouse was very appreciative of our donations as well!


The Gatehouse asked us to pass along the following message: 

I’m so thankful for all the TCE families that participated, and grateful for teachers who teach our kids about service. Happy Holidays to all!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math
This week in math, we will continue our unit over operations with fractions. We will review adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, and then we will move on to multiplying whole numbers by fractions.

Science
This week in science, the learners will be investigating how fossil fuels and different landforms are made. They will be creating a foldable to showcase the different stages of the creation of fossil fuels. The learners will also be participating in different stations to understand how landforms are created using weathering, erosion, and/or deposition. 

Social Studies
This week in social studies, the learners will continue to learn about the three Branches of Government and the balance of powers.

Reading & Language Arts
This week in readers workshop, we will continue to work on nonfiction skills. Specifically, we will focus on the organizational structures of nonfiction texts and how recognizing these structures can help us understand what we read.

This week in spelling, we will be focusing on the Greek root, graph. Learners will learn to spell words containing graph as well as understand the meaning of the root.

This week in writing, learners will continue working on their expository pieces responding to the prompt: "Write about what you wish was different in the world." We hope you'll take some time to talk to your son/daughter about their chosen topic.