And January has flown by......

Wow!  What a busy week at the Creek!  Students were busy working.  Teachers were busy teaching and we actually came to school for five whole days!  Wow!  What an accomplishment.

Monday was the beginning of Turn it Gold Week.  Rummel Creek Girl Scout Troops 126006 & 126148 spent hours working on decorating the school and planning Turn it Gold Week for their Bronze Award in scouting.  Way to go! Girls - you did a GREAT job.  Our own Carly Freels, a fifth-grade teacher, was awarded a Medal of Honor for her journey with childhood cancer.  Her book, When Faith is Greater than Fear, is still available in the Library.  (22$ for Hardback, 11$ for Paperback with profits going to Cancer Research.)
During Turn it Gold week we had an amazing showing of support with purchases of Go Gold Bands and Coins for Cancer.  Can't wait to see the final results.

Science Fair was outstanding this year.  The students did an amazing job.  Enjoy this Animoto video of the student products.

Overall best:  Yana Madyarova - Catapult - model and experiment

Fifth Grade - 1st - Lauren Michna - Sleep School

                      2nd - Sydney Richman - Water Pump

                      3rd - Haley Alexander - Power in Produce - Fruit and Vegetable Circuits

Fourth Grade - 1st - Richard & Andrew Salo - Regular dry vs. mold dry resistant drywall in simulated flood conditions

                         2nd - Lawson Gay &  Eli Roberts - Super Stain Remover

                         3rd - Levi & Layne Lease - Projector

Third Grade - 1st - Madeliene McKnight "The Fight of the Fertilizers"

                       2nd - Davis Cooper - Magnetic Mud

                       3rd - Jackson Ramey & Brad Zindler - Moldy Mess

Second Grade - 1st - Ella Moore Happy?  Does Chocolate Improve Kids' Moods?

                          2nd – Grant & Grace Smith - pH of Candy -

                          3rd - Sophia Paderni - Magnetic Slime

First Grade - 1st - Rianna Lee & Esther Payne - Hot chocolate

                      2nd - Camilo and Ellie Chamarro - Tough Towels

                      3rd - Adeliene Hartensteiner - Does Expired Sunscreen still Work?

Kindergarten - 1st - Kate More - What stops Apples from Turning Brown?

                        2nd - Juliet Gillepsie - Flower Power

                        3rd - (K/3) Grace and Gabriel Onyiego - Mold Madness

PreK - 1st - James/Jacob Hobson - Blood Brothers

            2nd - Elise Manvel - My colorful world

            3rd - Eddie and Charlie Smith - Density Tower

All of the projects were terrific.  We have lots of great scientists at RCE!.

First Grade is learning about ROCKS!  One of the best visits each year is when Mrs. Hiner's father, Mr. Vanderlinden, comes to share about rocks.  He LOVES rocks!  He knows so much about rocks.  He is a geologist and loves to share his passion about rocks with first graders.

PreK Round-Up was this week as well....from the turn out of parents it looks the RCE PreK is going to be full next fall!

Thursday at the CIT meeting, students from Girl Scout troops, Student Council, Roadrunner News and The Scoop share their excitement about their programs.  I love seeing the students take ownership of things at RCE.  We have some very passionate young people at RCE who are developing the necessary skills to be leaders in the future.  Enjoy this video of their sharing experience.  

Mrs. Bacon, one of our beloved second-grade teachers had an unexpected visit.  One of her former students from Westwood Elementary (in SBISD) who had Mrs. Bacon for 3 years in 2, 4 & 5 grade dropped by RCE to visit.  She said thanks to the internet she was able to find where Mrs. Bacon was now.  Vanessa Agwu is now in her residency at UT downtown in Pediatrics.  I can tell you Mrs. Bacon was soooo proud!  All teachers love to see where their students end up....this was a great surprise!

Just some photos of students working together in the library.  It's been a very busy week!

Such a marvelous week at "The Creek".  Enjoy your weekend! Enjoy your family!  See you bright and early Monday Morning!

   
                 

Just two days!

Such a short week....with Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and then two ice days...we were just at school for two short days.  Teachers worked hard to complete assignments and catch back up with all of the materials missed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  By Friday, we were all exhausted as if we had been at school for the full five days.

Next week is a big week at Rummel Creek.  It is Go Gold Week.  Here's an idea of the fun we will have next week....
> Monday---Team Up Against Cancer--wear your favorite sports/team shirt or RCE shirt to school!   You can bring awareness to childhood cancer by wearing gold during the week to a sports team practice or your favorite activity.
> Tuesday--Bold Action Against Cancer--wear bright colors, shades or hats!- Tell someone about childhood cancer!
> Wednesday--Crazy Over Coins for  Cancer Research--Wear crazy hair or socks and bring change for the coin jars.
> Thursday--Thoughtful Thursday--make Bravery cards for kids at Texas Children's Hospital.   Do a kind act for someone else!
> Friday--Turn IT Gold to Support Childhood Cancer--Wear yellow or gold to support children battling cancer!  A Bravery Medal will be presented to Ms. Freels.

Why do we celebrate Go Gold?   Turn It Gold brings awareness to pediatric cancer and to need to raise money for pediatric cancer research.  
Rummel Creek received a plaque for earning money for Go Gold Week last year.   Another exciting fact about RCE is Ms. Freels is a childhood cancer survivor so TIG would like to present a Bravery Medal to her on Friday.

 In fact, we (RCE) are part of a documentary about Go Gold.  Turn It Gold is releasing a documentary called "Realistically Ever After" about Childhood Cancer.  Ms. Harn is shown briefly in the movie presenting a bravery award last year during Turn It Gold week at RCE.   The film is being released on Sunday, January 21st  in the sanctuary of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.  Admission is free.   The doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the movie starts at 6:45 p.m.   Hope to see you there!  

Ms. Freels has written a book about her experience with cancer.  She will share her book with RCE on KRCE next week.  We will make her book available for purchase, and autographing in the coming weeks.  Proceeds from her book go to the Leukemia society.

Here was the announcement on KRCE this morning. 

We are Go Gold all around RCE!

Rainy Fridays are for game playing, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication.  The Library Learning Commons has more than books and technology.  It also has a large collection of "brain games" to make kids think!

And finally, the fifth-grade group of students that have a great idea to share items happening at school started their website and posted their first video.  I can't wait to see where this webpage and these students go.   Click on Rockin' Roadrunners for the video they posted today. 

Enjoy the weekend.  Stay DRY.  Get ready for next week - we have 5 full days!

January and it's cold...

The weather outside is a bit chilly...but the kids are warm and learning.  As you walk around the building you can hear winter words in the hallway.  This year as Kinder studies Winter, they can describe winter in a good way as they have experienced snow and cold this year.  Yesterday the weather change was memorable!

Monday we will celebrate Martin Luther King day with a school holiday.  Spend the day doing something fun with your child.  School will resume on Tuesday with a new KRCE crew, Rockin' Roadrunners, and a return to the afterschool programs.

Friday, some of the Kinder classes and their reading buddies worked on the App Book Creator to write a book about winter.  Such fun watching students work together to learn something.

Can't wait to read the final edit.  We'll work again next week to finish the project.

Looking to the future:

Science Fair is next week.  It's always fun to see the projects students come up with to learn and explore.

The RCE Olympic Reading Challenge - just for fun to read about the Olympics and have some reading competition at RCE.  Start the fun on this website.  More will be linked and added in the coming weeks including a link to the medal count for the US.  Click here for the reading challenge form to turn in.

Coming in February - 

Book Worm Festival - Saturday, Feb. 3rd at Spring Oaks Middle School (in SBISD).  10 - 12!  Such fun with authors and this year Emily Arrow!

Author Natalie Lloyd for 3, 4 & 5 on February 7th sponsored by Bluewillow Book Shop  Book order

Author Obert Skye for 3, 4 & 5 on February 9th sponsored by Bluewillow Book Shop   Book order

Have a great weekend!  See you on Tuesday!

BBrrrrr....It's a Cold Start to 2018

It's been really cold outside, but warm in our classrooms.  School picked up on January 3rd with students.  Without skipping a beat, the students were back to work learning and writing.  By Friday, you would have thought we had been in school for weeks, not just days.   As the students entered the school building on Wednesday, they were so excited to see friends and catch up on activities over the holidays. 

January and February calendars are filling up with opportunities for students.

• Science Fair is January 17th with set up on the 16th.  There is still time to sign up to participate!
• Bluebonnet voting for grades 3, 4 & 5.  Students need to have read 5 books from the list to vote at the end of January.  
• Author, Natalie Lloyd, will be here on February 7th for grades 3, 4 and 5  through BlueWillow Book Shop.  We are part of the promotional tour of her new book Problim Children.
• Author, Obert Skye, will be here on February 9th for grades 3, 4 & 5 through BlueWillow Book Shop.  We are part of the promotional tour of his new graphic novel book, Geek
• Book Worm Festival, Saturday, February 3rd at Spring Oaks Middle School.  Come and meet authors.  It's a fun morning for elementary students of all ages.  This year we are privileged to have Emily Arrow to share her music

The fifth-grade students at RCE are so talented.  We currently have two groups of students who are stepping out of the box.  One group has started a newspaper for RCE called The Scoop.  You can read The Scoop through the window near the front office.  The second group is working on a Good Morning RCE webpage.  It's still in the developing stage - but I am so excited to see the students step out and try new things.  As soon as something is ready, we'll share the weblink for you to view the students work.

 

"The Scoop" crew working in the library.

"Good Morning RCE" crew working in the library.

Hang on.....2018 is going to be a busy year at the Creek.