Category Archives: Community Info

Info about the goings on in or around the school.

Field Trip Time!

In an effort to make our fifth grade students aware of the many opportunities they have available to them in middle and high school, we will be visiting the Alabama School of Fine Arts on Tuesday, October 17th. While we are at ASFA, we will take the opportunity to experience their performance of the play Radium Girls. This promises to be a fascinating historical piece by the theater department.

We will be eating lunch in Linn Park across the street from the Birmingham Museum of Art. The students may purchase a sack lunch from the school or bring one from home. If the student brings a lunch from home, please make sure that everything sent for lunch can be thrown away. We will not be bringing lunchboxes back to school. Students will need to bring $10.00 to cover the cost of the performance and bus usage. (Note: If you send cash, please make certain that you send the exact amount.)

Permission forms are being sent home today. Please be sure they are returned to school along with  money by Friday, October 13th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept late permission forms or money. This is an important opportunity for our TAG students and I would hate for them to miss out.

TAG Field Trip to ASFA

Our first TAG field trip of the year is fast approaching. On October 17th we will be visiting the Alabama School of Fine Arts for a tour of the school and to watch their theater department’s performance of Radium Girls. Afterward we will eat in the park and then head back to school. More information and permission forms will be coming home on October 6th. Money and signed permission forms will be collected from the 9th until the 13th.

We will be visiting the IB middle school on a separate, later field trip.

Welcome Back!

As the school year ramps up and gets going, here are a few announcements about what is currently going on in the TAG program.

Beginning of the Year Parent Meeting

We will be having out beginning-of-the-year parent meeting on Thursday, September 21st. This is the same day as Family Night at the Book Fair and the scouting meeting. 3rd Grade Parents need to be here at 4:00 to discuss the testing that was done last year and how their students placed in the TAG program. The general meeting for ALL TAG Parents will begin at 4:30. We will discuss how our program works and what we will be studying this year. The meeting will be held in the school cafeteria.

Future Problem Solving Teams

FPS teams will be practicing every Tuesday afternoon from 3:00 – 4:00.

New team members will be taught the problem solving method and different team configurations will be tested as we prepare for competition.

Summer Readers, Start Your Engines

Book Club is over for the school year. We had our last meeting on Monday and munched our way through some great donuts and discussions. It was fascinating to hear how the books each group read stacked up and which became who’s favorites.

The end of this school year has blown past so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to post meeting by meeting updates of what we were reading and what we thought of them. So I’m going to take this opportunity to recap.

But before I do, I want to send along this great Summer Reading Book List by the American Library Association. When you’re looking for something interesting to read this summer, I hop you take a look at some of these. There’s something in here for every kind of reader. And don’t forget to write reviews of the books you read on Bookopolis! Its a great way to earn TAG money for next school year.

Super Stars Book Club

 

 

            

 

 

 

            

 

 

 

            

 

Armchair Book Club

 

 

            

 

 

 

            

 

 

 

         

 

 

Book Worms Book Club

 

 

         

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

         

 

Congratulations, 5th Grade Scholars

The 5th Grade Scholars have been announced and I am proud to announce that ten of our TAG students here at Clay are among those being celebrated for their academic excellence. This is a big achievement! I encourage everyone to give them the  congratulations they deserve.

Outstanding Work!

Tyler Griffin

Grayson Williams

Aaron Gaines

Sofian Laouzai

Jenny Lian

Elizabeth Morris

Austin Ray

Danica Tinsman

Kaitlynn Hatfield

Ethan Wright

What is Bookopolis?

Building a love of reading is one of our top priorities this year. Research shows that making independent reading more social and helping students find books that they are excited to read are two important ways to engage our students as readers.

In class, we are using Bookopolis.com, an online community for young readers, that helps ignite a love of reading by letting students connect with friends to share their favorite books.   In Bookopolis, students can:

  • Create virtual bookshelves of books they’ve read, are reading now, or want to read
  • Rate and review books to practice opinion writing
  • Complete book reports to practice comprehension and critical thinking
  • Track daily or weekly reading in an online reading log
  • Connect with friends to see what books they’ve read
  • Explore new book ideas and reviews from curated lists and other Bookopolis readers
  • Earn points and badges for their reading achievemenEdts

Your student already has a Bookopolis account that is connected to their Edmodo account and my teacher email. Students can log in to their account from any computer or tablet or through the apps on their Edmodo account or by going to Bookopolis.com. Click the “Sign In” button in the top right and then click the “Sign in with Edmodo” button at the bottom of the box that appears.

All of the students in our class are connected as “Friends” on the site so they can see each other’s bookshelves and book reviews. If your student wants to connect with friends outside of our class, I can add your email to their account. This will allow you to approve any friend invites and access your students’ Bookopolis activity.

Bookopolis is a free site that is compliant with COPPA (child online safety standards.) It also won the 2015 American Association of School Librarians Award for Best Website for Teaching & Learning.

Computer Science Summer

Just because school is out doesn’t mean the fun of computer science has to end! 

Students are welcome to continue working through the Code.org curriculum over the summer. Finish Course 2 and move on to Course 3. All done with Course 3? Great! Then dive into Course 4 and graduate Code.org.

(Ms. Chunn has a list of where everyone finished the year and any progress made over the summer will earn you TAG money when next year starts!)

Can’t remember the web address for your class’ Code.org login page? No problem! You can find a list of links here.

Can’t remember your secret words? Don’t worry! Ms. Chunn sent them to you in a note on Edmodo. (And don’t forget about the brainteasers and activities being assigned on Edmodo during the summer.)

Need even more computer goodness? Never fear!

You can get a free account on Khan Academy and take their computer programming or computer science courses or do the same on CodeAcademy. We’ve been studying Java but that is not the only computer language out there. Try your hand at Ruby (HaketyHack or KidsRuby) or Python.

Or you can learn lots of other computer science skills from Code.org’s other partners. From programming robots to writing apps and games for your phone. You can learn it all here!

2016 Money Bags Awards

Money BagsCongratulations to our Money Bags Award winners! These students accumulated the most money in their grade level over the course of this school year. They have each received the brand new Money Bags badge on Edmodo and had the pleasure of rocking it in our annual TAG auction. I am so proud of each of them for working so hard all year to earn their huge piles of TAG cash.

5th Grade Winner & Overall Winner

Alyssa Butts was our big earner among our graduates. This didn’t surprise anyone since she won this distinction last year (although we didn’t have an award for it then) by a wide margin. She had some fierce competition for her title this year, but she held on and came out on top.

Like most of our high earners in 5th grade this year, Alyssa was on our school’s Future Problem Solving team. She led the team to our first appearance at the State Bowl in several years. Congratulations, Alyssa, on your many accomplishments this year!

4th Grade Winner

Sofian Laouzai handily beat out the rest of the competition in his grade level. He worked VERY hard this year and it shows in his fat TAG bank total. In particular, Sofian embraced our newest way for students to interact with the TAG teachers and do cool learning activities at home: Edmodo. He is the ONLY student to complete every single assignment for the entire year on Edmodo. Congratulations, Sofian, you have certainly earned it!

3rd Grade Winner

Gabrielle Pate earned the most money among our TAG newcomers. Like all the 3rd graders, this was her first year in the program but she really soared. She tried her hand at all of our extra learning options: challenge questions, e-learning day activities, and Edmodo brainteasers. The money she earned on them put her over the top of the competition, because she had several eager classmates hunting after the title as well. This year’s third grade worked hard and picked up on how to succeed in TAG remarkably quickly. But Gabrielle’s willingness to stretch herself, try new things, and learn at home won her top place. Congratulations, Gabrielle!

Soaking in the Summer Fun

The long empty days of summer are right around the corner. If you’re looking for some good learning opportunities to fill them up then I’m here to help.

Summer Reading List

The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) has published their Summer Reading List for each grade level group. This list is also used and distributed by the American Library Association (ALA). You can print out the cute PDF with their recommended reads here.

Summer Camps

Most of the cultural institutions here in Birmingham, and throughout the state, have special summer camps and activities. Check out the links below to discover their exciting and educational opportunities.

Alabama School of Fine Arts – Every year ASFA offers a summer full of classes in each of their specialty areas. So if your thing is computer programing or chemistry or creative writing or theater arts, they’ve got you covered!

Birmingham Museum of Art – In addition to all of their other educational workshops and events, the BMA also offers a summer art camp. I have personally participated in their camp (as a student) and it was both fantastic and memorable.

Birmingham Zoo – Everyone has fun at the zoo! Among their many educational programs, the Birmingham Zoo has a Summer Zoofari Camp.

Aldridge Gardens – This lovely public garden in Hoover offers a variety of themed day camps for children through the 4th grade.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens – In addition to their normal educational classes, workshops, and activities, the botanical gardens also run summer day camps.

Red Mountain Theater Company – They provide instruction in voice, dance and drama to students with a variety of skill levels. No matter how much or how little you know about theater, you are sure to learn something at their workshops and camps.

Samford University – Want your kids to go to college? Why not start this summer! Samford offers a wide range of summer camps for students as young as kindergarten on subjects from music and art to pharmacy and animation.

Space and Rocket Center – U.S. Space Camp is hosted just a short distance away in Huntsville each year. This is an amazing experience for any student interesting in science, math, astronomy, physics, or the space program.

McWane Science Center – Want to fill your summer with the hands-on learning fun found at the McWane Center? Well you can. They run weekly and daily camps all summer long.

Southern Museum of Flight – Got a future pilot in the family? Then this cool museum is the place for them. Students learn the basics of flight and try their hand in a virtual simulator during their summer camp.

Camp Invention – Is your youngster a budding inventor? Do they love to take things around the house apart and put them back together (maybe in the original order and maybe not)?  Camp Invention is a national program that will give your little creator the outlet and instruction they need.

Brain Chase – Wish you kid could go to camp but don’t have the time to drive them back and forth every day? Brain Chase is a puzzle based, on-line summer camp.

Levite Jewish Community Center – The fantastic facilities at this downtown community center are offered in addition to themed classes during week long day camps. This camp is run by former Clay Elementary teacher, Tina Weldon.

There are also plenty of traditional, spend-the-night summer camps throughout the state. These last anywhere from a week to a month.