The second and third grade enrichment classes wrote and acted out their own movie based on the book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.  Please follow this link to watch our talented kids in action:
​https://youtu.be/C0xcoEVyYUs

 Primary students have been exploring textile work.  They have learned the parts of the needle and how to do a basic running stitch.  Fine motor skills such as cutting and sewing have been enhanced with the challenge of sewing through burlap.  Everyone made a great effort to learn this valuable life skill!

Intermediate students have been learning about different careers in the arts.  They took this knowledge and applied to to their own collaborative gallery groups.  Each group chose a theme and they are working on creating artworks to be displayed in the hallway.  


Upcoming Events:

STEAM Night-March 17
Square One Art Fundraiser-March 20

It’s that time of year again! Parents of 4th and 5th grade students – get prepared to hear your children making music on their recorders. The recorder, a pre-band instrument, is a great way to prepare for playing an instrument in the middle school band. As in the past, students will be given a booklet of songs. Students are expected to practice these songs at home. When students can play a song proficiently, he is given a string of yarn (different colors for different songs). The yarn is tied around the bottom of the recorder. Students are challenged to earn as many belts as possible. This “Karate” type of incentive program is a fun way to improve note reading and playing the recorder. Please encourage your child to keep practicing and not give up. Like anything, it takes a while to show progress.
Our Primary aged children continue to focus on singing and movement. These are absolutely key ingredients to later musical development. I hope that as the year progresses, your children are showing confidence and excitement at home as they share their folk songs and holiday songs with you. Ask your child to teach you the dance that goes with “Little Wheel “A-Turnin”, “5 Fat Turkeys” or “We Are Dancing in the Forest”. And remember, sing often and share songs with your children.
Wishing you a very musical new year! Mrs. Swainhart
Taylor Mill Chorus
The Chorus shared the gift of music with Redwood School and Woodcrest Retirement Home residents in December. The children were so well received that all the students agreed it was a wonderful field trip, and one they would remember for a long time. I was so pleased that the students had made Christmas cards for the residents of the retirement home. As the students were singing, handing out cards, smiles, and hand shakes, the older folks looked so happy. Wish every parent could have been there.
The chorus will be performing again in February and March for PTA and STEAM night. More information coming later about those events.

TAYLOR MILL TECHNOLOGY Jan./Feb. 2016

K-2 students are continuing to work on iRead each week. Along with applying grade-level phonics and word analysis skills, most students are now able to type their usernames and passwords independently. Great job!
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students continue to practice keyboarding at www.typing.com It is important that they keep index fingers on the “J” and “F” keys and use the “Home Row”. Each month, students complete a 3-minute timed test to monitor how many words per minute they are typing and their rate of accuracy. It would be great if they could practice at home as well!


3rd graders will complete the process of drafting, revising, editing and publishing a free-verse poem in the next couple weeks. Poems will be scored using the district’s Narrative Writing Rubric and then placed in each student’s Writing Portfolio as part of their overall progress monitoring. Each student will also take a copy of his/her poem home so that it can be shared with the family. Celebrate your spectacular writers!


4th and 5th graders spent some time brushing up on their math skills last month and have now moved on to coding! By exploring coding at https://studio.code.org/ students have the opportunity to learn computer science skills. They are writing lines of code for a Star Wars application, which requires critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students are learning what it takes to be successful in this technological industry!


As a reminder, ALL students need properly fitting headphones or ear buds. (Headphones are required for all K & 1st graders; 2nd-5th graders are required to have headphones OR ear buds.)
More information and links to popular sites are on my webpage at http://karrieirons-bird.wix.com/tmtechnology


Digital literacy is just a click away!
Mrs. Irons-Bird

Winter is upon us and it's warm and cozy in the special area classrooms.  Mr. D has been hosting his annual bowling tournament and the competition is heated!

Jack and Nancy Kirk prepared for the tournament by practicing bowling at the Levee.  
  

The art room has been buzzing along as students explore and nurture their individual talents.  We have explored communicating a message in art.  Students were given challenges to convey an idea about themselves to create a portrait.  Portraits reflected culture, time or place and were on display in the art hallway.   

We have also had our clay day for the year.  The art room is very lucky to have the PTA pay for clay every other year.  This year was a small project year and we focused on slab building in the intermediate classes.  Students designed medallions that were personalized, and they will paint them after they are fired.     Kindergarten, first grade and second grade students created individual pinch pots as they learned the basic elements of firing clay.  Clay is an amazing medium to work,  and I hope that the projects my students make each year give them the confidence to keep experimenting with clay their whole lives.  

The art room ALWAYS accepts the following donated supplies:

Paper towel rolls
Icing tubs
Cereal boxes (broken down flat)
Yarn

The classroom is currently very low on pencils.  Please consider sending in a pack to help our drawings keep flowing.  

​K-2 students are working on iRead each week.  Along with applying grade-level phonics and word analysis skills, the students are learning to type in their usernames and passwords.  They are making great progress!
 
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students have been introduced to keyboarding lessons at www.typing.com They are focusing on keeping their index fingers on the “F” and “J” keys and using the “Home Row”. They will complete a 3-minute timed test each month to monitor how many words per minute they are typing and their rate of accuracy.
 
3rd graders will work on language skills in preparation for a Poetry Unit. Over the next few months, they will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to apply to the process of drafting, revising, editing and publishing a free-verse poem.
 
4th graders will work on language and grammar skills in conjunction with their Common Core curriculum. This will include lessons and practice with synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, etc.
 
5th graders have worked on financial literacy and career topics using www.texasrealitycheck.com They will move on to weekly interactive lessons on www.mission-us.org, a site that immerses them in the historical time period of the Revolutionary War, and allows them to make choices that illustrate how ordinary people experienced the past.
 
As a reminder, ALL students need properly fitting headphones or ear buds. (Headphones are required for all K & 1st graders; 2nd-5th graders are required to have headphones OR ear buds.)
 
More information and links to popular sites are on my webpage at http://karrieirons-bird.wix.com/tmtechnology
 
Digital literacy is just a click away!
Mrs. Irons-Bird