What a treat we had today with our horse experts! Cole & Zach Grewell came and shared their expertise on horses. Oh did it make me miss growing up on the ranch. The good ole days. They shared so much info. that will help us connect to Charlotte in the book Riding Freedom. Thank you guys for coming! If your child can tell you what his horse's name is write it in the planner for free money.

Today we had our Social Studies test on Chapter 10. We are now ready to move into our last section of the West & NW.

Remember Library Books tomorrow.

I will be gone tomorrow afternoon so they will have a sub. Talk with your child about expectations.

Sticky notes came home today as a reminder that there is no school for kids on Monday.

Enjoy and have a great night.

Listen to Them Play-WOW!!

Great job today at the recorder concert. Wow-they have come so far this year. I hope you got to see it in person. I am so so proud of each and every one of them for all their hard work and efforts on everything. Don't you agree they have made tremendous growth all the way around and that you are so proud of them too. If you agree, write PROUD in the planner for free money.

Thank you for taking the time to go over their report cards with them. They are happy with their accomplishments and will continue to work hard this 4th quarter to meet their goals. As I read their reflections in their nightly writing, I was so glad to see them using all the writing techniques we have been practicing in our nightly writing.

PE tomorrow so remember shoes and for my reading kids, the horses are coming so dress for the weather and plan to be outside for some time.

I am not so sure the concert video is visible. Another technical difficulty.

Have a great night.

Report Cards Are Arriving Today!

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but the server here at school had a problem and when I went home I crashed for a bit as I am fighting this crazy cold, but much better today. Thank goodness. By the time you read this blog, you should have seen your child's report card. Overall, they are awesome, but as always there is room for improvement for some. If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to call or email me. I know some of them may be sad they didn't make BUG Club, but that gives them the incentive to work harder this quarter. I am just extremely proud of them academically, but a big part of their growth is their behavior. They are displaying wonderful character and I think you would agree with that too. I hope you see it at home likewise. Thank you for all your help & support as we work as a team to help your child be successful. Can you believe we are now on the 4th quarter of 4th Grade-where does the time go?

Talk with your child about their accomplishments thus far this year and CELEBRATE with them. For free money tomorrow-write celebrate in the planner.

To the parents of the reading kids in my room, thank you for doing your homework. We loved hearing about their adventures from birth-age 2.

We will finish our SW tour tomorrow and the states & capitals test is on Thursday. Not a lot to study as there are only 4 states.

Had an HR today on Coca Cola-ask your child what used to be in it that isn't today-thank goodness. Write it in their planner for free money.

REMEMBER TOMORROW IS THE RECORDER CONCERT AT 1:30!!

Morgan-we hope you are doing ok-how are all the popsicles? What is your favorite flavor. For those of you who don't know, Morgan had her tonsils out on Monday so let's wish her well.

Have a great night.

Fun Was Had By All!

Who said you need to have IPods or DSI Systems to have fun. Today that was part of the buy in, but those that didn't bring them had a little fun of their own playing "Hot Potato" and practicing their states & capitals. Glad to see they can still come up with and make their own fun.

Had a great Science Lesson today with both 4th grades. We learned Newton's 1st Law of Motion. If your child can tell you what it is and what two kinds of energy it involves, write ENERGY in their planner for money at check in.

Congratulations to Shane, our new student of the week. We enjoyed seeing and hearing about all your car models. The football pic is awesome too.

My reading kids started their Riding Freedom book today and learned lots about Charlotte, the main character. Start a discussion about her because parents come Monday you are going to have a fun homework assignment.

Have a great weekend and do some fun family things and create memories. I am headed to Red Lodge for another fun ski day.

WOW-WHAT A FABULOUS DAY TODAY!!

What a hard working bunch of kids we have on Team Hankins!! They are finding out how "hard"work and determination pay off. They got extra PE this week (yes twice) because they have worked so hard in HE, we get to have a Fun Friday time tomorrow at the end of the day after Science, and most of all, their math quizzes & assignment today were AWESOME!! ( I know a few of you have the assignment for homework, but I know you will do SUPER too). They all passed their quiz on Equivalent Fractions and did a fabulous job on the assignment which is writing fractions in simplest form. They will shine in 5th grade when it comes to this concept. Way to go Team Hankins.

Tomorrow is also going to be a busy day. It is Twin/Triplet Day. HMMM-I wonder who my twin is going to be? Surprise!!

Also it is a buy in day. The options are: IPods-Lunch with Mrs. Hankins (I love this one)-gum, and bring their DSI, etc. game systems. We will take a about 30-40 min. after Science tomorrow to have some fun!!!! Each of these is $1.00. We are still trying to earn money for those fun field trips this spring.

Tomorrow we will be starting our new Science Unit. Fun-watch for pictures tomorrow on the blog.

For free money at check in, ask your child "How being open to new people can help you learn & grow?" Also-what is something that makes them "strong".

Have a great night.

Guest Speakers Postponed Until Next Week

Due to the weather & snow from yesterday, our guest speakers postponed their visit until next week. We want to get the most out of it, and with the snow & mud we wouldn't have been able to have the horses.

We started our Southwest Geography Challenge today. Only 4 states so pretty easy. The test on these will be Thursday, April 7th.

Remember PE shoes tomorrow.

Have a great night.

FEELING LIKE A DUCK!

IKES-what is up with this weather? Spring in Montana. Please make sure your child comes to school with a coat tomorrow. (Raincoat & umbrella would be great).

My reading kids will be outside for Reading tomorrow so be prepared & dressed for it.

We continue to work on fractions. Students are realizing they really need to know their multiplication & division facts for this, so it is a good idea to brush up on them.

Today we had a Friendship Walk seeing what it was like to be in a world of darkness like Helen Keller. Talk to your child about this experience. We all agreed that it was difficult and scary at times and we only did it for about 15-20 min. Plus we could hear things going on around us, unlike her.

We took Chapter 9 test in Social Studies today. I think we learned a lot about farming and are now ready to move into the Southwest region. Only 4 states and capitals make up this region.

Remember Twin Day on Friday and no hair color or face paint.

Have a great night.

Who is Sir Issac Newton

We started a new unit in Science today by having the students visualize what they thought Sir Issac Newton looked like. We had some great, interesting visualizations. If your child can tell you anything about him and what we are going to be studying in Science, write Sir Issac in the planner for free money.

We finished our biography on Helen Keller today and now we are going to take a Friendship Walk tomorrow to see what it was like in her "dark" world. Students need to bring a bandana or piece of cloth large enough to use as a blindfold.

Also, we are so lucky to have 3 guest speakers coming on Wednesday during our class reading time which will be a tie-in to the book we are going to be starting called Riding Freedom. The setting is back in the 1800's and is a great connection to the chapter we just completed in S.Studies. We also did some research today on a topic from the 1800's and will put our info. on mobiles tomorrow to share with the class.

Friday is Family Fun Night. Come on out with your families for some good ole fashioned fun. Riding scooters, hula hooping, volleyball, etc.

Also, Friday is Twin Day so find a friend to dress alike with.

Have a great night.

Missing the Farm

Wow-we had a guest speaker today in to talk about how farming has changed over the years! Oh, it brought back so many memories of my childhood and I found myself really missing the farm. It did a great job. Ask your child one cool, new farm fact they learned for free money at check in on Monday.

Testing is over-the kids did a fantastic job and really took their time and showed that they really cared about how they did. I am so proud of them.

We can now get back into our regular daily schedule and finally get to have reading.

We are starting one of my favorite books next week, it is called Riding Freedom. Much more to come about this book.

Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy the weather. Red Lodge got fresh snow (10 inches) so I may hit the slopes again this weekend.

Way to go Team Hankins

Great job on the testing again today and we had a very good representation of GREEN in our room today and I know the Luck of the Irish was with us on our tests!

Tomorrow is the final day of testing. WHOOOHOOOO!! Hang in their and keep believing & achieving Little Diamonds!

Remember Library books tomorrow.

Have a great night.

WEAR GREEN TOMORROW!

Great day today as we had our 1st session of the Math test. The kids did fantastic and we are ready for tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow-In honor of St. Patrick's Day and the Irish, wear GREEN and may the "LUCK" of the Irish be with us on our tests.

Remember no hair or face color. Anyone wearing green will receive $100 at check in tomorrow.

Have a great night.

GREAT JOB

Great job on the Midwest States & capitals. They received 2 grades; the top one on their paper was for states & capitals, and the bottom one was for location. Way to go Team Hankins. Now we will move on to Chapter 9 which goes into how farming has changed in the Midwest over the years. We have a guest speaker coming in on Friday afternoon to speak to us about this and he will have some old tools that were once used.

Tomorrow is testing once again. We will be taking Session 1 of the math. Get a good night sleep, have a nutritional breakfast, and bring a healthy snack. It is one again your time to shine Little Diamonds. Believe & Achieve :)

Ask your child what the word of the week is this week. If they can tell you, put it in their planner for free money at check in. They had to talk about ways they show this at school in morning meeting today and I think it was a good reminder because I saw lots of it happening today. :)

Get outside and enjoy the weather tonight.

Have a good night.

Tired Today

Wow-was anyone else tired today? Yes, we all were, thanks to the time change. We will be ready for it tonight and tomorrow though.

Had another busy day today. I know they have homework in Math and it is a good review sheet to help prepare them for the upcoming Math test on Wed.-Fri. We did some review here and reviewed making bar graphs by making one. All this hard work will pay off -trust me.

Also, they have nightly writing tonight. I can see good improvements in their editing skills also so the hard work is again paying off.

Social Studies test tomorrow over the Midwest States & Capitals. I think we are ready for that as we have been practicing here at school and they seem ready-most of them anyway.

Today we learned about the cotton gin. If your child can tell you anything about it, write COTTON in their planner for free money.

No spelling words again this week.

Have a great night.

FUN -FUN-FUN

A great time was had by all at the volcano erupting. The kids had fun and some got quite sticky, but overall it was a success and I know we all learned a lot about volcanoes. I will post some pictures as I get them from Ms. Erickson, as she had the camera because I was busy with the mentos loader. I told them to keep an eye on the news for more updates on the tsunamis as these are so related. We watched some footage today on the Weather Channel.

Have a fun time at the Spaghetti Dinner and Magic Show. Those who go earn free money. I will be there in spirit as I will be gone on a weekend skiing trip.

We finished the Reading testing today and it appeared the students did quite well. Next week is the Math on Wed.-Friday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Spirit Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Breast Cancer Awareness Day-wear pink in support of this great cause and earn free money at check in.

Tomorrow is testing day again. We are doing Session 3 in Reading.

We shared Persuasive Paragraph writing today and the kids did a good job. Have your child share their with you tonight and write "persuasive" in the planner for free money. If your child is in Read 180, they did these earlier in the year, have them tell you what their topic was and write it in the planner for free money.

We are cruising through the Midwest on our crop duster tour. If your child can tell what a crop duster is, write crops in the planner for more free money. Wow that is a lot of money to be given away. Remember our states and capitals test is next Tuesday.

Volcano eruptions will take place tomorrow at 12:45 weather permitting.

Have a great night.

Moving on to the Midwest

Students should be working on their Midwest States & Capitals. They will need them memorized for the test on Tuesday, March 15th.

Great job today on the Reading testing. I am proud of them and their hard work. Come to school tomorrow again with that great positive attitude, a good night's sleep, breakfast, and don't forget to bring a snack and some gum.

Just a reminder that you are invited to our Volcano eruptions on Friday, March 11th at 12:45. Hope to see you then.

Also on Friday is the PTA sponsored Magic Show/Spaghetti Dinner. Students way surpassed their reading goal of 45,000 min. so everyone who has a ticket for the fun evening gets to see Mr. Senitte get sawed in 2. What a good sport he is!!

Friday is spirit day. It is wear pink day in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Let's help by remembering and think of all those we know and love that have been struck with this disease.

Have a great night.

Fantastic Volcanoes

Wow-What a great job the students did on creating their volcanoes. No two look the same and I love the thought and creativity that went into creating them. We are going to ERUPT them on Friday at 12:45 out on the playground so if you would like to come and watch, that would be great. We are inviting the whole school to come and watch. We just couldn't do them today as it was not warm enough to be out for that length of time and Friday should be around 45 degrees!!

If you didn't do one yet, you have until Friday and will get partial credit for it.

Testing tomorrow-we are doing more testing tomorrow. It is the Reading test. Once again it is time to shine Little Diamonds so get a good night's rest, good, healthy breakfast, and bring a healthy, high protein snack. They may also bring gum to chew which is a good stress reliever and relaxer. If you go over with your child the importance of doing your best on the test, write test in their planner for money at check in.

Started fractions in Math today and if your child can tell you what number the numerator and the denominator is, write it in their planner.

Midwest States & Capitals practice maps went home today. Test will be on Tuesday, March 15th.

Congratulations to Andrew, our new student of the week. We enjoyed hearing all about you.

Have a great night.

VOLCANOES DUE MONDAY

Celebration-We had a little treat today because we all did so well on some computer program. Ask your child what it was and write it in their planner for extra money at check in on Monday. All my getting after them and their hard work in Math is paying off!!

I sure hope as you are reading this the volcano in your house is complete or almost complete. They are due on Monday. Remember a big part of Science grade this 3rd quarter.

We have more testing this week. We will do the reading test on Tues., Wed., and Friday. I am once again excited for them to shine and show all their know. The card you see in their mail that has a number 1-4 on it is an example of a constructed response just like on the test. We went over them today and critiqued them discussing what was good and what is needed to work on.

We are starting Fractions in Math on Monday. I am not giving a chapter test on Geometry since we are having so many other tests. All the daily assessments & quizzes have been enough and we have a good grasp of those concepts.

We are finally going to start Social Studies once again. We are into the Midwest Region. There are 12 states & capitals that they will be responsible for. Start studying on your laminated map now.

No Spelling list this week as we are in a review chapter. We will have some assignments to review skills, and then a random test of 20 words on Thursday.

Have a great weekend.

Spirit Day Tomorrow

We had a GREAT day today as we finished our Science Testing. The students seemed to do quite well and felt very confident with all they knew. They did their BEST and truly BELIEVED in themselves. Way to go!

Tonight is the last night for the Read-A-Thon. Envelopes are due tomorrow with minute totals and money collected and in the envelope for any sponsors they got.

Spirit Day is tomorrow. Wear your blue & gold colors to show off your Bitterroot Bobcat spirit.

Tomorrow is Library Day so get those library books in the backpacks.

Volcano projects are due on Monday. Remember to be working on them now and not wait until Sunday night. This is a big part of your 3rd quarter science grade. I encourage you and your child to work together. How fun!

No nightly writing tonight. Spelling test is tomorrow. I feel we haven't had spelling or reading forever.

Have a great night.

Read-Read-Read

We had our 1st session of testing today. The students did GREAT and worked very hard. We will have session 2 tomorrow. Make sure they get a good night's rest, breakfast, and bring a nutritional snack. They may also bring GUM to have during testing.

There are 2 days left of the Read-A-Thon. Packets will be collected Friday so make sure your child is reading at least 24 min./night. Also, they are to have the money in the envelopes for any sponsors they had for their reading. Let's go Team Hankins and pile on those minutes!!

PE tomorrow so remember those PE shoes.

Mr. Goodheart is so proud of us. Everyone has had their books & recorders both times this week. WHOOOHOOO!! We are getting ready for that concert at the end of the month.

Remember to be working on those volcano projects for Monday. I know a couple of you have a different way of making them, just make sure they are built around the Coke bottle or something that will be able to be erupted. Remember this is a big part of your Science grade for this quarter.

Have a great night.

Have a great night.

Volcano Projects Went Home Today

WHOOHOOO!! Today, we finally got our volcano notes so we can start our volcano projects at home. Students received the directions for their volcano projects today. We went over them as a group and drew a diagram of them. I think the students understand what is involved and expected. The main thing is to not cover up the neck or top of the Diet Coke bottle. Also, they need to start these tonight or tomorrow so that they can dry as they need to be done in segments and be ready for BLAST OFF on Monday, March 7th. I will have what is needed to erupt them. This is going to be so fun to see a volcano go from dormancy to active!!!

Tomorrow is the first day of testing. We are doing Part 1 of Science. We did some practice today and I think that helped ease the students' minds of what to expect since Science is new for 4th grade. They found that some questions were easy and some more difficult, but we talked about test taking strategies of eliminating those answers that they know are definitely wrong. Please see that your child has a good night's sleep and a nutritional breakfast; peanut butter, eggs, etc. and brings a healthy snack for before testing starts. If you talk to your child about testing and help them get a good breakfast, a good night's sleep, good snack, and send them out the door with a HUG and POSITIVE, KIND words to encourage them to do their BEST write TEST in their planner for money at check in.

Also, due again tomorrow are the reading envelopes. Student Council is keeping track of minutes so please see that your child is reading nightly and get those returned tomorrow for $100 in free money. I will then give them back for the last 2 days of the contest. Thank you.

Persuasive Writing: We started these today in my Reading Class (Read 180 students already did them) so ask your child what & who they are trying to persuade. Write it in their planner for more money at check in. WOW-lots of free money can be made tomorrow. They will need it as we will be having some fun days to buy into when the testing is over!!!

Have a great night.