Mid-terms Went Home Today

Midterms went home today and I am happy to say that overall they look good. Remember there is still time to get those 4th quarter grades up by report card time. If you saw their midterm, write midterm in the planner for free money. We continued with MT History today. Ask your child about the Louisiana Purchase. If they can tell you something about it write France in their planner for free money.

We finished our unit on customary measurement in Math today. We are ready to move on to decimals.

Next week on Thursday, May 5th, we have a fun activity planned about "egg-sitting". More to come on that later.

Remember that there is no school on Friday, May 6th.

Have a great weekend and let's hope Spring comes back to us.

The Eggs Came Crashing Down

Wow-what a great time we had in Science today! It all started by taking the eggs up to the roof and throwing them down one at a time. It was priceless to see the look on your child's face as they retrieved their package and carefully opened it up to see the contents. Some had big smiles and others; well-not so thrilled. Most of our eggs survived, but some of them didn't. Then we came back into the classroom and looked at the way it was packaged and talked about what worked well and what didn't. We took time to discuss how the project fit into Newton's 3 Laws of Motion also. For free money tomorrow at check in, have your child about the egg drop. Thank you to Mr. Murdock, and Ms. Ball for going up on the roof for us to make this possible. They looked like they enjoyed themselves too.

Tomorrow is Library Day so bring those books.

Have a great night.

Eggs Will Drop Tomorrow

Notice the change in date. Tomorrow (Thursday) is the Egg Drop because the weather is supposed to be as nice as today if not nicer. Friday calls for rain/wind. So have those egg packages here tomorrow. They will drop at 12:45. Can't wait to see all the creative ways of packaging.

Have a great night and get out and enjoy the weather.

Montana History

Wow-what a busy day. We started Montana History today by starting the book Sacajawea. We are going to read chapter by chapter together and outline each chapter to practice that skill. Wow-we have learned a lot already and only read the first part of chapter 1. We are also locating places on our Montana & US maps. This is going to be an extensive study and the students are responsible for taking it seriously and learning a lot about our amazing state. We will also be taking a field trip to Pompey's Pillar on May 13.

In Reading, we started the book Pathki Nana which is about a girl in the Kootenai Tribe from the Flathead Reservation. This is an awesome story about a girl who overcomes a lot to find herself and learns to believe and feel good about herself.

Our operation egg drop project has been moved up to Thursday as that is supposed to be a beautiful day and Friday looks not so good (like today) so let's have them here by THURSDAY. If your child has started, please write egg drop in their planner for free money.

We started new book clubs today. We will be doing these more like the traditional book clubs go where students will read daily, come up with questions, predictions, etc. and then discuss them in depth and piggy back off of what others say to really discuss the book. I can't wait to see how they transfer this as we worked on it lots this year with my help. We have 3 different ones going. Ask your child the name of their book for free money at check in. Read 180 kids, write down what you are reading in there.

In Math, we are working on measurement and changing units like inches to feet, etc. Difficult concept, but we will get there.

Have a great night and let's hope for our nice weather to come back.

Green Day Tomorrow

Yes, it is time to where "GREEN" once again in honor of Earth Day on Friday. Since we don't have school on Friday, we are wearing it tomorrow. Free money to those that do.

For writing tonight, students are to think about how you help the earth and what you might start to do to help the earth. It needs to be in paragraph form. They will share tomorrow during Science along with some other activities we will be doing.

Operation Egg Drop form went home today. I can't wait to see all the creative ways students package an egg in a container no larger than a shoe box, and wear no more than a pound. I encourage parent participation.

They shared their Hawaii projects today and the groups planned some pretty fun vacations for the whole class. They voted on the one they thought was the most fun and that was the one completed by Hayden, Jarret, and Colton. Good job to everyone.

I will be sending home the NWEA growth slips on Friday, April 29th along with their mid-term reports.

Remember it is Early Out tomorrow-12:00 dismissal. We won't see you again until Tuesday, April 26th. Have a wonderful Easter Break.

Fun Day

Hawaiian Day was a huge success today as the kids had a lot of fun. We started in the gym with games & activities they would play in Hawaii and then came to the room for some fruit, hawaiian nut mix, and juice. As we ate, we had a DVD playing which showed a helicopter ride over Hawaii. Oh, it was so beautiful. Thank you to the Harpers for sharing. Looks like you had a fun trip there.

Thank you to everyone for contributing to this with the $3 donation which is being put toward our field trip buses.

In Science today, I demonstrated Newton's 3rd Law. If your child can tell you what that law is and how I did the experiment, write it in the planner for free money.

We also talked about a project they will be doing at home called Operation Egg Drop. They are to package a raw egg in a package no larger than a shoe box and weigh no more than a pound. These will be dropped from the Bitterroot rooftop. They will need to think about and incorporate all 3 of Newton's laws. The information sheet on this will come home tomorrow. Start planning now.

No Spelling words this week due to the short week.

Early out on Wednesday-12:00 dismissal and then students are off Thurs.-Monday for the Easter break.

Wednesday we are celebrating Earth Day. Have your child wear green that day for free money.

Speaking of free money, we spent a lot of it on Friday at the auction. I think everyone came away happy with lots of stuff.

Have a great night.

Wow-we had another amazing testing day. The students have shown growth in math anywhere from 8-26 points. This is great. We are done with these now and I will be sending home a form that shows where your child is in each subject next week.

Tomorrow is Crazy Hair Day-students may color their hair this one day. It must be done at home though and not at school. Free money for those that participate.

We started Capacity measurement in math today. Write down your favorite family recipe today that shows capacity measurements in it. Bring it to school for free money at check in.

Tomorrow is also our states & capitals test on the West region. Study -study.

Also, we are having our auction tomorrow afternoon. Students counted money today and will have to keep the $2000 for field trips, but can spend anything they have over that.

Please send the $3.00 with your child by Friday for the Hawaiian Day. This will be a day filled with lots of fun. It is on Monday.

Reminder that Wednesday, April 20th is an early out with 12:00 dismissal and there is no school that Thursday-Monday for the Easter break.

Have a great night.

Hawaii Here We Come

We have finished planning our Hawaii vacations today and will share the itineraries tomorrow.

We are having our Hawaiian Day on Monday, April 18th. Hawaiian food, games, songs, and lots of fun are in the plan for that afternoon. Ms. Erickson's Class will be joining us and we are asking each student to bring in $3 as a buy in to help pay for food, decorations, etc. and the extra money will go towards our field trips. So start digging out those Hawaiian clothes and be ready for some fun.

Speaking of dressing up-remember Crazy Hair Day is this Friday.

Also, this Friday I will have lots of items on hand for our auction. Students will be able to spend their fake money. They will have to keep $2000 for their upcoming field trips and the rest is theirs to blow. Always a fun time.

Also, this Friday is our states & capitals test on the West region. Remember states, capitals, and location are a must.

Tomorrow is our NWEA Math test. The students have done awesome on the Reading & Language and I am expecting the same or even better with the math. I feel we have come such a long way and grown so much mathematically.

Our HR today was about a popular game. Ask your child what it was. If they can tell you one thing about it, write it in the planner for free money.

Have a great night and keep enjoying this weather.

Planning Our Hawaiian Vacations!!

We are busy planning our Hawaiian vacations. Oh, if only they were for real. As we completed Chapter 12, which is on the west, and Hawaii is part of that region we decided to do a fun project. Students are working in groups of 3 planning a trip there for the whole class. They have to visit 4 islands in 4 days and they have different excursions they can plan. Some are free, some rather inexpensive, and others extravagant. They have $2000/day to spend for the whole class. They can spend a total of $8000 for all 4 days. They have some fun activities going. We are thinking of having a Hawaiian party next week to celebrate, share, and choose which groups we like the best.

Today we started measurement in Math. This is a concept that is rather hard for some students. If you possibly can, have your child measure some objects at home to the nearest inch, 1/2, 1/4 & 1/8. This will help make learning it a bit easier. For free money, measure 3 things at home and write them in the planner with their lengths.

For the reading kids in the regular classroom, have a conversation about Charlotte getting "revenge" or "justice" on Mr. Milshark. We are loving this book.

Just a reminder we have our Math NWEA test on Thursday so make every effort to be here.

Have a great night.

BUG CLUB RECIPIENTS

Congratulations to the BUG Club recipients for 3rd quarter. As you can see, they enjoyed their treats from the Heights Kiwanis. Recipients were: Jarret, Layne, Tony, Wyatt, Raegan, Morgan, Marquise, Elias, Shane, Colton, Brittany, and Madisson.
Great job and I hope to see more this next quarter.

Wow-did we do an excellent job on our NWEA Language test again today. We had point growth anywhere from 6-23 points.

Great job kids.

Ask your child about our Social Studies project they are doing in their group. Hint: Hawaii trip. They will earn free money if they can tell you. Write Hawaii in the planner.

Have a great night and get out and enjoy the weather.

F=M X A

Not a lot of new news today.

Today in Science we worked on Newton's 2nd Law of Motion which is F= M x A

If your child can explain this law to you, write the formula in their planner for free money at check in. If you wish there are a couple of good You Tube videos to explain this law.

Tomorrow's Spirit Day is "Support Our Troops". Wear camo, or red, white, and blue colors. Free money for those that do.

Nightly Writing: Tonight's format is a bit different than it has been. Students have to make a choice and support that choice with details. I hope they use all they have learned about grammar, language usage, and the mechanics of writing. You may help them and give your opinions. Have fun and we will share these tomorrow in class.

We postponed our auction until Friday, April 15th due to testing. The 6th grade will be testing tomorrow and our auction can get kind of noisy so we want to respect their testing time. It gives your child more time to earn more money. They will be required to keep $2000 for upcoming field trip(s).

Have a great night.

WOWZERS!!!

Today we took our first NWEA test and it was in Reading. WOW-did the kids do fantastic or what!! We have talked a lot these past couple days about how these are built for just them and it will show their own personal growth and how well their teachers taught them this year. Well, they sure took all this very seriously because we had awesome growth. We had growth of 10, 20, & 25 points. That is incredible because in Reading we expect and hope for about 7 points growth. I can't wait for next week's Language & Math tests as I am sure the results will be just as positive.

Mrs. Betts & I are so proud of each and every one of them and I know you are too.

We took our Chapter 9 Math test today on Fractions so now we are moving on to Measurement.

This Friday is spirit day and it is Support Our Troops Day so wear camo, or red, white, and blue. Free money to those that dress up and show support.

Have your child tell one fun, positive thing about today and write it in their planner for free money at check in.

Have a great night.

SO EXCITED

We had a great day today and forgot a few times that it was Tuesday rather than Monday. It is amazing what kinds of routines we get into.

Tomorrow is our NWEA Reading Test. I am so excited for these because I am so confident that the students are going to shine. They took this same test at the beginning of 4th grade. Taking it again will show the tremendous growth they have shown in reading and it allows me to see all I've taught them and what we still need to work on. It is on the computer so they will have to work hard and not rush. If they rush, they may have to do it again because the computer adjusts the questions to their ability. So the moral of the story-"take your time and do your very very best" to eliminate possible re-testing. I will get the results of these tests right away so that is cool too. Please see that your child gets a good night's rest, healthy breakfast, and bring a healthy snack. Please go over these testing thoughts with your child tonight and write "I am going to do my best" in their planners for free money.

April reading calendars went home today so READ-READ-READ!!

Also, the states & capitals study guide went home for the last region-the west. They also have the laminated one to practice.

The test over these will be on Friday, April 15th.

Congratulations to our PERFECT ATTENDANCE recipients: Andrew, Blade, Trisha, Zach, and Shane. Good job. :)

Have a great night.