Yeah-the Day is Finally Here

Yes, tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for. The otter projects will be arriving. Students will display them on the tables in the hallway as they arrive at school in the morning. I have a meeting so they are to put them outside the classroom on one of the tables. Make sure as the directions said to have their name easily visible. We will begin sharing them tomorrow and finish sharing on Friday.
Today, we started discussing cells, bones, and tissue. If your child can tell you the name of the "control center" in the cell, write cell for free money. Also, today we watched a cool Bill Nye, the Science Guy You Tube about bones & muscles. If they can tell you how many bones a baby has vs. adult, write bones in the planner for free money.
Their nightly writing also goes along with this video. They are to write 2 paragraphs. One about bones and the other about muscles. They can use facts from the video and from what they know. These are to have a topic sentence, at least 3 details each, and a conclusion each. That is for sure a total 10 good sentences altogether in 2 different paragraphs. Don't forget to indent.
Tonight's math homework consists of 4 math problems-4 digits x 1 digit. We did some in class together today as a whole and then with partners. We then used our calculators to check them. If they had mistakes, they had to go back and find and fix them.
My reading kids are doing such an awesome job with their book clubs. They are writing great inferential questions, making connections, and writing great I-V-F summaries. You should see all the sticky notes they are using to mark their thinking. I love it and all the learning and discussion that is going on. Ask you child what book they are reading and have them tell you about it, and write the title in the planner.
Tomorrow is HE/PE.
Have a great night.

Otter Projects

I am so excited to see the otter projects on Thursday. We talked about them today and it sounds like we are going to have awesome displays of what they learned. The creativity with these kids is endless. Way to go.
Today a map went home with the Midwest states & capitals so start studying as our test will be before the Christmas break. If you saw this paper and started studying with your child, write studied in the planner for free money.
Thank you to those of you that took the email that I sent you yesterday seriously about your child needing to know their basic multiplication facts. I saw improvements from some today. We started long multiplication computation today and they are realizing they need to know them so thank you and keep practicing.
Tomorrow we are starting the study of cells, bones, tissue, etc. in Science.
Our school wide manner motto this week is "giving sincere compliments" and accepting them graciously. In our morning meetings we are talking about giving specific compliments that we really mean and not just a general one, and how much better we feel when we know it is sincere. Give your child a sincere compliment tonight or tomorrow morning and see how they smile & light up. If you do this, write compliment in the planner for more free money.
Have a great night.

Busy Monday

Wow-we didn't waste any time coming off our 5 day break. We hit the books hard today and got a lot accomplished.
First of all, I want to start off by saying I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving with your family & friends. I sure did. Enjoyed lots of family and friend time. In fact, so much that I didn't blog over the weekend as you noticed.
Today, we started our Midwest states & capitals with our Geography Challenge. A copy of these will come home tomorrow. The test over these will sometime in December. I will let you know as to when. If your child can name 2 of the states in this region, write Midwest in the planner.
In Math, we did multiplication/division fact families along with writing multiplication story problems. Speaking of math, some of you received an email from me today informing you of the fact that your child really needs to practice their multiplication facts. I am sorry to say, that there is not a lot of improvement shown for some. This is really going to hurt them soon as we begin the computation component. I hate to take away their fun times to practice, but I will if I don't see improvements made with home practice.
Reminder: Otter projects are due on Thursday. I heard about lots of them today and they sound awesome. I can't wait to see the creativity that will be displayed. Speaking of otters-tonight's writing consists of writing a thank you letter to Jeff on the otter picture that they received today. They were shown a model of how to go around the inside/outer edge starting at the tail and filling in the body. Fourth grade quality is needed!!!!

Music Program is on Monday, December 19th. The same program will be done twice. Once at 9:30 and again at 1:00. Make arrangements to come to one of the performances. It is going to be awesome. We have very talented young ladies & gentlemen. Some have speaking parts to be memorizing so ask your child if they are one of them.
Tomorrow is HE/PE.
Have a great night.

Otter Project Information

First of all, thank you for all the wonderful feedback from the spaghetti dinner. The majority of the advice was to have the whole family served at once and I totally agree. In fact, when Ms. Erickson & I were reflecting that evening while cleaning up, we thought the same thing. I think next year, we will have families go table by table and do it that way. We had decided this way because we wanted the kids to serve their parents & families, but we can still make that happen when we do families or table numbers at a time. The main thing is, the kids had a great time and enjoyed themselves. By the way, we made $644 after expenses were paid. Thank you again for making this a great project for all of us.
Otter project requirements went home today. Each student picked out of a hat the season they got. Like the paper says, "the sky is the limit" be creative and have fun. Please take the time to start talking about these tonight. If you do, write project in the planner for free money.
Today, we had our SE states & capitals test. Most students did fantastic!! Way to go-much better than the last region.
We also had our math test today.
5 free assignment/late work tickets were issued today. Talk to your child about what they mean and what having at least 1/5 left by Dec. 21st means. Also, the students who don't lose any, get a $500 bonus. If you have the talk, write Polar Express in the planner for another $ bonus.
Reminder: Tomorrow is an early out-12:00 dismissal.
Thank you and have a great night.

What a Fun Italian Spaghetti Dinner Night

What a great time the spaghetti dinner turned out to be. Thank you so much for all of you whom attended. I think overall, it went very well for it being our 1st go at something like this. We will reflect on it and make some changes for next year so please give any input you may have whether be positive or negative. It was so fun to see the kids dressed up and enjoying themselves waiting on their parents and hanging out in line with their friends. I heard lots of fun and laughter going on that night. Must have been as we couldn't hear the Italian music playing even though I tried to turn it up twice. If you write any positives or negatives in the planner, students will receive free money.
This is going to be a busy short week. Even though we only have a full day Monday, and a 1/2 day Tuesday, we have our SE states & capitals test tomorrow along with our science test on otters and many of the other facts we learned on the field trip. Students will also get the information they need tomorrow for their final science project on otters that they will have the break to work on. On Tuesday morning, we will have our math test over estimation & algebra.
No Spelling words this week.
Next buy-in: On Wednesday, December 21st, we will have our Polar Express Day with both 4th grades. Students get to wear pajamas, have hot chocolate, watch the Polar Express movie, and make their candy trains. The buy-in will be $1000. Not only will they have to buy in, but they will need to have at least 1/5 missing/late assignment coupons left. Yes, they each will have 5 missing/late assignments coupons on their desk tomorrow. I am doing this because we have had a few problems with some missing/late work with some students lately especially after they have bought in to field trips, fun activities, etc. They need to know that even though they have enough fake money to buy in doesn't always guarantee they can participate in the fun things as a few students found out with our field trip last week. You, as parents, and myself as their teacher have the final say. I believe they need to use their good character at home and at school too in order to participate so please let's work together to make sure they earn the fun buy-ins. Thank you.
Have a great night.

How Cool!!

I am totally impressed by how we all learned yesterday on our awesome field trip. As you know, for their homework last night, they had to write down 15 facts from the day. It is obvious that 2 of the most popular were: how otters mark their territory while playing, and that females rule the wolf pack!!
Today, we read an article on hibernation even though otters don't hibernate. If your child can tell you 3 things hibernating animals bodies do, write hibernation in the planner and if they can tell you what hibernating in summer is called, write summer.
Tomorrow is our last day for the Angel Tree buy-in. We, as a school, raised over $260 today and over $500 for the past two days. That is awesome, Bitterroot. Let's keep up the good work of helping our school families.
Tomorrow is the spaghetti dinner. Both 4th grades will discuss the whole set up and how the evening is going to work at our whole group morning meeting tomorrow. Your job as parents is to show up, have fun, and enjoy time together. See you tomorrow anytime from 5:30-6:30.
Tomorrow is Library so get those books back.
Also, tomorrow is the day before the big Cat-Griz game so extra $ to those sporting their favorite team shirts/sweatshirts, etc.
As you know, I am a big CAT fan and Ms. Erickson is a Griz fan. We have a bet on the game and it is that whomever's team loses has to bake cookies for the other class along with their own. Just a hint-you may want to "cheer" on the CATS because she makes awesome chocolate chip cookies and mine-well, not so much!!!!! So GO CATS!!!!!!
Tomorrow is picture re-take day from 1-2:00. See flyer that came home today.
Reminder: Social Studies SE states & capitals test is on MONDAY!!!!!!
Early out on Tuesday-12:00 dismissal and No School Wed.-Fri.
Have a great night and stay warm and hope for the crazy wind to stop.

Oh My-What a Day!

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Wow-we had a GREAT day today right from when we got off the bus at Norm's Island until we left Zoo Montana. We learned so many incredible, amazing facts about so many more animals other than just otters. We also learned about erosion, ecosystems, and the Yellowstone River. Your child's nightly writing/science assignment tonight is to write 15 new facts that they learned today with correct capitalization, punctuation, and 4th grade quality. If your child talks to you about the field trip while they are writing and can tell you 5 cool facts, write otters in the planner.
As you can see, we had a great time and learned tons.
Tests coming up: We are having our Math test on Monday for Chapters 2 & 3 and also our Social Studies states & capitals test has been moved up to Monday. I had originally said Tuesday, but forgot we only have 1/2 day.
Tomorrow's Angel Tree/Giving buy-in day is "chew gum" for $1.00. Supply your own gum. Today, we earned $296 for our families in need. Thank you and I love how many of the kids are taking the $ out of their own savings. How cool is that!
Have a great night and enjoy a couple of my favorite pics for now.

Field Trip Tomorrow!

Yes, our field trip is finally here. We will be leaving tomorrow at 9:00 and returning around 2:15. We are going to Norm's Island first and then to Zoo Montana. We talked today about expectations and dressing in layers. It may be wet out at the island so wearing boots is a great idea. Tomorrow is also our hat buy-in day for $1.00. I told the kids to wear stocking caps and/or ear bands and then wear their other hat over it if they wish. Also, remember your sack lunch except for the ones that ordered the school one. I will have yours here for you tomorrow. PLEASE NO CAMERAS!!! We talked about taking cameras, but Ms. Erickson is not allowing her kids to so we won't either. That way, we won't be distracted from listening to Jeff and don't have to worry about losing it. Thank you-sorry kids for the change.
Our kids made me and Bitterroot proud today. Our whole school raised $365 for the Flakesgiving. If you tune into 102.9 tomorrow at 7:15 you will hear it announced on the radio -How cool!!
If your child participates in the hat day tomorrow -they will earn $50 of free money.
Today we finished our tour of the SE. Then we played a survival game. Wow-they really got to see how tough life was in the Jamestown Colony back in the 1600's. For their nightly writing tonight, they need to write a letter in their Social Studies workbook on page 37. They are to give reasons why John should or should not come from England to the colony.
Keep practicing those multiplication facts at home. After break, we are starting the harder computation and knowing the facts is a must.
Thank you to all of you for the Spaghetti Dinner responses. Wow- I am so excited to see so many of you coming. Also, I loved the little side notes that many of you wrote expressing your excitement. Thank you.
We will call Olive Garden with our final count tomorrow so make sure if you haven't returned your slip yet, that you do tomorrow. We sure don't want to run out of food.
Have a great night and see you tomorrow with your warm layers and your lunch.

Spaghetti Anyone??????

Friday, November 18th has been set as the day for our 4th Grade Spaghetti Dinner. We talked about the details of it in morning meeting this morning and yellow informational slips went home today with your child. Please read through it carefully and fill out the bottom portion and return with your child tomorrow so that we can get a count of how many we are going to have so that we can let Olive Garden know. Thank you- a $300 fake money reward for those returning tomorrow.
Also, in your child's mail is a note about "helping out the less fortunate as the holidays are approaching. We, our Bitterroot Family, are going to have buy-ins this week Tues. -Friday at the cost of $1.00 each. All the money will be used for our school's angel tree with the exception of Tuesdays. The money collected tomorrow is going to be given to the Breakfast Flakes as our donation to "Flakesgiving" which helps buy Thanksgiving Dinner for those less fortunate in our Billings Community.
The daily buy-ins are: Tuesday: PJ--stuffed animal day
Wednesday-wear a hat all day
Thursday-chew gum in class day
Friday-eat left over Halloween candy during school at your teacher's discretion during the day.
Thank you for helping us out. We talked this morning in morning meeting about using their own money for these days and not asking parents for the money. Remember these are optional. I will pay $50 for each day they participate.
Field trip is Wednesday, the 16th. Please start planning dressing warm for the day as we are going to be spending most of the day outside. Also, make sure you are planning to pack a lunch for your child if you did not order a school sack lunch.
Remember to be practicing those SE states & capitals. Test is on Tuesday, November 22nd.
Some of you are getting much better with your multiplication facts. Good for you-I am proud of you. This will benefit soon when we start more difficult X computation.
Art: students will need empty toilet tissue rolls for Monday, November 21 in Art.
Book orders went home today and are due on Monday, November 21st if ordering with paper form and you can order on-line by going to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. Our class code is: GZN8L
Have a great night.

A Huge Thank You to ALL our Veterans!

Thank you goes out to all who have or are still serving our country in the military.
We had a busy week talking about what the day means and what the veterans do and have done for all of us and our freedom.
Today, was extra special though. We started out the day by reading a book titled: "America's White Table". What a powerful book about how families wait for their loved ones return. We set up the white table with the items just like in the book to show them and what they represent to all of us and their families. Ask your child to tell you about all of them and write "America" in the planner if they can tell you a lot about the book. I encourage you to go buy it and maybe even think of doing this at one of the holidays.
Then we had 2 very special Marines come. They were 1st Lieutenant Miller and Captain Nicholson. They talked to the kids about their military services and what it is like to represent & fight for our country. We had the white table set up for them and they were very honored as that is something they do with their families. We also had the yellow stars up in the background that the Bitterroot kids made in honor of their family/friend loved ones.
Then my reading kids got to see the video of the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". The requirements, dedication, and honor it takes to guard this tomb is amazing. The kids were in awe. As you can see, we spent a lot of time showing our patriotism and honoring those who have gone before us and those that are and/or will be fighting for us.
We took a moment of silence today at 11:11 to honor them also. Thank you veterans.
We also did buddies today and played a math game where they had to find facts that equal up to 11. We always love to get together with and help out our buddies.

Push Forward With Positive Attitude & Effort

Today, we had some sad faces as they came back from PE and they saw they didn't get a reward and extra ticket. I had checked the multiplication timing for the 6's. Now, let's just say that they had 3 min. to do 25 problems and some didn't finish or had lots of the facts incorrect. I can not stress to them the need to practice these at home and put forth lots of effort. Things in 4th grade aren't going to come easy -effort is needed. Great job to those of you that are studying and practicing.
Also, I am hoping to see a carry-over of skills into other curriculum areas. When we practice capitalization/punctuation in DOL and they know it, it should be carrying over to their other work as well. Now, that I am on my soapbox-I really want you to encourage your child to do quality work in everything. As I tell them, it says a lot about them & their character. Thank you so much to all of you that will take the time to talk to your child about this. Please write "talked" in the planner for free money.
Now on the positive side, I can honestly say that my reading kids are doing a "bang-up" job in book club discussions.!! Wow-I am so excited and listening to all the dialogue going on is so rewarding!! Way to go Team Hankins.
Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and to honor our veteran's I am paying students $200 if they wear red, white, and blue. Some want to wear camo and that is good too.
Otter facts: We learned some pretty interesting new facts today. Ask your child how many layers of fur they have and why they roll around in the grass.
Reminder: PTA meeting tonight-if you go, write PTA in the planner for free money.
Thank you and have a great night.

Busy Little Beavers --Oh I Mean Otters!!

Busy Little Otters-hence the cliche' "busy little beavers". We were busy today gathering some awesome otter facts using the computers and following the study guide from National Geographic for Kids. If your child can tell 3 cool facts they learned, write otters in the planner.
We started our tour of the SE today and if your child can tell you about 2 stops on the tour, write SE in the planner. Start studying those states & capitals if you haven't already.
Tomorrow is the multiplication timing for the 6's. They took a study/practice sheet home tonight to practice them.
Tomorrow is HE/PE so have the tennis shoes packed.
I still need permission slips and/or $ from the following students: Darian, Gabe, Ben, Thomas, and Logan. Thank you.
Veteran's Memorial: There is a poster up in the intermediate hallway to remember and honor our veterans. Students are writing names of the veterans, what war they were in, and how they know or are related to this person. Ask your child if they have done one yet, and if not and you know of someone, discuss it with them, and then tomorrow they can fill out the yellow star. So nice to honor those that have and still do fight for our FREEDOM!! Thank you veterans and anyone associated with the military.
Have a great night.

On the News Tonight!!

Howdy Partners! Today was a great day right from the start celebrating our wonderful state of Montana's birthday. We started out with MT trivia that we turned into facts and then we wrote poems this morning as part of our language/reading.
After lunch, we got both classes together and did some map work with finding cities/towns in MT that matched little clues, then made birthday hat cookies, and of course sang the great state song "Montana". Brad, from KULR-8 was here and so be sure to tune in to the 5 and/or 6:00 news!! Great job 4th graders and quiz your parents on some MT trivia and if they can answer write MT in the planner and if they can tell you how old MT is write 1889 in the planner.
Nightly writing tonight consists of writing a paragraph or two or three about all they learned today about MT and what their favorite part was. They are to use topic, detail, and conclusion sentences. At least 1/2 page and 4th grade quality.
In math, we continue to write number expressions and will start algebraic expressions tomorrow. Everyone did great on the 5's today so tomorrow we start the 6's.
Also, tomorrow we are starting our otter unit in Science. Students will be using computers to find facts on National Geographic for Kids.
Thank you to all of you that sent in the $2.50 for the field trip and the permissions slips. The rest please get them back ASAP.
Have a great night.

Happy Birthday, Montana!

Oh my what a busy day. We are trying to make up for lost time from last week. We got to a lot of curriculum today and not as much time to work on everything during independent work time as usual in class so there may be more homework tonight than some nights. Oh well, just the way it goes.
Tomorrow is Montana's 122nd birthday so both 4th grades will be doing some fun activities in the afternoon. Everyone has bought into this activity for $400.
Maps of the Southeast went home today so kids can start studying for the SE test. We are going to have this test on Monday, November 21st so that gives plenty of time to study. We will make flash cards here at school to study and use both maps at home to study the capitals and their location. Many students have the chapter 6 Geography Challenge tonight for homework. Make sure they put the answers on the workbook pages and put the places in on the map in the workbook also. If your child can name 3 states in the SE, write SE in the planner for free money.
Permission slips went home today for the all day field trip to Norm's Island and Zoo Montana. Take note of the lunch options and the $2.50 cost admission into the zoo. Students will receive $100 for getting slips back tomorrow and an extra $100 if they bring the $2.50 of real money.
Volunteering: This week our school & school tools manner motto is: Volunteer to help. What a great opportunity to help out our neighbors, family members, etc. If your child does a great deed of volunteering without you telling them to, please write volunteered in their planner.
Multiplication: Oh my, we really need to practice those facts. I can't help, but stress the importance of memorizing them. I am not worried about the speed of them, but just knowing them. We had a quiz on the 0-4's today and over 1/2 of the class doesn't know them. Yikes-so please put the studying of these in the nightly homework plan. If need be, we will practice outside at recess time. Thank you
No nightly writing tonight.

Back in the Groove on Monday

I hope you are having a great weekend and playing out there in that white stuff! I can honestly say I am not a snow lover other than when I am skiing and wasn't too excited to see it falling yesterday. Oh well-let's hope it melts this week.
We are back into the groove this week with a normal week.
In Science, we are going to be starting our unit on otters, hibernation, and how animals adapt for the winter.
We will talk about and buy in for our field trip that is going to be happening on Wednesday, November 16th.
In Math, we will continue with multiplication reviewing 0-4's and starting on the 5-7's. Practice -practice at home. We are also moving on into some algebraic equations.
In Social Studies, we are finally taking our train & boat tour of the Southeast. A map of the states & capitals for this region is coming home Monday as well.
My reading kids started their book club books last Thursday so we will be working hard on them for awhile along with our language & spelling at that time.
Computer time to do ReadAbout & Success Maker will finally be normal this week as well. As you can see, we are hitting the ground running this week without any interruptions.
Both 4th grades are planning a 4th grade family spaghetti dinner just for our 4th graders and their families. They will have an active role in this and be able to interact with you. The date is Friday, November 18th so mark your calendars. Invitations will be coming home soon.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to meet with me at conferences. I enjoyed visiting with each and everyone of you and look forward to the rest of the year.
Remember you can now access your child's grades on line by following the info. sheet I gave you at conferences. (Now I have to do my part and keep my grades updated).
Have a great rest of the weekend.

Short & Sweet

Due to conferences until 7:30 tonight, I am writing a short post. Thank you to all of you that have made it to the parent-teacher conferences. I so enjoy sharing with you all your child's successes and talking about what we can do to help them or make their school/academic experiences even better.
Today, my reading kid got their books for book clubs so ask them the title of the book they have.
No nightly writing tonight.
Today's HR was on Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter. If your child can tell you 2 things she did to earn that title, write sharp shooter in the planner for free money.
Next Tuesday, November 8th is our wonderful state of Montana's birthday. Both 4th grades are going to do some fun activities as part of our 4th grade Montana History curriculum to celebrate. There will be a $400 buy in for this party/celebration.
Tomorrow is the spelling test and also we are having a quiz over the 4's in multiplication. Please please practice those facts at home. It does make a difference.
Have a great afternoon & evening.

Conferences Are Underway

It was great seeing those of you that I did so far and I look forward to seeing the rest of you tomorrow. It is so fun to share all the positives and excitement that I see in your child and their learning on a daily basis.
We have been working on estimation and tomorrow we will work on over & under estimates. Yes, they are having to use that rounding skill again.
Nightly Writing tonight consists of writing a letter to Officer Metzger at the Detention Center. They are tell about what they learned, what they liked, and how they will apply it in life. It should be at least 1/2 page and 4th grade quality.
Have a great night.

Happy November 1st

Today was a day filled with finishing up some Halloween activities and our book club book.
My reading kids went outside and did some fun relays and games as a final activity for the book we read "There's A Boy In the Girls' Bathroom. We were celebrating just like Colleen celebrated her birthday in the book. We had fun as you can see by the pics.
Then we came in and looked at pictures of the real characters from the book. We all realized that we portrayed the characters so differently when we made and wrote our character descriptions. We all agreed that it was a fun, good book and now we are ready to break down into small book club groups starting on Thursday.
We had 3 guest speakers in to talk to us about the SE as that is where we are studying in Social Studies. Two were from Kentucky and the other from South Carolina. If your child can remember 1 thing about each of those 2 states write SC & Kentucky in the planner.
I sent home a multiplication chart to practice those math facts at home. Also, remember to get on the websites that I listed to practice. I can really tell which students are practicing and they will be rewarded periodically. I can't stress enough the importance of knowing these.
Thank you to those of you who attended your Parent-Teacher Conference today. I appreciate you!
I look forward to meeting with the parents of: Landon, Nathaniel, Hailey, Logan, Aiden, Megan, Jeremiah, Mason, Gabe, Ben, and Korbyn tomorrow.
Remember tomorrow is an early out (12:00) dismissal.
Have a great night.