Merry Christmas

Hi-we are having a great last day before break. We are watching the "Big Miracle" movie right now and the kids are really into it. What a great movie to supplement our study on endangered animals. We had lots of good discussion with this unit on how to help our environment. I hope we all will take action on this matter. We are going to continue it a bit after the holiday break when we focus a bit more on recycling. You will see what fun ideas Ms.Erickson & I have planned. We finished up all our curriculum in reading today so when we come back, we are ready for new books & a new read-a-loud. Secret Santas were revealed today and we had some surprised faces. We all had fun with this. We had a great surprise here at Bitterroot this morning. The Skyview Band/Orchestra & Choir came and performed for us today. They were awesome and if you weren't in the holiday spirit before then, you sure were after their performance. Buddies today consisted of helping them shop at Santa's Workshop and then helping them wrap their purchases. So fun to see those little ones wrap!!! Purple Hand Recipient: Yesterday students nominated their peers whom they felt were deserving of this award and then they voted. Chase Nye was chosen by his peers. Students who nominated him said they are so impressed and happy about how much better he is doing since the beginning of the year at controlling his anger & emotions. Great Job, Chase. We are so proud of you and hope you keep it up. Merry Christmas to all of you and I will not post again until we are back on January 2nd. Hugs-Hugs xxxooo

Pillow, Blanket, and Stuffed Animal

Just a reminder that the movie is tomorrow afternoon so bring your pillow, blanket, and stuffed animal along with a drink (no larger than 20oz.) and a treat. We are also revealing our Secret Santas tomorrow so make sure you bring your last gift tomorrow. We finished our Earth's Resources reading & discussion groups today. Ask your child to tell you 3 things they are going to do to help our environment. If they diligent about doing it, write environment in the planner. Today we are saying goodbye to a very wonderful person. Mr. Pertuit, the substitute PE teacher for Mrs. Buss, has his last day at Bitterroot today. He has done a remarkable job and will surely be missed by all of us students & staff. Also, tomorrow is Mrs. Umemoto's last day. Her husband got transferred to Texas. I miss her already and she hasn't even left yet. We have developed a great friendship over the past 1 1/2 and I just hate to see her go. I know many of you had her in 3rd grade so make sure you stop and tell her goodbye tomorrow. Have a great night.

Great Job Kids!

Wowzers!! What a great job those kids did at the Christmas Concert. I am so proud of each and every one of them as I am sure you are too. I hope you were able to make it. Thank you for leaving your child at school this afternoon after the performance as we got lots of science and social studies done and now they don't have to make it up. Have your child tell you their favorite song of the performance and write it in the planner for free money. Tomorrow is our Santa's Workshop time in the afternoon. So if you want your child to purchase things, remember everything is $1.00 Remember to get permission slips back tomorrow for the Big Miracle movie if you didn't return them today. I don't know if you received a district wide call or not, but Billings Public Schools are on semi-lockdown which means all entry doors to the building are locked including the front door. I feel very good about how vigilant we are being and working together to keep our children safe. I know some of you are thinking about keeping your child home on Friday because of all that is happening and I want you to know that the decision is totally up to you, but I feel confident that everything will be alright. It was so nice to have law enforcement present in the building today and that will continue the next 2 days. Remember you secret santa gifts again tomorrow. Wow-these kids are loving it and getting all kinds of fun stuff. Have a great night.

Happy Tuesday

Yes, it was a good, happy day. Ask your child about the "Christmas Extravaganza" story we read this morning in morning meeting and how Mr. Merriweather lost the "true" meaning of Christmas. If they can tell you what he did to outdo the neighbors, write it in the planner. In Science, students got into groups and discussed Chapter 1 of their section on Earth's Resources. They did quite well and were returned today with a grade on them. They are to be doing Chapter 2 today if they didn't finish it in school. Then we read a story called "Symphony of Whales". Ask your child about it and if they can tell you what happened to the whales, write whales in the planner. Permission slips came home today for permission to watch "Big Miracle" on Friday. It is the perfect movie to end our "Going Green" unit and it ties in perfectly with the story we just read today. Students will have a $300 buy in and can bring a drink and treat to have during the movie. Also, they can bring a stuffed animal, blanket, and pillow. If students bring their permission slips back tomorrow, they can earn free money and a few of them need money to get to their $300. Secret Santas is going great. Students are loving what they are getting. Again, a couple of you forgot your gifts so I had to give theirs away. Tomorrow is the wonderful Christmas Concert. It begins at 9:30 and again at 1:15. We are last in the morning production and first in the afternoon one. Please don't plan to take your child after the program as we will be doing Science and we have a lot to finish up and they will have to make it up otherwise. We are still having Library tomorrow so bring those books back. Have a great night.

Good Day

Hi there- First of all, thank you for the kind messages that some of you wrote in the planners this morning about "thanking me for caring and loving your child". I was so glad to see & hug each and every one of them this morning with their bright, happy smiles amidst all that is going on around them. I just want to let you know, we met as a staff this morning and discussed the importance of carrying on with school & business as usual. That is just what we did and we had a very good day. This morning in morning meeting, everyone got to share their feelings whole group and there were a few that said they were sad or scared about the tragedy. I told them that these kinds of feelings are normal after something like this and that it is ok to feel that way. But then we discussed how we can be kind to others and showing care/compassion for them and just worry about small things because when you look at the "big" picture or scheme of things, they are pretty minor. I also told them once again that our #1 job is to keep you safe. We also talked about "why" we practice lock-down drills and the importance of them and for them to follow instructions from me or other school personnel. Mr. English sent home a letter today too explaining how we need to work together to assure our students that they are safe and for you to address their questions/concerns as you deem necessary. Today in Science, students did some differentiated independent reading about Earth and its' resources in their small readers. Ask them something they learned and write it in the planner for free money. In Art, the students made some pretty cool snowflakes that you will be able to see on display in the gym for the concert. In Math, we learned about and made line graphs. In Reading, 1/3 groups are done with their book club books so they worked on some reading to go with the SE region that we studied in Social Studies and they learned more facts and then had to make a comprehension guide/check that they will trade with a partner in their group tomorrow and have to answer each other's questions. Remember to send your Secret Santa gifts tomorrow. A few forgot today so what I did was take the treat they received from the person who had them and gave it to whom they were supposed to give it to. So make sure everyone that is participating brings tomorrow. I hate to be Scrooge and take gifts away!!! Eli shared his student of the week board. He is going to be a skateboard champion like Tony Hawk someday I can tell. Have a great night.

Hi There-

I am sorry for the late post, but this has been quite a weekend. A friend and a friend's son were seriously hurt in a car accident on Friday night. Last week's tragedy has been weighing very heavily on my heart this weekend. We all just wonder "why". I don't know how much you have discussed with your child, but I don't plan to discuss it with them tomorrow. Our morning meeting will consist of sharing feelings and those that want to can talk about it and share what they feel they need to. We will just see how our morning meeting goes and take it from there. Rusty has a segment tomorrow on his show titled: "hope". If there are questions that the students have that they want answered, I will direct them to Mrs. Neese. I just want you to know that we at Bitterroot do what we need to to keep each and every one of your children safe. It has been and always will be our #1 priority. Remember the Christmas concert on Wednesday, December 19th at 9:30 and 1:15. Also, we have our Secret Santas this week so remember to bring something tomorrow for yours and each day for the rest of the week. Have a good night and I look forward to seeing my students tomorrow. I so miss them and want to hug each and every one of them.

Testing is Over

Today was our final day of MAP testing and WOW! Have most of these kids shown great growth in math!! So fun to see and I just hope they keep up their hard work and enthusiasm for learning. We finished up our endangered animal unit in Science today. Ask your child what animal was getting the goats & chickens on the farm. If they can tell you, write it in the planner for free money. Surprises: Two of you have not picked up the surprises yet. Please make plans to do so on Friday or let me know what you want me to do with them. Thank you. Have a great night.

Back Up Again

Hi there- Sorry about no blog last night, but for some reason the site wouldn't let me post.:( But, here I am back again!! First of all, we are 2/3 done with our testing. We took the Reading yesterday and the Language today. Tomorrow is the Math in the afternoon. The kids are doing great and making some good gains so far this year. I hope math goes as well tomorrow. Yesterday, in Mrs. Neese's counseling session, she read a story about people's differences and then she had a treat for the kids. Ask them about the book and what the treat was and if they can tell you, write Mrs. Neese in the planner. Rudolph stories: We are writing Rudolph stories like we helped our buddies write. But, our stories have a bit more of a plot to them. Ask them what happened to their reindeer to make his nose turn color. Then write the color in the planner. Christmas Program: Remember to mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 19th. There are 2 performances -9:30 or 1:15. You need to come to only one. They are practicing right now as I am blogging and they sound GREAT and you will not want to miss it. Mr. Goodheart does such a GREAT job!!! I hope your child brought home the favorites list for their Secret Santa. This will start on Monday-remember keep it simple and very low cost. One little treat for each day. Revealing will be on Friday with the bigger of the 5 things given to their S.S. I hope you are enjoying this holiday season and not rushing around with all the hustle & bustle. I hope you can take time to truly enjoy the meaning of the season. Have a great night.

Not a lot to report today. Just a reminder that we have testing tomorrow. We are going to be doing the Reading MAP test so make sure you get a good night's rest, healthy, nutritious breakfast & snack. Congratulations to Payton as he shared his student of the week things with us today. He sure has lots of trophies from football & baseball. We also loved all the shirts you brought to share from places you have visited. Secret Santas were chose today. Ask your child who they chose. We had a few students gone today so they will do it tomorrow and then I will also send home the papers with their S.Santas favorite things to help in making the simple treats you bring easy on you and remember this is to be a very low cost fun thing. Have a great night.

Testing This Week

I hope your weekend is going well. This is going to be a busy week with our Winter NWEA (MAP) testing. Yes, we are doing them 3 times this year. We will be doing the Reading & Language on Tuesday & Wednesday during our Reading block time. The Math will be done on Thursday during our Math block time. Please make every effort to have your child here to school on these days. They do have to make them up and if they aren't here when we do them, they have to use other learning time to make them up with Mr. English so they miss out on important learning. Also, make sure your child has a good night's rest, nutritional breakfast, and a nutritional (lots of protein) snack. Also, they may bring gum to chew during the tests as this is a good relaxing mechanism. In Science, we continue with our "Going Green" unit. We are starting the animal component so there will be lots of good information about how we hurt our animals when we neglect to take care of the environment. At the end of the week, we are also going to break into small groups and students will read more environmental/ informational articles at their level There is a comprehension piece to go with this so they will be responsible for using lots of reading skills to complete these. I will be using it for a Science grade. In Math, we will spend time until Christmas with some graphing & coordinate grids and then after the break we will hit our Geometry unit hard along with long division. Great job in Social Studies on those states and capitals tests. They will come home tomorrow. Almost everyone "rocked" it. From now until break, we will be using Lead 21 in Social Studies as there is a section that covers the history, geography, culture/heritage of the SE so we will read and discuss that whole group. My reading kids will continue with their book club books while not doing the MAP testing. Read 180 students will take the test in our classroom. Secret Santas: Students will draw names this week and it will run the week of December 17-21. More on that later and no worries if you didn't want your child to participate. I will take care of it. Santa's Workshop: PTA is once again doing Santa's Workshop that last week before break. I am not sure of our scheduled time yet as there has not been a sign up sheet, but I will let you know when I do. Buddies on Friday was fun. Have your child tell you what we did and if they can, write the color of Rudolph's Nose they used in the planner. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Great Day Today!

This class is so fun and we are just loving learning and having fun with each other. The fun thing about them is we can have fun, laugh, learn, and then know when it is time to get back to business. They are able to bring it right back which makes it easier and more fun for me to do fun things with them. Speaking of learning, today in math we made line plots. Have your child tell you what they are and what kind of data we plotted on our line plots and then we found the range, median, mean, and mode of our data. See if they can tell you what at least one of them are. We are going to be spending more time with those 4 terms, but today was just an introduction. In Social Studies, we finished our Penelope Peabody-lost in the U.S. If they didn't in class they have it for homework. Remember states and capitals test is tomorrow. In Science, we learned about how algae may become an alternative source of energy. Ask your child about it, and if they can tell you what % of oil is in the plant, write that number in the planner. Also, they had a review paper on solar energy which some of them may have for homework if they didn't finish it in class with their partners. The weather tomorrow looks to be a bit colder so please dress for it. Have a great night.

Jeff Was Here

Wow-what an amazing guest speaker we had today. Yes, Jeff Ewalt, from the zoo was here to share all his expertise about wolves and to show paw prints, skull, and hide. He makes learning so fun and exciting with all his energy. Ask your child their favorite thing about the presentation today and what they wrote him about in the thank you letters that we wrote to him and write Jeff in the planner. Today in Morning Meeting it was about getting rid of feelings and things of the past and focusing on the present so students wrote on a piece of paper something they want to forget about or get rid of from their past. Then they crumbled them up and slam dunked them into the garbage to be gone forever. Hope this helps them deal with those negative issues. Had our first practice with both 4th grades today for the Music Program. I think it went quite well. Just a reminder once again that it is on Wednesday, December 19th at 9:30 and 1:15. The program is the same both times so you only need to make plans to come once. Today in Social Studies, students worked in pairs doing some research about the NE & SE states finding out fun facts with an activity called Penelope Peabody Lost in the U.S. Ask them what state the Liberty Bell is in. If they tell you, write the state in the planner. Homework Tonight: It is on Science and the Endangered Environment. We have been talking lots about this in our "going green" unit. They are to color the pictures of the things that are endangering the animals and plants in the picture and then at the bottom, write down some statements to describe the problems. Have a great night. Ok-so for some reason, my pics of Jeff won't download onto here tonight so I will try again tomorrow. Sorry

Happy Tuesday!!

We finished our SE tour today so definitely ready to get on with the states and capitals test on Friday. Remember you need to know the location also. In Science today, we read about another alternative energy source called Biodiesel. Ask your child what it is made from and why it is a renewable energy source. If they can tell you, write biodiesel in the planner. We also finished up our timeline & cause/effect activity to go with the wolves power point that we watched yesterday. So we are ready for Jeff Ewalt from the zoo to come tomorrow and share all his knowledge and expertise. Remember tomorrow we are practicing the music program with both classes from 1:15-2:00 so if you have a speaking part, make sure you have practiced your lines. Continue to practice those multiplication/division facts with the XtraMath. Oh my gosh-I just went into the gym to watch fitness club. I am truly amazed at how engaged all the kids were and they were really moving and working out at about 12 different stations. The best part of it is the fact they don't even know they are working out as he is making it fun. Mr. Pertuit is AWESOME!!!! Have a great night.

Mid Terms Went Home Today

Mid-terms went home today and I am happy to announce that there have been some good improvements made from Quarter 1-keep it up and work towards that BUG Club. If you have seen your child's mid-terms, write mid-terms in the planner. Today, we had a great Science lesson with Ms. Erickson's class about Wolves and their role in Yellowstone National Park all the way from before Civil War time up until 2009. We made a timeline for that time period and learned lots about how there were many of them in that area before the Civil War and how after the war and during the Western Expansion that there wasn't as much area for the wolves to roam and farmers were paid to kill them so of course they became endangered. Then the Endangered Species Act was passed and wolves were introduced back into the park after years of back and forth arguing. New packs started in 1995-1997 and then in 2009 wolves were taken off the endangered list. So have a good discussion with your child tonight about this controversy and have them tell you an effect for the cause "wolves are re-introduced into the park". Also in Science, we learned about Solar Energy as an alternative source of energy. If they can tell you one drawback of it, solar energy in the planner. Thank you to those of you that picked up the surprise. Hope to see the rest of you sometime this week. Our wonderful Christmas Music Program directed by Mr. Goodheart is going to be on December 19th. There will be 2 performances. One at 9:15 and the other at 1:30. There are some students with solos and lots with speaking parts so ask your child if they have one and if they have a speaking part, ask if it is in the a.m. or p.m. and make sure they practice their lines. Remember to return those November reading calendars. December ones are coming home tomorrow. Have a great night.

Busy Week Ahead

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. What a beautiful one it was weather wise and also the fact that the CATS won their playoff game. They are set to play once again on Friday night!!! YAY!!!! This week is going to be another busy week. Here is a run-down of what we are going to be studying in each academic area. In Science, we are going to revisit wolves as Jeff Ewalt from the zoo is going to come and talk to us on Wednesday about the pros & cons of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. He is so awesome and the kids will walk away from his presentation with tons of new facts and knowledge. Then the rest of science for the week is going to be continuing with our renewable/nonrenewable resources unit. On Friday, we learned about wind energy and started reading a story about "saving the family farm". If your child can tell you what Ruby did to help, write Ruby in the planner. In Social Studies, we are going to finish our tour of the SE and then have our test on the states and capitals on Friday. We are also going to do some computer research of the NE & SE states with an activity called Penelope Peabody. Simple, easy, and fun way to refresh their memories with some cool state facts. In Math, we are continuing with elapsed time and then moving in line plots, and some graphing. Along with this we are working on multi-step story problems. In Reading, my kids are still working on their book club books and really getting into our discussions. I just love listening to them question each other and not just literally, but inferentially. They are also enjoying our read-a-loud book about Pathki. She has had quite the adventures. Have them tell you about it. Remember I told you that the surprises were in if you ordered one. I also said I was going to send home a letter last week about picking them up. Well I didn't do that as I knew I could talk about it on here. So please arrange for a time to pick it up at school this week if possible. I am at school by 7:30 daily and there until at least 4:00 so just come down to the room and get it if you placed an order. Thank you. As you can see by the pictures, we had fun in buddies Friday helping them with time. We just love getting together with our buddies and they appreciate our help too and it is a good review for us-so a win-win situation. Purple Hand recipient went to Payton. Congratulations! Payton was nominated for his kind, caring mannerisms, and also his encouragement during recess and PE activities. Ryker was our student of the week and we enjoyed hearing about him and seeing the pics he shared. Technology day was a success. I think those that bought in enjoyed and were able to spend some of their money. Happy Birthday to Brayden. I hope you enjoyed your party at the Reef!! Cya tomorrow.

Technology Day Tomorrow

Yes, it is technology day tomorrow. Remember to bring your techy gear (IPods, DS systems, etc. and enjoy listening to music during independent work & recess time and the game systems can be used during Fun Friday/Team Building time. The buy in price is $300. It is Brayden's birthday tomorrow and he is bringing treats so remember you don't need to spend another $100 for your own treat. My reading/spelling kids played a great game in spelling today and they did so well that we decided to take our test and they did well on that too. Anyone who wants to retake it for a better grade can do so tomorrow, but don't think there will be any as they were good the first time. Today in Science, we read about wind energy and wind energy farms. Have your child explain how they work and write wind energy in the planner. Also ask them if wind energy helps reduce carbon footprints and how? In Math, we started elapsed time. WOW-I was truly amazed at how well these kids have that concept in such a short time. They are such hard workers and eager learners. Remember to keep working on that XtraMath practice. Reminder that the social studies SE states and capitals test is going to be on Friday, December 7th. As you know the BOBCATS are still playing football in the playoffs so "sport" your Bobcat gear tomorrow and receive $100 free money. Have a great night.

Quick Post

Since this is staff meeting day, I will have a quick post. First of all, great job to those of you really practicing your math on the XtraMath site. It will help greatly with those harder multiplication/division computation problems. Today in Science, we talked a lot about Carbon Footprints, global warming, and the greenhouse effect. If your child can tell you what they learned, write CF in the planner. Today in Math, we had fun with units of time such as decades, centuries, millennium, etc. If they can tell you how many decades Mrs. Hankins is, put it in the planner. YIKES-I'm getting old. Keep studying those states and capitals. Students did some fun games with them today during computer time on the Bitterroot website. I am thinking the test will be on Friday, December 7th. Speaking of Friday-this Friday, we will have technology day. Students can bring in IPods, DS systems, etc. and listen to music during independent work time and then play games on the DS systems or whatever they choose to bring during team building time. This will be a $300 buy in with fake money. Then if they wish to bring a treat to go with it in the afternoon, they may and then pay an extra $100 for a total of $400. Students have lots of money to spend as we don't have any field trips coming up in the near future. Have a great night.

Wow-that's a lot of garbage

Today in Science, we started a unit on "Going Green" and taking care of our natural resources. We learned all about renewable & non-renewable resources along with how many pounds of trash/day on average per/person. On the positive side, we also learned that in 2006, a certain percentage of our garbage was recycled. Talk with your child about this and if they can explain all this to you, write "going green" in the planner. Also, I hope that your family takes some time to think about how you can help the environment to reduce and limit our "human footprint". Then let's hope we take and put our ideas into action. Today in Math, we reviewed time to the minute. Tomorrow, we are going into elapsed time. We continued our tour of the SE today. I sure enjoyed the letters they wrote to John last night for homework. I was glad they realized that colonial life was not that easy. Xtra Math Practice: A flyer was sent home today for your child to get started on practicing those multiplication/division facts. I will be checking on your child's progress periodically so please make sure they take a few minutes each night to practice. It doesn't take very long. The surprises that some of you purchased have arrived!!!!!! Please watch for another envelope this week where I will be giving you some choices to pick from on how you want this delivered since it is a surprise. So look for another envelope on Thurs. or Friday. Remember library books tomorrow. Have a great night.

Welcome Back!

HI there- I hope you had a great Thanksgiving break with your families. I know I sure enjoyed family time in North Dakota. Lots of us laughing, playing games, eating, and making memories together. Looking forward to the next visit at Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we talked today about doing Secret Santas in our classroom for the last week before Christmas Break. There seems to be lots of interest so I would like your opinion on this so if it would be ok for your child to participate, write Secret Santa in the planner and if you don't like the idea, write NO in the planner. The way it would work is that students would put their name in a hat and then they each would draw out a name too and that person would be their secret santa. Then they would bring something small or make something for their person each day that week and then on Friday, they could bring a bigger item if they choose to and that is the day we would share and reveal our secret santas. It is my hope that students won't spend more than $5.00-$7.00 for the whole week. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Today we started our tour of the Southeast and one of the places we visited was the Jamestown colony. Students then played a game to help them see what the life in the colony was like. Now they have to write a letter (in workbook page 37) to John explaining if they think he should or should not come to the colony giving reasons why. Remember 4th grade quality. Have a discussion about this game with your child and if you do and see their letter they wrote, write letter in the planner. Tomorrow in Science, we are starting our unit on Recycling & Going Green. We will be doing whole group and small group readings. There are lots of good facts in it so I know they will learn a lot. In Math, we are ready to begin our unit on Time & Elapsed time. Then we will hit our Geometry Unit. Along with this we are continuing multiplication & division. Have a good night.

Thankful Week

Rusty's show this week is all about Thanksgiving and being thankful. Today, we talked about an attitude of gratitude and how lucky we are and that we have so much to be thankful for. His show took a look at how little the pilgrims had back in the 1620's compared to what we have now. The students were asked if they could live back in those days and 3 of them said they could. We discussed how we take so much for granted and how lucky we really are compared to those less fortunate. Tomorrow students will have to list 5 things they are very thankful for and would not want to live without and then we will do an activity with them. In Social Studies we started the Southeast region by doing the geography challenge. Students received a map today so they can start practicing over the break. I have not set a date for the states and capitals test yet. Ask your child 3 of the states in this region and if they can tell you, write SE in the planner. Also, I listed them on the side of the blog. Remember early out tomorrow at 12:00. Thank you for getting me the surprise envelopes for those of you who did. Hopefully your child will love the surprise. Just a quick note about the Music Christmas program so you can start planning accordingly. It will be on Wednesday, December 19th and will be performed at 9:30 and again at 1:15. So mark your calendars for this awesome event. Ask your child one of the fun songs they are singing and write the name in the planner. Have a great night. Also, I want to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am so thankful to be a part of this Bitterroot family and for having your child in my classroom.

Short Week

Hi there- I hope you are enjoying your weekend. How many of you enjoyed the Cat-Griz game yesterday? Obviously you know, I sure did. Hope the CATS have more good things to come for them in the playoffs. As you know, this is a short week. There is an early out on Tuesday at 12:00 and then No School on Wed.-Friday. Just a reminder that the surprise envelopes are due tomorrow if you are participating. Congratulations to Branson, our student of the week. We enjoyed the pictures and hearing all about you. Buddies on Friday consisted of our class helping our 2nd grade buddies in Mrs. Culp's room with story elements. They read a book to us and then we helped them with the story elements. Ask your child what book they read with their buddy and one of the story elements they used on the activity sheet. If they can tell you, write the name of the book in the planner along with the part. No spelling words this week. We will do some review of our last 4 units. Also ask your child about the fun snowball activity they did with Mrs. Neese, the counselor. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Meeting Tonight

Sorry for a short blog post, but I had a staff meeting tonight. Just one quick thing. Remember the surprise that went home in an envelope on Tuesday is due on Monday, November 19th if you are in on it. Thank you and have a great night.

America's White Table

After talking to Mrs. Umemoto yesterday, it was decided that I should read the book titled: "America's White Table". It is a great tribute to our veteran's. Ask your child to tell you about the book and if they can write, book in the planner. Today, the surprise letters went home. Remember this is totally OPTIONAL!! Remember to keep it a surprise even if you aren't participating. The kids were so funny today when I told them about taking the letters home and not opening them. Let's just say: they are very curious. Today in Montana History, we discussed exports and imports from back in the 1700's. Have a discussion about what the difference is and some of the things that were imported and exported. In Science, we learned about food chains and food webs. Ask them to tell you the difference between them and food in the planner if they can. Tomorrow is library day so get those books back. Just a reminder that the food drive is on and students get to make a kindness chain link for each can of food they donate. Reminder: Next week there is an early out on Tuesday. It is a 12:00 dismissal and then No School on Wed.-Friday for Thanksgiving break. Wow-where is the time going???? Also, I posted some pics of students in Art yesterday. We have an awesome art teacher and they are really learning lots of art. Have a great night.

Honoring our Veterans

Today we spent our social studies and science time watching a couple of YouTube videos and an actual video tape of "The Wall" which shows the Vietnam Wall and it reads aloud the book by Eve Bunting to them. Very good story and then the author of the video introduced the architect for the wall and what inspired her to design it the way she did. Ask your child how many veterans are honored on the Vietnam Wall. Write the number in the planner for free money. One of the YouTube videos we watched was an overview of what our vets do for us and how family lives change when their family members are serving our country. This one was pretty powerful. Lastly, we watched one on the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". They were pretty intrigued by this and were amazed at all the qualifications a soldier needs to have to stand guard. Have them tell you 2 things they learned and write Soldier in the planner. In Math today, we finally did an assignment on 2 digit x 2 digit. We have practiced lots and now are ready to assess. We will continue to review this skill all year long. I know some of students read the blog with their parents and that is great, but don't let them see this portion!!! This is to be kept a secret as I think you may want to do it for a Christmas present. I will be sending home a letter to you tomorrow explaining the details. The letter will come home to you in a sealed envelope and students will not be allowed to open it. Then you can decide if this is something you choose to do or not. It is totally OPTIONAL!!! Have a great night and stay warm. Remember tennis shoes tomorrow for PE now that we are into boots season.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and staying warm. BRRR-it is freezing out there, but good news on the horizon- it is supposed to warm up again this week. Speaking of this week, we will continue with basically what we started last week. Tomorrow we will spend our Social Studies and Science time honoring our veterans. I will post more on that tomorrow. In Math, we will do a couple more days of 2 digit x 2 digit and then we are moving on to multiplication & division algebraic expressions and practicing our basic division facts which should not be difficult if they have the multiplication facts down and we have been practicing fact families already. Then on Tuesday, we will continue our wolf studies and go over the National Geographic research they completed last week. In Social Studies, we will continue Montana History and learn about and hopefully play if we can get the equipment Native American games of the past. Reading book clubs are going great and the kids are doing a great job of writing & asking inferential questions, finding lots of figurative language, making strong predictions, and writing I-V-F summaries. They are loving the book discussions and it is amazing what they are getting out of their books. If your child went to the PTA movie night on Friday, write movie in the planner for free money. Congratulations to Brayden, our student of the week. We enjoyed his pics and hearing all about him. One thing we learned is that he was a premie baby. Wow and look how tall and healthy he is now!! Other pics are of our Montana map scavenger hunt that we did on Thursday! Have a great rest of the weekend.

Happy 123rd Birthday, Montana!!

Today we celebrated Montana's 123rd birthday by doing a map skill scavenger hunt and enjoying cake. Thank you, Ms. Erickson for baking for us. Ask your child some of the cities and towns they found on the map and the riddles associated with them. If they can tell you the name of a large snake, write that town in the planner. We started our day out this morning having Mr. English come in with a video presentation of his time in the military over in Iraq. The kids got to see video of his year's stay there last year and some of what he and his unit did while serving our country. They also got to see some of the clothing he wore when over there. Ask your child what a huge sand storm over there is called and write it in the planner if they can remember. Thank you, Mr. English, for a great presentation, but mostly for serving our country. We will continue to honor Veterans tomorrow as we will be learning more about it here in our classroom and doing some activities. Whatever we don't finish tomorrow, we will continue with on Monday. We did not get to buddies today, but we definitely are tomorrow morning. Second grade had a schedule change and conflict so tomorrow works better for them. Today in Math, we continued with 2 digit x 2 digit. We are getting the hang of it. Have your child show you how to do it and if they are struggling, practice a few problems with them. We are doing it the old fashioned algorithm way. I have got to compliment my reading kids for the wonderful job and discussions we are having in our book clubs. They are actively participating and bringing great inferential questions to group to share. Way to go, kids. Today we learned what personification is. Have them tell you what it is and give an example if they can. Have a great night and remember to send warm clothing to school tomorrow. We had some cold kids today during recess.

Montana's Birthday!

Yes, tomorrow is Montana's birthday and we are doing a couple activities in the afternoon to celebrate. As you know, we do a whole year long study of Montana, but we want to recognize this special day and do some fun Montana trivia and enjoy a treat. Students are encouraged to "sport" their Montana wear tomorrow such as cowboy hat, boots, jeans, etc. If that attire doesn't work for you, I encourage them to wear red, white, and blue as we are also starting our Veteran's Day celebration tomorrow. Mr. English is going to kick it off by coming in and talking to our class about his experiences in the military and what Veteran's Day means to him. Then we are going to meet with our buddies (Mrs. Culp's 2nd grade) and help them with some writing about heroes. Our class will do most of our Veteran's Day activities on Friday. Today we had our class celebration for getting our first 25 compliments. We went out and enjoyed the beautiful weather for an extra 20 minutes and then had ice cream treats at the end of the day. Thank you to all of you for the Flakesgiving donation. I don't know our school total as of yet, but Team Hankins did their part. Way to go and what a good way to get rid of some of that Halloween candy. In Science today, students did some research on the National Geographic for Kids site. Ask them which are the only 2 continents in which gray wolves are found and write them in the planner for free money. Today in Math, we started 2 digit x 2 digit multiplication. I was impressed at how well it went. The weather is supposed to change tomorrow so be prepared with coats, long pants, etc. Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday!

Hope all is well with everyone and that you got your vote in today if you hadn't already done the absentee format. Won't we all be glad when it is over. All the negativity. We actually had a good morning meeting about this the other day. The students brought up the fact that we work so hard on being kind, caring, and no bullying to one another and then they see adults in power doing it through their campaign adds. What message does this send???? Just a couple quick reminders for today. Tomorrow is the Flakesgiving Leftover Halloween candy buy in. Yes, your child can bring a small bag of their candy along with a $1.00 and the money will be donated to Flakesgiving. Today some students asked if they can just bring the money and not the candy and of course they can. Notes went home today about PTA movie night on Friday, November 9th from 6-8. It is Madagascar:3 Europe's Most Wanted. Another note came home about the Bitterroot KC Club Food Drive which runs from November 12th-December 14th. Students can earn kindness links so make sure you read about it. Tomorrow is Library day so get those books back. Today in Science, we started our mini unit on wolves. Ask your child 5 facts they learned about wolves today and if they can answer, write wolves in the planner. My reading kids started book clubs today and they are so excited. Ask them the title of their book and what they think it is going to be about. Have a great night.

Very Productive Busy Day!

Today was a good day getting back to normal. We packed a lot into our day. First of all, this morning, we started our packets called HR packets which are totally non-fiction informational. It is a short, good piece of information in which we learn to pick out important, key details and highlight them and then answer some quick comprehension questions about what they read. We did the first one together today and will do a few more to get the kids on track of how to find key information. So when you hear HR this is what it is. Today we read about Annie Oakley. Have your child tell you 2 things about her and if they can, write Annie in the planner. Then in Social Studies we continued learning about the people in Montana in the 1700's. We made Seasonal Squares for the Salish & Blackfeet indians. Ask your child what these squares are. Today, my reading kids finished their discussions on the New England & Mid-Atlantic sections of their readers. Tomorrow we are starting book clubs!!!!!!! I am pleased to announce that the students are doing quite well on their multiplication facts for the most part which is making computation & mental math go much smoother. FLAKESGIVING--This is an annual fundraiser for our community. The "flakes" on 102.9 put out a challenge to the community to raise money for our own needy families right here in Billings. What we are doing here at Bitterroot for this week is allowing students to bring in SOME of their left-over Halloween candy along with $1.00 and they will be allowed to eat it at certain times throughout the day. The money we collect from this will be given to them to help out our community. What a great way to get rid of some candy and help those in need for only $1.00. So let's all pitch in Team Hankins and help out!!!

Back to Normal Schedule This Week

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. This week we are back to our regular schedule and routine. First of all, I enjoyed visiting with each of personally at conferences about the successes your child is having thus far in 4th grade. I am extremely proud of each and every one of them. On Friday, students were able to spend their fake money on items that were auctioned off. Many of them walked away with lots of fun items. They realized the importance of making positive choices and earning money for those kinds of things. Tomorrow they are starting off with $100 and money made this quarter will be able to be spent on fun days here in the classroom. They will not be an auction this next quarter. Like always, it is easy to earn money in here if you are respectful, responsible, and make good choices. We are starting book clubs this week now that we have learned lots of skills and strategies in our read-a-louds and whole group, we are ready to apply them into our small book club groups. This is so fun and one of my favorite parts of teaching reading. The discussions that go on about what they read is incredible. In math, this week we continuing with multiplication and getting into 2 digit x 2 digit. Also, we are starting to do some problem solving strategies. This week we will start with "making an organized list". In Science, we are starting a unit on wolves. We will learn about how they impact the food chain/web and listen to different debates from farmers and wildlife biologists to see the pros & cons of their reintroduction back into Yellowstone National Park. In Social Studies, we are continuing with our Montana History study. We are learning about the people of Montana in the 1700's. In Language, we are moving into Verbs, verb tenses, and linking and helping verbs. As you can see, we have lots going on this week. Thank you to all of you who donated items for the bake sale. It was very successful. We made $191 to add to our 4th grade field trip account. Congratulations to Denara, our student of the week. We enjoyed hearing all about you. She even spoke "Tonga" for us. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Just a Quick Note

I have a quick minute between conferences, but I just wanted to let you know that we are selling the rest of our bake sale items tomorrow for 25 cents. We have a lot left over and need to get rid of them. Also tomorrow is the Unit 9 spelling test and finishing up on our non-fiction reading about the Northeast in small reading groups. Next week we are starting Book Clubs. We, including me, are so excited for this. Today students spent some of their fake money on coupons and tomorrow they will have a chance to spend the rest on items that I have purchased for them. Any money not spent will go back into the bank. On Monday, students will start fresh with a $100. Have a great night and I so enjoyed visiting with those of you that I already have and look forward to visiting with those of you that I have not as of yet. Cya tomorrow.

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As you can see, we had a great science lesson learning the principles of dry ice vs. ordinary ice. We found out that dry ice is actually carbon dioxide and that when water is added to it, it really bubbles. It does not melt because it is not a liquid, but rather it evaporates when left out untouched. We also found out that it can get very cold. We had thermometer readings of 20 degrees. BRRRR!! I forgot to take my camera to the detention center so I have no photos of that so hopefully your child filled you in on the great trip we had and that it is a place we never want to go back to. I think it made quite an impact. Thank you so much to those of you that donated to our bake sale. We so so appreciate your efforts. Ask your child about the fun Halloween story we listened to today about trick-or-treating. It was quite hilarious!! Enjoy your day and have a very safe Halloween.

Lots to Say

HI This is going to be a quick post as I have lots to say and share and very little time to do it with conferences and all. We had a very good field trip to the detention center today. Please have a dinnertime table discussion about it and let your child fill you in on what they saw and what made a big impact on them. Science today was fun. We did some fun activities with dry ice. Ask your child what dry ice is and what we did with it. I will post pics of this when I get more time. Tomorrow is early out at 12:00. Tomorrow is also our Bake Sale. Please help us out. Thank you. Also get those library books brought back as there is Library tomorrow. Have a great night and I hope you have your Halloween costume ready. Only one more night before the fun. Cya tomorrow.

Report Cards Went Home Today

Yes, report cards went home today and I am pleased to announce that overall the grades in Room 6 were very good. Great Job Team Hankins and continue to work hard and strive to be the BEST you can be!!! Let make the 2nd Quarter even better. We have a program here at Bitterroot called BUG Club which means to "bring up grades". Students who maintain or bring their first quarter grades up by the end of second quarter are recognized at an assembly at the end of 2nd quarter. Tomorrow is our field trip to the detention center. Again any parents that are going, you are welcome to ride the bus until it is full and when it is, you can follow in your own vehicle. If you drive yourself, be there by 9:00. Thank you. Drug Free packets were finished in class today. Take some time to go over these with your child and discuss other choices and things to do other than drugs. If you do, write packet in the planner for free money. Conferences begin tomorrow. I posted everyone's time on the side of the blog as another reminder. Reminder: Wed., Thurs, and Friday are Early Out days with 12:00 dismissal. Also on Wednesday is our Bake Sale. Please help us in this endeavor. Everything will sell for 50 cents. Raindrop stories: If your child didn't finish writing the final copy in school today, they are homework. Color some of the top page to give it some color and then have it in order for me to staple tomorrow to get it ready for hallway display. Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. This week is going to be a busy short week. As you know, it is Parent-Teacher Conference time so we will be having 12:00 dismissal on Wed. Thurs. and Friday. I look forward to visiting with each of you at your scheduled conference time. Tuesday is our field trip to the Detention Center. We will be leaving at 8:40 and returning by 11:30. If you wish to go along, you can ride the bus if there is room or just plan on meeting us there at 9:00. We have been preparing the kids for this trip this past week and really focusing on the fact that these are not bad people, they just made bad choices and they heard this from our guest speakers this past week also. On Friday, our team building activity was playing the game of Jenga. It fit perfectly into drug free week because one of our guest speakers made an analogy to the game. He referred to taking drugs and how making bad choices slowly destroys your life and then all of a sudden it comes crashing down just like when you remove pieces of the game and then all of a sudden it is too weak to stand alone and it too comes crashing down just like our bodies. The kids enjoyed the game and I then it was a good visual for them also. In Science this week we will write our final copies of our raindrop stories so I can get them hung up in the hall for conferences. In math, we will continue with multiplication and get into 2 digit x 2 digit. In Social studies, we will jump back into our Montana History for awhile. In reading, we are in Unit 3 which goes into the NE and mid-atlantic states and now this week we have some non-fiction to read in our small groups related to those states. Then after that we will be starting small group book clubs for the fiction piece of our reading. With this being the end of the 1st quarter, students will have an opportunity to spend any extra money they have and then we will start over with a $100 for this next quarter. Some of their extra money will be used on Tuesday afternoon for an extra special buy in to do some science related Halloween fun with both 4th grades. Then any left after that, they can spend on Wednesday morning. Speaking of Wednesday, it is our 4th Grade Bake Sale. I hope all of you will help out with this endeavor. Thank you. We will be selling it at the 12:00 dismissal. Report cards will be coming home tomorrow so that gives you time to look them over before your conference time. Congratulations to Ethan, the recipient of the purple hand cookie. The students had many kind words for Ethan focusing on the fact that he is always so kind, caring, encouraging, and helpful towards others. Also, we enjoyed seeing Bailey's pics and hearing about him as our student of the week. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Drugs Stink-Wear Pink

Wow-there sure was a lot of pink around today. I loved seeing all the support for "Drugs Stink-Wear Pink"!! Our day started out today with students from Senior High that are going through treatment at Rimrock Foundation talking about their drug addictions. Three out of the four started at age 9 & 10. The 4th got a start during his mother's pregnancy. Yes, she did marijuana while she was pregnant and then when he was born she and her friends thought it was funny to blow marijuana smoke into his face as a baby and toddler. As you can see, he was high at a very young age. How sad-I can't even imagine. He said that doing drugs is the only time he felt normal. When asked how he stopped, he said he did it himself. What a touching story. The 4 of them had a very powerful message and drove home the message that you do drugs to "fit" in, but in the end you're the one alone and you go looking for your "old" friends. I hope these stories help you see why we start these discussions, guest speakers, and field trips in 4th grade. Hopefully in later years your child will remember those guest speakers from 4th grade. It is so worth it to me. Please stay involved with your child and their lives so you know what they are up to. Tomorrow is our NE states and capitals test. Also raindrop people are due tomorrow. We will start rewriting the stories here tomorrow now that they are edited. Thank you. Tomorrow is our field trip to ABT. We leave at 11:50 and return by 2:00. Have a great night and enjoy spending time with your family.

Quick Post-Meeting Day!

Just a quick post as I have a meeting today. The main highlight of the day was the movie we watched for drug free week. We had a great discussion after the movie on how the drug addiction not only affects the drug addict, but also the many other people in his/her life. Have a discussion about who and how many lives were affected. If you have a good talk about the movie, write movie in the planner. Tomorrow we have young adults coming to us from the Rimrock Foundation. Many of these people are high school students who have gone through treatment. Very powerful. Also, tomorrow is pink day. "Drugs Stink-Wear Pink"!! Let's pack Bitterroot School in pink. Last section of raindrop stories today. It is on collection to wrap up the water cycle. Thank you so much for editing your child's story as I couldn't have done it without you. We will start writing our final copies on Thursday and Friday. These will be on display at Parent Teacher Conferences next week. Thank you to those of you that returned the conference slips. If you didn't today, please do so tomorrow. Thank you Remember on Friday is the PTA Pumpkin Patch Party from 6:30-8:00. Remember to study those states and capitals as the test is on Friday. Have a great night.