Field Trip Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our field trip to Pompey's Piller. Make sure you dress for the weather and wear closed toe shoes that are comfy as we do quite a bit of walking. Also, make sure you have your lunch. All but Brayden and Branden as they ordered a sack lunch off their lunch account. Congratulations to our Citizenship Award winners today. They are Melissa Wichman & Jose' Rodriguez. They displayed positive character & leadership this whole year. Great job. Also, great job to our Terrific Kids & BUG Club winners this quarter. Terrific Kids: Nathaniel, Jaeden, Aiden, Melissa, and Megan. BUG Club: Branden, Lainey, Landon, Staley, Hailey, Theo, Mason, Nathaniel, Jasmyn, Ben, Jeremiah, Thomas, Jose', Jaeden, Ilyssa, Brady, Aiden, Melissa, and Megan. What hard workers they are. Today, we watched a movie called "Summer of the Monkeys" with Ms. Erickson's Class. Have a conversation about it tonight. Have your child tell you what the message was that we were trying to convey to them. Also, ask them their favorite part and write monkeys in the planner for free money. Speaking of free money, we are winding down and I will have a few things for those that have extra money on Thurs. and any left over will be donated back to the bank. I know your child has enjoyed the money system and hopefully it helped teach them some responsibility. Thursday will be our day to clean up the room and our desks. Please make sure that your child will be able to get their stuff home so they can make arrangements to not ride their bikes if they have lots to carry. We may try to bring some home tomorrow if we get back from our field trip in time to clean up a little bit. Also, on Thursday, we are doing reading skits and some are bringing props so there will be lots of stuff to bring. Friday is the bike trip to Hawthorne Park. Students need their bikes and a helmet. No helmet-won't be allowed to ride. It is a 12:00 dismissal that day. Have a great night.

Miracle Movie

We are watching it right now as I am typing this. This movie definitely defines how being pushed past what one thinks are their limits, hard work, and BELIEVING in yourself help you achieve what you thought was impossible. Ask your child what message they took away from this movie and write it in the planner for free money. Today we had a great wiffle ball game with Mr. Albarez's Class. Lots of good sportsmanship and teamwork were apparent. Fossil Dig Field Trip tomorrow is a go as of now. Actually, the forecast looks better than it did previously so that is good. But it is going to be cool so students needs to dress for the weather. For sure: long pants and closed shoes. I would recommend jackets/sweatshirts and even caps and ear bands. Trust me-the wind can get to blowing out their quite strong. Also, remember sack lunches except for Brayden & Karissa as you ordered off your lunch account. Electronics are recommended for the bus ride again as it is a long trip. Have a great night and hope for good weather tomorrow.

Miracle Movie Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our Miracle movie on BELIEVING in the afternoon. Students may bring pillow, stuffed animal, and wear P.J.'s after lunch for $1.00 and also they bring a pop & snack for another $1.00. They may buy in to both, only one, or choose neither. Today was Field Day and the students seemed to have a great time and all went well. Ask them their favorite activity and write it in the planner for $. Our field trip to the Fossil Dig on Thurs. is a go so far. I talked to Carolyn, one of the geologists, today and she said the road out there is good even if it rains as it has been redone. So if it doesn't downpour before then we will go and just dress for the weather. I will keep you posted on this one. Have a great night.

Character Counts Wiffle Ball Started Today

Today was Day 1 of our Character Wiffle Ball. We played U-3's class and had a great time along with a great display of character. Students had to reflect after the game and fill out a form rating themselves from 1-10 on 6 different traits. Ask them how they did and write "sportmanship" in the planner. We don't play tomorrow but will continue on Wednesday. We finished working on our whale migration flip books today and anyone who didn't finish needs to finish them at home by Wednesday. Tomorrow is Field Day from 1-3. Make sure you have water bottle, sunscreen, PE shoes, and comfy clothes. We didn't fill out planners today because Mrs. Snyder did art after the amazing talent show we went to and art went up until 3:10. Also, we have Library tomorrow to make up for Friday's usual library time. Thursday is our field trip to the Fossil Dig. Just a note on that-you will need a cold sack lunch except for Brayden and Karissa who have ordered off their lunch account. Sprit Day winners: Yes, our class won the Student Councils spirit day contest so they will get a pizza lunch sponsored by Student Council this Friday. They need to bring their own drink. Wednesday is the Miracle Believe movie. Students will not have to buy in to this with their fake money, BUT they can buy in with real money by bringing their pillow, stuffed animal,for $1.00 and then a snack and a drink for another $1.00. The money we get will be used to pay for our last field trip bus. Any questions-just ask. Have a great night.

Happy TGIF

Being "crazy hair" day today will probably explain the craziness of the day. We had quite the crazy hairdos in here today. They looked great as you can tell from the pics. Fun day had by all and yes some good learning went on today. In Social Studies, they learned a bit more about Lewis & Clark. Ask them who was chosen first for the expedition and write it in the planner if they can tell you. In Science, we are almost finished with our whale migration flip books. They are doing a great job and learning a lot about these amazing creatures. We are almost done with Riding Freedom. Only one chapter to go. They love the book so much, they want it to go on longer so we are stretching it out. We will finish it on Monday though. Next week, we start our Wiffle Ball Tournament where we play all the intermediate classrooms throughout the week. It is a fun activity for all and a big part of it is to see how they display good positive character. It is their time to show all they have learned this year during our morning meetings/class discussions about character/problem solving. They will have a form to fill out after each game to rate themselves on character/sportsmanship. Then a few from each classroom will be chosen by teachers to play against the teachers on Friday afternoon. This will be based on the character displayed throughout the week and all year. Make sure you wear PE shoes and no flip flops. Reminder: Field Day is on Tuesday, May 22nd from 1-3. Fossil Dig Field Trip is on Thursday, May 24th -all day. Also, our Library time is 9-10 on Tuesday this next week due to a conflict in the Library next Friday so those of you that didn't return books this Friday, have them here by Tuesday. Hailey is our Student of the Week. We loved all the pics, ribbons, and hearing all about her. We can tell she sure loved our field trip to the ranch as she is quite a horse person herself. Have a great weekend.

Happy Thursday

Great day today as we all were well rested from our big day yesterday. Great thank you notes have been written to Cole and Ricky and they will be delivered tomorrow. Fun to hear about everyone's favorite part. We were still talking about it in morning meeting today. We continued with our whale migration today. Ask your child what is happening in the months that they have completed so far. If they can, write flip book in the planner as that is what they are recording their information in as they research it. In Social Studies, we finished our book on Sacajawea and now we will focus on the actual expedition. Ask them 4 facts about her and write Sacajawea in the planner. Tomorrow is Library and no more book check out so get those books back so we don't have any late ones. Remember that next Thursday, May 24th is our field trip to the fossil dig. There are a lot of geologists out there acting as chaperones so we don't need any chaperones and besides the bus has no empty seats as we found out yesterday. Thank you to those of you that offered anyway. Have a great night.

BEST FIELD TRIP EVER!!

WOW-this was the most amazing field trip ever and I think all the kids will agree. If we didn't learn lots about Montana Ranching/Farming today then I don't think we ever will. There was so much and I hope your child can tell you about every single minute of it tonight. If they talk about it for at least 5-10 min.-write "The Grewell Ranch Rocks" in the planner. Have a great night.

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We are so excited & ready for our field trip to the ranch tomorrow. Today we did a huge express lesson on Montana History and how the farming/ranching portion of it has changed over the last 200 years. We talked about acres, bushels, machinery, etc. and made graphs to show how the number of people on farms has decreased, but the number of acres farmed has increased. If they can tell you why this is so, write "farming" in the planner. Then we talked about how brands are used to identify cattle and I showed them my dads and my brothers. We also talked about why they put ear tags in the cows. If they can tell you why, write tag in the planner. Reminders for tomorrow: They need a water bottle, drink of choice for lunch (no large bottles), comfy clothes, sunscreen, hat would be good, and electronics for the bus. (No cameras). They are responsible to keep all this in their backpacks when not in use. As you can see, it is going to be so much fun. Have a great night.

Field Trip on Wednesday

Our field trip to Grewell Ranch is on Wednesday. It will be an all day event. Students will be given a hot dog, chips, watermelon, and cookie for lunch. They are to they are to have a drink for themselves along with a bottle of water for the day. Also, they need to dress for the weather (shorts are ok-no flip flops), wear sunscreen, and a hat would be a good idea too. Also, they may bring electronics for the bus ride. This is their responsibility. I am so looking forward to all that we are going to learn and it will bring back so many memories of my childhood. Today in Science we continued with our gray whale migration journey. Students have to read a short passage and then summarize in their own words what it is about and put it in their flip books. In Montana we learned about the Louisiana Purchase. If your child can tell you 3 things about it, write Louisiana Purchase in the planner. Last spirit day is this Friday. It is crazy hair day. Yikes-can't imagine what we may see. Have a great night.

Happy Egg Day

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What a great day we had today experiencing what parenting is like. I am sure from the conversations you have this weekend that your child will agree that it is not an easy task. Taking them with you, keeping them safe, the financial portion, and being responsible was not as easy as they thought it was going to be. Many of them received first aid, but quite a few escaped without any injuries throughout the day. They also realized that this was just for 6 hrs. this one day and not 24/7 like your job is. If your child shared lots about the day with you, write shared in the planner for free money. Moms-I hope you have a fantastic Mother's Day on Sunday and enjoy the treats you child made/bought for you. YOU DESERVE IT!! We had 100% neon in our room today. We got so wrapped up with the egg babies that I forgot to take a pic. Way to go Team Hankins. Monday, we are back to normal and I will list on Monday's post the happenings for next week.

The last spirit day is tomorrow- NEON Day. We talked today about neon colors being very bright-hurt your eyes, glow in the dark bright. Hunter orange is good, but no hair color or face paint. Students who show EFFORT into dressing with neon colors will earn $500-this is 1/2 of a field trip and some of you need money. Tomorrow is also Egg Day. Students will dedicate their day, yes only a day, to being responsible parents and taking care of this egg as if it was a child. Yes, moms this is in honor of you for them to see how difficult your job can be. As you know, this won't even be close to what you have to do on a daily basis, but hopefully will be somewhat of an eye opener for them. They will have the chance to buy insurance or not, they will have to pay for medical needs (band-aids) if needed, babysitting services, etc. They will have lots to share about it tomorrow when they come home. What they need for this is an egg bed. I will provide the eggs. We discussed all this in class so there shouldn't be any questions hopefully. We started our gray whale migration today with making flip books. They found out that these whales migrate all year. Today we did Jan. and Feb. If they can tell you a fact about what happens in these 2 months, write migration in the planner. In Social Studies, we started our Montana History Timelines. We started in the 1500's-1743-if they can tell you an event during that time period, write MT in the planner. Tomorrow is Library-get those books back. Have a great night.

WHEW!!

What a fun day we had taking our Mystery field trip even though we picked one of the warmest days so far. It was so fun to listen to them chatting as we were walking and making memories. I have to commend them on their behavior. They represented themselves and our school very well. Today was the last day for Montana Research in the classroom. Those that didn't finish have until Friday to finish at home and then return them for me to grade. We are ready to move on to Part 2 of our studies. Today in Science, we learned some facts about the gray whale migration. Wow-these are amazing animals. Ask your child about the distance they travel in a year and if they can tell you, write that number in the planner. Have a great night.

Mystery Field Trip Tomorrow

Remember we are going on the mystery field trip tomorrow so bring your money and wear comfortable clothes for walking. Speaking of clothes, we did a fun activity with addition in math today. Have your child explain it to you and ask them how many points I was worth today. If they can write the number in the planner. Today, we did our first activity for our Grammar Noun Town which is like Clue. They are so excited about solving this mystery. Ask them what the story in Noun Town was about today. (This is only my reading kids.) I hope the Read 180 kids are enjoying the Riding Freedom book they are reading as we are loving it in our room. We are on Chapter 6. I think it has something to do with Revenge-HMMMM-any ideas? Be ready to predict tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day for our Montana Research on computers. Time to move on. Have a great night and enjoy the nice weather.

Happy Monday!

I don't know about you, but today was a tiring Monday. I think it must have something to do with all the yard work there is to do this time of year. We are doing some re-landscaping so lots of pulling, digging, etc. I am feeling my age today!! Oh well, tomorrow is a new day. Did get some hanging flower pots though so just love-love the color they add to our yard. Today was a productive day academically though so that is good. We started our gray whale fact gathering. Ask your child 2 cool facts and write them down for free money. Montana research is coming along nicely and we will use computers tomorrow and Wed. yet and then whatever is not finished will go home for homework. We need to get moving so we can learn about the history of this area before the Lewis & Clark Expeditions starts. Tomorrow morning is the last class time to finish our area & perimeter robots. Those that have finished look great as they are coloring them and giving them a name. Ask your child the name of their robot and write it in the planner for money. Today we started something new and fun in Language after all our hard work and doing lots of DOL this year. We are doing Grammar Fun/Noun Town. Students are in groups of 3 and it is like the game "Clue". They will have daily language activities to do to get their clues to try and solve the mystery. They are excited. Ask them whose Grammar Group they are in. My favorite part of the day was reading Riding Freedom. We finished chapter 5 which takes us to the middle section-the great part- as I tell the kids. HMMMM-I wonder what Mr. Millshark will do now?? Does it have them thinking? Reminder: We are going on our Mystery Field Trip on Wed. so bring that dollar. Have a great night and enjoy the nice weather.

Thank you to those of you that got the permission slips back for all the fun activities we have planned for this final month of school. If you haven't, please return them on Monday. I would like them all turned in ASAP even if they haven't bought in with their fake money yet as they will have many opportunities to get that money as we want everyone to be a participant in the field trips. Most of them have bought into all 3. Read 180 students will not get their Riding Freedom books for home use. Mrs. Betts wants them to read them in Read 180 for their independent reading time. Have a great 3 day weekend and we will see you Monday for another busy week.

What a fun day we had today. We started off with our Heroes writing. We have read many stories about famous people and how they have/are become heroes with the brave deeds they did helping others. So then students had to choose someone who is a hero in their minds and write about them. Tomorrow they will share them during morning meeting. As I was walking around reading them, they are putting some good thought into these. Ask your child whom theirs is and write hero in the planner. In Social Studies, we worked hard on those states and capitals for tomorrow by playing some fun games. Then we did more of our Montana facts research on computers. Ask your child 2 things they learned about MT today and write MT in the planner. What does a robot have to do with perimeter & area? Well, today in Math, students starting creating robots by using the given area & perimeter for the different body parts. Then on grid paper, they counted and cut-out the parts using the given measurements. The real trick was that they could only use one regular piece and the others will be irregular. Sure were some pretty, fun creative pieces. Remember tomorrow is the 50 states and capitals test so study hard one last time tonight. Also-reminder NO SCHOOL on Friday. Have a great night.

Quick Post: I will make this post quick as I have a meeting today with Mrs.Anderson, the librarian, to plan some cool activities that she can do to integrate Montana History into the library curriculum. She is so awesome and we love her and how she supports what we do in the classroom. Today we had some fun, edible science. We were paleontologists and we excavated chocolate chips and m&m's from cookies. We talked about how hard of a job it was and how careful we had to be to not break and crumble it. Then we talked even further on how hard it would be to put it back together as they do with bones to create an animal skeleton. We started our Montana Research today. Fact finding will be done on computers and facts & drawings will be put into the packet given them.. One last note: Some students have reading re-do work. The quality of what they turned in today was not acceptable. They had to pay their fine and redo it for tomorrow. We talked about quality and to push hard till the end of the year. We also talked about the fact that if they don't take school seriously and work hard till the end, they may have to stay back from field trips to complete these tasks. I know they can do it and they know they can do it!!!! Tomorrow we start learning about the gray whale and then move into whale migration. Reminder: NO School on Friday due to the State Music Festival. Have a great night and let's hope for sunshine.