Happy Holidays!!!

We had a GREAT DAY today in Room 6. I wasn't too sure though as I had to call Mr. English at 8:30a.m. to let him know we had a problem in Room 6. Check out the pic of Phil & myself and I am sure you will see why!!!!!! FUN-FUN though and it was the "joke" of the day. I told him the "good news" about that gift bag is that it will be "recycled" and given to our BFF's who are GRIZ fans!!! Anyway, thank you, Phil & family for the great sense of humor and fun!! Thank you to all of you that sent in gifts/cards for me with your child. I appreciate your kind thoughts & words. You surely didn't have to, but it is appreciated. The BEST gift I have are these amazing 23 students & my Bitterroot Family. I truly LOVE where I work & so enjoy coming to work each day. We had fun today enjoying hot chocolate, game boards, and electronics. I think lots of fun times & memories were made today. There was not one squabble today-they all got along great. You will have to ask them about their Giggle Gang songs that they wrote & sang/performed in front of their peers. We got lots of giggles out of them. Just so you know, there was an educational part to it-using parts of speech. I think today's spelling test was their best ever-ask them about it. Congratulations to Devin for being the Purple Hand Recipient. We are so proud of you. Brenna, our new student of the week, had lots to share. We enjoyed all the pics. Here are some things we learned about her: She likes yellow, hockey, art, spaghetti, and wants to be a cop when she grows up. Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy lots of friends & family time. Cya next year.

Primary Christmas Program

HI there- You are in for a treat tomorrow if you are coming to the Primary Christmas Program!! They were adorable and they didn't even have their Christmas outfits on today as it was dress rehearsal in normal street clothes. All grades K-3 did a Super Job!! The students had fun in our Music today too as they did play recorders, but they did some "improv". So proud of those who took a risk and did it in front of their peers. Mrs. Neese had a fun activity too. Ask them what they had to do-pretty silly-don't think I could have done it much better. If they tell you what their masterpieces looked like-write masterpiece in the planner and better yet-if they show it to you, write masterpiece x 2 for free money. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy, less structured day. Students are welcome to bring in their favorite hot chocolate mug as we are having hot chocolate & candy canes while having some fun in Language (Read 180/System 44 kids too) with what I call the "Giggle Gang". They can also bring in some board games and/or technology to play in the afternoon after PE as they won't have Music due to the 2nd performance of the Christmas Program. I would show them a video, but they are going to be watching one in PE tomorrow as Mrs. Buss can't use the gym due to the program. So we all have to be extra flexible and just go with the flow. Have a great night.

The Winner Is…...

What a fun day we had today with our staff & many of the students dressed in their holiday wear. There was a contest for teachers who demonstrated the most "festive" ugly sweater/outfit and the winner is… Mrs. Neese!!! 2nd place went to Ms. Alicia, and 3rd place went to Mrs. Mathiason. Great job to all. If you choose to see everyone, go to www.bitterrootlibrary.blogspot.com to see Mrs. Anderson put together for us. Enjoy. Below, you will see the pics of the items we purchased for our Empty Stocking children. Great job once again on making their Christmas extra special. Today in Math the kids did awesome with their Perimeter & Area measurement. Ask them to tell you what they had to do and also look at the great paper that came home and if you do, write A & P in the planner. Tomorrow is Music so get those recorders & books here. Friday is Hot Chocolate day so the kids can bring their favorite hot cocoa mug and enjoy. Have a great night.

Oh-A Shopping We Will Go!!!

Yes, we are off to shop for our Empty Stocking kids. We collected $150 as a whole class. That is truly amazing. We will put everything together tomorrow and then I will take pics of everything we buy and then post the pics tomorrow. Ava, (she brought in the names), and Sydnie, and Kira (student council reps) are the ones doing the shopping with me. Trust me, I would love to take everyone, but that is impossible and the class agreed that these 3 were a good representation from the class. Everyone will get to help box & wrap the items tomorrow. Thank you again to all you amazing parents out there who helped with this cause. I hope that someday they will remember these kinds deeds they did to help the less fortunate. New study maps for the Southeast Region came home today and we made flash cards for studying here at school. Start studying them now. If your child can learn 2 of them tonight, write SE in the planner. Fun logical reasoning skills-today we had a lot of fun in math with some high level, stumping logical reasoning in math. We are going to be doing one each day of the week and they are Christmas theme related. Ask them what today's was about and what the correct answer was. If they can tell you, write the number in the planner. In morning meeting, we talked about "an attitude of gratitude", looking at the bright side of things, seeing your glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty along with being an optimist and/or pessimist talking about how all 4 of these mean about the same thing. Students had to write which one they are (optimist or pessimist) and 3 reasons why they are that way. If they felt they were both, they had to write 2 reasons for each. Then they reflected on them and starred the one they felt was their best trait or which one they would like to change the most if they are a pessimist. The goal of this lesson was to see how important it is to be an optimist when making friends & building relationships. Ask your child which one they are and why they feel that way. Write their choice in the planner. Tomorrow is Library so haul in those books. Quick clarification-The Holiday Program on Friday is only for Grades K-3. I know this is different than previous years, but 4th graders will have a recorder concert later in the year. REMINDER!!! Tomorrow is Holiday Spirit Day. Show your spirit and wear your favorite holiday wear. If you choose to, you may bring in $1.00 to be donated to Toys 4 Tots. Have a great night.

Holiday Stroll Tonight

PTA sponsored Holiday Stroll tonight. Lots of fun, holiday activities for you & your family: pics with Santa, decorating cookies, making reindeer food, chances to win a decorated tree. Come out and have some family fun. If you go, write Stroll in the planner for $300. Recorder quiz today and they did very well. Ask them what song they played and if they can tell you, write it in the planner. With our buddies today, we went to all the classrooms and collected food for the food bank. Bitterroot did a great job and will give the final count next week. Will also let you know how much we have for our Empty Stocking adoptions next week as I am taking all the loose change to the bank tonight to get bills for it. Thank you again for all your support & help to those less fortunate. Plans for next week: In Math, we are going to learn area and then we will find the perimeter & area of things/places around the school. Also, will be doing some fun Christmas problem solving with fractions and composite & prime numbers. We will also keep practicing our long division. Make sure your child practices their facts if they have not fully mastered them. It only helps with their computation process. Lead 21-finishing up Selection 1 on Monday by each group sharing with each other what they learned about the Atlantic States in their section. Then we will start Selection 2, but may not finish it before break. Skills are: predicting, generalizing, summarizing, prefixes, and vocabulary work. Montana History: We will finish up with the section on how the horse & gun changed life for the indians. Language is all review skills with Christmas related activities. Continue to read at least 30 min./night. Mark those calendars. Congratulations to Caden, our student of the week. We learned the following things about him: He likes the color blue and his favorite subject is Math. He likes baseball & cheese pizza. He wants to be a cop when he grows up. He had this to say to us, "I bet you didn't know I can throw a knuckle ball, change-up, and curve ball. Have a great weekend.

Happy Thrilling Thursday!!

Great day today, but not a lot of exciting, new happenings. Started the day with Library. Ask your child what they have been doing in library lately besides checking out books. If they can tell you, write Library in the planner. Lead 21 kids have learned many new things about the Atlantic states this week. Ask them how geography & economy are connected. If they can tell you, write Lead 21 in the planner. Math consisted of partners working together measuring different objects in the room to the nearest inch & 1/4 inch. They did a great job and I think they are ready for Perimeter tomorrow. Also, today, we started a new problem-solving strategy and it is Writing a Number Sentence. Today, they had to use certain amounts of coins to make certain amounts of money. Lots of thinking going on which lead to a little frustration. I LOVED seeing their minds/brains "stretched"!! Tomorrow they will partner up for this and share what they have come up with so far. Recorders-they are doing well on these and actually sounding like Music!!! I am sitting here typing this right now as I am listening to them play "Fox in the Meadow". Great growth being made!!!! In fact, they are doing so well, they are going to have a playing test tomorrow. Mrs. Neese had a fun surprise for them today. Ask them what they did and the "purpose" of it. What book & song was it connected to and why?? Last day for Food Drive & Empty Stockings tomorrow. We have done amazingly well. Let's finish strong Team Hankins. Have a great night.

Short Post-Staff Meeting Night

Fun-Fun Creative Stories!! Have your child tell you about their new version of their Rudolph Story. Lots of creative juices out there. If they tell you about it, write story in the planner. Great job with linear measurement today. We measured some things in the room today whole group and they did great so now they are ready to go around the room measuring objects with partners tomorrow and then we are ready to learn perimeter & area so we can find both of those of some other objects. We were lucky to attend the Bitterroot 5th & 6th Grade Band/Orchestra Concert today. Those kids did a great job and should be so proud of themselves. Library tomorrow so get those books here. There were lots of overdue notices sent home last week. Also, Music so need those recorders & books. Have a great night.

Outside Recess

Yes, the students finally got to go out and have fun in the snow thanks to it being above 0. I was so pleased and happy to see all of them dressed for the weather which made it fun out there for them. Thank you, parents for making sure they came to school dressed appropriately. Today we started linear measurement in math. We started by making our conversion charts. Ask them why Denver is called the Mile High City and if they can tell you, write Denver in the planning. We also learned our first algorithm for learning LONG division. It is the traditional method that you & I learned, but we made a poster called the Royal Family. Ask them the 5 members of the family and if they can tell you, write division in the planner. In Montana History, we learned how the horse travois replaced the dog travois and why the horse became so important for the indians to have. Ask them to tell you at least 2 reasons why. Wednesday, December 18th is Holiday Spirit Day here at Bitterroot. Wear your favorite holiday gear and donate $1.00 to Toys For Tots. Another great way to give back and share in the spirit of giving just like our Empty Stocking endeavor. We have a $100 and now the kids want to make a new goal of $125!!! Can we do it???? BELIEVE!! Tomorrow is the Bitterroot Band & Orchestra Concert at 8:45 and we will be attending that so Library is rescheduled for Thursday morning so have your books here by Thursday. Lead 21 started small groups today with predictions. Tomorrow we share those and then start reading about the Atlantic States so be ready for your child to share lots of new information with you. Have a great night.

Happy Monday!

The end is in sight-Yes, I think the end of the "cold" snap is in sight once we can get rid of this crazy wind. The kids here at Bitterroot have been great though in spite of No Recess for 6 days!!!!!!! Today was a pretty normal day going through the routines & daily subjects. In Montana History, we discussed different ways the indians hunted bison back in the early days before horses & guns. Ask your child to tell you about at least 2 ways and if they can, write bison in the planner. Lead 21 started Unit 3 which is about the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and South Atlantic states which is some of the states we learned about in the Northeast Region in Social Studies. We are learning about the geography, economy, history, and culture of this region. More to come on this as we learn more about it. In math, we practiced division mental math to prepare us for our long division start up tomorrow. We also learned about 3 different kinds of triangles. Ask your child about them, and if they can tell you about all 3, write triangles in the planner. Tomorrow is PE so remember those tennis shoes. Also, we may be able to go outside tomorrow if it is above 0, so dress for the weather. Just a reminder that Friday is the Christmas Stroll. To show our support for our hard-working PTA, students will be given $300 free money if they attend. Students added $25 more to the Empty Stockings fund and more food came in today for the food drive. Way to help out the less fortunate. I am so hoping by the examples you & I are setting at home & school are what they will take with them for later in life. :))))) Have a great night.

Rudolph, the ________Nosed Reindeer???

"What did you say"? Rudolph, the _____-nosed reindeer!!! Yes, we wrote stories and made reindeer today in buddies. Rudolph's nose was no longer red and they had to write a story about his new nose and how he got it. Have a discussion about it with your child and have fun listening to what they came up with. I know there are a few of the 4th graders that don't have buddies or share buddies and they have been so patient and such troopers about it so if they don't have a buddy, ask them what their story is going to be about because we, the 4th graders, are going to write ours next week. Ask them what their buddies new nose color was or what their story is going to be about and if they can tell you, write the color in the planner. These are so fun and creative!!! Today in Math we learned how to find the range, median, and mode in a set of data. Ask them about the difference between the 3 and if they can tell you, write R,M,M in the planner. We learn about the mean (average) later when we learn to divide. I am so excited to report that we have collected $55 for our empty stocking thus far. How cool is that!! We also had a great discussion today about the great feeling we get when we put others who are less fortunate before ourselves. Ask them to tell you about the powerful, short video clip we watched today. :))))) It definitely put a huge smile on my face. Plans for next week: Math, we are going to start division, linear measurement, perimeter, and area. Montana History-Our next section will be about how the horse & gun bring about change for the indians. Language-skills review with Christmas fun activities Lead 21-We are starting Unit 3 which is about the New England & Mid-Atlantic States. We will learn about the geography, economy, history, and culture of the area. It will be a great lead in to our SE section of the US when we start that after the holiday break. Spelling-Unit 14 words Pen pal letters will be written this week along with our Rudolph stories. Reminders: Food Drive collection is still on. PTA Holiday Stroll is on Friday, December 13th from 6-8. As you saw from the note that went home the other day, they have a lot of amazing things planned. Mid-terms went home today. Overall, they are very good. When you go over yours with your child, write mid-terms in the planner. Congratulations to Sydnie, our student of the week. We enjoyed all the fun things & pictures she shared. We found out she loves softball, pizza, art, her dog, Oreo. We also learned that she wants to be a gold medalist in gymnastics in the Olympics someday. Dream-Believe-Achieve-You can do it!!! We also learned that she can pitch a "change-up". She was asked if she could pitch a knuckle ball, well let's just say she can't for now, but that is her goal now. Have a great weekend. Let's hope for some warmer weather.

Short Post

Not a lot to report today so will be a quick post. Today in Math, we learned a lot more Geometry terms. We learned the 4 kinds of angles and how many degrees each one is and I also introduced the 3 types of lines. Ask your child about all 7 of these and if they can share them with you, write Geometry in the planner. Lead 21 kids are almost done with their Benchmark Assessment. Tomorrow we have the writing piece. They have to write procedural text which means they have to write the steps on how to do/make something. They must have a minimum of 5 steps. Their homework for tonight is to decide what it is they are going to write about so that they can get started right away tomorrow. So ask your child what they are going to write about. In Montana History, we learned what the difference is between Imports & Exports. Ask your child the difference and also discuss with them what the indians imported and what was exported. Write import/export in the planner. Once again, thank you for the generosity shown towards our "empty stocking" collection. I just love how it ties into our word this week of work and how some students are taking the money they earn for helping out family, friends, neighbors, etc. and turning it around and "giving" it back to those in need. What great Random Acts of Kindness. Rachel would be so proud. We have chosen a girl named Renee who is 10 that is our person we are adopting to get the items we purchase for her. We will be collecting until Friday, December 13th. Tomorrow, we will count up how much we have so far. Tomorrow is HE/PE so make sure you have your tennis shoes here. Have a great night.

Exercising In Math

Yes, today we took full advantage of being "cooped" up indoors. We were making line plots so we did some exercises in math and recorded our data on line plots. Ask your child what exercises we did and how a line plot is made. See if they can tell you what the word is called when one number in the data is very different from the others. If they can tell you and show you all this, write line plot in the planner. I also found some fun exercising videos that we danced/moved to this afternoon to get us up and going. Fun-fun!! In Lead 21, we shared our paragraphs about "how to protect/help Earth". They are now on display in the hallway. I am very proud of the writings they came up with. We also did Part 1 of our Benchmark Assessment. Will continue with that tomorrow. Pen Pal letters were received and read today. Lots of fun & excitement sharing what they learned about their pen pal. Ask them something they learned about their pen pal and write pen pal in the planner. We are going to write back next Wednesday. Tomorrow is Music so make sure you have your recorder here. Notes from the PTA went home today for the Holiday Stroll that will take place on Dec. 13th. Looks like lots of fun and a great way to earn some fake money if you go and support it!! Food Drive is still on so help out if you can. Empty Stockings-WOW-I am truly taken aback by the generosity of this group and you as parents. Lots of money was brought in today. Thank you-we will continue this until December 13th. Ava is going to pick a child for us to adopt for this great cause and we will purchase what is on his/her wish list. Happy Birthday, Sydnie-have a great day. Thank you for the candy canes. Have a great night.

BRRRR!!!

Yes, today was below zero so we were inside for lunch & recesses, but the kids did amazing playing board games, drawing, playing 4 corners, etc. So nice to have them get along so well and show such sportsmanship & teamwork. Today in Math, we worked hard on Elapsed Time. This is a very difficult concept, but we are using a number line to help us master it. Have your child show you how to do it, and if they can, write elapsed time in the planner. Lead 21 paragraphs & posters are done and will be shared tomorrow. The students did a great job using the stoplight writing process to write some pretty detailed paragraphs. Once again have them tell you about how the stoplight writing works and if they can, write writing in the planner. In Montana History, we learned about the seasonal squares for the Salish & Blackfeet tribes. Have them tell you what the 4 different squares represent. Have a discussion about some of the jobs of the men & women in the tribes. Tomorrow is Library so get those Library books back. Today in Morning Meeting, we had a great discussion about "work" and what work they are going to do this week to help out at home. To tie into the idea of "helping out" others, Ava brought up the idea of "Empty Stockings" which is helping out the "less fortunate" right here in Billings. So as a class, the students decided that they would like to collect coins/money for this wonderful cause. We will be collecting until Friday, December 13th so if you wish to help out, please send $ with your child for our coin collection. Thank you-remember this is totally OPTIONAL!! Have a great night.

Great Day Back!

We had a great day back!!! Was great to see these kids again-I missed them. They are such an awesome bunch of kids which is a huge credit to you as parents. Thank you for your hard work with them. Rusty's topic for this week is "work"-we discussed what it is and how we can help our families during this busy, hectic holiday season. They were to each write down something they are going to work hard on this week to help out their families. Have a conversation about their job or chore they are going to do and write work in the planner for free money. Montana History today took us way back into the 1700's and how the Indians were pushed from east to west by the Europeans. They also found out that the Europeans had brought many diseases with them when they came over and how this was very difficult on the Indians. We then made a collage in our notebooks of the tribes that were here in Montana Territory at that time. We also started the section on our seasonal squares which goes into detail of Indian life amid the 4 seasons. Ask them which animal was most important to Indian life. IF they can tell you, write the name of it in the planner. In Math, we did many examples of finding elapsed time. We used number lines to help us with this. We will practice this more tomorrow and then they can show you tomorrow night how to use it. They thought it was pretty cool and it makes finding elapsed time much simpler. Math homework tonight is practicing that multiplication computation. New December reading calendars went home today. I used a different format and put on a few extra dates. I hope it is not too confusing. Let me know if it is, and I will go back to the original next month. Remember if you have not brought Novembers in already, do so tomorrow. Also, we are collecting food for the Food Drive so if you want to help, please do so. Thank you We did these Turkey drumstick transformations right before break and I took pictures of them so wanted to share them with you. Have a great night and brace for tomorrow's weather.

Busy Week & Month Ahead

Welcome Back-I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday with family & friends. I know I sure did, so many memories were made, and taking the time to reflect on all the things I have to be thankful for. Take time today to think about and visit with your child about a memory you made this past week and write memory in the planner for free money. This week/month is going to be busy. In Lead 21, we are going to write our final draft paragraphs about "How We Can Protect & Take Care of Earth" using the stoplight writing process. Then we are going to take our Quarterly Benchmark Assessment to celebrate all we have learned so far in the first 2 units. In Math, we are continuing with measurement-time, linear, liquids, weight, and making line plots. Also, continue to work on our multiplication computation. We are also going to start 2 digit by 1 digit division. Keep working on practicing those facts. Montana History: We are finally past Montana Symbols so we are moving on to Montana's Indians of the 1700's. We will learn about life back in those days. New Spelling list again this week coming home on Monday. Language-we are working on irregular verbs & verb tenses. November reading calendars are due tomorrow!!! Have a great last day of break and cya tomorrow.

Early Out Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder that 12:00 Dismissal tomorrow. We took our multiplication computation math assessment today. Overall, the class is doing well. You can go over your child's with them tonight as they have been checked and were sent home. Lead 21 research project presentation tomorrow. Students will share all the information they found about their endangered animals. Art projects-they are doing a pretty cool art project right now in Art. If they can tell you about it, write Art in the planner. In Montana History today, we watched a DVD about "How Indian Tribes in Montana Got Their Names". They learned some sign language that the tribes use. If they can sign one of the MT tribes for you and tell you what it is, write the tribe name in the planner. Happy Birthday, Hanna! Thank you for the yummy treats. Have a great night.

Great Job Team Hankins

Food Drive is off to an amazing start thanks to Team Hankins. As you can see by the picture, we collected quite a bit for Day 1 already. In fact, they brought in the most!! Thank you, parents. We made Food Drive Posters today with our buddies and then they, with their buddies, went around the school collecting the food. Love the teamwork!! Great Team Spirit shown today by everyone as they sported their favorite team gear. Unfortunately, there sure was a lot of maroon & white in the building. :(((( Looking forward to a great game tomorrow at Bobcat Stadium! GO CATS!! Today in Math, we made a chart for Units of Time. We will use this to complete multiplication/division problems. For example: 400 years= _______centuries -----3 years = ________weeks. If your child can complete each of these, write "time" in the planner. We didn't take our 2 digit x 2 digit test today. I want students to do some more practice at home this weekend so please give them some problems to work out and check them for them. This will help them be even more ready when we do take it. Thank you-if you do this, write "ready" in the planner. Lead 21 endangered animals projects are great. They are learning many, new things about their animal. We will be ready to share on Tuesday. If your child still needs pictures, please print them out this weekend so they can finish on Monday. PTA calendar came home today. I want to draw your attention to the Music Concert on December 13th. I want you to know that this is only for Grades K-3. 4th Grade will have a performance in January with their recorders. Just wanted to clarify this for you as this is new for us this year of not being in the Christmas Program. Congratulations to Kylee, our Purple Hand Recipient for the month of November. She was nominated for her helpfulness, including others, and of course her never-ending smile!!! Great Job-we are proud of you. Isaac was our Student of the Week this week. We learned that he likes the color black, math is his favorite subject, football is his favorite subject, and he loves hamburgers. We also never knew he could sing. Maybe someday he will be on American Idol. Again, just another reminder that Tuesday November 26th is an Early Out-12:00 Dismissal.

Show Your Team Spirit Day Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is the day to show your team spirit whether it be CAT/GRIZ or any other team gear. Come out and support your teams. Of course free money for those that wear CAT gear!!!! Just kidding-guess I can't do that!!! Also, we are starting the food drive here at Bitterroot tomorrow. Students can wear hats inside the building if they bring a non-perishable item for the food drive. So help out those in need and wear your favorite hat!! States & Capitals test went very well today for the most part. You will see 2 grades-I gave one for matching the state with the capital and another for location. As we finished this section, we found out why the NE is the birthplace of our nation and which of our nation's largest cities are located here. If your child can answer both of these, write NE in the planner. Recorders went home for them to practice tonight. Have them play the song they learned for you-if they do and put their recorders back in their backpacks for tomorrow, write recorders in the planner for free money. Also, more multiplication practice tonight. I sent home a copy of all 3 algorithms with some of the kids today so I want them to pick one that works for them and stick with it. Look carefully at the examples. Dress for the weather tomorrow as I think we will finally get to be outside for recess & lunch. PE tomorrow too so bring those tennis shoes. I encourage the kids to bring extra shoes when they have boots as I don't like them wearing the boots & snow pants all day long as they get too hot and uncomfortable. Lead 21 kids-bring your pictures for your endangered animal posters tomorrow. Some started typing their reports out on Microsoft Word. I am amazed at how well they are doing with so few keyboarding lessons. Great job. Have a great night.

BRRRR!!!

WOW-it is cold out there! I hope you all got to where you needed this evening safely and are snuggled in at home enjoying some family time making memories. First of all, I want to compliment these kids for having a great day yesterday with the guest teacher. They received 2 compliment points. Today was a busy day catching up and reviewing from being gone. As you can see from the papers that came home, in math they had a review which should have been completed with a high percentage of accuracy since we have been reviewing these skills over & over and they also have them on Success Maker. But, some students chose to "rush" through it and not do their best and you can see from the 2nd try grade (those that had more than 8 wrong had to retry) how much better they did just by reading it carefully, working out the problems, and not rushing. So they received an average of the 2 grades for their final grade. This was a good opportunity to converse about how expectations remain the same no matter who is here and that they always have to do their BEST!! Hopefully this was a good lesson for all. Tonight's math homework is 2 digit x 2 digit practice. They are able to use 1 of the 3 algorithms that they have been given to solve them. We are testing on this on Friday. Also, tomorrow is the Northeast states & capitals test. Again, take the time to study and put forth the effort. Lead 21 students are to bring in at least 3 colored pictures of their animal. These can be of it showing some of their characteristics, the animal in its' environment, what it eats,what is making it endangered etc. Any pictures that portray their animal are great. We are going to try and use Microsoft Word to type out some of our facts now that we have been practicing keyboarding, and then they will have the option to finish the rest at home tomorrow or write out the rest. I know it may look silly with some being typed and some printed so that will be their choice. Then everything will be mounted on colored tagboard. Can't wait to hear about all they learned and share. Recorders & books tomorrow for Music!!! Have a great night.

Substitute Tomorrow

Yes, there will be a substitute tomorrow as I have Leadership Team training. Please take a minute to review expectations with your child. Thank you. Today in Social Studies we learned about building the Erie Canal, why it was built, and what 2 bodies of water it connected. Ask your child about it, make sure they have the term "locks" in their description and what these are like that we use when going up many levels or floors in a tall building. If they can tell you, write Erie Canal in the planner. Lead 21 kids were assigned to their endangered animals today. They are so excited. Ask them what animal they have and what they have already learned in a short time today. If possible, they can start printing a couple of pictures of their animal for their projects. No worries if you can't tonight yet though. In math, we did a little bit of long division. We learned the steps by following a guide called the Royal Family. Ask them if they can tell you the members of the royal family. :))) Just a quick reminder that next week is a very short week. Students are dismissed on Tuesday at 12:00 and then No School on Wed.-Fri. for the Thanksgiving Holiday break. Have a great night.

Happy Friday!!

Where did the week go? We had another great, busy week by learning lots of new things and getting lots accomplished. Highlights of the week were: making idioms, learning about endangered animals and what we can do to take care of our Earth, learning how to debate, working hard on multiplication algorithms, playing recorders and learning our 1st song, and enjoying time with our buddies while helping them with their stoplight writing cards, and them teaching us a mystery number math today which they were so excited about. Ask your child what their favorite part of the week was and if they tell you, put it in the planner. Goals for the upcoming week are: starting some measurement/time in math and taking a test on 2 & 3 digit multiplication x 1 digit along with 2 by 2. In Social Studies, we will finish our tour of the NE and taking our states & capitals test on Thursday. In Lead 21, we will assess for week 3 and then start our research/inquiry projects on Monday. Students will be assigned an endangered animal in which they will research to find some facts and to why it is endangered and how it can be repopulated. Research will be done here on computers and then on Monday night students will be asked to print off some pictures for their project at home so more on this on Monday's blog. Then at the end of the week, we will finish Unit 2 by reading Selection 4 which is about how to protect & save the Earth. Students will make a web of ways to protect the world along with details/evidence of how to and then they will do a paragraph writing project to share all they learned and then illustrate it for a completed project. In Language, we will be learning about linking & irregular verbs. Unit 11 spelling list words. Look at that cool dude, Dylan, our student of the week. He had lots of fun things to share. We learned he loves football, Tiger Woods, Social Studies and that he has set the record of 48 touchdowns in Mighty Mights football. YAYYYY-maybe he will play for the Bobcats someday!! Have a great weekend.

Fun Debate

Yes, today in Social Studies we learned how to debate. Have a fun conversation with your child about what we were debating and how it started. I was impressed by the good conversation/evidence that was presented by the 4 different sides. Great job for their first one. If they can tell you about it, write debate in the planner. Music was great today as everyone had their recorders here and Mr. Hennesy was impressed and they are starting to sound quite good for just getting started. Things to work on for homework tonight: math facts, reading, keyboarding, practice spelling words. Remember PE shoes tomorrow. Have a great night.

Happy Wednesday

Today we finally started our tour of the Northeast. Ask your child what they learned about the light houses & shoreline of West Quoddy Head, Maine and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Also, ask them what was wrong in Plymouth when the Pilgrims landed there. If they can tell you, write NE in the planner. More multiplication computation practice tonight. They have to practice facts anyway so may as well do computation too. Keyboarding program-great job today keeping those fingers on home row & or reaching to keys they needed to. Keep practicing at home those of you that are and hopefully those of you that haven't started at home yet will soon. Nightly reading-remember to read at least 30 min./night for 5 days/week and keep track on the calendar. 600 minutes are the minimum for this month. This is a big part of your reading grade. In Lead 21 today, we shared our idioms-they were great. We also worked on comprehension/questioning skills and for writing we wrote a letter to the captain of the ship that helped save the baluga whales in the story "Symphony of Whales". Tomorrow is Music and recorders and books are a MUST!!!! Have a great night.

Idiom Fun

Today in Lead 21, we had fun interpreting & illustrated the meaning of some fun, common idioms. Ask your child if they are in Lead 21, what their idiom was and what it means. Also, in Lead 21 today, we started Selection 3. Ask your child what their realistic fiction story is called and how it correlates with our unit called "A Green Future". We are going to be starting our Lead 21 Inquiry projects soon as Unit 2 -A Green Future starts coming to a close. Students will be choosing an endangered animal to research and find out the causes for it to become endangered and what can be done to help repopulate it. More to come on this later this week. In Montana History, we located the 7 indian reservations along with their tribes. Ask your child what at least 2/7 are. If they can tell you, write the names of them in the planner. We will do more in depth learning of these as we go. New computer program. Yes, today we started practicing keyboarding. Students each have an account so I strongly recommend they practice at home. We will do it some at school, but we have Success Maker & ReadAbout that we have to do here as they are on the school server and can't be accessed from home. The site is: www.typingweb.com/tutor. Thank you for encouraging your child to practice. The big reason we are doing this is not only to help with summaries they have to type in ReadAbout along with report typing on Microsoft word, but our upcoming tests are set up with a format such that students need to type in answers in complete sentences/paragraphs. Yikes- so keyboarding is a must!!! Also, continue to practice xtramath.com for fact mastery. Today in math we were doing multiplication/division algebraic expressions and these were tough for those kiddos that are struggling with their facts. I stressed to them the fact that they are going to take some work on their part and they aren't just going to "fall from the sky" and into their memory bank. We made our flashcards today for the NE states & capitals so now we have another tool to use for mastering them. Continue to practice-the test will be sometime in the next 10-14 days. Library books tomorrow. Also, remember recorders need to be brought back here for Music on Thursday. Have a great night.

Proud to be an American

Today we celebrated Veteran's Day by having in our very own Mr. English as a guest speaker. He talked about and shared a slide presentation with us about his deployment over in Iraq. We so appreciate him and all the other men & women in the Armed Forces that fight for our country & our freedom. We learned some pretty cool facts about what he did over there, but I think the favorite one was "how many blackhawk helicopters could fit in the cargo plane with room to spare for bunks on top? If your child can answer that, write the number in the planner. We started our morning by reading about the history of Veteran's Day. We found out it wasn't always called this and it used to be called Armistice Day. Ask them why this date & time in history was chosen. Next, we watched the "changing of the guards" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Quite amazing-the students were intrigued by the seriousness of it and what one has to do be selected to be a guard of the tomb. Ask them how many steps they take on the walk as they guard the tomb and why this number is significant. If they can tell you, write the number in the planner. Then we read a book called "America's White Table". Very powerful-ask your child to tell you about it. If any of you, would like to read it, I will borrow it out to you. The pictures below show the things on the table so ask your child what they stand for to see if they can remember. As you can probably tell, we learned a lot today which makes us even more grateful to all those military men & women out there who are fighting for us & our freedom. Tomorrow we are making our flash cards for the NE states & capitals to study here at school and then we are starting our tour. Finally!!!! Math story problems today using multiplication. Some may have these for homework. Good computation practice. Remember to practice those facts!!!! Test over all the 0-12's is SOON!!!!! Remember PE shoes tomorrow. Have a great night.

Thank you-Thank you

Once again thank you for our visits during conference time. I enjoyed our time very much. This week is going to be another busy week. Following are some of the happenings: Math-we will be writing story problems using multi-steps/operations. Also, continuing to practice our multiplication algorithms. We will add on algebraic multiplication/division equations and finding the rule for in/out boxes. In Social Studies, we will begin the week with Veteran's Day. We will read the book: "America's White Table" and then learn about the history behind Veteran's Day along with watching the "changing of the guards" in Washington D.C. Then we will finally get on our tour of the Northeast. Keep practicing those states and capitals. The test will be not this week, but the next. In Language, we are continuing to work on verbs, but adding in more suffixes & homophones. In Reading, we are continuing to find & write examples of figurative language. We are also starting Selection 3 in our readers. Skills/strategies we are going to work on are: Making predictions, writing questions for discussion, and writing summaries. We will also practice synonyms/antonyms with the voc. words from their section. No Science as we are going to take a break so we can get through Social Studies. In Computer time, we will continue with ReadAbout & Success Maker, but now we will be adding a keyboarding program for practice. Since we won't have the extra time to do the XtraMath, please continue to keep doing it online at home like many of you are. Thank you. Today Kaitlin shared Student of the Week things. We found out she likes to collect diamonds. Yes, can you believe it?? Not real ones though-darn!!! We loved all the things she shared with us-keep working & playing hard in softball. You will be on the Skyview High School team someday-I know-then I can come and watch you. That about sums up the week. Have a great weekend.

Quick Post During a Short Break

HI Everyone- Just a quick post to check in. Conferences are going well and I appreciate you coming and taking an interest in your child's education. Your interest & communication with me shows them that education is valued and it makes a difference in their attitude toward learning so Thank you. I love talking about the progress they are making and discussing what they can do both here at school and at home to help make them more successful. Tomorrow is Montana's birthday and I am bringing treats!!!! Have a great day.

Conferences Are in Full Swing

Great afternoon visiting with those of you that had a conference with me today. I always enjoy sharing your child's accomplishments and discussing what they can do to make their learning experiences more positive. Thank you to those of you that came today and for the rest of you, I will see you tomorrow. As you can see from the schedule, the timing is tight so try your best to be on time and I will do my best to keep us on schedule. Have a great night.

Conferences & Early Out Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is the first day of conferences and a 12:00 Dismissal. Check to see that you have your conference time marked on your calendar as I am looking forward to visiting with each of you. Come with any questions you have about curriculum, the blog, classroom routines, etc. I will mainly be talking about strengths & weaknesses of your child along with going over test data. Today, students got to purchase items with the remainder of their fake money. Everyone got to purchase something so that is truly a great thing. Remember lots of coupons were purchased yesterday. Now tomorrow everyone starts over with $100. We had our final weather grade taken today. Students found out some fun weather facts while doing a scavenger hunt with a partner. Ask them 2 new things they learned and if they can, write weather in the planner. In Math today, we worked on multiplication computation. Students now have 3 algorithms/strategies they can use to solve 2&3 digit x 1 digit problems. I can't stress enough the importance of knowing their basic facts. Please please practice at home. Library tomorrow-bring those library books. Have a great night.

Spending Our Fake Money For Quarter 1

Yes, today students got to buy coupons with their fake money if they chose to. They were $300/each and they could buy as many as they wanted. Ask them what they purchased and write $ in the planner for free money. Tomorrow, they will be able to shop at Hankins' store to spend any remaining money. Then we start over with $100. Has been a good real-life experience. "The better the choices you make, the more money you have to spend". Raindrops and stories that came in today were amazing. I just LOVE seeing all that creativity. They are all due TOMORROW!!! Today, we had a quiz on the water cycle and they all did a great job. Tomorrow we will finish up with a weather scavenger hunt. In Montana History today, we started the government section. Our capital has not always been Helena. Ask them where the 1st capital was and if they can tell you, write its' name in the planner. Multiplication Facts: Parents please please see to it that your child practices these on a nightly basis. It is so hard to do computation if basic facts are missing. This is so important. Thank you. November Reading Calendars went home today. 600 minutes is expected for the month. Remember 150/week at least. I hope you are enjoying the pictures that came home today. Speaking of picture, the one of Kylee is she with her participation award for competing in the County/City Cross Country meet at Pioneer Park earlier this year. Great job, Kylee. Also, remember to mark your calendar for your conference time if you haven't already. They are listed over on the side of the blog. Have a great night.

We Made It!!

Yes, we made it through Halloween week. Actually the kids did a great job these past 2 days with all the excitement. It is fun to be able to do the fun things and yet still be able to use good character and "rope" that excitement back in and get down to business. Today we started out with a little skit consisting of: Reasons to say "NO" to drugs. Then we made leaf animals with our 2nd grade buddies that turned out so cool. The 4th graders that had extra time made leaf animals also and then we hung them in the hall with our fun slogan: "Mrs. Hankins's Class Leaves Drugs Alone" along with drug free messages hanging with them. You will see them hanging in the hall next week at conference. Ask them what animal they helped their buddy create and/or what animal they created. Some 4th graders share buddies and also some of our buddies moved so we had a couple groups of just 4th graders working together w/o a buddy. That happens. Took our Math Chapter test today and the students did a great job. Now we are moving on to more multiplication/division strategies. Goals for next week: Lead 21-finishing up our informational text on A Green Future. Skills & strategies for the week are: Point of view, drawing conclusions, and idioms. Language-continuing with Verbs & verb tenses. Spelling-Unit 9 word list Math-multiplication/division story problems along with multi step story problems. Also, the properties of multiplication. Science-finishing up the water cycle unit Social Studies-practicing those NE states & capitals Montana History-Government section-Also Friday is Montana's Birthday so we will be do a fun map scavenger hunt with partners. If you know how old Montana will be on Friday, write it in the planner for free money. Speaking of money: Students will use their fake money to buy coupons on Monday and then any money they have left, they will be able to buy things from Mrs. Hankins' store. Any & left over will go back into the bank. Then on Wednesday, they will will start the new quarter with $100. Raindrop Stories & Projects: These are due on Tuesday morning!!! Can't wait to see them and students will get to share their whole story with a partner. Student of the Week: Kira had many fun things to share. We learned she wants to be a Civil Engineer. She has many things she enjoys with horses, purple, soccer, and hunting being just a few of them. Ask your child the thing we learned that she said we didn't know about her. Hint: pink/squirrel Have a great weekend and I hope you get out and enjoy the nice weather.

Be Safe Tonight

Happy Halloween!! What a fun day we had. We did lots of academics with the Halloween theme. I think the best one was the Monster Math Walk. Students were doing tons of math and not even knowing it. Ask them about it and if they can tell you, write monster math in the planner. In classroom reading today, we talked about what country Trick or treating originated in-if they can tell you, write the country in the planner. This is only for the Lead 21 reading. Recipes for a Drug Free life-yes they came up with amazing recipes for staying drug free. Ask your child what a few of their ingredients were and if they can tell you, write recipe in the planner. These are up in the hall for you to see at conference time. So glad they put lots of positive thought into them. Happy Birthday to Kira!! Please be safe tonight and you are out and about. We had a good discussion about this this morning in morning meeting. Weather is nicer again so no snow pants or boots needed. The students are not wanting to take them off and put back on for recesses. If they stay on, they get too hot and their boots are clumsy. Plus they have PE tomorrow and we don't want them to forget their shoes. Thank you for your understanding in this. Get those reading calendars back tomorrow. Have a "spooktacular" night.