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.

Mustaches Galore

The message was loud and clear here at Bitterroot-"I mustache you not to use drugs". Lots of participation in final day of Red Ribbon Week. Our assembly left us with a good message about making positive choices and no tolerance for bullying. Thank you to the student council & Mr. English for setting this up. Kira & Sydnie, you represented us well. The Skyview SADD group came to talk to us about what they do as a group,how to get involved in school, and that the messages we receive now about Saying No need to be taken with us throughout our lives and to live our lives making good choices, positive friends, and having strong values. Ask them what SADD stands for and what we did with the M & M's and if they can tell you, write SADD in the planner. Even though RRW is over, we are still going to do a couple things here in our room during morning meetings and will be done by Friday. Tomorrow of course is the big day. Yes, Kira it is your "spooky" birthday. She is bringing treats so no other treats needed as you will get many tomorrow night. We are going to do Halloween activities tomorrow that are curriculum related. We will have fun and I know the kids will be excited, but they will still have to have some self-control. Please visit with them about this-thank you. No costumes, but if you want to wear orange/black or a Halloween t-shirt or something like that, please feel free to. I have mine!! Today in Math, we solved some algebraic equations and they are loving it. We are also working on different strategies for solving problems with the 4 operations. Kids need to see that there is more than 1 way to come up with the answer like we did when we were in school right!!!! Raindrop stories-students were given the choice to take them home tonight to keep doing the rewrite for the published copy. They also got their tagboard raindrop in which they will design their main character. Be creative-we talked about wiggle eyes, ribbons, material, cotton, construction paper, etc. to design and make it look like a character. We are trying to go above just drawing in and coloring the features. Can't wait to see what this creative bunch can do and yes, you parents may help. I love it!!! This whole project will be due on Tuesday-story and character. You will get to see them on display at conferences. Speaking of conferences, if you haven't gotten your slips back yet, please do so so I can finalize my schedule. Have a great night.

Conference Date & Time Slips

YAAYYY!! I got it right this time!! Yes, the goldenrod conference slips came home today with your child's day/time for their conference next week. I think I/we were able to give you your 1st choices so please look them over and then sign the bottom 1/2 and return it to school tomorrow to confirm. Thank you. Tomorrow is the final day of Red Ribbon Week. It is mustache day-"I must-ache you to not do drugs". We are having an assembly tomorrow as a culminating activity. The Skyview SADD group is coming to talk with the 4th grade in the afternoon. Today's students from Senior High/Rimrock Foundation were not able to come. Their counselor/therapist said they were not ready as they are going through some tough times with their addictions. We used this as a teachable moment today as Rusty's show was on addiction also. Quite a powerful discussion we had this morning. In the minds of a 10 year old they just can't figure out how someone could or would do drugs, much less become addicted. I sure hope it stays that way for them. If you are having some good discussions this week about our topics, write "Just Say No" in the planner. On Thursday, as a culminating activity we are going to integrate math/writing by writing recipes for being drug free. Tonight is the last night for raindrop stories. Yes, they are to get back to the collection stage where they started their story since the water cycle goes round-n-round. Then tomorrow they are going to get a tagboard raindrop pattern to create their raindrop character to go with their story. The sky is the limit on the creativity for this project!!! We started our Geography Challenge for the Northeast section today. Keep studying those states & capitals. If you are, write NE in the planner. Reminder: October reading calendars are due on Friday with your total number of minutes for the month. November calendars will be given out on Friday. Have a great night.

Short Blog -Staff Meeting Tonight

Hope you are enjoying this cold, blustery day. BRRRR!! We did go out for recesses today and will again tomorrow so please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. Last night's blog didn't happen until around 5:00 so if you looked before then, you missed it. Was so happy to see so much brightness in here today-"be bright-don't do drugs". It sure helped brighten up this dreary day. Tomorrow is Camouflage Day -"be all you can be"-don't do drugs". We are almost to the end of Red Ribbon Week and I am so impressed at how much these kids are taking in along with all the great discussions we have had. I know they will be able to say "NO" to drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, and negative choices that come their way. We started our Unit 2 in Lead 21 today which is about "Going Green-reduce-reuse-recycle. I hope that everyone is trying to reduce our footprint by doing some of these things so think about it tonight and have a discussion of how your family is helping conserve/protect our natural resources. If you do, write GREEN in the planner for free money. This goes for kids not in Lead 21 too. Unit 8 spelling lists came home today. In Montana History, we learned about counties and what they are. Ask your child how many counties Montana has and which county we live in. Write the answers in the planner if they can tell you. Be practicing those Northeast states & capitals. Also, make sure you are reading nightly. October calendars will be due on Friday with your month's minutes totaled up. Part 4 of water cycle story tonight on precipitation. I am thinking today's weather will be helpful with this part. Again make sure you are helping to edit each section. Thank you so much. Ask them what they did in Art today and what they are going to be used for. Love how the art teacher is integrating our curriculum. Have a great night and stay warm.

Looking Ahead to Another Busy Week

I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to get out and enjoy the weather because it looks like it is about to change tonight/tomorrow. I think we may wake up to some white stuff tomorrow. Please dress for the weather. Last week was a great start to Red Ribbon Week. Friday there were lots of sweats in the building as we showed support to "no sweat to drugs". We also were thrilled to have Agent Dunlap come to us and talk about his job and how he enjoys doing exactly what Kiki Camerena was doing when his life ended way to abruptly. Agent Dunlap also left us with the all important message of staying in school, getting an education, and using positive character traits. Tomorrow is "be bright-don't do drugs" --wear neon colors. We have 2 more guest speakers this week-some students on Tuesday and the students from Skyview that are part of the SADD group. Also, on Wednesday, Mr. English and the Student Council will have an assembly for all of us. I hope you had a great time at the Pumpkin Patch Party on Friday if you went. If you took any pictures, send them to me and I can post them on the blog. Thank you-also if you went, write Pumpkin Patch Party in the planner for free money. Thursday will be filled with Halloween theme activities in most subject areas. We will have fun, but still focus on learning. Curriculum Objectives for the week are: Math: algebraic equations, along with multiplication computation strategies. Lead 21: author's purpose, sequencing, figurative language, and point of view with the writing component. Science: finishing up our water cycle unit and the realistic fiction stories that you are writing at home. Once we have all parts done, they will write their published copy to be on display at Conferences along with the projects they made. Remember to keep editing each part --a huge thank you for that. Social Studies: Geography Challenge for the Northeast and starting the tour. Montana History: Montana's counties & govt. Language: Verb tenses OOOOPS!!!! As many of you noticed on Thursday I sent home the goldenrod colored conference slips home by mistake. I wasn't thinking when I put them on Kaitlin's desk to be put into mailboxes. I meant to only put on the small one with the early out dates on it. So please don't think you made a mistake-it was me. We teachers meet tomorrow (Monday) and set up the conference schedule so I will be sending the correct one home to you on Tuesday. We enjoyed hearing all about Grace as our Student of the Week-I didn't know she knew so much about chickens. Loved the colored eggs. Have a great rest of the weekend and I am looking forward to a great week.

Seeing Double Today

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me today as I sure was seeing lots of doubles in my room. Great job of Twin's Day dress up-"Friends don't let friends do drugs". Today we were introduced to Enrique Camarena, the founder of Red Ribbon Week. Ask your child what they learned this morning about what he was trying to do and what happened to him. If they can tell you about him and what they saw in the YouTube video, write Kiki in the planner. His legacy lives on through his family and the work he did. This will be an introduction to our guest speaker tomorrow. Agent Dunlap, an undercover agent. Tomorrow is "Don't Sweat Drugs" -wear sweats. Great job on Part 1-introduction of raindrop story. Today is Part 2-evaporation. Again follow mine only as an example. Thank you for editing last night's section. Please do the same tonight. We had fun sharing them today with partners and there are some awesome introductions-can't wait to hear Part 2 tomorrow. Recorders today-yes they got to use recorders in Music for the first time. Can't wait for them to actually be able to play a tune. Hands Off Drugs poster-each student traced their hand and wrote a Drug Free message on them and now there are on the poster hanging in our room. Pumpkin Patch Party-tomorrow night is the party from 6-8:00 in the gym. Come out and have some family fun. $300 for showing up. Have a great night.

Great Showing of Red Today

Way to show your Red Ribbon Week Spirit Team Hankins!! Yes, we had a great showing of red today for our RRW kick-off. Tomorrow is Twin Day so find someone to pair up with for this one. Remember clothes, hair, etc. have to be school appropriate. We finished our Water Cycle projects today. As you can tell by the pictures, they are a great representation of what we are trying to learn. HOMEWORK part of this is: Story writing-yes, each student is going to have to write a story about their raindrop going through the water cycle. Tonight's first part consists of: writing an introduction. In this part they are to introduce their character-name, setting (location), activities it is doing on their adventure, etc. Have fun and be creative. Mine was only given as an example-please no copying it. Parents- I also need your help with this part. If you would edit your child's writing each night, I would so appreciate it. It will make it much easier for us all to write our final/published copies. It is nearly impossible for me to edit 23 on a daily basis. Thank you in advance. YOu will get to see these amazing projects & stories up at Parent Teacher Conference time. Speaking of conferences-School will be dismissed early (12:00) on Wed.-Friday November 6-8 so if you need to make arrangements you can start planning. I will be sending your conference times home next week so you can plan for them likewise. We as teachers are meeting on Monday after school to set that up. Music tomorrow-the substitute music teacher for Mrs. McKinnsey would like students to have their recorders here tomorrow if they purchased their own. If you ordered one through school, he will have them here for you. Thank you and have a great night.

Red Ribbon Week Starts Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is the start of Red Ribbon Week. The theme is: "be RED-y to say "no" to drugs. Wear red. Free money to those that wear red. Also, students will be given pledge to read, write, and sign if they agree to be drug free as a "kickoff" to the week. Then on Thursday they will learn about the person who started Red Ribbon Week and hear his story. Pretty amazing. There is a list of dress up days on the side of the blog. Speaking of free money-students were able to buy a Capri Sun today for $400 of free money. We will have another technology day before the end of the quarter and then the rest of their money they will be able to buy from Mrs. Hankins' store or positive behavior coupons. Then when 2nd quarter starts, we start over with $100. Today we finished our regions of Montana and also a quick section on the extreme weather differences in Montana between the different regions. Ask them to tell you 3 different things they learned about these regions. If they can, write the 3 regions in the planner. Study those states & capitals for the Northeast region of the U.S. Tomorrow, we will finally get to get into our water cycle project and get it done. Then you will see a writing project come home with them tomorrow to go along with the water cycle. They will have to pretend they are a raindrop going through the water cycle. We will be doing it in segments-one each night and I will send a sample of mine segment by segment home each night as an example. These are going to be so fun & creative. You will be able to help your child if you wish to and I am going to ask your help with one thing on them and that is the editing portion on a nightly basis as it is almost impossible for me to edit that many each day and do a quality job of giving the students individual feedback on that. So more on this tomorrow as I send Part 1 home. Thank you-thank you for getting those Parent-Teacher Conference forms back. I have all, but 2 so for you 2, please return them on Wednesday. Once I have all of them, we as a staff sit down and schedule them. We will do our best to give you your 1st or 2nd choice. Library books tomorrow. Once again, I just have to say at how amazing this class is. They are a super bunch of kids and I am so proud of them and the character they display on a daily basis. We are able to accomplish so much in all our academic areas and we are all really learning TONS of new things. So thank you for your help & support as you help make this possible. Have a great night and once again get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Happy Monday!!

Great to be back-kids were excited to be back after break too and we got lots done. Kiernan shared her Heritage with us today. She shared about her great-great grandmother's Canadian Heritage. We found out she liked to collect spoons and also that they have many family things in a museum in Canada. How cool is that. Great job-Kiernan. Red Ribbon Week is quickly approaching. It is from October 23-30. We have lots of things planned in our classroom along with the school-wide dress up days listed below. Wednesday-Oct 23-"Be RED-y to say no to drugs"-wear red Thursday-Oct 24-"Friends don't let friends do drugs"-dress like a twin. Friday-Oct 25-"Don't sweat drugs"-wear sweats Monday-Oct 28th-"Be bright, don't do drugs"-wear bright, neon colors Tuesday-Oct 29th-"Be all you can be, don't do drugs"-wear camouflage Wednesday-Oct.30-Don't be a sum-dum, we mustache you not to do drugs". Wear a mustache (along with an assembly put on by the Student Council. Students that participate in these will earn extra money. Let's all celebrate being drug free!! In upcoming posts, I will let you know guest speakers/presentations that we will be having in our classroom. I take Red Ribbon very seriously and I see the importance of helping kids make good, positive choices and not get "sucked" into peer pressures. Today in Math, we learned the compensation strategy for subtracting/trading numbers. I loved the "aha" moments we had in the room when they saw how easy it was. We didn't do lots, but will practice more tomorrow. Northeast States & capitals came home today. Start practicing them. Quiz on them will be in a couple weeks. Have your child name 3 states & capitals in this region, if they can, write NE in the planner. PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE SLIPS: Please mark your choice preference and get these back to school by Wednesday, October 23rd. Thank you. Have a great night and get out and enjoy this beautiful weather.

Heritage Day Celebration

As you can see we had a great Heritage Celebration and learned lots about each other's heritage. YOu can also see by the field trip Smilebox that we had a great trip. If you looked at either or both of these, write Smilebox in the planner for free money. I hope you are enjoying your break. I am enjoying family/friend time. Have a great rest of the weekend and cya on Monday.

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Awesome Day & Field Trip

Yes, we had a great day at the NILE! I think we all learned lots. We went to 7 different stations and part of their assignment when we got back was to write 2-3 things about each station. Lots of good knowledge gained. Those that didn't finish it in school have it for homework. But everyone's job tonight is to talk about it and share at least 8 new things they learned. If they can do this, write NILE in the planner. We also got to meet our pen pals. Even though it was short, I know they found out some new things about them too even though they were being a bit shy. Yes, I did take lots of pictures and I will put them together into a Smilebox video either later tonight or this weekend so be watching for that. Tomorrow is Heritage Day for my reading kids. Be ready to share-remember I am supplying the plates, forks, napkins, etc. for the foods that are shared. Remember don't make a lot, just enough to share with 17 students. Tomorrow is also library so get those books back. Pink-pink was everywhere today. Loved it-What great support we had. Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Lots to Remember For Tomorrow

Yes, lots to remember for tomorrow. It is our field trip to the NILE so dress for the weather. Also, it is Pack the Place in Pink. Wear lots of pink. Free money for those who do. Wednesday is Heritage Day. According to my little poll on the Sunday blog, the majority of you said you could be ready for Wednesday so that is the day from 10:00-11:45 or however long we need. Remember this is only for the regular classroom reading kids. As we talked today, it can be anything that resembles your family's heritage like music, dance, food, art, games, history, etc. The students need to be prepared to get up in front of the class to share the history part of whatever they are doing. For example-if they bring a food-they need to know what culture it is from, do they have a special time during the year they have it or for certain celebrations, etc. If they have pictures or games they need to be able to tell about them and how it is part of their family culture. Does this make sense? In other words, they can't just put pics up and say this is my great-great-grandpa or this is German Chocolate Cake. If you have questions, please call or email me. Thank you. Today in math, we played around with learning different strategies for computing numbers and doing mental math. They were "break a parts", compensation, or the traditional algorithm. Ask their favorite and put in the planner for free money. In Science, we started the Water Cycle. The fun song we are using to go with it is on my website list on the side of my blog. Have fun singing it. Have a great night.

Picture Day Tomorrow

Hi there- I hope your weekend is going well. Just a few reminders for the short week. Tomorrow is Picture Day so bring those beautiful smiles and picture envelopes if you are ordering. I know some of you are ordering online and that is a great way to do it also. Tuesday is Pack the Place in Pink day so wear those pink t-shirts in support of cancer awareness month. Tuesday is also our Field Trip to the NILE. Make sure you dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes. We are mostly inside, but we do move from building to building and also a couple of the buildings are not heated. We will be back in time for lunch. Also, get your permission slips turned in on Monday if you haven't already done so. We are excited for this day as we not only get the field trip, but we will get to meet our Pen Pals there for the first time. They are Ms. Erickson's 4th graders from her new school. :)))) Wednesday is Early Out day with a 12:00 dismissal and then NO SCHOOL on Thurs. & Friday. Heritage Day: Parents of my reading kids-I need your help on this one. As I started thinking, I would like to have our Heritage Celebration Day this Wednesday from 10:00-12:00. We have been studying how people of different cultures celebrate their heritage through art, dance, music, foods, games, etc. As our culminating activity, I want the students to have something to share/show that is a part of their heritage. In the past students have brought a food for students to try, some have showed a traditional family game, others have brought in art, while others have shared a story or of how something is named after a past generation family member. For example, last here we found out that Zimmerman Trail was named after a great-great grandfather of one of the students and he also shared the purpose of the trail. Found out many cool things about family heritage. Anyway, I am wondering if this is too short of a notice for you and your child to come up with something to share on Wednesday that is a part of your heritage. Let me know your thoughts by writing "yes" or "no" in the planner. Yes for those of you that can be ready by Wednesday and No for those of you that could not. Then I will make a decision. I am hoping it works for you as I don't want to drag it out until October 21 after the break. Remember this is only for the students in the regular classroom for reading. Thank you. PTA movie on Friday-if your child attended, write PTA in the planner for free money. Congratulations to Hanna for sharing student of the week stuff. I was gone on Friday afternoon so missed it, but share 1 cool thing you learned about Hanna and write it in the planner for free money. No Spelling list this week. Have a great rest of the weekend and cya tomorrow.

Fun Music Day Today

Yes, as I am writing this, the kids are practicing their music notes on computer. How cool is that. They can practice this at home. Go to www.musictechteacher.com Have fun!!!! Today in math, we practiced our multiplication facts with the fun card game of "War". We all know how to play this so play with your kids as a fun way to practice. Permission slips for the NILE came home today. Please get them signed and returned by Monday, October 14th. Free money for those that return them tomorrow. Independent reading calendars. Yes, I know it is a bit late for them this month, but better late than never. The reason they are late is I had a plan to do nightly reading with Lead 21, but not quite feasible so we are starting this way for now. Your child should be reading at least 150 min./week or 600 min./month. As they read each night, write the amount of minutes and initial each day. Then at the end of the month, total up the minutes, sign and return to me. These will be a large part of the quarterly reading grade. I will be adding strategies & skills to these on a weekly basis starting in November. I want to visit with you about this part at conference time to clarify any questions. Thank you-If your child is in System 44, they didn't get one as they are already doing independent reading for Mrs. Bunn. Any questions on this, please ask. If your child hasn't been reading up until today, just cross those days off, but if they have been go in and fill in Oct. 1-9 with the minutes. If you understand all this and will encourage your child to read nightly, write "I Love to Read" in the planner for free money. In science today we learned about molecules and atoms. Have them draw, show, and molecules in a solid, liquid, and gas. If they can write, science in the planner. Remember Fallen Rock t-shirts are due tomorrow, Friday. Have a great night.

Happy Wednesday

Great day in Room 6 today. Wednesdays seem to be our most productive day as we have no specialists in the afternoon so therefore, we can add on to the time of some of lessons in Math, Social Studies, and Science. In Math today, we played a fun game practicing our multiplication facts/multiples with a partner. Ask them about it and if they can tell you, write (x) in the planner. It would be great if you could set some time aside each night to practice the facts together. Some students are struggling with addition/subtraction so that makes the multiplication fact mastery that much harder. So practice-practice-practice. Also in math today we did estimations by using rounding. So excited that they still have a great grasp of rounding so that made this concept a lot easier. In Social Studies, students worked with partners on a map Geography Challenge. They learned about population density, annual rainfall, and elevation. Ask them which region of the US has the highest elevation. Write it in the planner. Hint: MT is in this region. In Read-A-Loud today, we worked on Making Connections and they made a text-self connection to Pathki by sharing a time when they tried to please someone by doing something nice for a person and it didn't work out the way they expected it to and they might have even gotten in trouble for it. Have them share theirs with you. Permission slips for our field trip are going home tomorrow. But, some of you asked about the date and it is on Tuesday, October 15 from 8:40-11:40. I have a few volunteers to help so we are good on that. Thank you. Deadline for Fallen Rock t-shirt orders is Friday. Thank you and have a great night.

Xtramath Program

Today we added another component to our scheduled computer time. We added Xtramath which is a program to help with mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Students need to know these quickly in order to master them. They start out in addition and then move on as they master that operation. Congrats to Dylan for mastery in addition already on the 1st day!! We finished up Section 1 of Montana History today. Students got graded on this portion of it and now we are ready to move on. We read more of our Read-A-Loud, Pathki Nana today. Ask them to tell you what she learned about her childhood so far from her grandmother and why she is always sad. Have them predict to you how Grandmother is going to help her change. If they can do all this, write Pathki in the planner. In Lead 21 we got back into our small groups today. We will try and finish up our heritage unit in the next couple of weeks and then have our Heritage celebration. More on that at a later date. Remember Library books tomorrow. Also, if ordering Fallen Rock T-shirts, the orders are due on Friday. PTA movie night is coming up-see slip that came home today. Picture Day is Monday, October 14th. Have a great night.

Happy Monday

Great, busy start to our week. We started off our day with our morning meeting and having a great discussion about "keeping true to your word". I just love to hear them start off their day excited that it is Monday and them glad to be back in school. How cool is that!!!! I just love these kids, and the energy they have for learning. We started a new Read-A-Loud today now that we are done with Fallen Rock. We are reading another book that ties into Montana History, Native Americans, and tribe life. It is Pathki Nana. Ask your child what part of MT it is located in and what her tribe name is. Hint: Begins with a "K". Write it in the planner for free money. Then in Montana History today, we are doing a fun symbols page in our journals. These will be the conclusion to Part 1 and then later in the week we are moving into the regions of Montana. In Lead 21, we read a biography about Celia Cruz today. If in my reading, ask your child about competitions she wanted to be in and what boundaries kept her from doing them at first. Then discuss how she was able to overcome that. I am hoping this conversation is about "reaching for your dreams, not giving up, and BELIEVING in yourself. We also learned about Author's Purpose and some forms of Figurative Language. More on these later this week. In math, we did some fun mental math. Wow-this was harder for them than I thought. They need to work on their addition/subtraction facts for quick memorization. It is imperative they know these as we are ready and needing to hit multiplication/division. Also, have them tell you about the fun math drill using only the digits, 2,4,6. Order forms came home today for Fallen Rock T-shirts if you wish to purchase them. Congratulations to Kira & Sydnie for being chosen as our Student Council Representatives for our classroom. I know they will serve us well and make Team Hankins & Bitterroot School proud. A big applause to those that tried out, but didn't make it. They would have liked to have chosen all, but weren't able to due to numbers. Have a great night.

Happy Friday!

Wow-where did the week go? Our day started out today with a very special treat in the gym. Ask your child what it was and if they can tell you, write it in the planner for free money. As you can see by the pictures, we had a great session with our buddies. We wrote getting to know you poems. Ask your child who their buddy is and 2 things they have learned about them so far and if they can tell you, write the name of their buddy in the planner. Had electronics day today and as you can see by the pics, it was a big hit. Students enjoyed music, games, and just hanging out together. I think this was worth the $400. It was also a fun way to celebrate our first 25 celebration points. I am so excited to announce that everyone passed the Chapter 1 math test with at least a B- or better!! Yaaay!! Now we are on to Addition/subtraction of larger numbers and with this estimation and continued decimal practice. In Science this next week, we are continuing our Weather unit with forms of matter, the water cycle, and different parts of weather such as wind, high-low pressures-cold-warm fronts, etc. In Social Studies, we will finish up the map skills unit with 2 more Geography Challenges. In Montana History, we are moving into the 3 regions of Montana. In Language, we will be working on Possessives and some more writing. Speaking of writing our Bradley & Jeff character descriptions turned out well using the stoplight writing process. I can't wait to see them grow as writers. In Reading, we are moving into Selection 2 of Lead 21. Skills this week are: author's purpose, more determining importance, strategies we will work on are: making connections and writing I-V-F summaries. Our spelling list this week is on homophones. These are words that sound alike so students not only need to know how to spell them, but how to use them in context too as that is how it will be done on the test on Friday. Thank you to all of you who contributed to our raising money for cancer awareness by wearing hats today. Devin-we enjoyed all that you shared in the Student of the Week box today. Love the hat and especially the story behind how you got it. That is so cool and also very kind of your family. Have a great weekend everyone.