Friday, December 20, 2013

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.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

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.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

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.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

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.

Friday, December 13, 2013

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.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

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.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

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.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

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.

Monday, December 9, 2013

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.

Friday, December 6, 2013

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.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

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.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

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.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

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.

Monday, December 2, 2013

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.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

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.