Monday, March 31, 2014

YAAAYYY!!

Yes, I am finally back at school and I feel great today. Amazing how one takes feeling good on a daily basis for granted. As you know, I am not one to get sick very often. Today, was a great day. We spent a little time "catching up" and getting a few little things finished. Midwest travel brochures will be do for completion on Thursday which is the same day as the states & capitals test. Today in Math, we reviewed lots of previously taught skills and will again tomorrow in preparation for the MAP Math test which will be on Wednesday so hopefully everyone will be here. Of course that is if you are not feeling ill as I know how fast that can happen. In Lead 21, we started Unit 6 on Ecosystems. This is going to be a fun unit as Mrs. Anderson is doing something with the inquiry project in there and we are going to do reports in here. More on that at a later date. Unit 29 spelling words for the week. Fake money shopping day will be later this week. Reminder: Friday, April 11 is the Recorder Concert and also the PTA carnival. PTA is collecting money or items for the candy/pet baskets. We as a 4th Grade are once again running the infamous CAKE WALK so we will need cakes, cookies, bars, or any baked goods you can send in. I will pay $50 for every cake, plate of cookies, bars, etc. Anything you can do to help. Thank you. Report Cards go home tomorrow. Purple Hand Cookie Award this month goes to Philip Bell. He was nominated for his friendship, kindness, and willingness to help others. Have a great night.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Hi there

HI everyone- Sorry for the lack of communication lately, but the flu bug that hit me on Thursday night hit with a vengeance and hasn't quite let go. There was no way I could be at school on Friday as I felt as if I had been run over by a truck. I sure hope none of you get this bug if you haven't already. I am so hoping to be there tomorrow. Well, let's put it this way, I am going tomorrow whether I feel 100% or 50%. Not sure of our last testing date. I am going to plan for Wednesday, but will let you know for sure tomorrow. Also, I know the kids were counting on spending their fake money tomorrow, but I don't have the energy to go shopping to stock the Hankins' Store. But I will do it sometime this week -I can promise them that. I did manage to go over to school yesterday and once again an awesome sub note. I am so proud of these kids and being gone makes it easier. Report cards go home on Tuesday. Terrific Kids & Bug Club assembly on Friday at 9:45 in the gym. If your child is getting an award, I will put a slip in their report card for you to see and acknowledge you saw it by writing me a note in the planner. Attached is the awesome state reports the kids did in Library with Mrs. Anderson. Have a great rest of the weekend and I hope we don't wake up to lots of snow tomorrow. http://bitterrootlibrary.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Guest Teacher Today

I have the utmost confidence that yesterday afternoon and today was a fantastic day in Room 6 for Team Hankins. Tonight's blog question is to rate your behavior from 1-5 with 5 being the highest as far as how you did the past 1 1/2 days. Write your number for free money. Speaking of free money, tomorrow is the last day of the 3rd quarter already. Yikes-where does the time go????? I do not want this year to end-these kids are amazing!!! Anyway, students will be able to spend their free money on Monday at the Hankins' Store and then we will start over with new money for the 4th quarter. Tomorrow is the Math MAP test so get that good night's rest, healthy breakfast, and healthy snack. I hope you enjoyed the symmetry project in math. If you didn't finish, you can tomorrow. Also, we will work on the travel brochures tomorrow if you didn't finish them. Tomorrow is also PE so have your shoes. Tomorrow is also recorder day. Have a great night and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Spring Carnival

Yes, the PTA Spring Carnival is rapidly approaching. They have made some changes this year as far as the admission cost, games, and basket raffle. Yellow flyers went home today explaining the changes and the themed basket each grade level is doing. So if you can help in any way with the 4th grade Pet Supply & Candy Basket, that would be great. Thank you in advance. Tomorrow is our first day of the Spring MAP testing. We will be testing reading from 10:00-11:35. Please get a good night's rest, healthy breakfast, and bring a healthy snack. Gum will be allowed during testing. Today we finished our tour of the Midwest. Now students are going to be working on creating travel brochures to spotlight this region. They are to choose 5 locations and be able to tell 3 facts about them and they will be illustrated also. Ask your child about 1 location they are going to use. If they can tell you the name and 3 facts about it, write the name of it in the planner. Today in math we added & subtracted angles. So ask your child this question: If one angle (ABC) in a right angles is 65 degrees, what would the degrees be for angle DEF? Hint: the total needs to be 90 degrees. If they can tell you the measurement of angle DEF, write it in the planner. I will be out of the building tomorrow afternoon and all day Thursday. Everything is all set up for the guest teacher. Please remind your child of expectations. Thank you. Have a great night.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Vacation Day on Monday

Just a reminder that there is No School on Monday, March 24th as it is a vacation day built into the calendar. We are going to be doing our Spring MAP tests on Wednesday & Friday, March 26 & 28 in the morning from 10:00-11:30. I know these dates changed from the original dates I gave you so hopefully that is not a problem. I will be setting goals with the kids on Tuesday so they will know how many RIT score points they are expected to grow from when we took them in January. Great job on recorders today. The students all got challenged by Mrs. McKennsey to play a solo on their recorders. They did great!!! Buddies today consisted of oral reading to each other to practice fluency. It was nice just to have some time to read & relax with our buds. We will not have a spelling list this week due to the short week and testing. The papers that are coming home corrected with either a,b,c,d on them are review math papers from skills throughout the year. As you can see from them, the kids are doing a great job of retaining those skills. YAYYYY. It is looking like we will have our Midwest states & capitals test on Thursday, April 3rd. We will have a short assessment on our worm unit this week also. If the students took good notes as we read 3 of our books, they should do great. Have a great 3 day weekend and cya on Tuesday.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Happy Thursday

Our day started out today with an HR on Susan B. Anthony. We found out lots of great facts about her and the importance of her push on Women's Suffrage. Ask your child 3 facts about her and if they can tell you, write Susan in the planner. Then we moved on to our Midwest tour and learned about the 2 memorials in the Black Hills of South Dakota. If they can tell you what happened to General George Custer, write, Crazy Horse in the planner. Speaking of Midwest, they finished their projects they did with Mrs. Anderson in Library. They did them using technology so I am going to ask her if there is a way I can share them with you. For the first go of it, they did great. We continued to measure angles in math. We are getting more & more comfortable with this and will soon be ready to draw our own of different measurements. Mrs. Neese's lesson today was centered around a book called: "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs". Have a discussion about which one of the 7 habits it is connected to. (Always 2 sides to a story). Tomorrow is PE & recorder day. I think the weather is going to change tonight so make sure you are dressed for the cooler weather. Had some kids without coats today. I know it is the first day of Spring, but in Montana that does not mean the weather is always going to be Spring like. Have a great night.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Hee Haw!!

Yes, we had a great showing for Western Day today. Way to show you spirit Team Hankins. Fun in math today measuring angles with our protractors. We have mastered that skill and now we are ready to move on to finding the degrees of the unknown angle. For example a straight angle is 180 degrees and the the first angle is 95 degrees, what would the measurement of the other angle be. Answer: 85 degrees. Once we master that, we will draw and label angles of different measurements. Today in Library, they finished their state projects. Ask your child what their project was about and 3 things they learned. If they can tell you, write the name of their state in the planner. Lead 21 started Selection 3 which is historical fiction. Ask your child how about their selection and what time/event in our country's history it is connected to. Write it in the planner. For Read 180/System 44 students on this one, discuss with your child what they are reading in their program and write it in the planner. Worms today-yes we finished reading our fun worm fact books. Why are worms clear in color when born? Write it in the planner. I think they have found to that worms are amazing creatures and so so good for our soil. Talk about one main job they do. Keep studying those midwest states/capitals. Remember to be collecting your pledges or $ if you are participating in the Jump Rope for Heart act. for Mrs. Buss. Just a reminder No School on Monday, March 24th. Also, starting next week, we will once again be taking the MAP tests for Reading & Math. We will be doing ours on Tuesday & Wednesday, March 25th & 26th. I will be helping the students set goals this week so they know what RIT score they want to achieve. These are my favorite tests as they test the students individually and how they grow amongst themselves. So please try not to schedule any appointments on those days in the a.m. Thank you. Recorders tomorrow for Music. Have a great night.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Western Day Tomorrow

Yes, there has been a request for western day tomorrow. So get those boots, hat, belts, etc. and show your Montana, Cowboy spirit. Not a lot of happenings to report lately as we have just been working hard doing our daily warm-ups, games, activities, and practice to prepare us for what lies ahead in the upcoming weeks. We did start our tour of the Midwest today. We learned about St. Louis, Iowa, and Dodge City, Kansas. Ask your child what they learned about each of them and if they can tell you, write 3 in the planner. Keep practicing those states & capitals. I will be setting a date for the test by the end of this week. As we finish the tour for this section, we are going to be making travel brochures to highlight what we learned. This will be a part of their grade just like the states & capitals. Excitement in math today as we learned to read a protractor and measure angles. Ask your child the 4 kinds of angles and if they can tell you all 4 and a measurement of each, write the names of them in the planner. Remember those library books tomorrow. Just a reminder that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, March 24th. It is a built in vacation day. Have a great night.

Monday, March 17, 2014

May the Luck of the Irish Be With You

Happy St. Patty's Day. We had a great day all dressed in our green attire. But, guess what I forgot to take a pic. for the blog. Sorry. Not a lot to report today other than the fact we/I was glad no little leprechauns got into our room over the weekend and left their traces. You know what little rascals they can be. Students worked on their Geography Challenges today for the Midwest. Keep studying those states & capitals. Have them tell you 3 fun places to visit in this region and put it in the planner for free money. Remember PE tomorrow. Have a great day.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Recorder Concert

Yes, the date for the recorder concert has been set and it is Friday, April 11th at 10:00 in the gym. Hopefully this gives you enough time to plan accordingly. They sound amazing so you don't want to miss it!!!! Picture Day went smoothly today and we all brought our cheerful, fun smiles. We had buddies today and we wrote some funny limericks. Ask your child what the pattern for a limerick is and if they can remember the one they wrote today have them share it with you. If they can at least tell you what a limerick is, write limerick in the planner. Compliments galore today. Yes, I have to say, these kids received a compliment from the photographer during pictures. They had a guest teacher in PE today and they received one from him and they also received one from Mr. English as we went in to the gym to check on the guest teacher and he complimented them also. So Way to Go!!!!! Team Hankins!!!!! Letter from Mr. English went home today regarding the upcoming testing for the Smarter Balanced Tests. Please-please don't stress out about these as we don't want to stress anyone out. We are using this test as an opportunity to use technology for testing purposes. Any questions you may have about it, may be addressed to Mr. English. Thank you. Happenings for the upcoming week. Lead 21-we are starting Selection 3 which is historical fiction related to the Midwest. These are some great stories that tell about parts of history. Your child will be able to share them with you as we read them. Skills for the week are: cause/effect, determining importance, and writing similes. Strategies are making predictions and identifying the mood & tone of the selections we read. In Language, we will be learning about adverbs. Spelling-Unit 28 word list Social Studies-we will finish our geography challenge on Monday and then start the tour of the Midwest learning about 10 different locations. In Science, we will continue to observe our worm habitat and finish gathering facts about "How Earthworms Grow". In Math, we will continue our Geometry Unit learning about parts of a circle, symmetry, and measuring angles. Make sure your child has a protractor. Thank you. No student of the week to share as everyone has gotten through so we won't repeat. Monday is St. Patrick's Day-show your Irish side and wear some "green" for free money. Have a great weekend and make some fun memories.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Class Picture Day Tomorrow

Yes, class picture day is tomorrow so if you planning on purchasing a picture, you need to get the form filled out and brought back. Midwest States & capitals-keep practicing-remember to know the capitals and the locations. We started our geography challenge today so ask them which 4/5 Great Lakes are in this region. Write them in the planner. Also, ask where the Black Hills are located and again put it in the planner. Spelling test tomorrow. Lead 21 fluency practice-as you saw from last night's homework, we are working hard on building fluency while reading so it would be great if you had your child orally read to you at least 3 nights/week to help with this. Do it from any book or article and do it for about 6-8 minutes at a time is all. We will be amazed at the results we will get. Better fluency builds comprehension. Pizza Lunch tomorrow!!! Recorder challenge-according to Mrs. McKinnsey, students are going to participate in a recorder challenge next Thursday so they need to practice practice. But remember to have them back here tomorrow for class. Today's lesson by Mrs. Neese was once again about one of the seven healthy habits. Ask them which habit was focused on today and have them explain it to you. The fun video clip should help. Write it in the planner. Have a great night.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Worm Farm

Yes, we now have a worm farm in our classroom!! We built it today to help us observe them in the soil habitat as we continue to study and learn lots of new facts about these decomposers. Ask your child how we did it and what we are hoping to observe and if they can give you lots of details/facts, write worms in the planner. In Math today, we learned how to use & read a protractor and we will be needing them soon, so if you could please supply your child with one, that would be great. Thank you. Ask them what a 167 degree angle would be called and write it in the planner. Tomorrow we are starting our geography challenge for the Midwest Region. Hopefully they started studying those states & capitals with the map that came home yesterday. One parent asked if they had to know the old regions too. Well "yes" & "no". They will not be quizzed on all 50 of them until the end of the year when we have covered all the regions. Don't panic about this either as I have them broken down in 2 parts so it is not so overwhelming, but yes, they need to remember them and not forget them after we test for that region. Remember Class Pictures on Friday. Also, Friday is the class pizza party. Recorders tomorrow for Music. Have a great night.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Polygon Fun

Yes, we had fun in math today with Chinese jump ropes making different kinds of polygons, quadrilaterals, triangles, etc. It took lots of teamwork & cooperation to get their shapes to look correctly with the right amount of sides & angles. Tomorrow we will be learning about points, lines, line segments, and rays and then we will be able to discuss angles and start measuring them with protractors. So if you could make sure your child has a protractor by Friday that would be great. Thank you :) Midwest states & capitals maps went home today for practice at home. We made flash cards for practice here at school. We will be doing our geography challenge for this region on Thurs. & Friday and then start the tour of this region on Monday. Ask your child 2 of the states & capitals in this region and write them in the planner if they can. Lead 21-I was very proud of these kids today. They had some awesome questions for group discussion and they stayed on task during their question/answer discussions while I moved from group to group listening & facilitating. This was great proof that they can take their reading to a new level and get more meaning out of it when discussing in groups and this way I could have all 3 groups working on this while I interacted with them instead of just 1 group at a time which means more reading is going on on a daily basis!!!! YAAYYYY!! Class pictures are on Friday, March 14th so bring those great smiles!!!!! Also on Friday is our Pizza Party for winning the Read-A-Thon. PTA will be providing pizza & Capri Sun as the drink. Tomorrow is Library Day so get those books back. Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Happy Monday

Great job to Kira & Piper on their Extended Studies Projects. We got to go and see their amazing architectural designs. Great job girls!! Not a lot to report on today, but will give you a quick synopsis of this week's objectives. Math-we started our Geometry unit today. We are learning all about polygons, their sides and their angles. Speaking of angles, we are going to be measuring angles so if you could send a protractor to school with your child by Wed. that would be great. This is new for 4th grade this year with the new Common Core so that is why it was not on the supply list at the beginning of the year. Sorry for any inconvenience. In Lead 21, we started Selection 2 of the Midwest section. We are working hard on comprehension of main idea/details in the selection so we are working this week on writing deep, thick questions that will check our comprehension and understanding of what we read. Then we will meet in groups in more of a book club format to discuss & share our questions. Spelling is Unit 27 word list. Science-we will be building our worm farm on Wednesday so we can watch worms in their habitat. Montana History-we finished up our Lewis & Clark Expedition section today with a little quiz on the section and talked about John Colter who was a trapper/trader, but he got chased out of Montana by a group of indians after hiding out in a _______ lodge. Ask your child which tribe it was and what animal and put it in the planner. Social Studies-we are starting the Midwest tomorrow with making flash cards of the states & capitals and students will be bringing home a map to study those too. Adapted Mind computer program. We have added this on to extra reading practice here at school during our computer time. Students can access this at home for more practice too if you allow them to. It is www.adaptedmind.com That about sums up the week. Remember PE shoes tomorrow. Have a great night.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Happy Friday

Great job to all of Team Hankins for reaching 19,852 min. for the Read-A-Thon. This has earned them a pizza party which will be scheduled in the upcoming days and I will let you know ahead of time. Also-fantastic job to Piper-1st place, Grace-3rd place, and Tristan-4th places for the 3rd & 4th grade category. They each received some fun prizes!!! Way to Go!!! As a school, Bitterroot read a Grand Total of 198,722 minutes. That is something to celebrate!!!! Science MontCas testing is complete. Now we are back to our normal schedule next week. In Math, today we had game stations. We had 4 set up, but each group only got to 3 of them due to explanation of directions so next time, we will have more time to play. Ask your child their favorite and write it in the planner for free money. In Lead 21 today, each group shared their visualizations and main idea/details from selection 1 with the whole class. Lots of good facts and history from the Midwest are in this section. Ask your child one amazing fact they learned from either their own or another groups facts and write it in the planner. Doughnuts & juice were a hit today. Keep earning that $ for things like this that come up!!! Make good choices.:) Manny was our student of the week. We learned many new things about him. His favorites are: color-red; book-Sitting Bull; sport-soccer; food-pizza; subject-PE. In his spare time he likes to watch TV. He wants to be a cop when he grows up.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Terrific Thursday

Great job today in Room 6. Students earned 2 celebration points. One for great behavior/control & the other for academics. I hardly knew they entered the room in & out from morning walk, recess, and lunch. Also everyone got an A on the fractions/decimal quiz. Way to Go!! Day 2 of MontCas testing is complete and we will finish tomorrow morning right at 8:30 so please try not to be late in the morning. The reason we are doing it right away is because we have our Read-A-Thon assembly later in the morning. I think Team Hankins is going to receive read-a-thon awards. I have my suspicions. I will report the great news on that in tomorrow's blog. Great discussion this morning in morning meeting on being practical and setting practical goals. Ask your child what a practical step would be to a goal they have. Write it in the planner for money. Students had the opportunity to buy into tomorrow's treat day. Yes, I am bringing in doughnuts(I don't do this very often as I know how unhealthy they are:( and juice. Students were able to spend some of their fake money on this if they chose to-$500 for both or $300 for one or the other. They are pretty excited. If your child didn't have enough money to do this, it means they have not been making positive choices on a consistent basis. I hope they can learn from this and move forward in a positive direction. :))) Remember PE shoes tomorrow along with recorders. Have a great night.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Quick Post

HI there- Quick post tonight as we had testing which pretty much took up our morning so not a lot to report. Unfortunately with testing, it took longer than we anticipated so we may have to do 2 sessions tomorrow or 1 tomorrow and 1 on Friday. Will see how tomorrow goes, but just know that your child did a great job and worked hard. We wrote back to our pen pals today and we look forward to getting together with them this spring. In Science, we read Book #2 about their homes so now we are ready to make a worm home next week on Wed. when we have science again. Ask your child what are the names of the little hairs on the worm and the 2 kinds of muscles they have and write it in the planner. Remember recorders tomorrow. Have a great night.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

By the looks of the picture, you can see we had lots of Dr. Seuss support in here. Great job with the dress up and we as a whole school sat in the hallway today and read for 20 minutes. Pretty cool to see everyone reading and enjoying a good book. Tomorrow we have Day 1 of our Science MontCas test. Please see that your child gets a good night's rest, has a healthy breakfast, brings a healthy snack, and gum for chewing during the test. We then do a repeat of this on Thursday and be done. So let's hope we have 100% attendance because they need to be made up which means more lost learning time in the classroom during make-up days. Today in Montana History we did a Reader's Theater on the Lewis & Clark Expedition in groups of 5. Kind of a fun way to bring the journey into the classroom. Today's HR was on Iwo Jima. Discuss this important event in our country's history with them. They should be able to tell you where it is located, when it happened, what country it was with, who won, and where the bronze statue of the marines raising the U.S. flag in victory stands today. If they can, write Iwo Jima in the planner. In Math, we rounded decimals to the nearest whole number and tenths. Have them round 38.56 to the nearest whole number and tenths and write it in the planner. Remember Library books for tomorrow. Have a great night.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Happy Monday

First of all, a huge "shout out" to Kira & Piper for their amazing Extended Studies projects. I heard they did a fabulous job and we will get to see them next Monday as they share them with students. Way to go girls!!!!! Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss's birthday so in celebration, students are encouraged to dress as one of his books. For example-Cat in the Hat-wear a Dr. Seuss hat- Fox in Socks-wear fun mismatched socks-- The Lorax-wear a mustache. Students can earn money by being creative and dressing up. Also, the whole school will be involved in a DEAR (drop everything and read) time at 10:30 tomorrow. So with this in mind, we have moved the MontCas testing to Wednesday & Thursday instead of Tuesday & Thursday. Hope this does not affect anyone's schedule or plans. As I am typing this, I am seeing a cool art project going on. Ask your child what the last 2 art projects have been and write them in the planner for free money. Today in Montana History, we found out lots of facts about Pompey as he got older. He became a ______ in California and then moved to Sacramento, CA during the ______ rush to make it rich. Then as the gold ran out and too many people in CA, he was on his way to ____________ to find gold her, but never made it because he died of __________ at age _____. If they can tell you all about it and fill in the blanks, write the 5 answers in the planner. Sorry-I know that is a lot of writing, but they were pretty intrigued by this. Tomorrow is HE/PE so remember those tennis shoes. Great job on the Read-A-Thon. I think Team Hankins won for the 3rd-4th grade category. Assembly will be on Friday with the final results!! Have a great night.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Busy Week Ahead

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and staying warm. I am so ready for warm weather to arrive this week!!!!! Mont-Cas testing on Tuesday & Wednesday for 4th graders in Science. MontCas are the old tests that we used to take for Reading, Language, Math, and Science. But now with the new Common Core/Smarter Balanced testing, we are only doing the Science MontCas. They will be done during our reading block time. They are done in booklets and not on computer. Please see that your child has a good night's rest, healthy breakfast, and bring a healthy snack. Also, bring gum for the test if you wish. Also try to please make sure your child is at school on those days. Of course with all the bugs going around, if they are sick that is totally understandable. Objectives/plans for the week are: Lead 21-finishing up with Week 1 of Unit 5-skills are main idea/detail, visualizations, and prefixes. Language-possessive pronouns Spelling-Unit 26 word list Math-Rounding decimals & assessing our decimals/fractions unit. Montana History-finishing up detailed facts & info. on Sacajawea, Pompey, and John Coulter-trader/trapper. Science-continue with our worm facts. Congratulations to Ava, the purple hand recipient. She was chosen by her peers for her kind, caring, helpful ways. Isaiah was our Student of the Week. He had lots of fun pictures and things to share. He had the class laughing in stitches with some of his fun baby pictures. Some of his favorites are: color-green; book-Captain Underpants; food-hamburgers; subject-math; sport-football. He hopes to be a professional football player someday and the thing he thought we didn't know about him is that he can draw really good. Tomorrow is electronics day in Art. Yes, the kids can bring in electronics to listen to music while they do art. Also, if you didn't get your Read-A-Thon folder turned in on Friday, you have tomorrow yet to do so. Have a great rest of the weekend and as always if you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me.