Friday, February 27, 2015

Happy TGIF Day

Whew!!!  Today was a busy, crazy, but FUN day.  We started with Character Building meeting and reading our great Read-A-Loud, Petey.  Has your child shared about this book with you yet?  If not, I say you should ask.  Then we had Purple Hand Cookie nominations.  Many students were nominated for kind, caring, helpful behaviors.  This month's recipient is Caiden Hanson.  Congratulations-we are so proud of you!!!!
Then Lead 21 students wrote some awesome summaries of Selection 2 in their small readers.  Great job!!!  They have definitely learned a lot about the midwest.  Speaking of Midwest, states & capitals tests went home corrected today.  Students received 2 grades once again.  One for the correct match of the state & its' capital and the other for location.  These were once again very good overall.
Then we went to buddies and got to see the awesome slideshows they put together on weather.  They should be so proud of themselves.  Lastly, we got to enjoy our Root Beer Floats and we watched a video on 3 different endangered animals.  Ask your child, what 3 they were and if they can tell you, write the names of them in the planner for free money.  I think they were surprised that it was an educational movie.
Biographies are due on Monday!!!  Can't wait to see and hear all about these famous people.
Testing season is approaching.  Yes, we will be taking the MontCas Science test on Wednesday & Thursday, March 4 & 5.  More on that in Monday's Blog.
We will be starting Montana History again this next week.  We are all excited for that.
This weekend is the end of the Read-A-Thon -so everyone finish strong.  If you do, you will get a bonus from Mrs. Hankins. :))))))
Have a great weekend.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Celebration Tomorrow

Yes, students have been working so hard studying states & capitals, learning fractions, completing biographies, reading LOTS of minutes for the READ-A-THON along with having good work/study skills as well as positive behavior making good choices earning them their next 50 celebration points.  YAYYYYYY!!! So tomorrow afternoon during our Social Studies & Fun Friday time (60 min.) we will have root beer floats & watch a movie.  Students may bring in pillows, blankets, and a small-med. sized stuffed animal if they choose.  (No pajamas or slippers-too cold)!!!  I know it is cold for root beer floats too, but that is the treat they want me to bring.
Congratulations to Megan, our Student of the Week.  We loved her stuffed bear and doll with the orange hair.  We also found out that she likes pink, math, The Secret Garden, hockey, pizza, and cleaning.  I think I will take her home with me!!!!  The thing she told us that we probably didn't know about her is that she can jump out of windows.  HMMMM-We hope she got that out of her system!!!
Two more nights for the Read-A-Thon-students received their fun treat today.  Now they are ready to travel anywhere without getting lost.
No outside recesses today due to the cold.  Make sure you dress for it tomorrow as if it is above 0 we will be going out.
Remember Library books.
Also Hats Day tomorrow for 50 cents.
Have a great night.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

States & Capitals Test Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is the Midwest States & capitals test.  Make sure you know the locations as well.  Today, we started the first part of testing our CD tour by making travel brochures.  Ask your child at least 3 places their travel brochure traveled to and if they can tell you, write brochure in the planner.
Wear Pink tomorrow in honor of Mrs. Neese and her mother-in-law.  Not sure how many of you know this, but her mother-in-law has cancer and got a trip of a lifetime yesterday which was on her bucket list to travel to and be on the Ellen Dejeneras(sp).  The show is airing today at 4:00 so maybe you will see Mrs. Neese if you watch it.  Anyway, to welcome Mrs. Neese back tomorrow we are going to show support by wearing pink if you have it!!!!  She will be so surprised!!
Friday is Hat Day.  The student council is sponsoring hat day on Friday and for 50 cents you may wear a hat all day in the building.
READ-A-THON- 3 days left.  I know our class has achieved our goal of receiving all the boarding passes and traveling "around the world", but that doesn't mean that we stop reading.  Today we had at least 5 kids that didn't have any minutes read last night.  So we talked in morning meeting today to finish strong and not be The Tortoise & the Hare.  We can do it!!!!  Finish strong and receive one of the cool compasses that you see in the photo below.
Remember PE shoes tomorrow.
Have a great night.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Travel Adventures Completed!!

Great job to Team Hankins as we have completed all our book adventures.  We ended with a fun uplifting one titled:  "Ramona Quimby-Age 8.  This is one of my all time favorite books.  Very light & fun.  As a class we are at 11,123 minutes with just a few days left.  How AWESOME is that!!!!!
As I type this post, I am listening to them in Music playing/practicing their recorders.  They are doing quite well.  I think they are even amazing themselves!!!  Pretty soon they will be in concert.
Today in math, we continued with putting fractions in order from least to greatest.  We are now ready to move on to mixed & improper fractions.
Today, we were treated to the Girls' Heights Honor Choir Concert in the gym.  They were very good and it was so fun to see many Bitterroot students.
Students had a great lesson today with Mrs. West (Mrs. Neese's intern).  Ask them what they did and if they can tell you one thing about their lesson, write what it was in the planner.
Today in Social Studies, students got to pretend they worked for Ford Motor Company and got to design a new Model T Ford.  Pretty creative automobiles. :)
Lead 21 kids-remember you can bring your Biography posters anytime you have them completed.  Mathew's arrived today and it looks awesome!!!
The weather looks like it is changing for tomorrow so make sure you dress for the weather.
Have a great night.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Three More Boarding Passes Earned!!

Great job once again Team Hankins as we received 3 more boarding passes today.  We traveled to the Sea, Russia, and Germany.  How fun is that-all in a day's work!!!  Ask your child about the three books and if they can give you a snippet of each, write which was their favorite in the planner for free money. OOOOPS!!  We couldn't get our projector to work at the end of the day so hopefully we can watch them tomorrow. ARGGHH.  :( so love technology.   All this great reading is surely making us the Einsteins of Reading.
Today in math we had fun with fractions by finding the GCF (greatest common factor) to put fractions in order from least to greatest.  Have them show you how to do this by putting 3/4, 5/6, and 1/3 in order from least to greatest.  Write them in the planner.
Lead 21 biographies are due on Monday, March 2nd.  They may be brought sooner if they are complete.  Can't wait to see all the creativity & great information that was gathered.
Spelling words this week only have 24 words as we took for from the past 6 lessons as reviews.
Remember to have those recorders here for Music tomorrow.
Also, return the HIV/AIDS form from Mrs. Buss ASAP.  Thank you.
Have a great night.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Mid-Terms Went Home Today

Yes, where does the time go????   Can't believe we are 1/2 way through the 3rd Quarter already.  Please take a look at your child's grades and if you want to see individual assignments, you can go on to their account in Power School.  Please write mid-terms in planner for free money if you see this mid-term report.
Amazing readers!!!!!  Yes, today we received 2 boarding passes to travel into a couple good books.  One takes us to Australia and the other to Europe.  One of the students is checking our the Dingoes book while we will read the Magician's Elephant in class when we are done with Petey.  Speaking of Petey, has your child told you about that amazing book yet?  If not, it is worth asking.
Biography extension:  I have extended the biography due date until Monday, March 2nd, but if your child is done with it before then, please have them bring it on Friday, February 28th and we will start sharing then.  We won't get all shared in one day anyway.  Thank you.
Spelling list for this next week is a review unit so I have take some words from the past 6 units as review/test words for the week.
I am thinking our Midwest states & capitals test is going to be on Thursday, February 26th so make sure you are studying and prepared.
Read-A-Thon-your child has 3 nights this weekend to get those minutes in.  We are doing GREAT as a class so let's keep it up.
Congratulations to Jaiden, our student of the week.  We sure enjoyed his Ravens blanket and all the fun things we learned about him.  Some of them are:  He likes math, tortellini, the Maze Runner Series, and football.  Someday he hopes to be in the NFL or a website designer/builder.  I bet you didn't know he can throw a football 30 yards.
Have a great weekend.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

WHOOT -WHOOT!!!

Wowzers!!  Team Hankins is off & running!  As a class, we read a total of 2,072 minutes last night and received our first boarding pass from Bitterroot Airlines (love the name).  We went to the library and got our first book called "The Red Piano".  We watched a short YouTube clip today about it today and now we can't wait to read it tomorrow in character meeting.  Remember to read tonight and keep track of those minutes.  A couple things about the minutes, make sure you initial them and also don't initial until the minutes are filled in.  Using pen/ink for this would be great so minutes can't be added or changed.  Thank you.
Today in math, we compared fractions using a strategy called "criss-cross" multiply.  Ask your child to compare  2/3 & 7/8.  Put it in the planner.
Lead 21 students, you will have time once again to work on your biographies in class tomorrow so have your rough drafts here to use.  I think questions about this were clarified today.  As you can see below are a few pics of our class examples.  Obviously, they don't have fit the exact same examples.  In fact, I heard one of the poster boards is going to be cut out into the shape of a baseball as their person is Babe Ruth.  That is cool and very creative!!!!  So basically, the sky is the limit as to the amount of creativity.
Tomorrow is Library so get those books in.
Have a great night.



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Let the Reading Begin!!!

Yes, we are ready for the challenge of "Traveling Into a Good Book" after the great kick-off assembly today given by Mrs. Gaskill & Mrs. Anderson!!!  Your child brought home an envelope today to keep track of the minutes they read each night as well as the book they are reading.  You are to initial their minutes each night and they need to be returned to school EVERY day with your child in order for us to get credit for our class minutes and for them to get their individual coupons for minutes achieved.
I am PREDICTING or I should say EXPECTING  Team Hankins to get the most class minutes in our grade level category!!!!  WE CAN DO IT!!!  Class winners in each category receive a Subway Party.  Yummmm!!  I know my Lead 21 kids have monthly reading calendars already so we are used to nightly reading.  The minutes for Read-A-Thon count for the monthly as well.
Also, as we achieve class minutes we will get a coupon to travel & find good books in the library. How fun & I can't wait for the adventure of finding these GREAT  books.  So hop aboard the reading adventure and READ-READ-READ!!!  We each set individual reading goals for the 10 days.  Example:  60 min./day = 1200 total minutes.  We added up all our totals and got a CLASS GOAL of 39,450 min.  WOWZERS!!!   Students will be charged fake money each day their reading envelopes are not returned.
Also on the back side of the envelope is the Donations collected section.  Students can collect pledges for minutes read or just a "flat" $ amount donation.  No door to door, just from friends & family members.
Have fun and I look forward to all the minutes we accumulate.
Remember PE shoes tomorrow.
Have a great night.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Happy Tuesday

Good day back today.  Seemed like everyone was glad to be back and ready to learn.  A teacher's dream!!!  In math today, we worked really hard on simplifying fractions by finding their common factor and reducing them.  Have your child simplify and reduce 9/15 to its' lowest terms.  Do it in the planner for free money.  Once again they are realizing the importance of knowing their division facts to do this with more ease & success.  Practice-practice.
In Social Studies, we started our tour of the Midwest by stopping in St. Louis & Iowa.  Have your child tell you what they learned about the St. Louis Arch and the state of Iowa.  If they can tell you, write Iowa in the planner.
Mrs. Neese came in today for her class lesson.  Ask your child what she talked & she hopes you have a good discussion about it.
Tomorrow is our school wide assembly for the PTA sponsored Read-A-Thon.  So the packets will be coming home tomorrow with very explicit directions & info.  Happy Reading!!!
Lead 21-make sure your child is working on their biographies.  They are due a week from today.  Students will get to do some of the typing tomorrow during class time if they don't have a computer or other resource at home to use.
Have a great night.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a great day today sharing valentines, food, laughs, and good times.  Thank you everyone for all the wonderful valentines and good food.
Congratulations to Keilah, our Student of the Week.  We so enjoyed learning all about her.  She loves math, reading books, and wants to be a photographer when she grows up.  I'll bet you didn't know she started writing stories when she was 3 years old.  Wowzers!!!! Have a great weekend.









Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Valentine Bags Are Ready

Yes, the bags are decorated and ready to go!!  As you can see by the pics, they look GREAT!!!  Thank you to those of you that brought supplies to share.  Very worthy of a Pawsitive choice.  Great job.  Also, today Team Hankins got a compliment from Miss Becky in the lunchroom.  They ran out of things for lunch and she was so impressed that students didn't argue or complain, but shared with each other.  YAYYYY!!!!
Just a reminder to bring the treats for the party tomorrow.  Also, have a valentine for each person in the class.
Recorders:  Yes, they have started as many of you probably heard last night at home when they were allowed to take them home.  It is great to practice, but just make sure they bring them back each time as they need them for class to play and to learn new notes.
States & capitals-make sure you are studying.  If your child can name 3 of the states & capitals of this region, write Midwest in the planner.
Remember PE shoes tomorrow.
Have a great night.




Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Unwaxed Museum

What a treat we had today!!!  We went & listened to the 6th graders share their book at the Unwaxed Museum presentation in the gym this afternoon.  Students read a book of choice, dressed up as a character and then shared the book with us.  They shared all the good parts of the book trying to convince (persuade) us to read it.  It was so fun to see former students and how they have grown academically over the years.  Great job & kuddos to all the 6th graders.  Let's hope our biography projects are as impressive. Ask your child which was their favorite and write it in the planner for free money.   Also loved the tie-in to our persuasive writing that we just did last week.
I know there was some confusion as to how to access gmail account from home.  Go to the Library page of the Bitterroot website, then to D2 apps.  go to gmail-if you already have a gmail account, your child will have to create a new one for themselves.  It is their first name.last name@billingsstudents.org and then their password is their ID #  Example:  john.smith@billingsstudents.org  Hope this helps, if not let me know.
PTA sponsored Read-A-Thon flyers went home today.  Please take time to read it and jot down any questions you may have so we can answer those when we get started.  Always a fun reading adventure.  Thank you-PTA.   HMMMM-I wonder what the secret prize is.  I BELIEVE we can do it!!!!!
Equivalent fractions in Math today.  Have your child find an equivalent fraction for 4/9.  Show your work in the planner.
Remember spelling test is on Thursday this week.
Thursday is also the Valentine's Day party.  We are decorating valentine bags so if your child wants to bring anything from home to use in decorating it, they may do so tomorrow.  Otherwise they will be able to use crayons, markers, and construction paper here as well as a few cutouts I have.
Bring valentines on Thursday along with treats if you are on the treat committee.
Students are also allowed to bring a board game of their choice to play that day.
Have a great night.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Biographies Have Been Chosen

Lead 21 students chose their biography people today and got a book or two to start reading to gather their facts.  They can also use internet resources as well.  They need to have 3 sources.  They need to keep track of where they get their information as they will be completing a bibliography where they will cite their sources.  I hope the packet is self explanatory-if not let me know and also I will be posting blog pictures of examples as to how they can be set up when it gets closer to the due date.  this project is worth 100 points and will be graded with a rubric.
Finished Geography Challenge today so now we are ready to start our Midwest tour.  Make sure your child is practicing the states & capitals.
Tomorrow students will need recorders in Music so if your child has their own, they will need to have it here.
Valentine Party treats for those on the committee for Thursday.  Thank you.
Have a  great night.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Happy Day!!!

What a difference a day makes!!!  Today was a great day as students were on task and were so aware of expectations and we had a lot of fun.  We were able to get off track with a few bird-walk conversations, but then we were able to jump right back on track.  That is what I love doing with the kids as I think that is how we get to know about each other and it goes to show we can have the fun side, but then can get back to business.  Thank you for having conversations last night if you did.  Recesses were so much more fun for all too and nobody got hurt!!!!!  Yayyyy!!!  This weather today is amazing. :)
Midwest states & capitals maps went home today.  Students can begin studying.  We made flash cards to use here at school.  Today they started the map challenge to learn about locations of this region and next week we will start the tour of the region.
In Buddies today we helped them with IXL.  Fun to see what they are learning and doing in math.
Persuasive writing-Lead 21 kids have done some good persuasive paragraph writing.  We have a large range of topics and I must add there a quite a few convincing ones.  Well all but one that is, ask your child if they know which one might not be so convincing for Mrs. H. :)
Next week students will be choosing their biography books to read and gather information on a person of choice.  These projects will be done mostly at home and I will be giving a packet for them to follow to complete these.  Packets will come home next week.
Yearbook order forms went home today.
Also, I gave students a list of class names to use for their Valentines.  They need to have a valentine for everyone in the class.  If they choose to put candy, pencils, or whatever in them they surely may do that.  Also, students who are bringing for the party have their little slips as to what to bring.  Thank you so much for helping us out.
Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Quick Post

Quick post tonight as I had 2 meetings today at the end of the day.
The one thing I want to share with you is about our morning meeting today and what we talked about.
We discussed things that we really need to work on as a class & school here at Bitterroot both inside the building and out at recess.  Please discuss with your child what we talked about and how they are going to do their part to show kindness & respect throughout their school day and hopefully when they are off the school grounds as well.  You all know me well and I don't get frustrated very often, but I did today as we had just spent 30 min. during our meeting talking about how we were going to be kind, caring, respectful citizens to others and then at lunch recess they were some kids that had negative behavior which is so disheartening.  We talked after that today as a group and they kids got to share their thoughts with those that were being negative so hopefully hearing it from their peers instead of us teachers here at school will help.  So take some time to discuss this tonight so we Team Hankins can be leaders to help make Bitterroot School the BEST!!!!!  Thank you.  If you do, write your thoughts in the planner.  Thank you.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Valentine's Day Festivities

Today in morning meeting we discussed our upcoming Valentine's Day party which will be on Thursday, February 12 from 10:30-11:45.  There are 13 students who are going to be bringing treats for the party.  We can't have all 26 so the other 13 will be asked to bring something for our Hawaii Day activity in the spring.  Students will be decorating bags for their Valentines so NO BOXES please.
As far as activities, students are allowed to bring a fun board game of their choice if they would like as that is what they will be doing for the other part of the party after opening their valentines and getting food treats.  Any questions, please contact me.
Today in math, we took our geometry quiz.  I think they have all these lines, angles, shapes, etc. down.  Good job Team Hankins.
We finished our Electricity unit in Science today so now we are on to Social Studies for awhile before getting back to Montana History.
Remember PE shoes tomorrow.
Have a great night.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Happy Terrific Tuesday

Yikes--I was wondering as the day went along today as to how many would still be standing by the end.  This flu bug is dropping students like flies.  We have been sanitizing our desks and stressing the importance of washing those hands.  Let's hope we can get through this and get everyone else soon!!!
We did our perimeter & area NASA robots today.  As you can see from the pictures, they came in all different shapes & sizes.
Today we started our 2nd Lead 21 Benchmark test.  These are to be done after every two units and now that we are finished with Unit 4 our space unit we are to test before moving to Unit 5.
This week in our Character Counts meetings, the topic is on drama.  We have had some great discussions on this and how to avoid it or to turn the negative into a positive.  Have a discussion about a couple kinds of drama and how it affects student friendships and ability to do well in school.  If they can have a good discussion with you about this topic, write drama in the planner.
Tomorrow we are going to discuss our upcoming Valentine's Day Party which will be on Thursday, February 12 from 10:30-11:45.  We have a 12:00 dismissal that day.  So more information on this to follow after tomorrow.
Have a great night.


Monday, February 2, 2015

Science Night

It sounds like the PTA Science Night was a great success and that all those that went enjoyed and learned some fun, new Science concepts.  Speaking of science, students set up an open/closed circuit in groups and then tested items in their groups to see which were conductors and which were insulators.  Ask them what they concluded from these tests.  If they can tell you which items insulated and which conducted, write circuit in the planner.
In Math today, students were busy finding range, median, mode, and the mean (average) of data.  Great practice for addition & division.
Also, today we shared the symmetry drawings that were done on Friday.  They were given half of a magazine picture and they had to draw the symmetric half.  As you can see by the pictures, they did a great job.
Tomorrow we will be making robots using measurement, area, and perimeter.  This will take us to the end of our geometry unit and then we will begin fractions.
Please return your January reading calendars.  February went home today.
Have a great night.