Fantastic Program

WOW!!!!  These kids did an awesome job at the Holiday Program this morning and I am sure you would agree if you were there.  I am thinking you were there as I think 1/2 the city of Billings was there!!!!!!   No, in all seriousness, it was great and a huge applause to the kiddos especially the reindeer that had solo parts.  I am sorry for the overcrowding, but with a small school and so many relatives wanting to see the performance, it is what we had.  We made it work.  Thank you for your patience.
Next week is obviously a short week and the kiddos are so excited.  WE are going to be doing lots of academic Holiday stuff next week.
One of the highlights will be a movie on Tuesday afternoon.  The students are welcome to bring in a treat as well as a drink to enjoy with the movie.  No pajamas, pillows, blankets, etc. though as it gets too crowded and don't want anything left over here during the holiday break.
Congratulations to Tira, our Student of the Week.  Some of her favorites are:  tacos, math, crafting, pink, Christmas, and of course owls.  She feels she is silly which is true, she loves to have fun!!!!  Her idea of a perfect day is being with friends and family.  In twenty years, she hopes to be married with 2 kids and a good teaching job.  She will be a great teacher.
She also is the recipient of the Purple Hand Cookie this month.  Way to go, Tira.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break and a very Merry Christmas.  Enjoy that family & friend time.
See you in 2016!!!

Tis the Season!!!!

WOW!!!  Hard to believe we are amongst the "hustle & bustle" of the holiday season and the end of another year.  Yikes-where does the time go????
The next 7 school days are going to be packed with lots of activities, but the highlight of them all will be the Holiday Program on Friday, December 18th.  Our program starts at 10:00.  Hope to see you all there.  They are doing great and sound amazing!!!!!!
Tonight, Friday, December 11th is the PTA sponsored Family Holiday Night from 6:30-8:00. Come and have some fun making holiday treasures & treats.
Next week academically will be kept to as "normal" as possible.  Here are what is to come:

Lead 21-we will be doing Selection 2 of Unit 3 all about industries of the Atlantic Coast.  It has been great as it ties in well to our Social Studies.
Social Studies-we will continue our tour learning about locations in the SE region.  Make sure you are practicing those states & capitals.  The test for this will not be until after the holidays.
Math-we are going to finish up Chapter 3 on multiplying tens or 2 digit x 2 digit numbers.  You are going to see the workbook for this come home on Friday with quite a few pages not completed and the reason for that is that we are doing the strategies from the book on our own paper due to the lack of space to work on some of the pages and the slow pace that the book goes for these skills I am using my professionalism to make decisions that will allow us to move lots faster as we have tons to cover and with a new series, there are always growing pains and thinking you have to do everything in it which is not always realistic.  So I told the kids to use the pages as good practice over the holiday break to keep up with their skills!!!!  Perfect timing.  My Christmas gift to them!!  HaHaHa!!!!!!!
Language-continuation of verbs -helping & linking.
Spelling-Unit 15 words
The following week with only the 2 days, we are going to do all our curriculum activities centered around the holiday season.  Fun stuff.  They will be watching a movie on Tuesday afternoon, December 22nd at the end of the day as a fun bonus treat.  Speaking of treat, they will be able to bring a drink and a treat to school on that day to have during the movie.
Speaking of that week, they will have a guest teacher as I will not be here on those 2 days.  My husband & I along with some friends have a great opportunity to go to Hawaii for Christmas so we are leaving that weekend as that is the time frame that has been set up for us.   Having never been there,  I am so excited and this is an opportunity I couldn't refuse.  Will miss being with my family in ND for the holidays, but HMMMMM  ND/Hawaii in December??????  That was an easy decision. :)
I will be giving the kids their little surprises/packages next Friday and do a little celebrating with them in the afternoon.  So please make sure your child stays at school after the program in the morning for the remainder of the day.
Congratulations to Sophie, our Student of the Week.  We love her Scentsy Bear and frog.  Cute.  Some of her favorites are: fresh fruits & veggies, music, PE, singing, crafts and Christmas is her favorite holiday.  She describes herself as nice ( we would agree) and she hopes to learn more about MT History and Health this year.  She wants to get more confident at math and in 20 years she wants to own her own house & car.  Her idea of a perfect day is at a water park swimming with her friends.
Have a great weekend and try to relax to relieve some stress.  We have talked a lot in CC meetings these last 2 weeks about how the kids can help out to relieve parents' holiday stress.  If they can tell you, write "less stress" in the planner.

Welcome Back!!!!

Seems like forever since I posted with the holiday break.  Speaking of holiday-I feel the holiday spirit in the air.  Students here at Bitterroot are practicing so hard for the upcoming Holiday Program which is on Friday, December 18th at 10:00 for Grades 3-6.  See flyer that went home today for all program times.
Also, the PTA is sponsoring a Family Holiday Night which is on Friday, December 11th from 6:30-8:00 so plan on coming out to join the fun.  See the flyer that went home today.
Also coming home related to the holiday spirit is the flyer that went home yesterday about Crazy Hair Day on Friday, December 11th where students can have crazy hair and bring either hair items or $ for the Tumbleweed Program.  Thank you, Hanna Hall for spearheading this great endeavor.  Tis the season for giving!!!!
Mid-terms went home today so take a good look at them, sign, and return by Tuesday, December 8th.
I want to Congratulate Team Hankins on a job well done for Chapter 2 math tests.  Super scores!!!  Also, good job to the Lead 21 kids for their great endangered animal reports.  These are up in the hall.
Fun Rudolph stories-we took a couple days and got our creative juices flowing and took a new spin on Rudolph's nose turning a different color.  Ask your child what color they chose and how it changed color.  If they can tell you, write Rudolph in the planner for free money.  These will be hanging in the hallway as well.  Fun-fun-fun!!!!!

Next week's happenings:
Math-Chapter 3 -strategies for multiplying 2 digit x 2 digit numbers
Reading-Lead 21-Unit 3 -which is on our nation's beginning
Language-verbs and verb tenses.
Spelling-Unit 14 words
Social Studies-Southeast Region-maps will come home to start practicing states & capitals

Congratulations to Ella, our November Purple Hand Cookie winner.  She was nominated by her classmates for being helpful, kind, caring, and her fun sense of humor.  Great job!!!
Congratulations to Christian, our new Student of the Week.  Christian loves pizza, PE, Christmas, the color blue.  He describes himself as generous and hopes to learn about math this year.  His idea of a perfect day is in the summer playing with his friends.  We are so delighted to have Christian and his family join our classroom and Bitterroot School this year.
Have a great weekend and as always if any questions, please contact me.