Field Trips

Today I collected money for the upcoming field trips. Some students didn't quite have enough to pay for both, so they need to work hard to earn the rest and then to have some left for a fun auction we are going to do before we go to the Nature Center. More about that later.

Free money may be given out when they least expect it. HHMMMM-something about true character comes through when I am not always watching!!

We continued our Lewis & Clark Expedition today. If your child can tell you whom was the best water navigator of the 2 and who Sacajawea's baby was, write it in the planner for free money.

In Science, we started a unit on worms. We will be doing lots with this and Jeff as he is coming to our school for some of this unit before we go to the Nature Center. Wow-I never new so many interesting things about worms. If your child can tell you 2 things about them from today, write it in the planner for free money.

Starting tomorrow in Math, we are going to begin Chapter 11 on Decimals & Fractions, along with the Metric Measurement system.

Today, we talked about a fun, little thing we are going to do on Thursday called "Egg Babies" to show appreciation to our moms, grandmas, etc. This will also give us a greater appreciation for all they do for us. Students are going to get a hard-boiled egg that they will name and take care of for the day. They are going to be responsible for it at all times and will have to pay if they need a sitter, for band-aids, to get it back if it is kidnapped, etc. They will be able to buy insurance at the beginning which will make any injuries cheaper. This is such a fun way for them to see a little bit of what goes into being a parent. Since not everyone has a lot of extra money, I am giving them $500 on that day and anything they don't spend, they can keep.

They will need to have a bed for their baby so they can start working on them now. Make sure not to make them too big so they don't fall off the desk and get injured.

Remind your child to use the appropriate writing techniques with nightly writing. Good paragraphs with all the components.

Have a great night and get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. We know too well how quickly it changes.

Mid-terms Went Home Today

Midterms went home today and I am happy to say that overall they look good. Remember there is still time to get those 4th quarter grades up by report card time. If you saw their midterm, write midterm in the planner for free money. We continued with MT History today. Ask your child about the Louisiana Purchase. If they can tell you something about it write France in their planner for free money.

We finished our unit on customary measurement in Math today. We are ready to move on to decimals.

Next week on Thursday, May 5th, we have a fun activity planned about "egg-sitting". More to come on that later.

Remember that there is no school on Friday, May 6th.

Have a great weekend and let's hope Spring comes back to us.

The Eggs Came Crashing Down

Wow-what a great time we had in Science today! It all started by taking the eggs up to the roof and throwing them down one at a time. It was priceless to see the look on your child's face as they retrieved their package and carefully opened it up to see the contents. Some had big smiles and others; well-not so thrilled. Most of our eggs survived, but some of them didn't. Then we came back into the classroom and looked at the way it was packaged and talked about what worked well and what didn't. We took time to discuss how the project fit into Newton's 3 Laws of Motion also. For free money tomorrow at check in, have your child about the egg drop. Thank you to Mr. Murdock, and Ms. Ball for going up on the roof for us to make this possible. They looked like they enjoyed themselves too.

Tomorrow is Library Day so bring those books.

Have a great night.

Eggs Will Drop Tomorrow

Notice the change in date. Tomorrow (Thursday) is the Egg Drop because the weather is supposed to be as nice as today if not nicer. Friday calls for rain/wind. So have those egg packages here tomorrow. They will drop at 12:45. Can't wait to see all the creative ways of packaging.

Have a great night and get out and enjoy the weather.

Montana History

Wow-what a busy day. We started Montana History today by starting the book Sacajawea. We are going to read chapter by chapter together and outline each chapter to practice that skill. Wow-we have learned a lot already and only read the first part of chapter 1. We are also locating places on our Montana & US maps. This is going to be an extensive study and the students are responsible for taking it seriously and learning a lot about our amazing state. We will also be taking a field trip to Pompey's Pillar on May 13.

In Reading, we started the book Pathki Nana which is about a girl in the Kootenai Tribe from the Flathead Reservation. This is an awesome story about a girl who overcomes a lot to find herself and learns to believe and feel good about herself.

Our operation egg drop project has been moved up to Thursday as that is supposed to be a beautiful day and Friday looks not so good (like today) so let's have them here by THURSDAY. If your child has started, please write egg drop in their planner for free money.

We started new book clubs today. We will be doing these more like the traditional book clubs go where students will read daily, come up with questions, predictions, etc. and then discuss them in depth and piggy back off of what others say to really discuss the book. I can't wait to see how they transfer this as we worked on it lots this year with my help. We have 3 different ones going. Ask your child the name of their book for free money at check in. Read 180 kids, write down what you are reading in there.

In Math, we are working on measurement and changing units like inches to feet, etc. Difficult concept, but we will get there.

Have a great night and let's hope for our nice weather to come back.

Green Day Tomorrow

Yes, it is time to where "GREEN" once again in honor of Earth Day on Friday. Since we don't have school on Friday, we are wearing it tomorrow. Free money to those that do.

For writing tonight, students are to think about how you help the earth and what you might start to do to help the earth. It needs to be in paragraph form. They will share tomorrow during Science along with some other activities we will be doing.

Operation Egg Drop form went home today. I can't wait to see all the creative ways students package an egg in a container no larger than a shoe box, and wear no more than a pound. I encourage parent participation.

They shared their Hawaii projects today and the groups planned some pretty fun vacations for the whole class. They voted on the one they thought was the most fun and that was the one completed by Hayden, Jarret, and Colton. Good job to everyone.

I will be sending home the NWEA growth slips on Friday, April 29th along with their mid-term reports.

Remember it is Early Out tomorrow-12:00 dismissal. We won't see you again until Tuesday, April 26th. Have a wonderful Easter Break.

Fun Day

Hawaiian Day was a huge success today as the kids had a lot of fun. We started in the gym with games & activities they would play in Hawaii and then came to the room for some fruit, hawaiian nut mix, and juice. As we ate, we had a DVD playing which showed a helicopter ride over Hawaii. Oh, it was so beautiful. Thank you to the Harpers for sharing. Looks like you had a fun trip there.

Thank you to everyone for contributing to this with the $3 donation which is being put toward our field trip buses.

In Science today, I demonstrated Newton's 3rd Law. If your child can tell you what that law is and how I did the experiment, write it in the planner for free money.

We also talked about a project they will be doing at home called Operation Egg Drop. They are to package a raw egg in a package no larger than a shoe box and weigh no more than a pound. These will be dropped from the Bitterroot rooftop. They will need to think about and incorporate all 3 of Newton's laws. The information sheet on this will come home tomorrow. Start planning now.

No Spelling words this week due to the short week.

Early out on Wednesday-12:00 dismissal and then students are off Thurs.-Monday for the Easter break.

Wednesday we are celebrating Earth Day. Have your child wear green that day for free money.

Speaking of free money, we spent a lot of it on Friday at the auction. I think everyone came away happy with lots of stuff.

Have a great night.