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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.