Technology Day Tomorrow

Yes, it is technology day tomorrow. Remember to bring your techy gear (IPods, DS systems, etc. and enjoy listening to music during independent work & recess time and the game systems can be used during Fun Friday/Team Building time. The buy in price is $300. It is Brayden's birthday tomorrow and he is bringing treats so remember you don't need to spend another $100 for your own treat. My reading/spelling kids played a great game in spelling today and they did so well that we decided to take our test and they did well on that too. Anyone who wants to retake it for a better grade can do so tomorrow, but don't think there will be any as they were good the first time. Today in Science, we read about wind energy and wind energy farms. Have your child explain how they work and write wind energy in the planner. Also ask them if wind energy helps reduce carbon footprints and how? In Math, we started elapsed time. WOW-I was truly amazed at how well these kids have that concept in such a short time. They are such hard workers and eager learners. Remember to keep working on that XtraMath practice. Reminder that the social studies SE states and capitals test is going to be on Friday, December 7th. As you know the BOBCATS are still playing football in the playoffs so "sport" your Bobcat gear tomorrow and receive $100 free money. Have a great night.

Quick Post

Since this is staff meeting day, I will have a quick post. First of all, great job to those of you really practicing your math on the XtraMath site. It will help greatly with those harder multiplication/division computation problems. Today in Science, we talked a lot about Carbon Footprints, global warming, and the greenhouse effect. If your child can tell you what they learned, write CF in the planner. Today in Math, we had fun with units of time such as decades, centuries, millennium, etc. If they can tell you how many decades Mrs. Hankins is, put it in the planner. YIKES-I'm getting old. Keep studying those states and capitals. Students did some fun games with them today during computer time on the Bitterroot website. I am thinking the test will be on Friday, December 7th. Speaking of Friday-this Friday, we will have technology day. Students can bring in IPods, DS systems, etc. and listen to music during independent work time and then play games on the DS systems or whatever they choose to bring during team building time. This will be a $300 buy in with fake money. Then if they wish to bring a treat to go with it in the afternoon, they may and then pay an extra $100 for a total of $400. Students have lots of money to spend as we don't have any field trips coming up in the near future. Have a great night.

Wow-that's a lot of garbage

Today in Science, we started a unit on "Going Green" and taking care of our natural resources. We learned all about renewable & non-renewable resources along with how many pounds of trash/day on average per/person. On the positive side, we also learned that in 2006, a certain percentage of our garbage was recycled. Talk with your child about this and if they can explain all this to you, write "going green" in the planner. Also, I hope that your family takes some time to think about how you can help the environment to reduce and limit our "human footprint". Then let's hope we take and put our ideas into action. Today in Math, we reviewed time to the minute. Tomorrow, we are going into elapsed time. We continued our tour of the SE today. I sure enjoyed the letters they wrote to John last night for homework. I was glad they realized that colonial life was not that easy. Xtra Math Practice: A flyer was sent home today for your child to get started on practicing those multiplication/division facts. I will be checking on your child's progress periodically so please make sure they take a few minutes each night to practice. It doesn't take very long. The surprises that some of you purchased have arrived!!!!!! Please watch for another envelope this week where I will be giving you some choices to pick from on how you want this delivered since it is a surprise. So look for another envelope on Thurs. or Friday. Remember library books tomorrow. Have a great night.

Welcome Back!

HI there- I hope you had a great Thanksgiving break with your families. I know I sure enjoyed family time in North Dakota. Lots of us laughing, playing games, eating, and making memories together. Looking forward to the next visit at Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we talked today about doing Secret Santas in our classroom for the last week before Christmas Break. There seems to be lots of interest so I would like your opinion on this so if it would be ok for your child to participate, write Secret Santa in the planner and if you don't like the idea, write NO in the planner. The way it would work is that students would put their name in a hat and then they each would draw out a name too and that person would be their secret santa. Then they would bring something small or make something for their person each day that week and then on Friday, they could bring a bigger item if they choose to and that is the day we would share and reveal our secret santas. It is my hope that students won't spend more than $5.00-$7.00 for the whole week. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Today we started our tour of the Southeast and one of the places we visited was the Jamestown colony. Students then played a game to help them see what the life in the colony was like. Now they have to write a letter (in workbook page 37) to John explaining if they think he should or should not come to the colony giving reasons why. Remember 4th grade quality. Have a discussion about this game with your child and if you do and see their letter they wrote, write letter in the planner. Tomorrow in Science, we are starting our unit on Recycling & Going Green. We will be doing whole group and small group readings. There are lots of good facts in it so I know they will learn a lot. In Math, we are ready to begin our unit on Time & Elapsed time. Then we will hit our Geometry Unit. Along with this we are continuing multiplication & division. Have a good night.

Thankful Week

Rusty's show this week is all about Thanksgiving and being thankful. Today, we talked about an attitude of gratitude and how lucky we are and that we have so much to be thankful for. His show took a look at how little the pilgrims had back in the 1620's compared to what we have now. The students were asked if they could live back in those days and 3 of them said they could. We discussed how we take so much for granted and how lucky we really are compared to those less fortunate. Tomorrow students will have to list 5 things they are very thankful for and would not want to live without and then we will do an activity with them. In Social Studies we started the Southeast region by doing the geography challenge. Students received a map today so they can start practicing over the break. I have not set a date for the states and capitals test yet. Ask your child 3 of the states in this region and if they can tell you, write SE in the planner. Also, I listed them on the side of the blog. Remember early out tomorrow at 12:00. Thank you for getting me the surprise envelopes for those of you who did. Hopefully your child will love the surprise. Just a quick note about the Music Christmas program so you can start planning accordingly. It will be on Wednesday, December 19th and will be performed at 9:30 and again at 1:15. So mark your calendars for this awesome event. Ask your child one of the fun songs they are singing and write the name in the planner. Have a great night. Also, I want to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am so thankful to be a part of this Bitterroot family and for having your child in my classroom.

Short Week

Hi there- I hope you are enjoying your weekend. How many of you enjoyed the Cat-Griz game yesterday? Obviously you know, I sure did. Hope the CATS have more good things to come for them in the playoffs. As you know, this is a short week. There is an early out on Tuesday at 12:00 and then No School on Wed.-Friday. Just a reminder that the surprise envelopes are due tomorrow if you are participating. Congratulations to Branson, our student of the week. We enjoyed the pictures and hearing all about you. Buddies on Friday consisted of our class helping our 2nd grade buddies in Mrs. Culp's room with story elements. They read a book to us and then we helped them with the story elements. Ask your child what book they read with their buddy and one of the story elements they used on the activity sheet. If they can tell you, write the name of the book in the planner along with the part. No spelling words this week. We will do some review of our last 4 units. Also ask your child about the fun snowball activity they did with Mrs. Neese, the counselor. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Meeting Tonight

Sorry for a short blog post, but I had a staff meeting tonight. Just one quick thing. Remember the surprise that went home in an envelope on Tuesday is due on Monday, November 19th if you are in on it. Thank you and have a great night.