Happy Halloween

Today was a fun, but educational day.  We started off by writing "Drug Free Recipes".  We have some great recipes of all the things we can do instead of drugs.  The best part of this is that many of the students said to "mix all these together for many years to come or for the rest of their lives".  Oh, how I hope they keep this same attitude & insight into the future.
The we did some fun Halloween Math with pumpkin multiplication & word problems.
In Reading, we all listened to the forever funny Jerry Seinfeld Halloween Book.  If you have not heard this, it is a must-absolutely hilarious.  You can find it on YouTube.  We also listened to the good ole "It's a Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown story.
In Language, we had a fun singular & plural possessives review that had a pumpkin patch theme.
After lunch we had buddies where they had a choice to do Halloween Jingo or make a transformation with a little Halloween symbol.  Most chose to have fun with Jingo.
Since we had electronics day today, they had a free option for Fun Friday.
As you can see, the day was fun filled and went by real fast.
We would like to CONGRATULATE Kaitlynn for being chosen as this month's Purple Hand Cookie recipient.  She was nominated & voted by her classmates.  Great job!
My reading kids:  Remember to get those October Reading calendars back on Monday.
Also Monday starts the "All For Books" program.  Bring in those pennies and help give back.
Parent Teacher Conferences next Wed. & Thursday.  I look forward to seeing each of you on your day/time.
Early Out days on Wed., Thurs, and Friday-12:00 Dismissal
Have a very fun-filled safe Halloween!

Amazing Day Today

We were very fortunate to have 2 students along with the addiction counselor from Rimrock Foundation here to share their stories about drug addiction.  Their individual & family lives along with their education have been changed quite dramatically because of decisions they made when they were in the 8th grade.  Their messages were very powerful to say the least.  Have a little discussion with your child about this and if they can share some helpful information that they will take with them throughout their school years & lives, write a smiley face in the planner.
Tomorrow's dress up/theme day is: "Say Boo to Drugs-wear black & orange (no Halloween costumes).
Tomorrow is also Electronics Day-students who have enough fake money ($500) will be able to bring their IPods, D-S systems, MP3 players, etc. as long as they have school appropriate music & games on them.  They will be allowed to listen to music during independent work time and at morning recess as well as play their game systems & listen to music during Fun Friday.
Tomorrow's day will still be educational related, but there will be Halloween activities provided to make the day more fun.
Tomorrow is Library so get those books back.
Caiden is our Student of the Week and we got to learn all about him.  We learned that he loves Legos and is very good at making models of things with them.  We also learned that he likes: Art, spaghetti, blue, and football.  When he grows up, he wants to be a builder.  How cool is that!!!!
Have a great night.

"PAWS"-I-TIVELY SAYING NO TO DRUGS

Our school spirit and saying no to drugs sure did shine through today in Room 6.  Great job for showing support.  We also made a poster titiled "Hands Off Drugs".  Students each wrote down 5 messages about drugs and saying "NO"!!!  Ask them to tell you one important thing they have learned this week about "being drug free" and write it in the planner for free money.
Tomorrow's  theme day is:  I "mustache" you to say NO to drugs-wear a mustache.
Pink Conference Slips went home today.  Please see the time that has been assigned to you and sign and return the form with your child tomorrow.  I tried really hard to give everyone their 1st choice so let's hope you can make it work as I don't have much room for change as the slots are pretty much filled up with having 25 parents to conference with.  Thank you
Book Fair is next week during conference times.  Flyers went home today.
Also we are participating  in a Books For All program.  As you read the informational letter you will see that it is a Win-Win for all involved.  We will get books for our classroom & library, and disadvantaged kids will also receive books from Scholastic-how AWESOME IS THAT!!!!!!  This starts on Monday so hopefully you are willing to help, but remember this is optional.
States & Capitals test went great.  As you will see, there are 2 grades.  One grade is for knowing the states & capitals themselves and the 2nd one was for the location.  Overall, they did great.
Now we will be getting back into MT History.
Have a great night.

We Put a Cap on Drugs

Terrific Tuesday here in Room 6.  As you can see by the pic, we "put a cap on drugs".  We had a great day in Character Counts meeting this morning talking about values and what is important to us as we think about avoiding peer pressure and making good choices.  Ask your child what 2 of their values are and put them in the planner for free money.
Then Mrs. Neese came in for her regular scheduled time and also presented some great information about Red Ribbon Week.
We were very fortunate to have the Skyview High School SADD group here to discuss what the group stands for and what their roles in the group are.  They gave the kids lots of situations that could have turned negative for them if they would have chosen to go with the kids that tried to get them to use drugs.  Instead they gave examples of how they go and have game & movie nights along with staying active in theater, music, or sports.  Their message was pretty clear that school, family life, and extra curricular activities has no room for drugs/alcohol.  They did an M&M activity about making positive choices and then had a little quiz and gave away some fun t-shirts.  Ask your child what message they got from them that stands out the most and if they can tell you, write SADD in the planner.
Tomorrow's dress up day is:"These PAWS don't touch drugs".  Wear Bitterroot Bobcat colors & clothing.
As you can see our door looks awesome.  Great job to all.
Have a great night.

We Are "RED-Y To Say NO to Drugs!!

Yes, we had lots of red on today to kick off Red Ribbon/Drug Free Week.  I am excited for all the things we have planned in our classroom for the week.  We learned today about how RRW got started. Ask your child who Enrique "Kiki" Camarena is and what he tried to do.  We watched a great You Tube video today titled Kiki's Legacy if you wish to view it.  If they can tell you a little bit about him write Kiki in the planner.
We started to decorate our classroom door today as Student Council is sponsoring a door decorating contest.  The theme is "Say Boo to Drugs".  I will post a pic of our door tomorrow when it is finished.
Tomorrow's theme day is "Put a cap on drugs" -wear a hat.
Also, tomorrow we have some Skyview High students coming in that are part of a school group called SADD-students against destructive decisions.  They will talk about the impact of drugs and how it affects grades and extra curricular activities.
I am happy to report that the students did a great job with the substitute, Ms. Jensen, while I was out celebrating my Dad's 92nd b-day.  We had great family time!!!
NE states & capitals test is on Wednesday.  Remember they need to know the location as well as the states & capitals.
I was happy to see so many of you participated in the Pumpkin Patch Party.  Students who attended earned $200 free money.  Speaking of free money, we are going to have an electronics day on Friday where students can bring in their IPods, DS's or whatever they may have school appropriate music/games loaded on it to use during free work time, recess, and Fun Friday.  The cost of the buy in will be announced tomorrow.  Then any extra money they have left will be used to purchase coupons and items from Mrs, Hankins's store on Friday, November 7th.
Thank you for getting your conference slips back.  We as a staff are having a meeting tomorrow to set those up so you will get a notice of your date/time later this week.
Have a great night.

Guest Teacher Yomorrow

Yes, I will be gone for the next 2 days to go home to be with my wonderful family again in ND to celebrate my Dad's 92nd birthday!!!!!   Yes, and the best thing about it is he is still in great health so we hope the weather cooperates so we can hunt & play some golf.  So please take some time to visit with your child about positive behavior. Thank you
Tomorrow is "pack the place in pink" day so let's show support by wearing pink for free money.
Parent Teacher Conference slips went home today and are due back by Friday so get them filled out & returned so you can hopefully get one of your conference choices.
Red Ribbon Week is next week and we have theme days set.  We get real involved in this in Team Hankins room so let's show spirit and participate.  Again free money will be given.
These are the days:  Monday-Be-Red-y to say no to drugs--wear red
Tuesday-"Put a cap on drugs- wear caps
Wednesday-These "paws don't touch drugs- wear Bitterroot bobcat colors or paws.
Thursday-"We mustache you not to do drugs"- wear a mustache
Friday-"Say Boo to drugs-wear Halloween colors (black & orange) no costumes
Also Student Council is sponsoring a door decorating contest. Students are coming up with ideas so if you choose to help your child come up an idea - we will vote on them on Monday and then start decorating so if you want to help, let me know.  Thank you
Pumpkin Patch Party on Friday, October 24- 6:30-8:00.  Free money if you come with an adult.
Have a great night and  I will look forward to having a good sub report.

Pictures Tomorrow

Yes, it is picture day tomorrow so bring those envelopes if you are ordering or go mylifetouch.com to order on line.
IXL math- please make sure your child is spending some time nightly practicing these skills.  Very important.
Also they should be reading nightly at least 30 minutes. I can not stress the importance of this as our 4th grade curriculum moves so quickly that we can easily fall behind. So please see that these 2 subject areas are practiced.
Substitute teacher on Thursday & Friday this week so please start having the conversation about expected behaviors.  Thank you.
Blog question tonight: what one thing can be all states of matter- a solid, liquid, and a gas.
Have a good night.