FABULOUS PROGRAM

What an AWESOME JOB all the students did at the holiday Music Program. We are all so proud of them. If you missed it, a short clip follows.

Reminder that tomorrow is Polar Express Day. Bring your candy train treats, favorite hot chocolate mug, stuffed animal, and wear your p.j.'s. We will have a fun, busy day. We are reading the book and doing activities in the morning and then in the afternoon we are making our trains and watching the movie.

Wednesday is holiday shopping day in our classroom. The students are using their fake money to buy things for family members, friends, or themselves.

No spelling words this week and no writing prompt for the week. I am going to change the writing format after the holidays.

Have a great night.

Tomorrow-Tomorrow

Hi there-

First of all, Social Studies homework/nightly writing tonight is a spin-off from a game we played today in groups of 3. It was based on the tough life and survival in the Jamestown Colony back in the 1620's. Many things happened to them on their through the game. They are to write a letter telling about their life. Also for free $ tomorrow at check in have them tell you one thing that happened to them.

Santa's Workshop is tomorrow. We will be going at 9:30. Students may shop if they choose to. Everything is $1.00.

Also students will be able to shop at Hankins' Store tomorrow. I have purchased many things as my gift to them for the holidays and they are going to use their fake money to buy them. The student with the most money goes first and then down the line. They will want to spend all their money because after the New Year we will start over.

Also, they are to be practicing those states & capitals. I noticed today that many of the kids don't know them all too well. I can't stress enough the importance of this. It will be a big part of their Social Studies grade.

Have a great night.

OOVOO-with Jeff The Nature Guy

We had a treat today as we OOVOOED Jeff at the Nature Center in Red Lodge. He & Cheyenne(the barn owl) gave us TONS of information on owls as reinforcement/supplement to our study on owls during Owls in the Family.

We continued working on our Christmas Around the World research today. We will be presenting on Friday or Monday. We are using our reading time this week so hopefully we will be ready to present by the end of the week.

Had a special treat of attending the Bitterroot Band/Orchestra Concert today. We have lots of wonderful talent here at school. Our 4th graders can look forward to this next year.

Santa's Workshop-notes about that went home yesterday and students will get the chance to shop on Friday if they choose to. Remember this is optional.

Keep working on the SE states & capitals. I am hoping our test will be before the Christmas break. It is quite difficult to get everything in lately as there seem to be lots of interruptions this time of year.

Have a great night and keep enjoying this wonderful December weather.

Busy -Busy-Busy

Today proved to be another busy day. First of all, great job to Bitterroot School for raising $461 through the Rachel's Challenge giving. Wonderful way to help out others.

We started the tour of the SE today. We got to listen to birds in the Everglades, a rocket blast off from the Kennedy Space Center, and how difficult the life was for the first colonists. Tomorrow we will play a game to actually see how their life was back then when they first came to this land.

Santa's Workshop-once again the PTA is sponsoring Santa's Workshop where the kids can come and purchase things for family members at a very low cost.

Also, we will be having a stocking/gift buying day here too where students will be able to use their fake money to buy things for themselves and/or family members.

Math multiplication homework tonight.

We started Christmas Around the World research in our class today for students in the classroom for reading. We are paired up with Ms. Erickson's class. If your child can tell what their country is, write it down for free $ at check in tomorrow. If they are in Read 180, have them tell you what they are learning about bullies for free $ at check in tomorrow.

Once again a reminder about the Polar Express Day next Tuesday. Please make sure you have all the necessary supplies.

Have a great night.

Happy Monday!

Just a few quick notes for today. First of all, just a reminder that Polar Express Day is on Tuesday, December 21st. Please make sure you are getting the supplies you need for the trains.

Students paid in their $1000 for it today and everyone was eligible with money to spare for our holiday auction where they will be able to buy some great things for themselves or members of their families.

Christmas Program is Monday, December 20th. The performance will be at 9:30 & 1:00. Come to the time that fits best into your schedule.

New websites have been added to the Blog to practice those multiplication facts.

Tomorrow for Reading class, students will be starting Christmas Around the World. They will be partnered up with someone from Ms. Erickson's class to find out information about a country that they chose.

Have a great night.

Owl Pellets

Today we finished up the whole group book we were reading "Owls in the Family" by dissecting owl pellets. They were disinfected so no need to worry plus we were wearing gloves. We definitely found lots of bones from rodents that the owls ate just like Wol & Weeps.

Next week for our reading class since we are done with our book club groups too, we are going to be pairing up with Ms. Erickson's class and study how countries around the world celebrate Christmas.

Thank you to those that participated in the Rachel's Challenge giving. I am not sure how much we made yet, but I will let you know when I find out.

We are moving into 2 & 3 digit multiplication so make sure your child continues to practice those facts.

Also, study the SE states & capitals.

Have a great weekend.

Student Council Representatives Have Been Elected

Congratulations to Raegan Harper, Hayden Forster, and Jarret Becker for being elected as our Student Council Representatives. I know they will represent our classroom & school very well. The alternate is Tony Garza who will step in if one of them can not perform their duties. We had 13 students give speeches and run for our room reps. They did a GREAT JOB and I am so PROUD of each and every one of them for getting up in front of their peers. Even though they all weren't elected, they have the opportunity to be strong leaders in our classroom.

Rachel's Challenge tomorrow is wear a hat for $1.00 to help out those in need.

Tomorrow is Personal Safety with Mr. Ness & Ms. Butler.

Also, bring Library books for Library.

Make sure you are studying your SE states & capitals. If your child can name one of the states & capitals, put a note in their planner for $ at check in.

Have a great night.

Just a little note to inform you of when the Christmas Program is. It will be on Monday, December 20th. The same program will be performed 2 times. The times are 9:30 & 1:00. This should allow you enough time to make arrangements with your work schedule. If they can tell you the name of one of the songs they are singing, put it in planner for extra $ at check in.

Great day today-we almost got through Chapter 5 of Social Studies. Students have to complete the last part of it tonight for their nightly writing.

Also, the kids in the classroom for reading got to do origami owls thanks to Ms. Erickson. As they all know, I am definitely not too experienced in this art. My spatial sense is not so good. This was a great connection to the book "Owls in the Family" that we just finished.

Reminder that Student Council speeches are to be ready for Thursday if interested in being in Student Council.

Keep keep practicing your multiplication. Definitely can tell those that are working hard.

Also, keep up the nightly reading and keeping track on the calendar.

Have a great night.

Mid-terms Went Home Today

Hopefully, by the time you are reading this you have seen your child's mid-term report for 2nd quarter. They went home today and were quite good so keep up the great work Team Hankins!

Student Council Elections: Today we went and listened to many of our 6th graders give their student council speeches. Then we came back to our room and voted for whom we thought would represent Bitterroot the best.

We will be needing 3 Student Council Representatives from our classroom. Students who are interested in running for this election have to have a speech by Thursday, December 9th. This must be about how they will help our class & school become a better place and how they will listen to and help others. Then we will vote within our classroom for our 3. Meetings are once/month on Fridays so students will have to attend at least 3-4 if not all of them.

Remember the Rachel's Challenge Days are on Thursday & Friday. Students can buy in for a $1.00 each day to help raise money for our families in need here at Bitterroot. Thursday is gum chewing day and Friday is hat day.

Book Clubs: We are completed with our latest book club books and are now working on our book club wheels which will be their final assessment of the book.

Letters to Military Families: Students have the option of writing a letter to a family that has someone in the military. These will be collected on Friday and delivered to the families. $500 in extra money can be earned.

Have a great night.

Helping Our Bitterroot Community

Next Thursday & Friday, we as a Bitterroot Family, are going to be helping others less fortunate this holiday season. As part of Rachel's Challenge and doing Random Acts of Kindness, we are carrying out her wishes by helping others. Students in grades K-6 will have an opportunity to bring $1.00 on Thursday and chew gum and on Friday another $1.00 to wear a hat. The money collected will be to help families on the angel tree. Everyone is encouraged to participate, but this is optional, but again what a good way to "pay it forward" like our 4th grade classes did during the Flakesgiving Challenge.

Great stories-the Rudolph stories are coming along and are so fun & creative. Great job Team Hankins.

Speaking of Team Hankins, we had a very serious talk this morning in our morning meeting about working together as a team helping out and caring for others. We have had some issues as of late so we made a new class promise and had a sincere circular handshake. If your child can tell you one thing about the meeting, write it in their planner for extra $ at check in.

Congratulations to Tony, our new student of the week. We sure learned a lot about Tony and that he LOVES to write.

Have a great weekend and I hope you are cheering for the BOBCATS!!

Rudolph-What Happened to Your Nose?

Today we had some fun with creative writing. We are writing stories titled Rudolph the _____-Nosed Reindeer. They had to choose a new color other than red and write about how Rudolph got his newly colored nose. Some pretty cool writings that will be on display in the hall. For extra money at check in write down the color your child chose for his/her story.

Some of us are finished with our multiplication timings 1-11 and now we are ready to put those facts to use doing 2 digit multiplication. Please make sure they continue to practice nightly on the boards or computer to keep these facts memorized forever. All this hard work will pay off believe me!!

Have a great night.

Tonight's Reminder

Reading Calendars are due tomorrow so make sure you have them with your minutes totaled up. Also, have your chains to add your feet for minutes read.

Rusty's messages for the week have centered around FRIENDS and that it takes work to have friends and that usually we have only 5 really true friends. Today we talked about what makes a friend a TRUE friend. If your child can tell you one of these, write it in the planner for $ at check in tomorrow.

Have a great night.

Winter & Snow is Upon Us

Yes, winter looks like it is here to stay and your child needs to be prepared to play outside. Please -please make sure they have warm coats, boots, hats, gloves, etc. to safely play outside at recess.

Great job over break practicing those multiplication facts. They are coming along very well and we have less & less to memorize each time. Practice on those laminated boards and the computer sites to be ready for tomorrow's timing. Your child knows what they are on.

In Science, we are almost finished with our Temperature/thermometer unit. Students have been learning about kinetic energy, phases of matter, how a thermometer works, along with the boiling/freezing temps. of water. They also learned that water is the only thing that can go through all 3 phases which is why the red colored liquid in a thermometer is not water. If they can tell you this, then write WATER in their planner for extra $50 at check in.

Tonight's writing prompt is writing about Favorite fun activity or activities in the snow.

Have a great night.

Busy Next Three Weeks

Hi there-I hope you all had a very restful, relaxing Thanksgiving Break. I had a very fun, relaxing, yet productive 5 days with family & friends. I am rested and ready to hit it hard the next 3 weeks. We have a lot to get done to tie up all lose ends before the Christmas/Winter Break.

Did you have cranberries on Thanksgiving? I hope as your family was enjoying cranberries in whatever form you had them that your child was able to tell you the story about them. On Tuesday, before break, we read a story and did a little taste testing and graphed our favorite ways to eat cranberries. Ask your child what their favorite way was-juice, whole-fresh, jellied, or whole in a sauce. Write their favorite way down for an extra $50 tomorrow at check-in.

I hope your child has been working hard on those multiplication facts over the break. They were making great progress before break so let's hope it continued.

Tomorrow, Mr. Chase is coming back to share more information about Washington D.C.

Have a great snowy Sunday and see you tomorrow.

Matter-Matter Everywhere

Today we did our Science lesson on the 3 phases of matter: solid, liquid, gas. After lots of discussion, a You tube, catagorizing things, and discussing the freezing and boiling point of water we now know the difference and we found out that water is the only thing that can be all 3 phases.

I can tell that students are practicing multiplication as they are doing much better on their fact timings. I know that more hard work and persistence they will have all of them. I like how you are checking the laminated boards after they do a row so that they don't do the whole thing wrong.

No spelling list this week or no nightly writing.

Reminder: Tomorrow is a 1/2 day with a 12:00 dismissal. So please make arrangements for pick-up accordingly.

Have a great night and stay warm.

Way to go to 4th Grade Teams!!

FANTASTIC-I am so happy to announce that we raised $193 for the Flakesgiving-helping families in need. Great job to everyone that contributed. We are going to make many families happy this holiday season. We also got to have some FUN in the process. So Good Job! It will be announced on 102.9 at 7:15 tomorrow morning so be sure to tune in.

Speaking of FUN-tomorrow is the big day we get ready for the annual CAT/griz football game. Of course as you all know, I am a big CAT fan and Ms. Erickson is a griz fan so we have a bet. The losing team (griz) has to bake cookies for the winners (CATS) so cheer on those CATS because she makes way better cookies than me!! Also, wear your favorite team gear tomorrow and receive $100 fake money. Write Go CATS in your child's planner to earn an extra $50 at check in. What a fun day we will have!!

Also, we have our Class Celebration tomorrow for earning our 25 compliment points. Students can bring in board games and we will spend some time after lunch celebrating our successes. Way to go Team Hankins!! I will provide hot chocolate as it is going to be quite chilly tomorrow they say.

Final Day of Flakesgiving-Pay It Forward

Great job to all the 4th graders for the money we have raised so far. I am so proud of you.

Tomorrow is the final day-it consists of Bring a pillow &/or blanket, wear a hat, and bring a pop. We are going to take some time at the end of the day to free read and relax1

Write on/wipe off boards went home today as another tool to practice those multiplication facts. We are having the 3's test tomorrow so practice on the boards and use the computer sites.

Listening & talking-I don't know if it is me, but there seems to be a lot more unnecessary talking and less listening as of late. Please talk to your child about this. Thank you

Our writing prompt for tonight is to write about something they are THANKFUL for. It should have a topic sentence, elaborative details, and a conclusion sentence.

Write the word THANKFUL in planner for extra money at check in.

Have a great night.

Tomorrow's Flakesgiving Buy In

Looking good Mr. Ness!!

Tomorrow's Flakesgiving Buy-in consists of wearing pajamas/robe, and slippers may be brought for inside wear, bring your favorite stuffed animal, and having a candy treat for snack. Again 1=$1--2=$2--3=$3. Thank you to those of you that can contribute and wish to.

Social Studies test-Overall, the students did well and I gave them 2 grades. When you see their test, the first grade is for knowing the states & capitals and the second grade is for location.

I haven't checked part two yet of their 4 places in the NE with 3 facts for each, but as I scanned them they looked quite good. Way to go Team Hankins!

Multiplication Websites-We went on the Blog today and practiced our multiplication facts. There are 3 great sites to go to and they know what they are and I EXPECT them to be using these. Also, there are many others on the Bitterroot Home Page that they can go to to practice. I will be able to tell because of how they do in their daily/weekly timings so PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE!!

Dressing for the weather-students have been doing a good job of dressing for the weather with coats, mittens, and hats. Keep it up and stay warm.

CELEBRATION-students have earned their next 25 celebration points so we are going to celebrate on Friday with board game fun in the afternoon and I will provide hot chocolate.

Also, on Friday is the annual Cat/Griz pre-game fun. Students will be paid $500 for wearing MSU Bobcat gear and lose $500 for wearing Griz gear (just kidding)! -:

Make sure you cheer for the Cats because if the Cats win, then Ms. Erickson will bake cookies for our class and she is a much better baker than I am!!!!

Ask your child what our word of the week is this week and what they do to feel this way.

If you write it in your child's planner, they will receive free money tomorrow at check in.

Have a great night and stay warm.

Helping Others!!

Today in Morning Meeting we talked about helping those less fortunate than us and we have an opportunity to once again do that. A program called "Flakesgiving" sponsored by the 102.9 Cat Country Radio Station raises money to buy meals for families in need at Thanksgiving.

Here's how we are going to help-for the next 3 days, (Tues. -Thurs.) we will be raising money for Flakesgiving. For example your child can bring in an IPod, MP3 player and listen to music throughout the day, bring and chew gum all day, and also wear a hat/cap to school all day. Each thing they do will cost them $1.00 of real money. So if they do one they can bring $1.00, 2=$2.00, and all 3 is $3.00. Wednesday and Thursday we will have different things to do to bring money in. Then at the end of the week, I will take the money to the radio station. We also talked about what a great tie-in to Rachel's Challenge and her goal of being kind and caring for others.

So let's go Team Hankins and help out others!

Multiplication-we are working hard on those 2,3,5,9,10's so please practice on a nightly basis. On the side of the blog where you find some of my favorite websites are a few new math sites to go to and practice. I think they will be very helpful & beneficial. They are actually quite fun and the students will enjoy them.

States & capitals test-we took that today. They looked to be pretty good as I was walking around. I haven't checked them yet but hopefully they had studied. Part 2 is for homework tonight. Students are to choose 4 places we learned about in the NE and then tell what it is and 3 facts about each one. Illustrations are optional.

We started Heat & Temperature today and got to pretend we were heat molecules. Have your child tell you what a molecule is and earn $50 dollars tomorrow at Morning Meeting if you write molecule in their planner.

Have a great night.

Congratulations to Trisha, our new student of the week. We enjoyed hearing about your and all the things you brought in to share.

The other picture is our 2 guest speakers that came to us. One is from Maine and the other is from New Hampshire. They are in Montana working with the MCC and they came to share info. about the NE and those 2 states. We are definitely becoming quite knowledgable about the NE. Speaking of that, our test over the states & capitals is Monday.

We had our first Multiplication test today. I haven't checked all of them yet, but as I was walking around I could see many students struggling. Please use flash cards and practice at home, while in the car, wherever to get the mastery of the facts. Right now we are only working on the 2,3,5,9,10's.

Remember tonight is movie night. $500 extra dollars if you come.

Tomorrow is Ice Skating-another $500 if you go.

Speaking of money, Ms. Erickson's class and our class are going to participate in the "Flakesgiving" sponsored by one of the radio stations here in town. We are going to have fun days next week and the students will get to participate by bringing in money and this money will be donated to families in need here in town. More on the days first part of next week.

What a great way to promote Rachel's Challenge too. She would so proud of us as she looks down on us.

Have a great fun weekend.

White House Secret Service Guest Speaker

We were very fortunate to have Mr. Howard who worked for the White House Secret Service during President Clinton's term. Very interesting information presented and some fun stories. But he couldn't give any information away that is for sure. Also, he brought with him a model of the White House and a piece of the building he got during renovation.

Great job to all the students on their Chapter 2 math test. We are now on to the Multiplication chapter. Please please see to it that your child practices his/her math facts. Get some flash cards if you don't already have some. They can be easily made or purchased at the dollar store.

Reminder that Monday is the test over the NE states & capitals.

Remember tomorrow is movie night. Toy Story 3 is being shown. Come and you will earn $500 of free money.

Also, Saturday, November 13th is Skate Night. Earn $ 500 for coming. Have fun and be safe.

Speaking of free money, your child can earn $50 extra dollars if you together can find out which president never lived in the White House. Put the name in their planner and they will earn extra money. I will be doing this daily now as a reward to those of you that stay in touch and communicate with me. Communication is so vitally important.

Have a great night.

Multiplication Practice

Multiplication practice sheets went home today along with the new skip counting of the 2, 3, 5, 9's. Practice-practice. We will have our 1st quiz on them on Friday.

Also, be studying those NE states & capitals. Test will be next week Monday or Tuesday.

Math test over Chapter 2 is tomorrow-Wednesday, November 10th.

Have a great night.

Great Guest Speaker

Today we were fortunate to have Mr. Chase, a Math & Science teacher from Castle Rock come to us to share his knowledge and wonderful pics of the many historic places in Washington D.C. We learned so many new things like if you are a guest of the president you would get to stay in the Blair House or that there are snipers on the roof of the White House. We wish he could have stayed longer but we were rushing out the door at 3:15. Thank you Mr. Chase. Students are to be writing about this in their nightly writing.

We are finishing up Chapter 2 in Math and will have a test at the end of the week. Make sure you are practicing the skip counting sheets that are coming home. The 2, 3, 5, 9's are coming home on Tuesday.

Colder weather: As you can see, the colder weather is arriving. Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. Long pants, long sleeves, coats, gloves, and hats are much needed.

Continue studying those NE states & capitals. Test will be next week.

In my reading class, we started a book called "Owls in the Family". It is a great story and we will be learning 10 new story elements to go with it. We will keep you posted.

Also, in our reading we are finishing up our Naya Nuki Essays. WOW these kids are getting to be fabulous writers. Keep up the great work.

Have a great night and stay warm.

Congratulations to Blade our new student of the week. We enjoyed all your pictures and seeing all the things you've been building. You are surely going to be an engineer or an architect when you are out in the working world.

Thank you for making our Parent-Teacher Conferences such a great success. I so enjoyed sharing with you all the good things your child is doing here at school and talking about what he/she needs to work on to help make them more successful in & out of the classroom setting.

Keep studying those NE states & capitals. Also, get ready for multiplication facts as we are starting that late next week. Have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

States & Capitals

Hi there-

Another GREAT 1/2 day today. I think we "crammed" a whole day into the half day.

As students were greeting one another this morning, they had to say a state & capital of the NE. I can really tell that most of them are studying the sheet that went home on Monday. Great job-the test will be in a week or 2. Speaking of the sheet, I somehow omitted Annapolis, Maryland and Dover Delaware so if you could help your child locate it that would be wonderful as they are part of the 11 NE states & capitals.

PERFECT ATTENDANCE: WOW WE HAD 13 STUDENTS WHO NEVER MISSED A DAY ALL OF 1ST QUARTER-THAT IS SO AWESOME!!! KEEP IT UP AND LET'S TRY FOR 22 THIS NEXT QUARTER!

Essay Writing: The students in my reading class are working on essay writing for Naya Nuki the read-a-loud book we just finished. We are really working hard to extend our writing. You should see the new ways we are writing topic sentences and the transition words we are using along with the elaborate explanations like making connections from their personal lives to the book. I am so proud of what they wrote today and we will continue it on Friday.

Math skip counting: Keep working on the 2, 5, 9, 10's-a new one is coming home on Monday with the 3's added. This will make learning their multiplication facts a breeze.

Beaver habitats will need to go home on Friday so please make arrangements to get them. Thank you.

Have a great night!

Report Cards Went Home Today!

I hope by the time you are reading this, you have seen your child's report card. Please feel free to bring it along to the Parent Teacher Conference if you would like-if not, I have a copy on my computer we can refer to. Overall, the grades were GREAT this quarter and I look forward to even more improvements this 2nd quarter.

Students will be interested in BUG (bring up grades) Club. It is a program sponsored by the Heights Kiwanis that recognizes students for bringing their grades up from the previous quarter or those that maintained their GPA.

We were happy to have Katie back today. She had an awesome morning.

Tomorrow is ABT. We will leave school at 9:00 and return around 11:00.

I hope that your child is practicing the math papers/concepts that went home at Teacher' Convention time. They will only benefit them.

Thank you and have a great night.

Whew-

We made it through a Monday after Halloween. Actually, I thought all would be tired and coming off their sugar high but we had a great day.

You may have noticed that a map of the Northeast came home today. We are studying the NE and students need to memorize the 12 states and their capitals. They are listed on the side of the blog also. They were excited about the song too. It can be found under my favorite links list. It has all 50 states & capitals which they will need to know by the end of 4th grade. The test over the NE won't be for a couple weeks so they have plenty of time to study them.

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Tues.-Thurs. You will have a reminder of your time on your child's report card which go home tomorrow. I look forward to seeing & visiting with each of you. Please make extra time when you come to look at all the things they have done that are on display in the hallway. I am so so PROUD of them as they have done an excellent job this quarter.

Wow-I was so impressed by the nightly writing journals last week. All the drug free presentors/field trips definitely made a big impression on the students. I am so glad they took it all serious enough to start thinking about the choices they make now influence them and their families in later years. I hope they shared a lot of what they heard and learned with you and you had some pretty serious evening dinner table/bedtime talks. That is what it is all about.

Remember that it is 12:00 dismissal Wed.-Fri. Please make arrangements ahead of time.

Permission slips for ABT are due tomorrow. I got most of them on Monday, but a few are still out there. $1000 have been collected.

Remember those October Reading Calendars as they are a big part of your reading grade.

Have a great night.

What a busy productive day we had. Thank you Madisson for sharing all your Student of the Week things. We enjoyed hearing about you. We wish you luck on your Tae Kwon Do competition coming up.

Leaf Projects-what great animals we created. Very creative. They are up in the hallway and you will see them at conference time.

Drug Free Week was a very eye-opening experience for us this week. I can't wait to read their journals this week about each of the experiences/presentors. I know we sure had a lot of good discussions during our morning meetings.

Permission slips went home today for the ABT performance on Wednesday. Students will have a $1000 buy in.

Pumpkin Patch Party is Friday and students can earn $500 for going.

Parent Teacher Conferences are this week. I look forward to seeing each of you then. Remember Early Outs (12:00) on Wed-Fri.

Have a great safe Halloween.

WOW -What a Treat today with SPECIAL GUESTS!!

Rusty May came to our 4th grades today to talk about Drugs & their effects on individuals and their families. How fun to see Rusty again. We listen to his daily message and use and discuss so much of what he gives us as we build our "positive" character and make good choices. Thank you Rusty!!!

Students from area high schools talked to us

today about their experiences with drug addiction and how it not only affects their lives, but that of their families & friends. Another powerful presentation-Listening to these life changing experiences would make all of us think before even thinking about using drugs.

Parent Teacher Conferences are next Tuesday-Friday. We will have Early Out on Wed-Friday-dismissal will be at 12:00. I look forward to seeing each of you on your scheduled day. Come with any questions or concerns you wish to talk about.

Leaves-Leaves-please make sure you have some leaves for our leaf animal project on Friday. Also bring your creative ideas.

Great job today for the substitute. She said they were fabulous and earned compliments from both her and Ms. Erickson. Way to go Team Hankins'!

Remember library books tomorrow and also wear your favorite sports team jersey, t-shirt, or sweatshirt tomorrow to "Team up Against Drugs"!!

Also, Pumpkin Patch Party tomorrow

Remember no costumes here at school during the school day.

Have a great night.

What a GREAT Day we had. Jeff did an amazing job showing us & telling about the beaver dam & lodge. We saw how the beavers change the environment around them as they make their own habitat. Pretty cool. As we were exploring with Jeff we not only saw the beaver stuff, but all the other things around us out there in nature and he took the time to explain so much.

The beaver projects today were AWESOME!! Very creative and I was so impressed at how much they learned and how they were able to use the vocabulary we learned as they were sharing.

Tomorrow is "Too Cool For Drugs" day. Wear sunglasses for that $100 and be in the spirit of being Drug Free.

We have a very special guest here in the morning that I will miss because I have a sub for the morning as I have a writing workshop to go to. I'm bummed to miss him/her!!

Also tomorrow we have some high school students coming in to talk about their experiences with drug/alcohol abuse.

Thank you to those of you who turned in the conference slips conferring that the time scheduled will work for you.

Have a great night and enjoy.

Day One of Red Ribbon Week

What a great way to start out the Drug Free Week-taking a trip to the Yellowstone Detention Center.  The kids were so intent on listening to the presenters every word.  They came away from there saying "I sure never want to go back".  Very powerful messages given and the best part for me was the presenters all saying what I say so often, The people here aren't bad people, they just made bad choices and to  "Learn & Grow from your Mistakes".  It was also nice to hear the students in discussion later back at school talk about how after going here, they will turn away from bad peer pressure situations when they are faced with them.  That is what I want to hear-thank you.

Tomorrow is Run Away From Drugs so show spirit and wear your tennis shoes.  I will also be giving the students red ribbons to wear.  Also, it is movie day.  Students will be able to buy in for popcorn and pop too.

Science Projects-sounds like they are going well and I can't wait to see them on Wednesday.

We have a surprise visitor coming on Tuesday morning-HMMMM-I wonder whom it may be-Try & Guess-you will love it.

Have a great night.

Awesome Job!

Way to go Team Hankins-all permission slips have been turned except two and you know who you are so let's get them here on Monday so you can go on the field trip to the Detention Center.  We will be leaving at 8:45 and returning by 11:30.  Parents who are going can meet us there by 9:00-thank you.

Beaver Projects:  A list of options for this project went home today.  Choose one that will work best for you to show what you've learned throughout this study on beavers.  Basically, the main requirement is that they be 3D and demonstrate knowledge of beavers and their habitat.  The sky is the limit so have fun and I can't wait to see some AWESOME projects.  They are due on Wed. October 27th.  Please don't bring in before then as we are limited to space.  Notes and study sheets were an option to take home to use or if not sure of something just Google and you will find diagrams and facts about their dams. lodges, and the animals themselves.

Also going home today were addition & subtraction practice sheets.  Please take time to practice and use them.  They will be very beneficial.

Conferences have been scheduled and you will get the form on Tuesday as that is the day we are all sending them home.

Have a great 4 days and we will see you on Monday.

Hi there-

Thank you so much to most of you for returning the beaver field trip permission slips and also for those of you who brought extra money.  As we talked about, Rachel is watching and that is a wonderful Act of Kindness.

We had Agent Dunlap in today to "kick off" our Red Ribbon Week which will be the week of October 25-29.  He had lots of good info. to share and students are to be writing about it tonight for nightly writing.  We are doing many things as you can tell by the letter that went home today.  They need to be active participants and do the activity/writing requirements that I will assign to go with it to earn their Drug Free charm.

Please get the permission slips signed and back to me by tomorrow for $500 fake money.  Also, as the letter said, parents are welcome-just meet us there on Monday.

Below is a list of the dress up days for the week:

Monday-"Life Without Drugs"...Don't Sweat It-wear sweats

Tuesday-Run Away From Drugs-wear tennis shoes

Wednesday-Sock It to Drugs-wear crazy socks

Thursday-Too Cool For Drugs-wear sunglasses

Friday-Team Up Against Drug-wear your favorite sports team jersey or t-shirt

  $100 given for each day you dress up to show school spirit.

Thank you parents for all you do-

Have a great night.

Jeff, the Nature Guy, comes to Bitterroot.  He shared with us so much of his expertise on Beavers and their habitats.

We are all set for the field 

trip on Wednesday, October 27th.  Permission slips along with an explanation of the field trip came home today attached to a ZipLock bag.  Please return the bottom portion of the permission slip and the $6 to school tomorrow.  Those returned tomorrow will earn $500 free money. 

Tomorrow I will be sending the letter about Drug Free Week and all the activities we are going to be doing.  Please read carefully and take note of the two parts that need your permission-the jail field trip and the movie.  Please get these back to school by Wednesday, October 20th for more free money.

Also coming home today was a practice sheet to work on skip counting by 2's, 5's, 9's, and 10's.  Please see that your child practices these daily.  This will help when we get to multiplication.  Speaking of fact practice, I will be sending home a packet of addition & subtraction sheets to practice in the form of timings.

Also, Congratulations to Colton, this week's student of the week.

Thank you and have a great night.

Jeff, the Nature Guy Comes to Bitterroot 4th Grades

Jeff, the Nature Guy, will be in our classroom LIVE on Monday afternoon.  He is going to be here to talk about beavers & their habitat.  Your child will be in "awe" as they listen to him.  His knowledge of animals & nature is amazing, plus the energy & fun he brings to his presentations.

The field trip to the beaver dam/lodge is going to be a happening deal.  We are going to be going on Wednesday, October 27th.  Permission slips will be coming home Monday.  We weren't sure if we would go because of the $6 that it is going to cost your child because we aren't guaranteed to see beavers in action as they are noc-turnal, but there is so much to learn about their habitat and the kids are eager to go so we are going to do it.  Cross your fingers that we see them in action.

Permission slips for the Detention Center are going to be coming home this week also.  We have lots going on for Drug Free week as you will see on the slip that comes home.

Parent-Teacher Conference slips went home on Friday.  Please mark your 1st & 2nd choices for your day & time.  We do what we can to give you one of those choices.  Due to the availability of times,  I appreciate the effort that split families make to come  up with one conference time that you can come together to talk about your child.  Thank you.

Thank you for all the positive letters that you have written about your child and their experience so far in 4th grade.  I am so happy to read about the positive impact our morning meetings and character building are making for your child.  Putting the extra time and effort in for this is so important for building relationships and teamwork.

Reminder:  Early Dismissal on Wednesday, October 20th-12:00 dismissal

Health test on Tuesday.

Have a great rest of the weekend. 

Eager Beavers

What a great day we had today.  We were eager beavers and got lots done.

Speaking of beavers, Ms. Erickson and I are great friends with Jeff, the Nature Guy, from the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge and he knows of an awesome beaver dam/lodge with lots of beaver activity going on right now.  He has offered to take us there on a field trip-Yay!!!  This will cost each of us $6.00 to pay for the bus.  We talked about it today in class and most kids said the money wouldn't not be a problem.  If it is for your family-no worries, we will make sure your child goes!!  What a great opportunity to see them in action.  Permission slips will be coming home soon.

I will be collecting fake money too which helps explain the nightly writing for tonight.  Yes, parents you have homework too.

Your child has to write a letter to me telling me how our Morning Meetings and Character Building is helping them become a more positive member of our team.  ($500)

Parents:  I am asking you to write a letter to me about what you are seeing and feeling about your child this year in 4th grade.  Try to incorporate the character, social, and academics.

This will earn them another $500.  WOW-$1000 for one night-that pays for a field trip.

Talk to your child about the new skip counting activity we learned today to help with math facts.

Have a great night and enjoy the weather.

Great Day today!! We have pretty much finished our final project for the whole class book we read.  A couple people are finishing their characterization activity.  They did a great job with these and they are on display in the hallway.

 We started our new Book Club books today in my reading class.  The students have previewed them and are excited to read them as they have been enticed by what they found out by the skim & scan strategy for predicting.  We have learned many strategies while we did the whole group book previous to this one and now I will be more of a facilitator as they have their own discussions.  I so love this as they have some good talks and ideas to share about what they read.

Math-chapter 2 is going well.  Keep refreshing your brains by practicing those facts.

In Science, we have begun our unit on beavers and beaver dams.  We watched a great YouTube and gathered facts, and now they are illustrating a beaver dam for their nightly writing.  We are actually going to try and build one together as a class.  More on that to come at a later date.

We are starting to prepare for Drug Free Week which is Oct. 25-29.  We are going to be doing a lot that week from guest speakers, our field trip, videos, youtubes, etc. to help your child understand the importance of Making Good Choices now at this young age.

Have a great night.

NILE Field Trip:  We had a great field trip on Monday and we learned a lot about Montana Agriculture.  We visited 6 different stations.  Students were graded on what they learned by having to write 2-3 facts about each station for their nightly writing.  

Just a reminder that next week we have an early out on Wednesday, October 20th.  Dismissal is at 12:00.  Then there is no school on Thursday & Friday.

We have started Chapter 2 in Math and that is on Addition & Subtraction.  It is very important that your child knows they addition & subtraction facts in order to be successful.  They need the facts to do computation.

Behaviors:  We continue to make improvements with our transitions, but we still have improvements that need to be made to reach expectations.  Still lots of chit chat at times which results in loss of fake money, which may keep your child from field trips and fun activities.  Also they may not have any extra money for auctions in the future.  We know what happened last week when some didn't participate.  Sad -sad faces.   YOU CAN DO IT-TEAM HANKINS!!!

Report Cards are coming soon.  Work hard to get and keep those grades up. :)

Also, Parent-Teacher Conferences are going to November 3-5.  More information about these will be coming home soon.

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

Congratulations to Brittany, our new student of the week.  We learned so much about her, but the most amazing thing is she started "Tap Dancing" at age 3.  What a doll.  We love the shoes too.

Fun-fun afternoon for most of the students-  We had our 1st auction of the year where they were given chances to bid on items using their fake Bitterroot Bucks.  They had to keep $2000 for the field trips on the 25th and the one in November and then any extra money could be spent on that.  They loved it and worked hard on their math & money adding.

Lesson to all as I overheard them saying to each other:  "It sure pays to use good character and be responsible for your actions and getting your work done.  We will have many more throughout the year so start saving now!!!!

Monday is our field trip to the NILE!  Students are to dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes.  If they are bringing their own sack lunches they are to bring those too.

Reminder of the Weed Pulling Contest on Saturday at Schoenthal Island down by Riverfront Park from 9-2.  Come and enjoy the fun and spreading acts of kindness.

Have a great weekend.

Weed Pulling Contest:  What a great way to get involved and to help out the environment.  Our school with the help from the Montana Conservation Corp. and in conjunction with Rachel's Challenge will be taking part in a weed pulling contest at Schoenthal Island (down by Riverfront Park on Saturday, October 9th from 9-2:00.  Please bring your comfy clothes and work gloves and join in on the fun.  $1000 free money for those participating.

Field Trip:  Our first field trip is on Monday, October 11th.  We are going to the Metra for the NILE where we will learn lots about Montana's Agriculture.  Any parents want to volunteer to go?  We could use 1 or 2 adults.  We leave school at about 11:15 and return around 2:15.  Thank you.

Responsibility Charms:  The students are working hard to earn these to add to the ones they have.  We are adding the feet ones for monthly reading too so make sure you are reading nightly.

Kindness Chain:  Lots of great acts of kindness are happening and our chain is growing rapidly.  Keep up the good work.

Have a great night and get out to enjoy the outdoors before fall sets in.

Great job today Team Hankins!!

We earned another compliment for lunch time and we even ate in our classrooms due to pictures in the gym.  Keep up the GREAT work.

I would like to WELCOME our new student.  Her name is Hayden Forster.  She comes to us from Idaho.  We are so happy to have her and look forward to getting to know her and her getting to know us.  We know she will LOVE it here!!

Don't forget to watch the Rusty site on a daily/weekly basis so you can see what we talk about daily for our Character Building.  Great discussions and feelings shared daily.  What a fun way to start our day after our Greeting one another with our new, fun music.

Charms for dog tag chains:  Students have earned their Teamwork and Citizenship charms and are working towards their Responsibility one.  They have to write a 4th grade quality paragraph using the new organizer with the colored dots for parts of the paragraph.

Speaking of writing, they are working on a paragraph as their assessment for our Hurricane Unit which we have completed.  I can't wait to see what awesome paragraphs we will get.

Remember our Field Trip to the NILE is on Monday, October 11th-not the 13th like the permission slip stated.

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

Happy Friday!

We had our Classroom Celebration today for earning our first 25 compliment points.  We played CarLot and had Ice Cream.  We already have 5 for the next 25 that we are trying to earn.  Great day in lunch today as we earned 2 there.  Way to go Team Hankins!

Picture Day is on Monday, October 4th.  We are scheduled for 9:30.  Bring those beautiful smiles.

New reading calendars went home today.  There is a little more incentive for them.  Students will earn a charm for every 100 minutes they read.  Let's start reading and adding up those minutes.

Congratulations to Layne, our new student of the week.  We enjoyed all you shared today.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather we are having.

Good luck to all the soccer & football players in our class.  I'm rootin' for you in spirit if I am not there.  

Whew!!!  HOT HOT!!

Wow who would have thought we would be so hot on September 28th???

Regardless of the heat, we made it through and had another great day.  We are making great progress with self-control, transitions, and organization.  Way to go Hankins' team!

Just a reminder that school pictures are on Monday, October 4th.  You can order on line or use the envelopes that were provided.

Again if any questions on mid-terms, please let me know.

Keep reading nightly and be sure to return calendars for September on Friday.

Also, I am enjoying the nightly writing prompts.  We are working on students looking at the feedback I give them daily to help correct errors for further writings.

Have a great night and stay cool.

Due to testing today, no new spelling list came home.  We will be doing that tomorrow.  However, the words are here on the blog.

Great day today making hurricane origami and finishing our hurricane book.

Just a reminder to be keeping track of your nightly reading on the calendar which will be due on Friday.

Mid-terms went home.  Please take a good look at them and let me know if you have any questions.  Read 180 students you will not have Reading, Spelling, or Language grades on yours.  Also, no Specialists grades at this time.

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

Congratulations to Jarret, our Student of the Week.  We so enjoyed seeing all the fun things you brought in and learning more about you.  You are an AWESOME kid and we are so lucky to have you in our class.

Monday is our last day of testing.  We are taking the Language test.  Please make sure you get a good night's sleep and have a healthy, nutritious breakfast.

Saturday Live-have fun.  I won't be there as I am going to be in Bozeman cheering on the Bobcats.

Monday, October 4th is picture day.  Envelopes went home on Thursday.  You can return them to school anytime before or on the 4th with your choices.

Hurricane Fun-we made shaving/cream & origami hurricanes today.  We will now turn it into a writing project too.  Extra credit to any students that give a report or tell about a hurricane happening now out in the Atlantic.

Our chain reaction here at school is going very well.  Lots of acts of kindness are happening.

Remember to keep reading 30 min./night and get the calendars signed and brought back on Friday, October 1st.  They are part of the reading grade.

Mid-terms will go home on Monday, September 27th.  As always if you have any questions, please contact me.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the nice weather.

I hope you are enjoying your afternoon. 

Don't forget tomorrow is Library Day.  Bring your books and that permission slip from Ms. Weiss.

See you tomorrow.

Get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather.

National Pirate Day!!

What a fun day we had dressing up, talking, and singing like pirates.

Thanks to all of you for turning in your gold card packets.  Also, thank you for donating candy for the Saturday Live Candy Shack.

Tomorrow, Thursday is an Early Out Day with 12:00 dismissal. 

Also, if you are interested in ordering a Rachel's Challenge T-Shirt, the website is listed under my websites here on the Blog page.

Remember to be reading those 30 min./night and marking your calendar.  The end of the month is coming soon.

Have a great night.

What a treat-- we had our Rachel's Challenge Assembly and we have made a promise to help start a Chain Reaction to help make our school and world a better place.  We promise to do 5 things as we accept this challenge.  They are:  Choose positive influences, keep a journal, set goals, be kind, and accept and include others.  We are doing acts of kindness and writing them on chain links and will be circling our classroom & the hallways with all our kind deeds.

Also, the Gold Cards are due tomorrow.  Students get $500 for each one sold.  Send any unsold cards back to school.  Also due tomorrow are the book orders.

Thursday is an Early Out day.  Dismissal is at 12:00.

Rounding numbers in math.  Please help your child with this skill if you have the opportunity.  It is difficult and any little bit of practice helps.

Saturday Live is on Saturday at Pioneer Park from 10-3.  Get out there and have some fun.

Have a great night.

Happy Friday-
Congratulations to Raegan, our student of the week. Thank you for sharing lots of great pictures, trophies, medals, and the fun things about yourself.

Rachel's Challenge Assembly is Monday and we are so excited to hear her message and then to carry on her "chain reaction" to make a difference in our school & world.

Gold Cards-please keep selling them and get your packets in to me by Tuesday, September 21st.

Also, any more bags of candy (non-chocolate) that you can donate for Saturday Live is greatly appreciated.

We have 1 more MAP test this week.  It is Language on Friday.  Students worked hard on the Math & Reading ones.

In Math, we are working on Rounding Numbers which is a very difficult concept.  If you would like to help your child with this skill, there are many good games & activities they can access via the Bitterroot Website.

Please note that the PTA meeting time for next week has changed from 6:30-7:00.

We are still working on being respectful of others and knowing when is and isn't a good time to visit with peers like during transition & work time.  We are making good progress, but still giving many reminders.  

Just a reminder that we have those 3 field trips coming up and your child will need money for those as a buy in.  They have so many opportunities to make money in here.

Thank you for checking assignment notebooks.  Keep writing me notes as needed.

Have  a great weekend and let's hope the weather gets better.

What a great week we are having. We took our MAP test today in Reading and tomorrow we have Math (my favorite).
In Math, we just started working on the concept of rounding numbers today. The students worked very hard and are doing so well on a very difficult concept.

In Social Studies we have been working hard on map skills finding latitude & longitude. Soon, we will be starting the study of the Northeast Region of the U.S.

In Reading, we are reading a book called: There is a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. This is a great book about bullying, self-confidence, and friendship. We are having a lot of good discussions as we learn new strategies to use in our reading.

Book orders went home and are due back on September 21st. I encourage you to use the on-line option if possible as we get a free book for each book ordered on-line.

Again, please continue to sends bags of candy for Saturday Live (non-chocolate).
Also, keep selling those gold cards. Great prizes for the top sellers.
Have a great rest of the week.

First day of testing tomorrow (Wednesday).
We Oovooed into Rusty this morning and he gave us some really great testing tips such as: get a good night's sleep, eat a healthy breakfast (protein & carbs), bring chewing gum to help us relax, and most importantly bring a POSITIVE attitude that will help us do our best.

Still collecting Saturday Live candy. Remember $200/bag. Thank you to all who have already donated.

Gold Card Sales continue until Tuesday, September 21st. If you need more, just list the names on the pre-sale sheet and we will get more cards to you after the 21st.

Honor Choir Tryouts are September 15th at 3:10. Must have purple permission slip signed to try out.

Raegan is our new student of the week. Can't wait for lots of pictures to share and other good stuff.

STAR testing is done and students have AR levels. They are working hard on this to reach some point goals that earn them some things here in the classroom.
Make sure your child is reading on a nightly basis.

We had a great day today and transitions went much smoother today. We are all getting into a routine.

Have a great night and hopefully get outside before the rain comes.

Just a reminder that Honor Choir Try-outs are Wednesday, September 15 at 3:10 if your child is interested. They should have already brought home a purple slip to have you sign if interested.

Homework-homework: Work hard at school to eliminate the amount of homework you have on a nightly basis. Good work and study habits are crucial in 4th grade.

We have 3 field trips coming up in the next couple months and the students will need at least $3000.

Fundraisers: Please keep selling those Gold Cards. If you need more, please let us know.

Overall, the day with the substitute on Thursday went well as far as behaviors and I am very pleased with that. We did have many students who had not completed their work though and didn't bother to take it home as homework which is why it is called homework. So they had the opportunity to work on it today at 10:00 and again at 12:00.
I am hoping that they take on the responsibility by themselves without constant reminders. I know this takes some time, but they can do it. It is on the assignment board daily so they know. Unfortunately, some of their grades at mid-terms will reflect their off task behaviors and not completing work on time.

Tonight is the Family Fun Night and $500 for any student that goes with their parent. Just put a note in your child's planner for Monday so I know that you attended.

Have a great weekend and hopefully the weather cooperates so you can get out and enjoy some fun fall weather.

Sub Tomorrow

HI there-
Just a note to let you know that I will have a substitute tomorrow as I will be at a training. Students know my expectations and I am encouraging them to show good character.

Reminders: Gold Card Sales are going on until September 21st. $300 earned for selling 1-$500 for 2, and $1000 for all 3.

2 bags of candy needed for Saturday Live. Your child earns $200/bag.
Thank you and have a great night.

Fundraising Fun

As you may have noticed Fundraising packets from the PTA went home with your child today. They are the Gold Cards. Your child received 3 of them in the packet and are to sell them for $20/card for a total of $60. If your child wants & needs more to sell, please ask and I will see they get them. Check out the "fantastic" prizes-WOW!! I hope everyone will do their part in helping us get another mobile computer lab. Also, they will get $300 for selling 1--$500 for 2 and $1000 for all 3. What an incentive since we have 2 field trips coming up in October and they will cost $1000 each.

I hope to see each of you tonight at the Open House 6-7:30. You will have a chance to hear about how our 4th grade classroom works. Your child will receive $500 for you attending.

Also, your child will earn $100 for writing down the first 13 colonies.

Keep reading 30 min./night and writing in those nightly journals.

Have a great night and get outside and do something active & fun.

Happy Labor Day!
I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are ready to get back to work.
Just a reminder that our Open House is tomorrow from 6-7:30. I will be presenting my
information 3 different times so I hope you can attend one of them to hear about all the happenings in 4th grade.
We are off to a good start, but there is so much that is new from 3rd grade.

Tonight is the first night of homework. Yes, the students have a math paper to do along with Spelling for some of them. They had some time to work on it in class, but not enough to finish and that be the reason it is homework.
Speaking of homework, I don't give work just to do at home. It is work that doesn't get finished in school. Reasons for your child not finishing could be that they are wasting time, not staying on task, and taking too much time to transition.
Starting Sept. 1st, they will have writing homework every night where they to write given a prompt.
Also, the nightly reading calendars are going home tomorrow so they will need to read 600 minutes/month.

Speaking of transition and appropriate times to talk, please take some time to discuss with your child the importance of having self-control. Some students think they can talk whenever they feel like it and they have lost quite a bit of money because of it. They can do it, they just need to work a little harder at being responsible for themselves and knowing when is & isn't a good time to talk out without permission.

Also, we keep working on the part of staying organized in class. What a big job in order to be successful and ready when the teacher is ready. Of course, I know it is early in the year yet, but practice is needed to make it part of their daily routine.

Please note the spelling list is up along with the assignment notebook. Your child's should match mine. Students in Read 180 do not do the reading, spelling, and language in the classroom so their assignment notebook will not match mine for those 3 subjects.
Have a great night and hopefully enjoy some outdoor time before the next rain storm.

Fantastic First Day

What a great first day we had. I am so excited for tomorrow. Although we didn't get 1/2 of what we wanted to done, there is always tomorrow.
As you have noticed by now, many papers from the office came home today and the first newsletter from me. Your child will receive a total of $800 if they have them all signed and back tomorrow. Wow-that is a lot of bucks.
I will be sending a notice home tomorrow for you to give me your email so I can use that to communicate as well as the blog and assignment notebook.
Thank you and have a great night.
Get out and do something fun.

WELCOME!!

HI there-
I am so excited to be your child's teacher. We have so many new things to learn about each other and the world around us.
Here is a little preview of me:
I grew up on a farm/ranch in ND. One of the highlights of being a farm girl is getting my own horse at the age of 5. I rode bareback on a daily basis. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I am the baby of the family.
My husband, Bob, and I do not have any children of our own, but I have 29 nieces/nephews & great nieces/nephews. So we have lots of fun when we all get together.
Two of the special little people in my life are Reagan & Cassidy. There are our god-children and we love to spoil them and spend time with them in Denver. We make as many trips there as we can. There are 5 years old and in Kindergarten so I just love to hear them talk about school.
My husband who is also a 4th grade teacher in Lockwood love the outdoors.
You can find me fly fishing, hiking, camping, or playing golf.
We also love to travel with our good friends & BFF's.
This is my 26th year of teaching and I still enjoy the excitement in the eyes of my students as they are having fun learning new things.
I love helping make their journey through school a positive experience. We will work hard together this year to build good character and positive teamwork.
I want to get to know each one of you too and I hope you take a valuable interest in your child's education and read this blog on a daily basis and if not daily for sure weekly. It will help keep you in the loop of what is happening in our room & school.
Thank you and I look forward to a great year.