Great TGIF!

Way to end the week strong Team Hankins. We had a very positive week with so much growth being made both socially and academically. I just LOVE these kids. Thank you parents. You probably have noticed by now that the cardboard came home with a shield outline traced on it. Please please help your child cut it out and cover it with tin foil and then return them to school covered on Monday so we can complete the project here. For those that traced 2 lines, make sure you cut it out on the larger one. Thank you and thank you for doing this. Cutting cardboard with a scissors is almost impossible and needs a knife. Well of course, we can't be doing that here at school. The paper shield they made that go with our character traits are great and the kids put a lot of thought into them. I am so proud of them and can't wait to see the finished projects. You will love them too as you see them on display. This week in Reading we learned a lot about figurative language, author's purpose, and sequencing events. Ask your child what onomatopoeia is and give you an example and also have them tell you the author's purpose for the Celia Cruz story. If they can write BANG, CRASH, BOOM in the planner. Next week, they will be taking all they learned this week in whole group and applying it to their small group readers and lessons. How cool is that!! Math tests were great overall for chapter 1. Now we are moving into estimation, subtracting with regrouping, and algebraic expressions. You will continually see some of the concepts previously taught on their homework review pages which is good practice. We finished our Watch Out for Fallen Rock today and the kids brought their copy to share with you. Take time to read it as a family as it is an awesome book. If they can tell you before you read it, who gets to be chief of the village, write that son's name in the planner for free money. We are now ready to start our tour of the Northeast. First of all though, we have to do a couple more map skills that go with it and then we will start. We will not be doing Montana History this week. No time for all of it. YIKES. In Science, we are continuing with weather and will do a short unit on wildfires. We are hoping to get a firefighter in so if you know of one, let me know and also we are going to try and skype with one that works for the Montana Conservation Corp. Team Building today consisted of playing 6 corners. I am sure you are wondering how you have six corners. Well you can't really but we did. Have your child let you know how we played. As you can see by the pictures below we had fun. Saturday Live is tomorrow (Saturday) at Pioneer Park from 10-4 and if you go, write Saturday Live in the planner for big free money. Have a great weekend and enjoy this great fall weather.

Good Day in Room 6

Not a lot of new happenings today, but overall a good day. We were part of the city-wide emergency drill today. The students all went to the gym and waited for the all clear. This drill is a practice drill for emergencies such as a tornado, or a possible explosion at one of the refineries where gases are emitted int to the air. The gym is the safest place in a tornado as there are no windows and if an explosion we can seal off the doors there. Anyway, the kids did awesome and were and handled the situation like mature 4th graders. My reading kids shared their heritage paragraphs and collages today. They were very well done and we learned lots of new things about heritage. I think we are becoming quite the experts on this topic. We are now reading a biography about Celia Cruz. If they can tell you about her and where she is from, write Celia in the planner. Read 180 and Learning Center kids, tell your parents what you are reading about in there and write the name in the planner for free money. Tomorrow we will be in our small group reading books again. We took our Montana History tests today. I haven't checked them yet, but I am confident they did wonderful. Tomorrow we are starting our Character Education shields. We have enough cardboard so if you didn't send any yet, please don't as we have cardboard "coming out of our ears". Discuss that IDIOM with your child. We finished up our chapter 1 in math today with rounding decimals. This group has it. WOW!!! So so love it when these concepts are clicking!! We will have our chapter 1 assessment on Friday. Reminder: Early out tomorrow. 12:00 dismissal. Please have arrangements for your child. I will not blog tomorrow as I have training in the afternoon at another school. Congratulations to Danara for making the Girls' Heights Honor Choir. We are proud of you! Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Finished Hurricane Projects

Today we finished our hurricane projects with the origami and shaving cream/glue. Tomorrow we will be doing our final assessment on hurricanes and then moving on to wildfires. Have your child tell you 5 amazing things about hurricanes. If they can, write hurricane in the planner. We had an awesome review in math today and I think we are all going to be super ready for our assessment on Friday. Speaking of assessment, we are at the end of section 1 in our Montana History. Students got a study guide to fill out today to use at home to study tonight. They used the journals that we filled out together in class. They need to study this and be ready for the test tomorrow. I am sending the journals home as we use them here daily at school and I don't want them left at home and if they do they get so far behind. I have graded them for pages 0-6. This should have been an easy A, but some didn't quite follow directions and use 4th grade quality and this affected their grade. You can ask them what they got or you can see it on Power School. Remember to send in a 15 x 15 inch piece of cardboard for their character education project. We are going to be doing these starting on Thursday. Speaking of Thursday, it is an early out with dismissal at 12:00. Please make arrangements for your child as to where they are to go. Final reading projects on heritage will be shared tomorrow. Your child may have to finish their paragraph and collage at home tonight. No more class time to work on these. Great job to Victor today as he shared his student of the week things. We sure loved hearing about him and his goals/dreams in life. We know he will be very successful and go a long way. He had some pretty amazing old coins from other countries too that the kids were quite intrigued by. Remember Library books for tomorrow. Have a great night.

Moving Along

Today was a busy day as is going to be this week. We are at the end of section 1 in our Montana History Journal so students will test on it on Wednesday. Tomorrow they will fill out a study guide using their journals to help them study tomorrow night at home. This guide matches the test. Today, we talked about how many mountain ranges are in Montana. If your child can tell you, write that number in the planner for free money. On Friday we will be ready for our Chapter 1 math test over all the skills we have done in this unit and then some extras. These skills will be continually practiced throughout the year to keep them refreshed. It is not a test and then done with them kind of deal. In Social Studies, we are going to do some map exercises that will get us ready to start into our first section of the U.S. which will be the Northeast. I will explain that more when we get there. Today in Language/writing we made these stoplight cards that are going to be used as a tool throughout the year to help us write some dynamic paragraphs. After making them today, the students in my reading started their paragraphs and WOW-I am impressed. They had to write about the chapter they read in their group for heritage. They are making collages to go with these and then they will share them with the class on Wednesday. Great way to learn lots more about heritage, but only reading one sections. What a great model of TEAMWORK!!!! Then on Thursday, they will be working in their small groups with the reading of realistic fiction. They will be taking the strategies of predicting, questioning, and connecting and implying them to what they read. Skills that we will be working on are: Author's purpose, inferencing, sequencing events, and figurative language. As you can see, we are learning lots of new things. In Science, we will finish hurricanes on Wednesday with a little quiz that goes with a book that I will read to them about hurricanes. Lots of the info. in the book, we have already discussed so if they have been paying attention and do when I read the book, this should not be a problem. Then in Science, we are going to do a small unit on wildfires as part of our weather unit. That one will surely hit home won't it. I just hope that these will get under control for all those whose lives are impacted. In Character Education, we are finishing up and then they are ready to make their own character shields. In order to do this, they will need a piece of cardboard at least 15 inches x 15 inches. They will be writing on a paper shield how they are going to use each of the traits at school. This goes along with what Rusty talked about last week and that is EQ-emotional quotient. Students are going to work hard to raise their at least 100 points this year and it will involve them using these character triats. We will cover the cardboard with tin foil and then mount the paper shield onto the cardboard. I will be taking their pictures and putting them on there. They are going to be so cool and I can't wait for you to see them on display in the hall. So please send in the piece of cardboard by Wednesday. Thank you. Have a great night.

Happy TGIF

WhOOHOO-we had a fantastic week and I am so proud of this class. Earned celebration points as a class and really got lots done. Next week in reading, we will wrap our unit on heritage. They will present their collages about the chapter they read in their readers on Tuesday and then we are going to read a biography about a girl from Cuba whole group and break into our small groups for the rest of the week. We will be reading Realistic Fiction stories and discuss how they relate to heritage. Skills we will be learning are: sequencing events, figurative language, and author's purpose. I know they have learned lots about heritage and what it means to different groups of people. We will be starting some 4th grade paragraph writing next week also. We are going to learn the stoplight symbols to help us write awesome in-depth paragraphs. We will write them about hurricanes since they have gained so much knowledge about this topic. In Montana History, I will be collecting their journals on Tuesday morning to grade what we have done so far so they will need to bring them home on Monday as homework if they are not caught up. We are finished with the symbols of Montana and now we are moving into the geography of Montana for the second part of Unit 1. In Science, we will have a hurricane quiz and finish up our origami and shaving cream/glue projects. They will be on display in the hallway with some awesome facts and eventually the paragraphs they will be writing. In Math, we are working on decimals and fractions along with some geometry, and subtraction with regrouping. We will be having our chapter 1 assessment hopefully sometime this week. In Character Education, we will finish character warriors with the main one that they are built around and that is respect. Then they will be given a shield that we think of as placing it over our heart and then anytime they need to, they can think of which trait they need to use to complete a task or solve a problem. Ask them what the main theme was about the book we read today called "Yoder's Barn". If they can tell you, write the title of the book in the planner for free money. Today for team building we played horseshoes with hula hoops and bean bags. Lots of fun and teamwork was had by all. Mrs. Neese came in and talked about Kelso's Choice today. Have a discussion with your child about it and if they can tell you, write KC in the planner. Have a great weekend and Go BOBCATS!!!!!

Terrific Thursday!

Another fantastic day in Room 6. These kids are really starting to mature and follow expectations. How fun to teach lots, have them on task, and we all are learning lots. We got to do our computer programs today since testing is over. Ask your child what their topic is in ReadAbout and ask them to tell you 2 things about it, if they can, write the topic in the planner for free money. Speaking of money, they traded in money today for larger bills making it easier to count. Tomorrow they will have the amount they have to date in their planner so you know where they stand for buying in to field trips. Most of them are getting there and they are working hard for it. Keep it up Team Hankins!! I BELIEVE in you. Tomorrow is team building day and we are going to play traffic tag. Fun game and they can explain it to you after tomorrow. We are working on our final heritage projects and are in need of more magazines so if you have old magazines you can spare and don't mind them being cut up, please send them to school tomorrow. Thank you. Midterms went home today. First of all, there are no art or music grades for first quarter. Also, Mrs. Betts doesn't have enough grades yet in System 44 or Read 180 so if your child goes to her, there is no grade for reading, language, and spelling. I see that some of the science grades are low, but don't panic there will be time to get them up before report card time. Some students struggled with the hurricane packet even though we did lots together and with partners. They learned from that to read carefully for detail and to take their time. So I know you saw their mid-term report, please write mid term in the planner. Thank you. Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Testing is Over

Our testing is over so now we can get back to our normal communication arts block. Tomorrow students will work on a final project that they are going to present to the class on Friday as a culmination to our study of Heritage. I think we learned a lot and now it will be fun to see what was most important to each of them. Next week we are moving on to Unit 2. We had a special guest speaker today on Hurricanes. Mr. Albarez grew up in Louisiana so he encountered many hurricanes. The one that stands out as the biggest in his mind was Hurricane Andrew. It was a category 4. In Math, we are working on the concept of money. We got the counting money down wonderfully, now we are working on making change. Have your child do this one tonight. Gave:$10.00 --Cost:$7.87 --What is the change? ____ Have them count it back to you correctly. If they can do it, write money in the planner for free money. Continued on our Montana History Journals today. The kids are loving it. Ask them about our flag. If they can tell you 2 things that are in the center of the seal on the flag, write Montana in the planner. MATH HOMEWORK TONIGHT!!!!! Review sheet #2 Not a lot of other happenings due to testing. Cya-have a great night.

Hurricane Fun

I am going to make this a short post as we are having a baby shower for our wonderful PE teacher Mrs. Buss and surely don't want to miss that. We had a great day today making shaving cream/glue and origami hurricanes. Half of the students did one part and the other the other part and next week we will switch and get it all finished. Ask your child which one they did today and write it in the planner for free money. Tomorrow is Day 3 of testing and it is going to be Math. Remember all the test positives of good night's sleep, healthy breakfast, and healthy snack. Any make ups will be done later in the week. Remember Library books for tomorrow. Have a great night.

Yeah!!! Montana History

We are so excited that we finally started our Montana History Journals and finished 2 pages of it. Ask your child what our state nicknames are and what states border MT and if they can tell you all of this, write Montana in the planner. We had our first day of testing today. We had a few glitches getting it all set up and running, but these kids were so awesome and patient. Thank you. Speaking of great kids, they came in this morning and did just as expected without any reminders and everything we have been practicing went so smoothly. So in morning meeting this morning, I complimented them and said I wonder if it because it is Monday morning, the new seating arrangement, or the fact that you are becoming such mature 4th graders. I said, I hope it is the last comment-mature 4th graders because we have so much to do and learn and can't take time to correct unnecessary behaviors. Way to go Team Hankins-let's keep it up!!! Tomorrow is testing again. We will take the Language portion. Once again, get a good night's rest, healthy breakfast, bring a healthy snack, and gum to chew if you choose. In Science, we talked about Hurricane Hunters. Ask your child what their job is and if they would ever like a job like that. Not me that's for sure. Remember Saturday Live candy for free money. Have a great night.

Heritage Day

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As you can see by the Smilebox pics that we enjoyed our Heritage Day celebration. Thank you parents for sending in the needed items for this to happen. I have to sincerely apologize to Tyler & Bailey for not getting a pic of them with their treats. Tyler brought lefse and we were so busy putting it together that I didn't get a photo and Bailey, as I was helping you cut your wonderful banana bread, I forgot to snap a pic also. I am so sorry guys. Both were so good though and I won't forget you next time. Sorry. MAP/NWEA testing begins this week. We are testing M-W during our Communication Arts block. These are very important tests to see where your child is at academically and then it is a tool that will drive my instruction throughout the year and then they will take it again in the Spring to see the growth they made and the hopefully great job I did instructing them. They may bring gum to chew during this test as that seems to help relax them (NO bubble gum). Also, send a protein snack for them to have each of these days, and also have a good breakfast filled with protein. Protein has been proven to stay with them longer allowing for that positive brain power. Lastly, make sure they get a good night's rest (at least 8-9 hours). We are starting Montana History this week and I am so excited to learn and talk about our wonderful state. They will be making Montana Journals with lots of facts, pictures, maps, etc. No spelling words this week due to testing. Sad News: Cody and his sister are leaving us and moving to Pennsylvania. Their last day is tomorrow (Monday). We will have a little celebration at the end of the day so if you wish to make Cody and card that would be awesome. Bring it tomorrow. Remember if you went to the PTA movie night on Friday, write Lorax in the planner for free money. Another reminder for Saturday Live candy. $100 for each bag they bring in. Thank you for helping out this great cause. Grades are posted and updated so use the username and password given to you at Open House to access these. Some of the grades are low due to missing/late assignments, lack of quality, and just rushing and making silly errors. We talk about this a lot and how they need to take responsibility. Unfortunately, for some students they aren't making real good choices both behaviorally and academically. Lots of unnecessary talking during transition/work time and the missing and late work has added up to the fact that their wallets don't have a lot of cash in them. Remember they need $1500 for the 3 field trips in October. Like I said at Open House, they are a privilege and if your child doesn't have the $, they will stay back. How not fun is that. They will be bringing home a slip this week telling you how much money they have in their wallet and hopefully with some positive talk at home, they will get this under control. Many of the kids already have at least $1300 and then there are some with less than $100. Yikes-that is not good. I hope you have a good rest of the weekend.

Happy Thursday

Good day today and not a lot to report, but just a couple of reminders. Remember that tomorrow is Heritage Day so please plan to send whatever it is that you and your child have decided and planned. Quick note about the math assignment tonight if your child has it for homework. I changed the directions which I like to do to make an assignment fit what we are doing in class so they are to round the money amounts to the nearest place of the underlined digit and not what the directions say so hope this helps if you are trying to help your child and getting confused!!!!! Don't you just love it when I do this!!! Also it is the PTA movie night tomorrow from 6-8. Candy for Saturday Live earns your child $100/bag. Send in anytime, but we for sure need it by September 25th. Thank you. It was a little better on the transitions today, but still a bit of unnecessary talking which cuts into their work time because I will still get my lesson in, but it doesn't give them their whole work time. Let's work for even more improvements tomorrow. We had an emergency shelter in place Level 1 lock down today. This type of drill is practiced in case of an intruder in the building. The students did a great job of getting behind the back wall and staying silent until it was all clear and safe to return to our seats. Again this was just a practice!! Have a great night and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Thank You

First of all, I would like to thank those of you who came to the Open House last night. I enjoyed seeing you and finally putting a face to which child is yours. I remember the Meet & Greet Night, but that was just a quick in & out and didn't allow time to see who was who. Some students have quite a bit of homework tonight. Some of it is because we are increasing our load in each subject area and also for some, they have to work hard on time management which means transitioning without visiting and getting the things out that they need right away. Please have a talk with your child about staying on task and doing less talking as this is so very important for success. If you do have a the talk, write talk in the planner for free money. Thank you. The Courtesy Club Team visited our room today and starred the students that have been caught showing positive character not only in the classroom, but in the hallway, playground, lunch room,etc. Ask your child if they were starred today. I think they are coming again on Friday so let's hope everyone is starred on that day. Remember Heritage Day is on Friday. Can't wait to see a part of your family's heritage. We are loving our book, "Journey of Fallen Rock". Ask your child what task the boys completed today and what part of the U.S. it happened in. Write it in the planner for free money. Saturday Live Candy is being collected. Bags of individually wrapped candy (no chocolate). I will give $100/bag. Thank you. Remember PTA movie night on Friday-6-8:00. Free money for those who go. Thank you again for all your help and support. Parents like you make my job fun when you take the time to listen to and help your child become a successful, mature 4th grader. I look forward to each day showing more and more progress. Have a great night.

Hi There

I will make this short & sweet as I hope to see many of you here tonight. If you show up, your child earns $100 free money tomorrow. Today in my reading class, we started book groups and it went very well and I am so pleased. Your child may have homework tonight in Language & Spelling and that is to be expected as we they don't have a lot of time to independently work on those things after the whole group instruction. They work on them as they get their small group reading done as their rotations. Remember Heritage Day on Friday. Again, I will have plates, forks, spoons if needed to taste your dish that you send with your child. Thank you. Saturday Live is coming soon. It is on Saturday, September 29th. Once again Bitterroot's Booth is the CandyShack. Please send in a bag or 2 of individually wrapped candy (NO CHOCOLATE) with your child for this effort. I will pay them $100/bag. The Lorax is coming: Our wonderful PTA is having a movie night on Friday, September 14th from 6-8. If you and your child attend, write Lorax in the planner on Monday for free money. As you can see, we were working hard on our latitude & longitude skills with a game called "Shipwrecked" that we played with a member from Ms. E's class. I think they have this concept down. Some took it home so have fun playing it together. We had a special guest this morning. Yes, it was our very own, Mr. English. He talked to us about how 911 has impacted his life with him being a military man. He had such good insight having us reflect on the "true heroes" of that day and not the bad that happened. Afterward, we had a good discussion on how this tragic event has changed our lives and how we use to take living in the U.S. for granted, but now how so much that happens in the world really affects us. Have a great night and hopefully see you soon.

Happy Marvelous Monday

Great day once again today. Thank you so much for all your help & support so far this year. I could not do my job without each and everyone of you. In Math today, we continued to work with rounding #'s. This is always quite a difficult concept, but with their extra practice and work at home along with in school, I have no doubt that we will accomplish this with fantastic results. HOMEWORK TONIGHT IN MATH FOR EVERYONE!!! ALL REVIEW CONCEPTS! Today, we started computer lab. Students have 20 min. on ReadAbout which is the reading non-fiction piece, and then 20 min. on Success Maker which is the math piece. We talked lots about doing your best and taking it seriously as these are wonderful programs to help them succeed. Who thought you would use string in Art class? As you can see from the picture, they were using it to create lines. They have learned a lot about line. Ask them their favorite and write it in the planner for free money at check in. We finished reading our heritage group theme reader today so that means now we are on to our differentiated book groups. I have 3 groups set up and will only get to 2 groups/day, but each group will still be working in it and doing skills & strategies. We also set up our group norms and everyone signed it. It is kind of like a contract of what expectations for group are and they are going to hold each other accountable for it. For whole group, we will continue reading "There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom to introduce new strategies. A question/skill packet goes along with this so there may be some homework in the next coming weeks to go with that as they may not get everything done in class time. Our new Character Warrior trait this week is: trustworthiness. We will be learning about its' components and reading a book to go with it. Congratulations to Jace, our last week's student of the week. Thank you so much for sharing your great pictures. Dylan, we look forward to what you are going to bring in this week. Just a reminder for those that still want to purchase the Journey of Fallen Rock. This week is the last week to do so. I still need permission slips for the NILE from the following: Tyler, Bailey, Kennede, Gabe, and Brayden. Get those to me ASAP. Book orders are due on September 12th. REMEMBER HERITAGE DAY IS ON FRIDAY SO HAVE WHATEVER YOUR CHILD IS GOING TO SHARE HERE FOR THAT AFTERNOON AT 2:00. THANK YOU. I will provide plates, forks, spoons, for the food tasting and if there is anything else needed, either please let me know ahead of time or send it with your child. Have a great night.

Happy TGIF!

Wow-these days and weeks just fly by. These kids are so excited about learning and it shows. Today in Social Studies, they did so well with latitude & longitude and locating places on a US map using it. Wow-I was amazed as this is usually quite a difficult task for many kids. Also, rounding numbers in math is off to a great start. Again, usually quite a difficult task, but they are working hard and doing well. Today in reading, they took the SRI test which is another tool to help me place them in groups for reading/book club discussions. This now means that we are ready to start our small book club book reading. These will parallel the heritage theme that we have been reading about in large group. It will fun at the end of each groups' unit to see what they learned about heritage and all its' components when we come back together into one big group to share. Speaking of heritage, our sharing day is on Friday, September 14th. We are doing it at 2:00 so please have whatever your child plans to share here by then. Thank you. Lots of great ideas are coming back on the forms. Can't wait to see, taste, and hear all about our cultures. BEWARE OF MOOSE!!! A note about this is coming home on Monday to explain it and I think it is so cool. Just a little heads up about it: Moose is Mr. English's Newfoundland dog and he wants to bring it into the classroom and on the playground to support dog safety, the curriculum, and an incentive for students. If you like this idea and want him to be part of our classroom, write "Moose" in the planner. I know of other teachers and schools that do this and it is an awesome incentive program for kids. On Monday, we will start our computer programs called READABOUT for reading and Success Maker for Math. YOur child will work at his/her own level on both of these programs. They are wonderful and we have seen lots of success and growth made by our students. Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy the great weather.

Open House Reminders

First of all, I need to share with you the compliment the students got today for their awesome cooperation/behavior during our practice fire drill. They did just what was expected of them. Way to go Team Hankins!! Open House reminders came home from Mr. English so please mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 11th from 6-7:00. I will be doing my presentation 3 different times for 15 min. each with a 5 min. transition time so please mark your calendars for that night as I want you to be here to hear the important happenings of 4th grade. Thank you. Glad to get back so many of the permission slips and ideas for our heritage day next Friday. Remember don't stress out, keep it simple, and just have something for your child to share to celebrate their heritage. These slips are due on Monday of not sooner. Remember to send in the $4.00 for the Journey of Fallen Rock book if you choose to purchase their autographed copy. Students are loving it and so am I for the 2nd time. Lunch helpers started today. Roby, Sydnee, Jazmyn, Aaleiyah, and Emily signed up to be helpers and are giving up their lunch time on their scheduled days. Their schedule is going home with them tomorrow so please make sure they are in school on their days. Today in social studies, we found out the difference between latitude & longitude. We also learned what continents are in which hemispheres. Ask them which 2 we live in and how they know. Write the names of the 2 in planner. In Science, we continued studying hurricanes. Have them tell you 4 new things they have learned and write hurricanes in the planner. Tomorrow we are taking our SRI test in Reading so please make sure your child is in school as this is one of the tests I use to help me better plan their placement for reading skills and strategies. Tomorrow's team building activity is kickball. Students will buy in for $100. Have a great night. HOMEWORK TONIGHT: Read and mark min. on calendar. Spelling test tomorrow. Math (2 pages ) if not finished in school.

Quick Post

Hi there- This is quick post as I had a staff meeting after school today. Letters with 3 very important 4th grade topics came home today. The first part being about celebrating heritage. Please think about some really interesting heritage/culture component your family has. It can in the form of food, dance, music, art, story telling, etc. Your child will have an opportunity to share it with the whole class on Friday, September 14th from 2:00-3:00. Please fill out the form ahead of time and let me know what it will be just so I know what to expect. #2-The Journey of Fallen Rock-we read Chapter 1 together today and the kids LOVE it and wanted to read more. I have an autographed copy for each of them to purchase for $4.00. It will be a fun, easy book to read over and over again and share with family members. Please have the money to me by Monday, September 10th so I can repay the PTA. #3-Field Trip to the NILE. Again, sign the form and return. Today in Science, we learned more about hurricanes. Ask your child at what speed does a tropical storm become a hurricane. Write it in the planner for free money at check in. Reading Calendars for the month went home tonight. Students need to read a minimum of 600 minutes/month. This will be a big part of their reading grade so make sure they spend time nightly reading for enjoyment as we don't get as much time as I would like here in school to have free choice reading. Remember Book Orders are due on Wednesday, September 12th. Thank you and have a great night.

Today in Social Studies, we finished our study on the American Flag and how it evolved and changed for a certain time period. Ask your child, how many stripes it had on it at one time and write the number in the planner for free money. In Science, we started our Hurricane Unit and watched 2 YouTube Videos on how destructive they can be and how they change people's lives. We will be learning lots about them and following them as they develop in the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts. Remember the reading of Large Numbers Math homework that went home last week is due tomorrow. Many of you returned it already and that is great. Tomorrow we will start with comparing numbers. Today in Reading, we started our unit on Heritage and what it is and how each person's is different. I want you to start thinking about it and what your child could share that will tell us about your heritage. It can be a game that your child can teach us, a recipe,(even can make the food and send in to share), an art craft, or music (song or instrument). Anything that will tell us a part of your heritage. I will be sending home a note more about this at the end of the week and we won't share these things until Friday, September 14th. Today students started in Read 180 or System 44 with Mrs. Betts so your child will not be in the classroom for Reading, Language, and Spelling. This means that their planners will not look the same as mine for those subject areas. In Character Education/morning meeting today we made a list of what it takes to be a responsible person. Have your child tell you one of these and write responsible in the planner. Positive Group Behavior Tallies: Today, we added a new thing to our Teamwork efforts. Students work together as a team to earn a tally point for the group. This includes behavior, getting work done, and helping each other out. Then when they get 6 tallies they can earn money for their whole group. What a great deal!! For individual behaviors this week, students can earn $20/day if they do not get a ticket taken away. So you can see that means lots of $ can be earned by using good character and being a positive team member. Our first field trip is on Tuesday, October 16th and students will need $500 fake money to go. There will be 2 others that month so as you can see a total of $1500 will be needed. Remember Library Books tomorrow. Book orders went home today. See the address on yesterday's post to order on-line. Our on-line code is: GZN8L Have a great night.

So Proud of All of You!!

I hope you are all enjoying your 3 day weekend. So nice to be with friends and family and get caught up. The BEST part of the weekend was when I went to work at school and had such a POSITIVE note from the substitute on Friday. She said the kids did a fantastic job, were so helpful, and caring towards one another. Way to go Team Hankins in displaying true character. Like I said, "True character shines when I am not watching". Thank you, parents for having that talk with them on Thursday night. I so appreciate you. Talk to your child about how proud I am of them and write "proud" in the planner for free money at check in. This week is going to be another busy week. We are starting our new Reading series titled: "Lead 21". This is going to be a big switch for me as I am so used to teaching skills & strategies through Read-a-Louds, and novels in Book Clubs. Some of it will be done whole group and some of it done in small groups at their tested level. It is a lot of non-fiction which I love and so do the kids. It has some spelling & Language, but I am still going to add the old spelling and language because I know it has worked and I love the skills that go with it. I wanted to incorporate book clubs too with a novel, but not sure we can do it all with our 90 min. time frame. Will just work on it slowly and see how it all fits together. Some students will be going to Read 180 at this time as a Reading intervention so they will not be in the regular classroom for this block of time. Your child should receive a letter tomorrow explaining the program a bit to you. In Science this week, we are going to start our weather unit by studying hurricanes which is a great place to start as they are quite prevalent right now in the Atlantic. In Social Studies, we continue to work on map skills and adding hemispheres, equator, prime meridian, latitude, and longitude this week. In Math, we continue to work on place value adding comparing & ordering numbers along with rounding this week. I also add a little bit of geometry each day along with adding & subtracting larger numbers. New spelling words will come home on Tuesday for Unit 2. If you can't read or misplace your child's spelling list throughout the week, I do post them on the side of the blog under spelling list. I was so impressed with last weeks test. They all did fantastic for the first go at it. Character Education: We started character warriors last week with fairness and will continue this week with responsibility. We are also starting Rusty's regular SchoolTools program with feelings, manner motto, bully bit, and daily toolbox question. This is the lead in for our morning meetings where we share feelings and talk about the show's components. Book orders are going home on Tuesday. They are due back on September 12th. You can either order via the paper book order and return to me or order on-line. This is a very simple way to do it plus we get a free classroom book for every order purchased on-line. I have the link attached right below. Just remember the classroom code as that is used all year for on-line orders. If you do paper orders and write a check, make them out to Scholastic Books. Thank you. https://orders.scholastic.com/GZN8L Bitterroot Bucks: Our money system is going very well. This week students will have a chance to earn $20/day if they do not lose a ticket that day. Team Building activity this week will be kickball which is a $100 buy in. Also, there will be a surprise buy in if they choose to. Just a reminder that they will need money for 3 upcoming field trips in October. Wow-that is going to be a busy month. I hope you have a great rest of your weekend and I look forward to a fabulous week.

https://orders.scholastic.com/GZN8L