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As you can see by the Smilebox that Field Day was fun & challenging. We had a great day making some fun friendship memories. The pictures of the groups sitting on the floor is of the kids practicing their Reader's Theater scripts. They are doing these for fun and will be performing them in front of the whole class sometime next week. These are just something fun now that we are done with Lead 21 for the year. They may be asking you to bring some props from home. Like I told them only if it is ok with you and that I don't want lots of money spent or anyone stressing out about it. They will be cute no matter what. Next week will be full of Wiffle Ball games as we are doing our annual wiffle ball games when we play the different classes in Grades 3-6. Then on Friday will be the Staff vs. Character Kids game where each classroom teacher will have picked 2 kids to play while the other cheer on their peers. Students will be chosen by the use of good sportsmanship, teamwork, and overall good character. This is obviously going to be a tough pick as this class uses lots of good character. Also, next week is Awards Day on Wednesday at 9:00. I will attach a note in your child's planner on Monday if they are receiving an award so you can plan accordingly if it fits your schedule. Thursday of next week is our Soul Surfer Movie in the morning so if you haven't returned your permission slip, please do so. We will be cleaning out desks on Thursday afternoon so plan for that if you have lots of stuff to carry, you may not want to ride your bike. Have an awesome weekend and I look forward to a fun last week.

Quick Post

Yes, this is going to be a quick post. Students had a great day at field day today with lots of fun and the weather cooperated. Visit with them about their favorite activity and write it in the planner. I do have to say this group is quite competitive, but I think they were able to "forgive" & "forget" and move on after some little frustrations. Thank you to Bri (Kaitlin's mom) for helping out and for Kami (Phil's mom) for bringing extra popsicles which we will have tomorrow after Fun Friday. Today we finished our Robot People-I took pictures and will post them along with the field day pics in Smilebox tomorrow. They turned out great and all quite different. We finished our Lead 21 Benchmark assessment today so we are now done with that. Remember tomorrow is the West Region states & capitals test. Also, if you haven't turned in the permission slip for the Soul Surfer movie, please do so tomorrow. Thank you. Have a great night.

Thank you, Dairy Queen

Yes, a HUGE thank you to the West End DQ as they donated Dilly Bars to everyone at our school today. What a fun way to end our "Hawaiian Bitterroot Bash Day. Of course guess what-I forgot to take a picture. :((( But we had lots of colorful, fun attire. So if you are on the West End sometime this summer and need a treat, stop by and support the DQ. Field Day tomorrow-yes, we are outside for field day tomorrow from 1:15-2:45. Great events planned. Dress for the weather-shorts, tennis shoes, sunscreen, and water bottles. If you want to come out and help out, please be here by 1:00. Thank you Today in math we started our perimeter & area robots. I will be taking pics of these as we finish them up on Friday. They have to use certain measurements, but still they are not all the same. Ask your child about theirs so far and write robot man in the planner. Permission slips went home today for the Soul Surfer movie on June 5th. It is a great tie-in to our morning meetings, setting goals, and character building. Have a great night.

Hawaiian Day Tomorrow

Not a real eventful day today so will be a short post. Students had their last class session with Mrs. Neese today and they played Jeopardy as a review of everything she worked on this year with them. Have them tell you about it and some of the questions. If they can, write Jeopardy in the planner. We almost finished our tour of the West Region today. Remember, states & capitals test is on Friday. Speaking of test, we will start Lead 21 Benchmark assessment # 3 starting tomorrow. It will take at least 2 days if not 3. Hawaiian Day tomorrow-Bitterroot Beach Bash: wear your Hawaiian attire and show your spirit. It is also the school bar-be-que tomorrow at lunch. Have a great night.

Thank You Grewell Family

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As you can tell by the Smilebox pictures, we had a great field trip and it really made Montana History & Riding Freedom come alive. We learned so much about animals, farm equipment, and the history of ranching & cattle branding. Thank you Kami Bell for volunteering to go with us yesterday. This coming week is going to be a busy short week. In Math we are going to do some fun robot perimeter/area measuring & computation Social Studies, we will finish our West Region Tour-lets' look to have the states & capitals test next Friday, May 30th. We will be doing a fun Hawaii project to go along with this region. Lead 21-we have to do 1 more benchmark assessment No Spelling list this week-we are in a review unit so will end with review skills. Language -review of skills. Field Day is on Thursday, May 29th. Thank you to Kaitlin & Phil's moms for volunteering to help. We so appreciate it. Have a fantastic 3 day weekend.

Awesome Field Trip

Yes, we had a great field trip today. Have a fun discussion about it and write 3 of your child's favorite things in the planner. I will be making a Smilebox of the trip tomorrow and posting it. Thank you to the Grewell Family for teaching us & showing us so much to make Montana History come alive. Cya tomorrow

Supaman

WOW!! Today we had a treat of an assembly in the gym. It was Supaman. He was a Crow Indian who did lots of dancing, entertaining, and giving out positive messages. We even had some star dancers in our classroom. Way to go to Jacoby, Tristan, Sydnie, and Dylan for taking a risk. I think they will be on the next "America's Got Talent". Good Job. Ask your child what one of his positive messages to kids was and if they can tell you, write Supaman in the planner. Tomorrow is our field trip to the ranch. By the look at the weather we are in for a great day. Bring sunscreen & water bottles. Also, dress for the weather-you may wear shorts, but make sure you have a light jacket and wear closed shoes. No cameras for this one as we will be around lots of animals. Students may bring electronics for the bus as they can play them with their pen pals and interact that way while they visit. Remember we are providing lunch, but you need to bring your own drink. If you have read all this and are ready for the field trip, write field trip in the planner. Today in Riding Freedom, we read about "revenge". Ask them how Charlotte got revenge on Mr. Millshark. If they can tell you, write revenge in the planner. Have a fun night and I look forward to tomorrow and making some fun memories.

Ranch Field Trip

We are officially ready for our ranch field trip. Today we learned how ranching has changed over the years and why ranchers brand their animals, place tags in their ears, and vaccinate them. They will see all this live at the ranch. Have a discussion of why this is done and how ranching has changed over the years and write "branding" in the planner. Remember lunch will be provided on the trip. STUDENTS ARE TO BRING THEIR OWN DRINKS THOUGH!!!! Due to numbers, only 1 student in our class will be able to ride the horse and another pick the eggs so students had a chance to buy into a drawing to do this. Kaelynn's name was drawn to go into the chicken coup & Dylan was drawn to ride the horse. Remember closed toed shoes and comfortable weather permitting clothing. Bring a water bottle & sunscreen, and a hat would be great. Library tomorrow-let's get those books back as there are no more check out days. Have a great night.

Happy Monday

Well, first of all, I so thankful we all survived the crazy storm yesterday without any injuries. From stories I heard today from your children, some of your houses didn't fare quite as well. I hope you can get the help you need to fix any damages. Thankfully, we have yard mess, but no structure damage. So glad I got my flower pots & hanging baskets into the garage on time. I hope this isn't an indication of what is to come this summer. :((((( Thank you to those of you that got your field trip permission slips in. The rest-please get them in tomorrow. Thank you. Have a discussion about what we read in Riding Freedom today. Who is in the loft with Charlotte (or what is her new name?) and what is going to happen next. If you have a discussion, write Charley in the planner and have them tell you why Charley. Homework tonight-geography challenge, Lead 21, and math if they didn't finish in school. Was a busy day today and it zoomed by so I think there are a few that have little bits of each of those things to finish. Tomorrow-students that want to spend $200 or $300 of their fake money to put their names in for a drawing that will take place on the ranch field trip. Due to time & numbers, we can only have 1 person ride the horse that we will be learning about and seeing how it ties into Riding Freedom and also one person to go in and pick the eggs. So students can buy a chance for one or both for their name to get drawn. Last week for spelling words-Unit 35 Have a good night.

A slideshow by Smilebox

As you can see, we had a great time on our field trip. Permission slips went home today for the Ranch field trip. Please get them back ASAP. Thank you. Happenings for the upcoming week: In Math, we are again going back to review some skills along with doing some Native American Problem solving activities. In Lead 21, we will finish selection 2-skills for the week are monitoring comprehension with taking down facts and then writing cause/effect statements. Writing-we will share our ecosystem stories. Language-review skills Spelling-Unit 35 word list Science-finish Owls in the Family Social Studies-start the tour of the West Region Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy the nice weather.

Awesome Field Trip

What a great day & learning experience we had at Pompey's Pillar today. Students went to 6 different stations today and learned many facts at each one. Have them tell what the 6 stops were and give you at least one fact from each speaker. If they can tell you, write Pompey's in the planner. Also, ask them favorite stop and write it in the planner. I did take lots of pictures today, but will hopefully get them put on to a smile box video tomorrow sometime. Also, make sure you do a quick "tick" check on your child. It is tick season and we did play Native American games out on the grass. Tomorrow is Library so make sure you bring your books. Also, I will be sending permission slips for the Grewell Ranch field trip home tomorrow for you to sign. Remember that one is on Thursday, May 22nd, a week from today. Lead 21 students should be working on their ecosystem stories tonight if they haven't gotten them done yet so please look for that. I know kids have activities after school, but I have been hearing a lot of the following lately- "I don't have time to do work as I have practice or a game." They know academics should come first so they need to make time. I don't think the amount of time needed to be spent on homework is excessive since they are almost 5th graders. Remember -FINISH STRONG!!!! Have a great night.

Owl Pellet Fun

Yes, we dissected our owl pellets today and you can see by the bones & remains that came home that we were quite successful in finding out what our owls ate. Students got to take them home if they had recorded their data on their observation sheet. If they did not finish that, they will get to take them home on Friday after they finish recording their data and we graph our results. Have a fun discussion about the project and if they can tell lots of what they learned, write owl pellets in the planner. Math today took us outside to do some measurement activities. Ask them what 6 different different things they had to find when measuring and if they tell you, write measurement in the planner. As you can see by the pictures, fun was had by and lots of learning went on. Tomorrow is our field trip. Bring your lunch, electronics, $ if you choose, water bottles, sunscreen,backpacks, and dress for the weather. Start practicing those West states & capitals. Have a great night.

Happy Tuesday

Not a lot of news today in Room 6 so will be a short post. Today in Social Studies, we started our Geography Challenge for the West region. Ask your child the name of the river that makes the border between Oregon & Washington. Write it in the planner. In Math today, we reviewed measurement and got ready for tomorrow's math lesson. We are going to go outside and measure some things on the playground and then find the perimeter, area, diameter, and radius of them. Should be fun-let's hope the weather cooperates. We are also going to measure and find the mass of our owl pellets before we dissect them. I will post lots of pictures of these activities tomorrow. Remember we are not having library tomorrow, but on Friday so you have an extra couple of days to read your books. Field Trip on Thursday-wear comfortable, weather appropriate clothing, bring lunch if you didn't order school lunch, bring $ if you wish to shop in the gift shop, sunscreen, water bottles, and electronics for the bus ride. Everything will be carried in your backpack. Have a great night.

Busy Week Ahead

Yes, this is going to be another busy week. Some of the happenings this week are: On Wednesday, we will be dissecting owl pellets. We will do some fun predicting-measuring activities first and then the actual dissection. Remember these have been sterilized and are very safe. We will be wearing rubber gloves. Also, we will not be going to Library on Wednesday, but on Friday morning instead due to the Band/Orchestra concert at our library time. Thursday is our field trip to Pompey's Pillar-Grace's mom was the first to email me so she is our chaperone. Thank you, Trina. Let's hope for nice weather. Everyone is required to wear good walking shoes-shorts are ok if the weather is good, bring a jacket. Also we will be taking our back packs with lunches in them so bring extra sunscreen to reapply if you wish to. Students may bring money for the gift shop if they want to. I hope they will allow some extra time-if not, students can shop during part of their lunch time. Lead 21 this week-we are finishing selection 1 and moving into selection 2 which is still on the West Region. Speaking of this region-states & capitals maps went home today to start practicing them. We made flash cards to use to practice here at school. We will do the geography challenge for this region tomorrow and then start the tour of the region later this week. In Science, we will finish the Owls in the Family book and dissect the owl pellets. In Math, we are going to go back and review some measurement skills and practice measuring hopefully some things outdoors if it is nice and we can get out. Spelling-Unit 34 word list. Great job once again for Team Hankins with their guest teacher behavior. It is so nice knowing I can be gone and they do so well. Riding Freedom-ask your child what they predict Charlotte is going to do and how Hayward is going to help her. If they tell you, write Riding Freedom in the planner. Electronics Day-yes, mark your calendars for next Monday, May 19th as they can bring electronics for Art class. Have a great night.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all our amazing moms. I hope you enjoyed the day/weekend with your children as much as I enjoyed spending most of today with my mom as well as the weekend celebrating 90 years. Such a great time by family and we made lots more memories together. I will update my post tomorrow with the week's happenings. As far as today's question-rate your behavior for Friday from 1-5 with "5" as the highest. I am so certain there will be lots of 5's. Reminder: Pompey's Pillar Field Trip on Thursday. I need one volunteer so the first person who emails me is a "go". Thank you. Cya tomorrow.

Guest Teacher Tomorrow

Happy 90th birthday to my wonderful, amazing mom today!!! Yes, it is definitely a "milestone" birthday so that is why there will be a guest teacher tomorrow. I am going to ND to celebrate her birthday & Mother's Day with her and many other members of my family. In fact, there will be 46 of us celebrating together. Fun-fun-can't wait. Today in Social Studies, we took our little states & capitals test on the southwest. Once again I gave 2 grades for it-one for the location and one for matching states & capitals. Also, tonight's question for free money is for your child to discuss with you at least 3 places we visited on our tour by telling you some facts. If they can, write southwest in the planner. Today in math we played a fun game of "24". This game really made them stretch their thinking and practice of the 4 operations. I was amazed at how frustrated some kids got and how they wanted to give up right away. This lead to a good discussion on how things don't always need to come easy and you may have to work for your math answers. Love this kind of challenge to them. Remember Hat Day tomorrow-bring $1 if you plan on wearing a hat. Also, the kids are running the 800 tomorrow for their fitness test in PE so they are welcome to bring their IPods for this. PTA movie night tomorrow from 6-8. If your child goes, they will earn free money. Please discuss with your child the importance of respectful, guest teacher behavior to ensure they will be ready for tomorrow. Thank you. Have a great night and I hope to write a short post on Sunday evening when I get back.

Hat Day on Friday

Friday is Hat Day for a $1.00. Yes, we are collecting money for the Park Family who lost many of their belongings in a terrible house fire this past weekend. (See flyer that came home today.) So if you would like to help out, wear a hat and bring in a $1.00. If you choose to, you can donate more if you would like. Remember this is an optional activity. What a great way to "pay it forward". Also the permission slips for Pompey's Pillar came home today. Please fill it out and return to school ASAP. Students that were able to paid their $600 buy in today. Please note the lunch choice on the form. Either bring own sack lunch from home or we can order a school one charging your lunch account. Any kids with inhalers or epi-pens will need to bring them on this trip as we will be outdoors and out of town not close to medical services. In Math today, we learned how to divide fractions. We did lots of examples by playing a partner game. Have your child take 2/5 and divide it by 3/4 and write the answer in the planner for free money. PTA movie night is on Friday-note came home today. It is from 6-8 p.m. Southwest States & capitals test is tomorrow. Tylie did a little Science experiment today. Ask your child why when she poured the water from one of the cans vs. the other that the water flowed in a less bumpy stream. If they can tell you, write experiment in the planner. Field Day is on May 29th from 1:15-2:45 for the intermediate. Mrs. Buss is in need of volunteers to help so if you would be interested, please write a note in the planner. Thank you. Have a great night.

Northwest Energy Presentation Today

Yes, we had a surprise presentation today from Northwest Energy on electrical safety. Many great tips of what to do in the house, yard, vehicles, etc. to stay safe. Also, she had an awesome interactive visual with lots of electricity voltage flowing through to show what can happen in many different scenarios. Have a great discussion about the presentation and if they can tell you at least 4 cool facts, write "thank you- NW Energy" in the planner. I am sure you heard about our math lesson today. Well, if not, we sort of got "off track" from the real lesson. We were doing Math 4 Today and we had a problem about a girl purchasing some items and then part of her cost was paying tax on the merchandise. Well, that lead to a discussion about what sales tax is and how it adds to the cost of items you buy, and how we don't have it here in MT, etc. Well this discussion lead to talking about percentages and interest, etc. which lead to talking about credit/debit cards and how you ending up paying much much more for things because of interest if you don't pay off the cards right away. Anyway, the kids had lots of great questions and next thing you knew, it was time for HE/PE. But I guess we can look at the bright side of it, we had a great lesson in economics and I think you will be happy to know, lots of them said they will never have a credit card!!! We'll see on that one as they get older!!!! Owls in the Family-discuss what happened in the book today and the fact you learned about Great Horned Owls egg hatching. Riding Freedom-who is the book named after? Should know after today's reading. Tomorrow is Library so get those books back. Have a great night.

Welcome Back

I hope you all had a great 3 day weekend and got lots accomplished. This week we are back to somewhat normal here as we are finished with testing. YAHOOO!!! The kids did great though. We were treated with a surprise this morning as the Castle Rock Honor Orchestra came to perform. It is always so fun to hear them and to see former Bitterroot students a part of school activities. It was also great as these 4th graders are studying instruments with Mrs. McKennsey in Music. Some of the happenings this week: Lead 21-we started our Unit 7 which is on the Western States-yes that is Montana. We will find out lots of facts & info on these Mountain & Pacific states. Spelling-Unit 33 word list Science-continuing with owls & Owl in the Family book. Today the groups shared their owl facts. Ask them to tell you 4 new things they learned and if they can tell you, write owls in the planner. Social Studies-moving along with the Southwest tour. We learned some cool things about Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon today. Math-we are going back and reviewing some skills that we are needing extra practice on such as measurement, fractions, and decimals. Morning Meeting Read-A-Loud-we started our new book today called "Riding Freedom". Ask your child what it is going to be about and what happened to Charlotte when she was only 2 years old. If they can tell you, write Riding Freedom in the planner. Congratulations to our Fit Kids Club participants. They are: Jacoby, Kylee, Kaitlin, Caden, Isaiah, Phil, Kiernan,and Hanna. Way to take part in being committed to good health & fitness. Friday, May 9th is Family PTA movie night in the gym from 6-8. Have a great week.