Happy Halloween

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

Amazing Day Today

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

"PAWS"-I-TIVELY SAYING NO TO DRUGS

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

We Put a Cap on Drugs

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

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

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

Guest Teacher Yomorrow

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

Pictures Tomorrow

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

Happy Monday

I am going to make this a short post due to the fact that I have to do it from my iPad instead of computer as the computer will not let me post. :(. If you are like me typing lots on the iPad is not easy.
Today we starting estimating with rounding in math. They did awesome so now it is on to under & over estimates.
We started our tour of the NE and learned about what main man. Ranges & rivers are in this area. Ask your child which mans. are the backbone of this area & which river runs through Washington D.C.  It is also the river that George Washington crossed on a rainy cold night when he was a General in the army.  Write them in the planner for free money.
Lead 21 started Unit 2 called A Green Future.  Discuss with your child they are going to help in going green.
Unit 7 spelling went home today.
Remember pictures on Wednesday.
Have a great night and enjoy this beautiful weather.

Full Steam Ahead

Hope you had a great 4 day break.  Mine was very busy- but lots if fun with friends, family & football.
Curriculum happenings for the upcoming week:  Reading- we are starting Unit 2 which is a science unit on Earth's Resources.  Lots of great info. Coming their way.  Spelling-unit 7 words.  Language/writing-capitalization rules and in writing we are going to write personal narratives which will be about an event in their life they choose to write about.  In social studies we are finally going to start our NE tour of the region.  In science we will finish up our unit on matter.   In math we will be working on estimating sums & differences.
Congratulations to our Student Council room reps- they are Kailynn & Jaiden.  They will represent our room well.
Remember pictures are on Wednesday, October 22nd.
For tonight's blog question, write down something fun you did this weekend.
Cya tomorrow

Awesome Field Trip

Yes, we had an awesome field trip.  The students learned so much and their behavior was FABULOUS!!!!  I am so proud of them.  They earned their 25th celebration point today so we will celebrate tomorrow!!!
I would like the kids to tell you something they learned at each of the stations we rotated to.  The stations were as follows:  #1-crops, #2-honey bees, #3-range land, #4-montana ranching, #5-animals, #6-Cedar Salt Trees, and #7-Erosion.  If they can tell you 1-2 cool things they learned at each of these stations, write field trip in the planner for free money.  They might also talk to you about the behavior of some kids from another school.  Our kids were appalled at the disrespect they showed toward the speaker, each other, and their teacher.  I was proud of our kids for recognizing it and seeing how not to act.  We will discuss more of this character tomorrow in character counts meeting.  So once again "kudos" to you parents for instilling the importance of respect not only in school, but wherever you are.
Tomorrow is a 1/2 day so remember the 12:00 dismissal and No School on Thursday & Friday.
Have a great night.

Field Trip Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is our field trip to the Metra for the NILE Montana History Lessons.  We will be leaving school at 11:10 so we are going to be having lunch in the classroom at 10:45 so make sure you bring your sack lunch.  The following people opted for school sack lunch:  Megan, Keilah, Cole, Cayden, Jesus, Alexis, Serenity, and Kassidee so you do not have to bring a lunch as one will be provided.  Also, remember to dress for the weather and wear good walking shoes.
Journey of Fallen Rock books-if you wish to order an autographed copy of the book, please send in $4.00 with your child by Wednesday.
Remember Early Out on Wednesday-12:00 dismissal and NO SCHOOL ON Thursday & Friday.
Practice those states & capitals along with IXL math.  If you practice these tonight, write practiced in the planner for free money.
Have a great night.

Heritage Day

Photo slideshow created with Smilebox As you can see we had a great day sharing our culture/heritage with one another.  We learned so many amazing things about each others heritage.  I hope you as a family enjoyed reliving many family memories. Also, Friday was a great day as we got to meet Bill Merical, the author of Journey of Fallen Rock.  We shared so many things about why he wrote the book, where he got the ideas along with a great talk on character and how each of us control's our own character & destination.  Ask your child what the big ah-ha they got from Bill and write it in the planner for free money.  Students are able to purchase a signed copy of his book for $4.00.  If you want to have one in your family, please send the money to school by Wednesday, October 15th.  Thank you. Speaking of Wednesday, we have a 12:00 dismissal and NO SCHOOL on Thursday & Friday this week. Tuesday is our field trip to the NILE.  Remember to bring your sack lunches if you didn't order a school one.  Also, wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes as we do some sitting on the ground and lots of walking. No spelling list this week. Remember PE shoes tomorrow. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Busy Day Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow is going to be a busy, super exciting day.  First of all, it is Heritage Day where we get to finally connect what we have been studying/learning about heritage here at school into our own lives & families.  I am excited to hear all about your families and to see, play, and/or taste what exciting foods you serve in your houses as a custom/tradition.  Remember I will be supplying the plates, bowls, napkins, forks, spoons, etc. for taste testing.
Also, tomorrow is Bill Merical Day, the author from Journey of Fallen Rock.  We can't wait to hear him and to learn about how he came up with his ideas for his book.
Also, tomorrow is 2nd grade buddies day.  Remember to bring in your leaves for the amazing leaf animals we are going to make.  These are so cool!!!!
For tonight's bonus blog question, ask your child what they are reading about on the ReadAbout computer program.   If they can tell you their topic, write the name of the topic in the planner.
Today, Cayden shared his Student of the Week items.  We also found out that he likes Art, pizza, MindCraft, orange, and football.  He wants to be a football player when he grows up and he said he can build a mansion out of legos.
Have a great night.

Happy Wednesday

Not a lot to report today which doesn't mean we weren't busy, but just a regular day.  So this will be a short post also because I am off to a fun Baby Shower for 2nd Grade Mrs. Miller who had a baby a few weeks ago.  Always fun to hug on babies!!!!
Quick reminders:  Have your heritage project ready for Friday.
Return your field trip permission slips tomorrow if you didn't today.
Remember PE shoes tomorrow.
Also, there is an Early Out next Wednesday, October 15th at 12:00 and there is NO SCHOOL on Thursday & Friday, October 16 & 17.
Have a great night.

Permission Slips Went Home Today

Permission slips for the NILE field trip that is on Tuesday, October 14th went home today.  Please make sure you check in 2 different places as one is for permission to go and the other is a lunch choice.
Also, ask your child if they were able to "buy in" with their fake money for this.  Not all students have as some of them haven't made good choices thus far this year.  Great job to those who have and I hope by Monday next week the rest of you have.  Ask your child if they have or not and write a happy or sad face in the planner depending on where they are at.
Study those states & capitals for the NE region.
Practice those Unit 5 spelling lists.
Make sure you are ready for Heritage Day on Friday.  Kassidee brought in an example of what needs to be written today for everyone to see.
IXL Math-please take time each night to have your child practice.  This is a great program for developing & maintaining those math skills.
Great News from the PTA:  About $11,000 was raised with the coupon book fundraiser.  Way to go Bitterroot Families!!!  You are AWESOME!!
Have a great night.

Maps Went Home Today

Yes, we are starting our tour of the NE region in Social Studies so I sent 2 maps home with students today.  One is a map of just the NE region which has the 11 states & their capitals on it for students to study and the other is a laminated US map with the 5 regions divided for them to practice the location of the states.  Remember even though this map has all 50 states on it, students are to only focus on the NE region.  They can write on/wipe off to practice the location and like I said the paper map is to practice the names of the states & capitals.  The test over this first region won't be for a couple weeks so  a little practice each night will help.  Have your child tell you 3 states in this region and if they can tell you, write NE in the planner.
Unit 5 spelling words came home today.  The unit is on homophones so students not only need to know how to spell the words, but they need to know how to they are used in sentences also.
Collecting leaves-remember to collect, store, and press leaves for buddies on Friday.
Heritage Day is Friday for the Lead 21 reading kids.  Remember to have information to share with whatever you bring also and not just a food, game, or whatever it is but the background and history of some of your family heritage/culture behind it.
I will provide plates, bowls, spoons, forks, napkins, etc. for sampling.  Please have enough for 16 students to taste test or sample.
Have a great night.

Happy TGIF!

What a busy, great week we had with lots of good learning going on.  We are on the mark to have another good week ahead.
The happenings for the upcoming week are:
Math-we will work on making change in different money amounts along with continuing our problem solving skill of patterning, and addition, subtraction, and multiplication computation.
Language-we are going to be moving into writing personal narratives
Spelling-Unit 5 word list on homophones
Science-continuing with our unit on matter
Social Studies-we are going to start our tour of the US with the Northeast Region.  I will be sending home 2 maps next week for students to use to practice learning the states in the region along with their capitals.  They will need to know these.
Buddy stuff-on Friday, October 10th we are going to make leaf animals with our buddies so please encourage your child to collect different sizes, shapes, and colors of leaves.  They are to keep them in a plastic zip lock bag so as to not dry them out and to press them flat.
Also, on Friday, October 10th, we have Bill Merical, the author of Journey of Fallen Rock" coming along with Heritage Day.
Speaking of heritage day-it looks like we are going to have lots of different foods from different countries which is great.  But please not only send the food, but a little bit of background on your family's heritage & culture for them to share with the class so we know how the food you share came to be, when your family celebrates with it, etc.  If any questions, please ask.
PTA Movie Night tonight-Earn $200 of free money.  Put PTA movie in your child's planner if they attend.
Have a great weekend.

BRRRR!!!

First of all, sorry no post yesterday.  I had to leave early for a funeral for a friend of mine and never got into blogging last night after.  Again another reminder to make the most of each day making lasting memories with family & friends.
Great day today in Lead 21 reading as students shared all the cool things they learned from their reading as to how culture/heritage can be shared.  Ask your child to tell you 3 ways and if they can tell you 3 things they learned from another group besides their own, write heritage in the planner.  Those of you in Read 180/System  44, I bet you can tell your parents 3 ways to share your culture.  If you can, write heritage in the planner too.
Speaking of this, our heritage day is coming up on Friday, October 10th.  Thank you to those of you that have gotten your slips in saying what it is you are going to have your child share with us.  Please get these to me tomorrow if you haven't already done so.  Thank you.
There was a question about if parents are invited and it wouldn't be a problem any other time, but on this day, we are also going to be having author, "Bill Merical" coming and not sure about his schedule as to how long he is going to stay and so on so our heritage sharing will happen when it fits without a scheduled time.  But thank you for asking anyway.  I will have pictures and put them into a Smilebox video that day of the busy happenings.
My reading kids:  Remember to get your Sept. reading calendars in.  They are part of your reading grade.  Don't forget to read 30 min./night and mark on your new October calendar.
PTA movie night tomorrow-6-8:00.  Free money if you go.
Library books tomorrow.
Congratulations to Alexis for being our AMAZING student of the week this week.  We learned a lot of great things about her such as:  she likes purple, dinosaurs, soccer, spaghetti, and art.  When she grows up, she wants to be an artist.
Have a great night.