Fantastic Program

WOW!!!!  These kids did an awesome job at the Holiday Program this morning and I am sure you would agree if you were there.  I am thinking you were there as I think 1/2 the city of Billings was there!!!!!!   No, in all seriousness, it was great and a huge applause to the kiddos especially the reindeer that had solo parts.  I am sorry for the overcrowding, but with a small school and so many relatives wanting to see the performance, it is what we had.  We made it work.  Thank you for your patience.
Next week is obviously a short week and the kiddos are so excited.  WE are going to be doing lots of academic Holiday stuff next week.
One of the highlights will be a movie on Tuesday afternoon.  The students are welcome to bring in a treat as well as a drink to enjoy with the movie.  No pajamas, pillows, blankets, etc. though as it gets too crowded and don't want anything left over here during the holiday break.
Congratulations to Tira, our Student of the Week.  Some of her favorites are:  tacos, math, crafting, pink, Christmas, and of course owls.  She feels she is silly which is true, she loves to have fun!!!!  Her idea of a perfect day is being with friends and family.  In twenty years, she hopes to be married with 2 kids and a good teaching job.  She will be a great teacher.
She also is the recipient of the Purple Hand Cookie this month.  Way to go, Tira.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break and a very Merry Christmas.  Enjoy that family & friend time.
See you in 2016!!!

Tis the Season!!!!

WOW!!!  Hard to believe we are amongst the "hustle & bustle" of the holiday season and the end of another year.  Yikes-where does the time go????
The next 7 school days are going to be packed with lots of activities, but the highlight of them all will be the Holiday Program on Friday, December 18th.  Our program starts at 10:00.  Hope to see you all there.  They are doing great and sound amazing!!!!!!
Tonight, Friday, December 11th is the PTA sponsored Family Holiday Night from 6:30-8:00. Come and have some fun making holiday treasures & treats.
Next week academically will be kept to as "normal" as possible.  Here are what is to come:

Lead 21-we will be doing Selection 2 of Unit 3 all about industries of the Atlantic Coast.  It has been great as it ties in well to our Social Studies.
Social Studies-we will continue our tour learning about locations in the SE region.  Make sure you are practicing those states & capitals.  The test for this will not be until after the holidays.
Math-we are going to finish up Chapter 3 on multiplying tens or 2 digit x 2 digit numbers.  You are going to see the workbook for this come home on Friday with quite a few pages not completed and the reason for that is that we are doing the strategies from the book on our own paper due to the lack of space to work on some of the pages and the slow pace that the book goes for these skills I am using my professionalism to make decisions that will allow us to move lots faster as we have tons to cover and with a new series, there are always growing pains and thinking you have to do everything in it which is not always realistic.  So I told the kids to use the pages as good practice over the holiday break to keep up with their skills!!!!  Perfect timing.  My Christmas gift to them!!  HaHaHa!!!!!!!
Language-continuation of verbs -helping & linking.
Spelling-Unit 15 words
The following week with only the 2 days, we are going to do all our curriculum activities centered around the holiday season.  Fun stuff.  They will be watching a movie on Tuesday afternoon, December 22nd at the end of the day as a fun bonus treat.  Speaking of treat, they will be able to bring a drink and a treat to school on that day to have during the movie.
Speaking of that week, they will have a guest teacher as I will not be here on those 2 days.  My husband & I along with some friends have a great opportunity to go to Hawaii for Christmas so we are leaving that weekend as that is the time frame that has been set up for us.   Having never been there,  I am so excited and this is an opportunity I couldn't refuse.  Will miss being with my family in ND for the holidays, but HMMMMM  ND/Hawaii in December??????  That was an easy decision. :)
I will be giving the kids their little surprises/packages next Friday and do a little celebrating with them in the afternoon.  So please make sure your child stays at school after the program in the morning for the remainder of the day.
Congratulations to Sophie, our Student of the Week.  We love her Scentsy Bear and frog.  Cute.  Some of her favorites are: fresh fruits & veggies, music, PE, singing, crafts and Christmas is her favorite holiday.  She describes herself as nice ( we would agree) and she hopes to learn more about MT History and Health this year.  She wants to get more confident at math and in 20 years she wants to own her own house & car.  Her idea of a perfect day is at a water park swimming with her friends.
Have a great weekend and try to relax to relieve some stress.  We have talked a lot in CC meetings these last 2 weeks about how the kids can help out to relieve parents' holiday stress.  If they can tell you, write "less stress" in the planner.

Welcome Back!!!!

Seems like forever since I posted with the holiday break.  Speaking of holiday-I feel the holiday spirit in the air.  Students here at Bitterroot are practicing so hard for the upcoming Holiday Program which is on Friday, December 18th at 10:00 for Grades 3-6.  See flyer that went home today for all program times.
Also, the PTA is sponsoring a Family Holiday Night which is on Friday, December 11th from 6:30-8:00 so plan on coming out to join the fun.  See the flyer that went home today.
Also coming home related to the holiday spirit is the flyer that went home yesterday about Crazy Hair Day on Friday, December 11th where students can have crazy hair and bring either hair items or $ for the Tumbleweed Program.  Thank you, Hanna Hall for spearheading this great endeavor.  Tis the season for giving!!!!
Mid-terms went home today so take a good look at them, sign, and return by Tuesday, December 8th.
I want to Congratulate Team Hankins on a job well done for Chapter 2 math tests.  Super scores!!!  Also, good job to the Lead 21 kids for their great endangered animal reports.  These are up in the hall.
Fun Rudolph stories-we took a couple days and got our creative juices flowing and took a new spin on Rudolph's nose turning a different color.  Ask your child what color they chose and how it changed color.  If they can tell you, write Rudolph in the planner for free money.  These will be hanging in the hallway as well.  Fun-fun-fun!!!!!

Next week's happenings:
Math-Chapter 3 -strategies for multiplying 2 digit x 2 digit numbers
Reading-Lead 21-Unit 3 -which is on our nation's beginning
Language-verbs and verb tenses.
Spelling-Unit 14 words
Social Studies-Southeast Region-maps will come home to start practicing states & capitals

Congratulations to Ella, our November Purple Hand Cookie winner.  She was nominated by her classmates for being helpful, kind, caring, and her fun sense of humor.  Great job!!!
Congratulations to Christian, our new Student of the Week.  Christian loves pizza, PE, Christmas, the color blue.  He describes himself as generous and hopes to learn about math this year.  His idea of a perfect day is in the summer playing with his friends.  We are so delighted to have Christian and his family join our classroom and Bitterroot School this year.
Have a great weekend and as always if any questions, please contact me.

Short Week Coming Up

Yes, can you believe Thanksgiving Break is here???  There will be an Early Out on Tuesday, November 24th and No School Wednesday-Friday of that week-November 25-27.  Enjoy with special time with family & friends.
This past week has been busy as usual.  Fun, exciting news is that the new Big Toy Playground equipment is complete and we got to play on it today for the first time.  Exciting.  Come by and check it out!!!
Also exciting was to meet Author Bill Merical.  It was so great hearing him talk about the book and share with kids the importance of strong character as well.  We were so happy to hear he will be publishing Book 2!!!!   YAYYYY!!!!
Lead 21 students should be finishing up their endangered animal research and working on posters here at school.  They are looking good.  Lots of research, writing, and knowledge coming from this project.
We will finish up Unit 2 next week.
Go Math-we are almost done with Chapter 2.  We will test on it next week.
Language-we will be working with singular & plural possessive nouns.
Montana History-we are learning about the Indians of MT from the 1700-1820's.  What life was like back then and how so many of them died because of diseases brought over from Europe by immigrants.  This will lead us into the Lewis & Clark Expedition and then the trapping/trading era.  Fun stuff.
Congratulations to Houston, our new student of the week.  Some of his favorites are:  football, the Steelers, reading, the color yellow.  His favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  He hopes to learn more about MT History this year.  His idea of a perfect day is sunny and one where his dreams come true.
In twenty years from now, he hopes to have a child, live in a mansion, and play in the NFL.
Have a great weekend and Good Luck to both the CATS & Griz.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Drive

Thank you -thank you to all of you that have donated to the Peanut Butter & Jelly drive.  Your generosity will help those less fortunate.  If you would still like to help, it is going until Friday, November 20th.
Students who were lunch helpers for the 1st Quarter were treated to a Pizza Lunch today.  I am so happy to announce that Team Hankins has donated many hours to helping out our school and taking their lunch recess time.  Great school service.
Lead 21 Endangered Animal Reports-students are working on a lengthy, in-depth endangered animal report here at school doing research and finding information.  The one thing we will need your help for is finding 2 pictures that you can print off for their poster board to go with the report.  Thank you.
This is our Inquiry Project for Unit 2.  We have learned a lot about "Going Green & Reducing our Carbon Footprint".  We will have the whole unit complete by Thanksgiving Break.
We just finished the book, Naya Nuki.  Ask your child that if they were Naya Nuki for one day, what adventure that she had on her journey would they like to have.  Write it in the planner for free money.
Just a reminder to mark your calendars for November 24-27.  Early Out on the 24th and No School on 25-27.
Author Bill Merical is coming on Tuesday, November 17th and we are so excited.  The students will have lots to share with you after his visit.  Plus they each received an autographed copy of the book.
As you saw from the Northeast States & Capitals test, some students didn't do real well so for this time only, I am giving them a 2nd chance to try again.  If your child is interested, they need to see me by Friday, November 20th to get another test.  Then I will average the 2 grades for their final test grade.
Congratulations to Cooper, our student of the week.  It was so fun hearing all about him and here are some of his favorites:  cheesy hot dogs, math, hunting, pink, and Christmas.  He describes himself as "fun" and we would agree.  He loves learning about Montana History.  His idea of a perfect day is hunting.  Twenty years from now, he hopes to be a professional hunter with his own TV show called Hunting Wild.  How cool is that. Cooper, I sure loved your Brett Favre card!!!!   Remember Dream-Believe-Achieve!!!!

Thank You-Thank You

Thank you to all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to take an interest in your child's education and come to see how they are doing here at school.  It was so nice to visit with each of you and to share your child's successes and to discuss things that need to be worked on.  How great it is when we can communicate together for the good of each child.  So thank you for coming and all your support.  Ask your child what they are most proud of for so far this year here at school.  Write the answer in the planner for free money.
Speaking of money, we are going to be spending it on "fun" stuff Friday, November 6th and then starting over with new money.  I think the students all realize the importance of making good, positive choices and being the BEST they can be.
Keep your child practicing that Wowzers & Xtra Math at least 3-4 times/week as well as spending that 30 min./night reading.  It is all beneficial to their learning and the progression of their school years.
This upcoming week is going to be busy as usual.
Social Studies-we will be having our 2 part Northeast Region test.  Part 1 is making an advertisement poster showing & explaining 4 locations we stopped at during our tour as well as recalling 3 facts about each.  Part 2 is the actual states & capitals with their locations.  These will be on Monday & Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday, it is Veteran's Day and we spend a good portion discussing what the day means, who we honor, etc. and reading an amazing book.  You will hear about it.
Math-we are continuing to learn new strategies to find the products for more difficult multiplication problems.  I am happy to announce, the Go Math seems to be getting a bit easier for now anyway. :)
Spelling-Unit 10 words
Language-Possessive Nouns and Capitalization Rules
Lead 21-Selection 3 of our small theme readers and starting our Endangered Animal Reports which will be quite extensive.
Please see the attached letter from Mrs. Neese about the PB & J food drive sponsored by Student Council.
Congratulations to Ben, our student of the week.  Here are some of Ben's favorites:  grapes, drawing, PE, blue, and Halloween.  He wants to learn more about spelling this year and get better at "count bys".
His idea of a perfect day is nice & sunny and in 20 years, he hopes to have a wife and 3 kids.
Have a great weekend and week.
Also, I will only be blogging once/week and it will be on the weekend to fill you in on the past week's happenings as well as what is coming for the new week.
PTA Movie tonight, November 6th from 6-8.  Free money if you go!!!  Have fun!!

Successful Red Ribbon Week

Another year of Red Ribbon Week is in the books.  It was very successful as we had lots of good guest speakers in this past week to reinforce the idea of making positive choices in life and the many other things you can do to stay away from harmful drugs & activities as well as dealing with peer pressure.   We had students from Skyview & Senior High as well as DEA agent Dunlap.  As they all said, it is never too young to start hearing about how choices now can affect your life & decisions you make later.  Below are a few pics from the week.  I hope you had some good discussions at home and if you did, write RRW in the planner for free money.
Speaking of free money, the quarter came to a close so now the students will spend their free money on Friday and start over with fresh, new money.
Pumpkin Patch Party-hopefully many of you went and had tons of fun.  If you and your child went, write pumpkin  patch party in the planner.
This week is conferences week.  Thank you to all of you who returned your slips for times.  If you didn't, I assigned you a time so hopefully you can make it.  If not, call the school and let Christy know.
Remember Dismissal times are at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
No spelling list this week due to early out and our reading block is in the afternoon.
We are hoping to finish our NE tour this week so make sure you are studying states & capitals as well as location because the test will be sometime next week.
Congratulations to Jerzie, our Purple Hand Winner.  She was nominated by her peers for her kind, caring, helpful ways as well as being a great friend always wanting to include others.
Also, we have had lots of students get recognized by myself or other adults in the building for following the school rules & guidelines for success.  They have gotten their name on the Principal 200 board and are part of the club.  Congratulations and keep it up.  Let's hope all of Team Hankins will be part of it as the year progresses.
Have a great rest of the weekend.