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As you can see, we had a great science lesson learning the principles of dry ice vs. ordinary ice. We found out that dry ice is actually carbon dioxide and that when water is added to it, it really bubbles. It does not melt because it is not a liquid, but rather it evaporates when left out untouched. We also found out that it can get very cold. We had thermometer readings of 20 degrees. BRRRR!! I forgot to take my camera to the detention center so I have no photos of that so hopefully your child filled you in on the great trip we had and that it is a place we never want to go back to. I think it made quite an impact. Thank you so much to those of you that donated to our bake sale. We so so appreciate your efforts. Ask your child about the fun Halloween story we listened to today about trick-or-treating. It was quite hilarious!! Enjoy your day and have a very safe Halloween.

Lots to Say

HI This is going to be a quick post as I have lots to say and share and very little time to do it with conferences and all. We had a very good field trip to the detention center today. Please have a dinnertime table discussion about it and let your child fill you in on what they saw and what made a big impact on them. Science today was fun. We did some fun activities with dry ice. Ask your child what dry ice is and what we did with it. I will post pics of this when I get more time. Tomorrow is early out at 12:00. Tomorrow is also our Bake Sale. Please help us out. Thank you. Also get those library books brought back as there is Library tomorrow. Have a great night and I hope you have your Halloween costume ready. Only one more night before the fun. Cya tomorrow.

Report Cards Went Home Today

Yes, report cards went home today and I am pleased to announce that overall the grades in Room 6 were very good. Great Job Team Hankins and continue to work hard and strive to be the BEST you can be!!! Let make the 2nd Quarter even better. We have a program here at Bitterroot called BUG Club which means to "bring up grades". Students who maintain or bring their first quarter grades up by the end of second quarter are recognized at an assembly at the end of 2nd quarter. Tomorrow is our field trip to the detention center. Again any parents that are going, you are welcome to ride the bus until it is full and when it is, you can follow in your own vehicle. If you drive yourself, be there by 9:00. Thank you. Drug Free packets were finished in class today. Take some time to go over these with your child and discuss other choices and things to do other than drugs. If you do, write packet in the planner for free money. Conferences begin tomorrow. I posted everyone's time on the side of the blog as another reminder. Reminder: Wed., Thurs, and Friday are Early Out days with 12:00 dismissal. Also on Wednesday is our Bake Sale. Please help us in this endeavor. Everything will sell for 50 cents. Raindrop stories: If your child didn't finish writing the final copy in school today, they are homework. Color some of the top page to give it some color and then have it in order for me to staple tomorrow to get it ready for hallway display. Have a great night and cya tomorrow.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. This week is going to be a busy short week. As you know, it is Parent-Teacher Conference time so we will be having 12:00 dismissal on Wed. Thurs. and Friday. I look forward to visiting with each of you at your scheduled conference time. Tuesday is our field trip to the Detention Center. We will be leaving at 8:40 and returning by 11:30. If you wish to go along, you can ride the bus if there is room or just plan on meeting us there at 9:00. We have been preparing the kids for this trip this past week and really focusing on the fact that these are not bad people, they just made bad choices and they heard this from our guest speakers this past week also. On Friday, our team building activity was playing the game of Jenga. It fit perfectly into drug free week because one of our guest speakers made an analogy to the game. He referred to taking drugs and how making bad choices slowly destroys your life and then all of a sudden it comes crashing down just like when you remove pieces of the game and then all of a sudden it is too weak to stand alone and it too comes crashing down just like our bodies. The kids enjoyed the game and I then it was a good visual for them also. In Science this week we will write our final copies of our raindrop stories so I can get them hung up in the hall for conferences. In math, we will continue with multiplication and get into 2 digit x 2 digit. In Social studies, we will jump back into our Montana History for awhile. In reading, we are in Unit 3 which goes into the NE and mid-atlantic states and now this week we have some non-fiction to read in our small groups related to those states. Then after that we will be starting small group book clubs for the fiction piece of our reading. With this being the end of the 1st quarter, students will have an opportunity to spend any extra money they have and then we will start over with a $100 for this next quarter. Some of their extra money will be used on Tuesday afternoon for an extra special buy in to do some science related Halloween fun with both 4th grades. Then any left after that, they can spend on Wednesday morning. Speaking of Wednesday, it is our 4th Grade Bake Sale. I hope all of you will help out with this endeavor. Thank you. We will be selling it at the 12:00 dismissal. Report cards will be coming home tomorrow so that gives you time to look them over before your conference time. Congratulations to Ethan, the recipient of the purple hand cookie. The students had many kind words for Ethan focusing on the fact that he is always so kind, caring, encouraging, and helpful towards others. Also, we enjoyed seeing Bailey's pics and hearing about him as our student of the week. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Drugs Stink-Wear Pink

Wow-there sure was a lot of pink around today. I loved seeing all the support for "Drugs Stink-Wear Pink"!! Our day started out today with students from Senior High that are going through treatment at Rimrock Foundation talking about their drug addictions. Three out of the four started at age 9 & 10. The 4th got a start during his mother's pregnancy. Yes, she did marijuana while she was pregnant and then when he was born she and her friends thought it was funny to blow marijuana smoke into his face as a baby and toddler. As you can see, he was high at a very young age. How sad-I can't even imagine. He said that doing drugs is the only time he felt normal. When asked how he stopped, he said he did it himself. What a touching story. The 4 of them had a very powerful message and drove home the message that you do drugs to "fit" in, but in the end you're the one alone and you go looking for your "old" friends. I hope these stories help you see why we start these discussions, guest speakers, and field trips in 4th grade. Hopefully in later years your child will remember those guest speakers from 4th grade. It is so worth it to me. Please stay involved with your child and their lives so you know what they are up to. Tomorrow is our NE states and capitals test. Also raindrop people are due tomorrow. We will start rewriting the stories here tomorrow now that they are edited. Thank you. Tomorrow is our field trip to ABT. We leave at 11:50 and return by 2:00. Have a great night and enjoy spending time with your family.

Quick Post-Meeting Day!

Just a quick post as I have a meeting today. The main highlight of the day was the movie we watched for drug free week. We had a great discussion after the movie on how the drug addiction not only affects the drug addict, but also the many other people in his/her life. Have a discussion about who and how many lives were affected. If you have a good talk about the movie, write movie in the planner. Tomorrow we have young adults coming to us from the Rimrock Foundation. Many of these people are high school students who have gone through treatment. Very powerful. Also, tomorrow is pink day. "Drugs Stink-Wear Pink"!! Let's pack Bitterroot School in pink. Last section of raindrop stories today. It is on collection to wrap up the water cycle. Thank you so much for editing your child's story as I couldn't have done it without you. We will start writing our final copies on Thursday and Friday. These will be on display at Parent Teacher Conferences next week. Thank you to those of you that returned the conference slips. If you didn't today, please do so tomorrow. Thank you Remember on Friday is the PTA Pumpkin Patch Party from 6:30-8:00. Remember to study those states and capitals as the test is on Friday. Have a great night.

Yummy!! Chocolate!!

Today was a busy day. We started off with the S.A.D.D.(Students Against Destructive Decisions) students from Skyview here to talk to us about making positive choices. They talked about all the clubs and activities you can get involved in at school rather than doing drugs that can destruct your body and decisions you make. Have your child about the candy activity they did and if they can tell you, write SADD in the planner. Then we went to the gym for an assembly on Student Stranger Safety. They were from the Tae Kwon Do center and taught the kids what to do if a stranger approaches you using your arms and voice. Have your child demonstrate this for you. They too did a great job. In Social Studies today we continued our tour of the Northeast. We learned about how locks in a canal work and we toured the Hershey Chocolate Factory. Have your child tell you how the locks work and what kind of candy treat we got today and if they can, write NE in the planner. Raindrop stories are almost complete. Tonight they are to write the piece on precipitation. Thank you again parents for editing these. Tomorrow night will be the final night. We decided that the raindrop people projects will be due on Friday. Tomorrow is our movie day for drug free week. Also tomorrow is slippers day. "Don't let drugs slip you up"-wear slippers. Parent Teacher Conference slips went home today with the day and time you are scheduled to come. Check these over and mark your calendars, then cut off the bottom portion and return to school with your child. Those returned tomorrow earn free money. Thank you. Tomorrow is Library so get those books returned. Have a great night.