What in the world is going on here?

Ask students in my reading class to explain these two pictures. So, so fun and wow with technology! Just DO NOT ask about the mentos!!!!! Ok do, and if your kids can explain all of this to you write the word OWL by your signature in the planner for a $20 dollar bonus reward.

Coulson Park River Clean Up! Thank You!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Marvelous Monday!

Happy Monday! We had a great day. Of course we had cake to help that out, but overall it was good all on its own! Thanks though to Maddie, Marley, and Jordan for donating the yummy carrot and white cakes that you won for the most interesting finds at the volunteer opportunity this past weekend. Very cool! Thanks to all that participated in the volunteer opportunity! Fun times and hope to get a slide show of it on the blog this evening while watching Dancing With the Stars!

Today in spelling we talked about homophones. We had fun trying to figure out what was what. Now that students know what the homophones mean tonight's assignment is to decide if each word is a noun (person, place, thing) or a verb (action) and put them into the correct categories. This will really tell me if they understand which word is which, or is that witch??? :0)

I sent home quite a few lunch account notices today. There are many students that are over-drawn or close to being over-drawn. Please keep your child's account current. You can pay online now. All you need is their student ID number, which you can get by calling the office. I do this for my own daughter, and it is really quite easy. Plus, you can use your debit/credit card.

Picture day was a success. We had them after lunch and no one slopped or spilled. Yay! Thanks to those of you that used the new online service. Very cool! Thanks also to Kaleb, Preston, and Garret's moms for helping out down there. Way to go Erickson team!!

Today we also read about the Black Sox Scandal in our what happened on this day in the past sheet. Students have been challenged to google the research question on the bottom of the paper to find out what teams were playing in a world series when a earthquake hit in San. Francisco during the third game. Students need to write the answer down on the sheet in order to collect their $20 at check in tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will begin our new novel, Owls in the Family. We will be using an online chat tool called Yaplet to share our predictions with a fourth grade class at Burlington Elementary on the West End of Billings. Then we will oovoo, similar to what we did with Rusty, to meet and see them! A field trip is being planned to travel, via the Met Bus, to their school at the end of the novel for an Owl Party/Lunch! Fun with technology I tell ya!

Well, that is about it. Have a great night and play outside! Rusty told us that the harder we play the deeper we sleep, and deep sleep helps us wake up refreshed and energized. And I must say, when we share feelings in here I have a surprising amount of students that state they are feeling tired. Play, play, play!! :0)

What did you make with your leaves?

What did you make with your leaves?

Volunteer Tomorrow!

Wow! What a week and what a Friday! Most importantly, I took footage of the leaf projects! They were totally awesome and packed with the creativity I knew this class would offer. I will put it on this weekend so check the blog before Sunday to see what your child did with their leaves. This project was inspired by a book Mrs. Hankins shared with me called, Look What I Did With A Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi. We also talked about other crafts that we could make with nature and some of the different crafts created by Native Americans in the past and continued on today. Great input by all!

The Coulson Park Volunteer Opportunity is tomorrow! We will meet at Coulson Park at 9 am. Students need to be picked up PROMPTLY at 11:15. To get there from the heights...

Take the 27th Street Exit off I-90, turn left. Road will T in about an 1/8 of a mile. Turn left onto Garden Avenue. Turn left onto Belknap. Turn right onto Charlene (this street says dead end but you can go all the way to the parking lot by the river. MCC trucks and signs will mark the location of where to meet. Don't forget your long pants, warm clothes, good shoes, gloves, and water bottle. If you get lost, I will have my cell phone on. Thanks again for all your help in advance!

Saturday Live is also tomorrow. It starts at 10 and runs till 4. Make sure to stop by the Bitterroot Candy Shack. Thanks to all of you, I think the entire class!, for bringing in the needed candy to make this happen. If you attend this event, please write a note stating so in your child's planner and they will receive a $500 bonus on Monday! We appreciate your support for all Billings Schools!

Picture day is Monday! Get those pretty/handsome outfits ready. Please register online or send money in by Monday. If you register online, it is my understanding there is a slip that prints out that students bring in.

By Monday afternoon, there will be a lot of different projects hanging in our hallway. Please stop in before/after school to spend some time looking at what we have done. Quite amazing.

We are finished with our first novel, The Kid in the Red Jacket. Students have completed their writing project and we had to learn the hard way about how to use a topic sentence. My bad. I thought they knew this skill, but we ended up having to start over and do it together. But, now they know how to make a paragraph more clear to the reader and they were good sports about it. Big Mean Ms. Erickson! :0) On Monday, students will take the final test on this novel. It is a test that can't be studied for. It is in a MONT CAS format and it is more for guiding my instruction in the next novel rather than for a grade. It tests skills rather than details from the story, like fact or opinion and sequencing. Our next novel is called, Owls in the Family. We will start that on Tuesday.

We are also very close to finishing Chapter One in math. That means a notebook check will be happening soon. Students need to have their notebooks organized and complete by next Thursday. The chapter test will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. Review will be happening on Monday.

I generally try to send home a grade report each Friday, but today our computers/server went down for most of the day. Therefore, I was unable to print the grade reports. So, we will wait until next Friday, which is also midterms. If you would like to see your child's grades before this time, please send me an email or note and I will surely print one for you at any time.

Well, have a great weekend! See most of you tomorrow!

Leaves, Leaves, and more Leaves

Happy Half Day!! Please remember to have kids bring in the leaves that they have been collecting all week. Thanks!

Reminders

Hi! Sorry the blog is late today. We, the teachers, spent the afternoon bagging all the candy for our Candy Shack booth for Saturday Live today so I ran out of time at school. But, none the less, here I am! First and foremost, the kids received an AWESOME sub report for yesterday! I am so, so, so proud of them all. As a reward for their choices, I will be popping popcorn on Friday for them. They may bring a soda/drink of their choice to have with it that day. Yay!!

Just a couple of Reminders:

1. Tomorrow is a half day. Kids get out at noon.

2. The volunteer opportunity is this Saturday at Coulson Park from 9-11. If you need directions let me know.

3. Saturday Live is this Saturday from 10-4 at Pioneer Park. Make sure you stop by the Bitterroot Candy Shack. Maps will go home tomorrow.

I was sorry to do this but, I sent home the shoeboxes with the kids today. The project we were going to do required a lot of hot sun. It just isn't happening now that fall seems to have arrived. So, please store the box in a safe place to come back later in the year! Sorry!!! Montana weather...gotta love it!

Finally, I have noticed that some students are not bringing back their library books on Thursday. It seems to always be a surprise when midterms go home with Ds and Fs in library. The number one reason is failure to bring back their books or turn in their folders. Student's grades are docked heavily every time books are forgotten. Please make a sign and paste it to the front door to help kids remember this. They work hard in all their subjects and it is sad when this mistake keeps them from fun activities. Thanks!

Have a super night!

Sub Tomorrow!

What a great Monday! Tomorrow there will be a sub. I have my technology class. YES!!! Love to learn new things for that! Students will be trying to earn a positive report which in return will earn them a popcorn party on Friday. We shall see!

Today we read the story Chrysanthemum. It is about a little mouse that gets bullied for her long name. She discovers that her name rocks and that she should be proud of it. The story talks about why and when she loves her name, like when her dad says it to her when saying goodnight, and when mom says she loves her. We also talked about how using people's names when talking to them is respectful and proper manners. Tonight students need to discover their name story. Why were they named what you named them? They will be doing a writing story about this tomorrow to complete the project they started today. Please discuss this subject in length and share some memories tonight.

On Friday, the kids will be running the 800 for gym class. Mr. Ness is encouraging students to bring their ipods and MP3 players to listen to while running it. School appropriate music only please. Students can pay $300 fake dollars and listen to it all day while in my class as well. I will collect money that day.

Book orders were placed this weekend. They should arrive this week. Wow!!! Love all the science books they are buying. Super interesting. I will have the online option ready by next month to buy.

Lastly, Thursday is a half day. Students are dismissed at noon. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up at that time.

Have a great evening!

It Was National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Mr. Goodheart's Transformation and Pirate Talk!

Pirate Song!

It's A Pirate's Life for Me!

Ever Heard of National Pirate Day??

Me neither, but our music teacher, Mr. Goodheart is gung-ho matey about it! So, he has challenged the kids to dig out all their pirate attire and bring it to music class this coming Monday. Students will put it on, celebrate the day (which is actually this Saturday), and then put it back in their bags. What would a pirate day be without a treasure? So, students that participate in the fun will earn a $100 reward. Get creative!!!

Grade reports also went home today. They are up-to-date through today. Looking great for the most part! Yep, they are getting serious about their educations and figuring out that intermediate is a million times different than primary. It is a lot more responsibility and accountability. Thanks parents for helping them understand this transition! I couldn't do it without you and your support!

Permission slips for the Nile also went home today. We will be going on October 12th. Their buy in $1000.00 will be collected the Friday before that. Students also wrote one rule that they felt they needed to work on between now and then. I am very proud of this group! They are so well mannered and the talking out is getting so, so much better.

Students will be participating in a Native Indian project next Friday. We will be joining up with Mrs. Hankin's class to do a very fun and creative art project. Students were asked to start collecting all different types/shapes/colored leaves this weekend. They need to press them in between pages of books (in wax paper works best) and then keep them fresh in a ziplock bag. They need to bring them in this coming Friday. The more the better!!! Wanna help parents? Let me know!!!

We will be taking our last NWEA Map test on Monday. It will test the content of language. Students need to be in bed as close to 8 as possible, eat a good breakfast with high protein, bring a hard boiled egg for snack, and be here on time. BELIEVE and hugs out the door!! :0)

Lastly, have a super weekend and stay cool! Crazy weather we are having! Cool weather next week though. WooHoo!! Peace!

What are you going to do today to make the world a more beautiful place?

Today is National Citizenship Day. I asked the class to write down one thing they were going to do to volunteer their time to make someone's life better or their community more beautiful today. This is what they have promised to do sometime TODAY. Please hold them accountable.

Maddie is going to help her dad mow her lawn.

Natalie is going to help her mom do the laundry.

Philip is going to help others deal with bullies.

Robert is going to feed a turtle that his dad found in the middle of the road and let her go in Two Moon Park.

Paige is going to pick up garbage when she sees it.

Jasa is going to pick up the park.

Dalton is going to help his grandpa take out his garbage.

Preston is going to pick up trash and glass and help his grandma mow her lawn.

Lailyn is going to pick up trash in the environment she lives in.

Skyler is going to go to the highway after school and pick up garbage.

Logan is going to feed his dog since his dad is unable to.

Jewel is going to help her mom because she is sick and needs her to get her eyedrops.

Garret is going to cheer for his team at kickball and basketball!

Jordan is going to pick up garbage in her neighborhood and around school. She is also going to help in the lunchroom and make sure to help someone with their work today.

Marley is going to pick up litter and help those who need help.

Kaleb is going to help his sisters.

Arielle is going to pick up trash, help Ms. Tammy in the lunchroom, and help people have a good day!

Abby is going to pick up litter, play outside, and help those that need help.

Seth is going to pick up garbage.

Ms. Erickson is going to walk to the park rather than drive and have her students pick up trash and water the trees.

I am so excited about all of these responses and am also excited about the amount of kids and parents volunteering in two weeks at Coulson Park! Awesome!! What great citizens we have in Room 3 this year.

Celebrations!

Well our first day of standardized testing is out of the way. ALL students took their time and did their best. Way to go! Thanks Mrs. and Mr. Davis for the yummy testing treats!!! Carmel hamburgers we called them. :0) Tomorrow afternoon we take the Math portion of the test. You know I am loving that!! Wish I was a kid again, just so I could take it! LOVE math! Thanks to all those parents that sent in the hard boiled eggs for snack today. I told them to bring another for tomorrow. I will refrigerate them for them so they are not sitting out all day. It will help if they have their name on their egg bag. Peanutbutter treats are also good for that brain. Gum is also welcome again during the testing block only.

Ask your child about the story, Encounter, that we read today. It was interesting. Ask them what the big white birds were and why they did not consider the guests humans. If they can tell you write the word tail by your signature for an extra ten dollars at tomorrow's check in. Then ask them why I would have you write the word tail. If they can tell you that write the word Columbus as well to earn a jolly rancher treat. Oh yeah!

Volunteer Opportunity sheets went home today. Please read, sign, and return tomorrow.

Picture forms went home today. Please read in full as it has changed. It can all be done online which is AWESOME! Read carefully though. Also looking for parents that can volunteer for picture day. It is quite the chore.

Thanks to the parents that attended the PTA meeting last night. It was great seeing all you Erickson parents out there while presenting. Yes!!! Lots of volunteer opportunities if you are interested. Contact the office and they will put you in touch with the right people. I know they need people for the Harvest Party soon! Go team go!

Play outside tonight and read twenty minutes before bed is the only homework for this evening. Good day in Room 3. Great kids!

Bring on the Testing!!

Hi there!

Tomorrow we start to take our Fall NWEA Map tests. We will test in reading tomorrow morning. In order to help students do their very best I need your help. I highly recommend that students try to be in bed with eyes drifting off as close to 8:00 pm as possible. Students should try to eat a healthy breakfast packed with protein such as eggs or peanutbutter. Avoid sugar cereals at all costs. They burn out too fast and our test is not until 10. Sending a hard boiled egg to eat for snack right before testing, already peeled of course, would be the ultimate!!! Lastly, research shows that peppermint gum stimulates right and left brain flow. Any flavor of gum seems to help students so they are free to bring a piece if they choose to. A hug and a do your best will be the topper when leaving the house or car in the morning. I NEVER stress about testing. It is a time for kids to shine not panic. Yay!!

There is a PTA meeting tonight in the library at 6:30. Your attendance will earn your child their first $500.00 bill tomorrow morning. I will be there too! Just right a note in their planner mentioning that you attended and they win! Can't make it...no worries, there is one almost every month! You do not have to "do" stuff. You can just come listen to what is happening in your child's school. Child care is available, so bring the little ones. See you there!

Happy Night!

How is your child doing thus far?

Happy Monday! Don't you just love the start fresh feeling of a new week. In order to get off on the right foot for the week may I offer a few suggestions...

1. Start to study spelling words tonight. Take a few each night and keep track of the ones you need extra help on.

2. Pack your backpack at night before you go to bed. This way things get here instead of forgotten at home.

3. Take a look at take home papers in the take home folder. There is a up to date grade sheet in there today. It is not too late for a turn around before midterms come out.

Today, we talked a lot about choices. Some students are just now figuring out that 4th grade is not the same as 3rd. It is more responsibility on them, the student. We talked about the fact that when they turn in a paper to be graded I am assuming that they have done their best and are satisfied with their work. If students forget parts or fail to follow directions this is their choice and with that comes consequences. Today we had some tears because students were not allowed to redo papers that they made silly mistakes on. Again, students need to know that when they turn in a paper it is them telling me that it is their BEST work. Now, if a student is showing that they do not understand the concept that is different. I will reteach them the concept. In math, they can redo D and F papers. In other subjects it is a case by case issue depending on the situation. I can not stress enough to parents to have a conversation about responsibility. It will be tough for some for awhile, but in my ten years of experience they do eventually get in the upper elementary groove. The best thing they have going for them is the fact that you and I totally 100% BELIEVE in them!!

Have a wonderful evening!

One Proud Teacher!

Well, we have packed in another busy week. Man, do they fly by. Today we were able to voicethread and annotate our map stories onto the computer. This weekend I will be editing those and piecing them together in order to share them with you. The students began the lesson by promising to be patient and be good listeners. Boy, did they follow through! Even Mrs. Caskey said they did a super job and she was amazed at how smoothly it went! Yes!!! Proud of them!

Just two reminders for the weekend. Students will need a shoebox for science next week. Please try to find one where the lid totally detaches from the box. They need to bring these in on Monday. Extras???? Send them in please for those that forget or are unable to find one. The other reminder is for Saturday Live Candy. Please pick it up over the weekend. Each child needs to bring in two bags. Thanks!!!

Have a great weekend and do something outside as a family! Create those memories!!

Morning Meeting Greeting!

I love these kids! We had such a good time this morning saying good morning to our friends. As you can see our eye contact is getting better by the second, especially when shaking hands. These kids volunteered to be filmed...brave! Good times!

We need candy!!! If you have yet to send in two bags of individually wrapped, non-chocolate candy please do so soon. Saturday Live is next weekend, and we will be creating our bags to sell soon. Remember kids earn $100 for each bag they bring in. Thanks so much for supporting our school. The money earned at Saturday is spent on the kids in return. So, we all win!

We have been studying weather in science class. Students will need a shoe box by next Monday for an experiment. The ones where the lid is not attached to the box work best. Can you say Greenhouse effect??? Atmosphere??? Yep! If you can get two, please do so. I know that Payless by Little Ceasers donated a lot of boxes to kids last year if you have a minute this weekend. Thanks.

Enjoy your evening, and thanks to all of you who have made copies of sports schedules for me to be able to come watch your child in action. I LOVE sports and would love to see everyone play! Just let me know. :0)

Miss me last night?

Hi. As you know, open house was last night. I was so excited to meet so many of you. Thank you for coming. For those that missed me, here is the basics to what was talked about.

First, we talked about the fact that each morning we start the day off together on the floor for morning meeting. During this time we have about 30-45 minutes of character education. This consists of watching and discussing Rusty's morning meassage on schooltools.tv. We also may read a book highlighting one of the character traits. We share how we are feeling and why. We greet one another. We also sing our weekly character song. This is my favorite part of the day, as this is when I really get to know your child on a personal level.

We end our day together as well. We write our day's assignments in the planner together as a group. Students are then to highlight what they are bringing home for homework. Students that are in my reading class, not in Read 180 or Language class, always have spelling homework. They are NOT allowed to do this work at school so they ALWAYS have it for homework. It should not take more than 30 minutes. I also require that students read 20 minutes nightly. If students are bringing home subjects other than spelling for homework it means they did not get it done in the classtime they were given. I give plenty of time in class, so if this is happening a lot you may want to question what they are doing during their work time. There is also important reminders of upcoming events on the planner.

Next, we talked about the classroom blog. This is a tool for the parents. I try very hard to blog right after school each day. You can find daily posts, upcoming events, the daily assignments, the weeks spelling words, and glimpses into your child's life at school through pictures and video. You can also get to my blog through the Bitterroot webpage now.

Then, we talked about the money behavior system. There are three main ways students lose money. 1. They make poor behavior choices, usually a 50 dollar fine each time. 2. Not having homework done, usually a 50 fine for each assignment. This includes if they forget even one problem or do not follow directions. 3. They lose money for not having your signature on their planner each morning, 20 dollar fine. There are a million ways to earn money, and there is NO reason for a child to ever go broke unless they constantly do the three reasons above. Students mostly save their money to buy their way into field trips, usually 1000.00 price tag. If students don't have that money then they stay at school. I refuse to take students out in public that can not behave inside the classroom. It is no fun for me or the other students when the fun times are spent disciplining. Bottom line, all choices have consequences...good or bad.

Lastly, we talked about the math notebook. All their math assignments and quizzes are kept in their binder here at school. If I were the parent, I would have my child bring home their math binder once a week so you could look through their corrected quizzes and see how they are doing. If students earn a d or an f on a quiz they are given a redo opportunity after we discuss the concepts again. It is up to them if they take the opportunity or not.

I hope that this helps. If you have any other questions please email me or drop in and let's talk. An information sheet went home today for those parents that did not attend open house. It is very important that I get those back tomorrow, especially the email addresses. I will then send you a test message to make sure I have the right one. Thanks to those of you that replied back today. Have a great evening and ask your child today about the three concepts they discovered by doing experiments with air today in science class. They should mention, Air has weight, warm air rises and expands, and cool air contracts and sinks. If they mention any of those write the word AIR by your signature in the planner and earn them an extra 50 dollars at check in time tomorrow morning. Have a great night!

OPEN HOUSE TONIGHT

I hope to see all of you here tonight for our formal open house. There are three sessions to choose from for my class: 6-6:25, 6:30-6:55, or 7-7:25 pm. All teachers have this same schedule for families with multiple students attending Bitterroot. I will present the same information in all sessions. Please come with questions. Individual conferences can be scheduled for private information on individual students. I hope, hope, hope to see ALL of you tonight. I will be going over a lot of useful information about how to help your child succeed in my classroom. See ya soon!

Song Of The Week-This Is My First Job.

How Super Cool Is This?

Today in class we were able to use our computer to oovoo, call live, Rusty from the morning show that we watch every morning together. He will be coming to Bitterroot next month for assemblies. This was such an amazing opportunity! I bet more students will have their questions ready and turned in before the next time we do this so they, too, can get in front of Rusty. After today's show they were pumped to the max!!!!! One proud moment for me to watch!

As you can see, even Mr. Senitte got in on the action! schooltools.tv

Take Home Folders

Hello. Please make sure you ask for your child's take home folder tonight. Inside you should find their three language quizzes, their spelling skill worksheet, and their Obama address permission form. I changed the directions for the Obama sheet. We added another line that says, Yes, my child may watch the address. I would like ALL sheets to come back, yes or no. Students will earn $100.00 if it is returned tomorrow. If your child is in Read 180 or Language programs they will not have the language quizzes or spelling homework.

Saturday Live at Pioneer Park is coming up quickly. Our school does a Candy Shack. Therefore, we ask that each child donate two bags of candy. Candy needs to be individually wrapped and NOT chocolate. Chocolate melts, and the teachers end up having to eat it all! :0) Students in my class will earn $100 for each bag brought in. Examples might be lollypops, dots, skittles, etc. Thanks so much for this. All earned money goes back to the kids eventually.

Have a wonderful evening. Jacob, I hope you are feeling better tomorrow. I missed you in class today! Kaleb, glad to see you back and feeling better today!

More Young Scientists

This is their first job...it's here at school...

Wednesday!

$20.00 Bonus Question: Where did handshakes originally begin? Enjoy the slide shows above of the temperature lab we did yesterday. Kids did great and were able to conclude that there are definite factors that effect temperature. Have a good one!

Tuesday

Great day! Pictures of the Science Temperature Lab coming tomorrow. Ask your child tonight what some of the factors that change temperature are. If they can tell you write the words He/She got it! on the planner by your name. They should share things like color, shade, day, night, surface toppings like grass or gravel...

Have a great night!