Holy Moly Monday!

Wow we packed a lot into our day today. We started off the day with Rusty and the focus word cooperation. We discussed that cooperating means working as a team and doing our part on that team. Then we read the picture book, The Scarecrow's Dance. It had the character trait/lesson of we are special and unique individuals and that often there are people that are thinking of us when we don't even know it. That lead to a discussion that I think about each of these kids all the time after hours and how much I enjoy being their teacher. Great book! Later in the day, Ms. Damon, a student teacher at Miles Ave. that wanted to come observe my awesome class, told us about her reservation life. The kids were amazed at her stories and knowledge. It was so neat to hear her tell us that her tribe is still a very peaceful, loving, sharing, non competitive culture. Amazing! Finally, we ended our day with a new social studies unit. We will be looking into the five regions of the United States. To start we will look at maps and learn how to read them (latitude and longitude here we come!) Then get ready for state reports. Students will need to do a report on a chosen state. Be thinking....for after Christmas.

One last reminder that Writing notebooks are due tomorrow. All writing needs to be in the writing notebook. I only grade what I see. December calendars went home today. Please mark yours accordingly and then return theirs to their take home folder. By the way, does your child have a take home folder????

Multiplication is coming along slowly. We will be testing out of our current graphing chapter early next week and then we will be hitting some harder multiplication. If your child does not know their basic facts 0-11 they WILL struggle through the next chapter and quite frankly the next few chapters. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE practice these at home. Kids MUST memorize these basic facts! Thanks.

Lastly, we will have a sub tomorrow, but I will be here. I want to guide her through the day. Then she will be here Wed thru Friday. I will have my computer with me. If you have any issues please email me rather than come into the sub. Or you are always welcome to visit with Mr. Senitte as he knows my classroom well.

Have a super night!

A new week...

Welcome back. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was restful and full of family fun. It was nice to just relax and hang with the kids! This week we will be going full force in all subject areas. Just a reminder that I will be out this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I will be here on Tuesday with the sub so I can guide her through our day. This will ensure a very smooth transition into the following three days. No worries there. Be on the lookout for live chats from me from time to time. I will be checking in at least once a day via flip video. :0)

Upcoming events include:

Dec. 7th...Midterms Home

Dec. 21st...Holiday Programs

Dec. 23-Jan. 3rd...Winter Break

*Student Calendars coming home tomorrow in Take Home folder.

I am still working on the egg drop video. I used a different camera and am trying to get it on my computer for you to view.

I will be collecting kids writing journals to read on the plane. Therefore, there will not be writing prompts from me Tues-Friday. However, why break the routine. You make the prompt and have them write for you. Respond back and encourage them to continue this on their own. Learn to learn. :0) I am again going to encourage that students have their complete notebook ready for me to grade on Tuesday. This means ALL entries need to be in their writing notebook. If students chose to write on looseleaf THEY KNOW that it MUST be stapled into their notebook. As Kaleb would say, that is the millionth and one time Ms. Erickson has told us this.

Finally, I would like to close with an above and beyond report written by Lailyn about her egg drop project and Newton's three laws. She wrote...(exactly as seen above)

For this project I tested two different boxes to proove my theary correct. First, a egg carton itself was dropped leaving my egg shattered. Secondly, a box filled with shreaded paper was used and prooved to be successful. Therefore! I concluded that the second egg survived because the force exerted on the egg by the fall was evenly distributed on the entire surface area of the egg which lessened the impact on the egg itself and saved it from cracking.

Said like a true future scientist!

Have a super night!

Montana History Projects!

Wow! I am once again so impressed with the talented, creative,

and effort of these kids!

Food Bank Not Happening.

It seems we are a no go at the Food Bank. I hope you are able to help someone special over the break on your own. I am so thankful for each and everyone of you for the unique children you trust me with every day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Food Bank!

No new information for the Food Bank tomorrow yet. If I don't have any by three it will not happen. Thanks!

MT History Finale Tomorrow!

Hi there! Let me just start by saying Operation Egg Drop...huge success! Oh my word it was hilarious fun! I got it on tape and will be posting it soon. You have some VERY creative kids! It was also excellent that all of them did not work because we got to examine why and learn even more! Newton would be proud of all these kids!

Montana History Projects are due tomorrow morning at 8:25. Again, no exceptions will be made. I can only imagine what kind of creativity we will see tomorrow. I will again catch footage. Students will be presenting their projects in the morning starting at 9. Feel free to join us. Kids will need to return their MT History books tomorrow.

Hopefully your kids shared with you that we will be having a volunteer opportunity this Wednesday at the Billings Food Bank. I have a call in to find out the exact time but it will be between the hours of 9 and 3. I will know the exact time tomorrow. If you can carpool please let me know or have your kids arrange it. Again, this is totally voluntary and parents are encouraged to come as well. See you there! Oh, and we will be putting together turkey dinner boxes. Perfect!

Lastly, remember tomorrow is a half day, and kids are dismissed at noon. There is no school Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. The following week I will be here on Monday, but then I will be gone for the rest of the week as my family is heading to Disneyland. Students will have the same sub every day, and she has been a teacher before. Expectations will be the same and learning will continue as normal. I will be blogging live from CA each day, so please continue to check in daily.

Have a great night!

Short Week and 2 Big Projects Due!

Hi! I hope you all had a great weekend! Remember that this is a short week. We are out for the Thanksgiving break on Tuesday at noon.

Please don't forget your Egg Drop experiments tomorrow. No exceptions will be made. I am looking forward to seeing all the creative Newton ideas!

And...how about them Griz?? YES!! Sorry Mrs. Hankin's class! It looks like we will be getting some treats tomorrow! :0)

Tomorrow Night (2nd post for today so read below as well)

May I invite you to the internet safety meeting tomorrow night? When we visited the jail during Red Ribbon Week we saw some of these Internet predators. They were not scary looking people. In fact, what was really scary is that they looked like the average Joe. It gave me shivers. Kids do not have a fighting chance against people like this. They get trapped and hurt and sometimes killed. Please come and learn how to protect your child from these predators. Your child is also encouraged to attend. We will meet in the gym at 7 until 8. An FBI agent, who has just gotten back from a sting in Florida, will be conducting the presentation. See you there!

Two Big Projects Due NEXT week!

Hi. Hopefully your child has a good jump on their Montana History project! It has been fun to hear their ideas and I am very impressed how many number 8s are coming back! Yay! Today the expectation sheet came home for their science wrap up project for force and motion. Their assignment is to create and design a package that will be dropped off the top of the gym roof, adults will do the dropping. The catch is that there has to be a raw egg somewhere in the package that cannot break upon impact. Students need to use what they know about Newton's three laws of motion in order to make their package a safe one for their egg. The fact that the egg breaks or not will not determine the grade, but the thinking and implementing of the laws will be what is graded. Mrs. Hankins and I only have a few rules.

They are:

1. Package can't weigh more than a pound.

2. Package can't be larger than a shoe box.

3. Package must have student's name on it.

4. Packages may not use parachutes or gliders or anything else that would make it float.

5. Packages must be at school on Monday, November 23rd by 1:00pm.

6. Eggs must not crack or break when dropped from the roof of the gym onto a piece of plywood.

7. HAVE A BLAST!!!!

We are absolutely encouraging parent help/guidance. Packages can be tested at home and re-designed if need be. However, the one at school will be dropped as is and only once.

We will be conducting Operation Egg Drop on Tuesday at 2:00 if you want to come and watch.

On another note, approved students went to personal safety class today. A summary of what was talked about and discussed went home tonight in the take home folder.

Lastly, thanks to all of you who did your parent homework! I loved reading them! Tomorrow is the last day to turn them in if you have yet to do them mom and dad! :0)

Have a great night!

Owls In the Family Final Book Project.

We summarized and acted out the odd chapters, and Mrs. Brucker's class did the same for the even. Wow! We learned/remembered a lot!

What is my kid learning in Music Class??

Wow! Who knew that two Wii remotes set up just right could create this kind of interactive whiteboard for your child to learn on? Mr. Goodheart is amazing! What a great way to learn the four space notes and five line notes! Not to mention the character traits of encouragement, patience, and teamwork! Wow, no wonder we are known in the community for being a leader in becoming a true technology school! And, yes that is what they are saying about Bitterroot!!

This morning we also got a surprise oovoo visit from Rusty! He called in to just check on us and see how we are all doing. He even asked how Abby's mom was feeling after her surgery, how the dentist was for Lailyn, Jordan, Mikaela, and Natalie, and he talked pretty serious to Paige and how sorry he was to hear that her grandmother passed away. This was a very powerful connection to these kids! Neat to see!

When reading the writing journals today, (which I love by the way-hilarious!), I discovered some wishes to add some pretty interesting subjects to our academic day. They included the following: hockey class, hunter's safety, football class, home-ec, wood class, game time, mathology, Wii learn, firefighter class, first pioneer class, hubb (cooking) class, papermate class, candybar making, stranger danger class, softball, how to play video game class, doll clothes design class, pet styling class, and of course we can't leave out the ever so popular deer cooking class, and cow patty cooking class! HILARIOUS!!!

Have a great evening and I hope we have started to form a plan for those MT History projects due next Tuesday! Have a blast making memories with your kid!

History Projects

The Montana History project selection sheets came home today. They are due back tomorrow with your child's selected project. Models were shown from Mrs. Hankin's class of almost all of the selections. Students were told they may not use/steal their ideas and need to come up with their own. I am encouraging all students to select option 8, come up with your own project. What about a report using technology??? Projects are due on Tuesday, Nov. 24th at 8:25 am. There will be NO exceptions. If you know your child will be out on that half day, please have them bring it in before that date to share. Student's should NOT bring projects in early unless they will be absent that Tuesday. I have NO room to store them.

I did not send home the work packets...sigh...tomorrow!

PTA meeting tonight at 6:30. Show up and earn $500 fake dollars for your child. Go Bitterroot!

Be on the lookout...

Hi! Happy Monday to you all!

Tomorrow two things will be coming home with your child.

1. Montana History Project list and requirements. Your child will need to select ONE project off the list, write it on the provided form, and return it to me by Wednesday. The projects will be due next Tuesday. Please encourage your child to begin this right away and NOT wait until the last minute. Students have a Montana History Book that can help them obtain research needed or may use the internet.

2. A work packet. The packet consists of a bunch of reading comprehension papers that I did not use over the past week or two. When doing these activities in class, I require them to hi-light where they find the answers in the text. This teaches them the strategy of looking back in the text for the answers. Use them if you want or how you want. You may want to use them over Thanksgiving break??

Have a GR-8 night!

Parent Homework!

Parent Homework: Email or handwrite me a note telling me how your child has changed already in my class. Due: This coming Friday. The ones I have already received are AWESOME and so fun to read!! Kids will earn $500.00 if you do this by the due date. Yay!

Family Fun Night

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Family Fun Night

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Owl Day Extravaganza Part Two...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Owl Day Extravaganza Part One...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Owls, Owls, Owls!

Guess who I spent my day with? Yep, that is correct: our good friends Mrs. Brucker and Jeff the Nature Guy! We had an absolute blast making a jeopardy game for you to play tomorrow during our owl day! And that was only one of the projects we worked on! Amazing!!!!

Thanks to Marley, Preston, Garret, and Arielle's moms for doing their parent homework. What homework?? Read yesterday's post! These have been awesome to read! Thanks for sharing!!!

See you tomorrow! Hoo Hoo!

Parent's have to do the homework tonight!

Hi! Permission slips should have come home tonight for our field trip this Friday. Please send them back TOMORROW. All students were able to buy into the field trip!!! Wow! What does that say about the entire class? Our character morning meetings are working.

Parent Homework: Earn your child $500 by emailing me how my class has impacted your child's life thus far in the 4th grade. Have you seen changes? Have you seen growth? Have you noticed anything in the character areas of responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, and/or caring? They came in as 3rd graders and are now acting more and more like 4th graders! Let me know! Thanks. My email is ericksont@billings.k12.mt.us. No email? Write me a letter. Let's make this assignment due by this Friday please. :0)

If you did not read yesterday's blog please do so as there was a lot of important information.

Lastly, please put Paige and her family in your thoughts/prayers as she lost someone special in her life this week. I will be thinking about you over the next few days. I am so sorry for your loss.

Have a great night!

Good Times Now and Ahead!

Did you notice that I changed the name of my blog? The name came to me because I truly believe that is what this tool is. It is a chance for you, the parent, to be a fly on your child's classroom wall. I am trying extremely hard to communicate their happenings in text and film. I truly appreciate all the positive feedback I am getting about how you love it!!

This Friday there is a FREE family fun night. Mr. Ness and PTA has created a night of fun for the entire family. We are talking disco-bowling, volleyball, hula hoops, scoops, fox-tails, jump ropes all over the school! When was the last time you hula hooped? And, I promise I will be there with my camera to catch the footage to share with all!!!! :0) I see big laughs and memories being made. There will also be a bake sale to support our Kindergarten classes. But that is not all, rumor has it the Crime Stoppers Dog will be on site. Is your child's bike registered? Do you have a kid ID package filled out? This is the night to get all this taken care of! Hope to see all of you there, and yes this is worth the $500 free dollars for your child if you come spend some quality time TOGETHER! Kids will not earn money if they come with a friend or by themselves, hense the Family Fun Night!

I gotta tell you I loved reading most of the journal entries that came back from last night. You have some pretty creative scientists! Two of my favorites were the poisonous new bug species that is going to be discovered by Miss. Natalie and the meals in a pill discovered by Miss. Abby! Fun reads and I can't wait to read the rest. I hope that you are having them read aloud to you too so you can enjoy the stories.

Math change! You might have noticed I am not having the kids keep their quizzes in their notebooks anymore. So, two quizzes should have come home today for your review. Now, that it is quarter 2 the math redos are also going away. By the time a child takes a quiz I have done at least three examples in the teaching lesson, they have done at least 5-10 practice problems with my help if they choose or on their own, seen all of those problems worked out together step-by-step in class the next day, and asked if they have any questions or want to see more examples of any concepts. So, I now believe that students should know the concept on the quiz and when they turn in their quiz it is the best they can do. I will continue to go over D and F quizzes with students either whole group or individually, but they will not get the opportunity to redo a quiz. You may want to go over any problems that come home that are marked incorrectly as well. Or, make up some similar problems to further their understanding. Tomorrow, you will see their Expanded Form quiz come home. This was an extremely difficult concept so I graded them but did NOT record the grade. We will be going over the entire quiz tomorrow as well.

Friday we will be taking a bus to Burlington School on the West End. We have been reading the book Owls in the Family together. Now that we have finished the book, we are going to have a wrap up day with tons of owl activities! Students will need to pay $1000 fake dollars to attend this trip. Read 180 and Language Kids will also be invited to go with us. We will be gone the entire day. Students that can't afford to go will have an alternative placement for the day. I will be gone this Thursday so I will be collecting the money tomorrow from the students. We are having free pizza and pop that day so students do NOT need to pack a lunch on Friday. Fun!!

I believe that is all for tonight. Have a good one!

Introduction of Isaac Newton and our Force and Motion Unit

Today we were able to join up with Mrs. Hankin's class for science. We presented the fact that a scientist/mathematician, Isaac Newton, discovered the three laws of motion that we are going to study in depth over the next few weeks. So, we wanted to know what they knew about Newton...like what did this man even look like? Here are just some of the results to that question. This was a fantastic lead in to some great discussions. Tomorrow, we will again join Mrs. Hankin's class to take a deeper look into Law One.

You may have noticed the first writing prompt off to the side of this post. Students were told today that they need to write in 4th grade quality and at least a half page entry in their language notebook everyday. If students do not have a language notebook we discussed possible solutions they could go to until a notebook is obtained. Students were also told that their notebooks would be checked daily for completion. I will be collecting each student's notebook at least once a week for further grading. There will be a writing grade on the next report card. A large percentage of that grade will be for participating in the writing prompt nightly. Students also record the prompt in their planner daily now. So what does 4th grade quality work look like? According to your children it is:

1. Proper capitalization of proper nouns.

2. Proper capitalization of the next word after a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

3. Proper use of commas, ending punctuation, and apostrophes

4. Spaces in between their words

5. Done in their best handwriting: cursive or print.

6. Details, details, details. The teacher cannot read our minds.

Please have your child read aloud their writing entry to you nightly. When they do this, they often catch grammar mistakes quickly. Feel free to edit their entries and have them make corrections. This is a home-school connection and all the feedback they can get will make them better writers. Thanks to all the parents that emailed or wrote comments of thanks for doing this assignment. It matters to me that it matters to you!

Wow Wow Wubsy!!!

So, here is a new little technical tool I was taught the other day. I am actually using the elmo and projector that our awesome PTA bought us last year. All I am doing is recording what I am teaching on the screen to my computer and them walla I have a video for you, the parents, to watch. So, why would I do this? Well, because I believe that when it comes to math, you just might hear the phrase "But mom/dad that is not the way Ms. Erickson taught us to do it." Well now, you can go watch exactly how I did it and make up other problems similar to it for your child to practice at home. Holy Cow Batman!!! Is this cool or what?? I will not do this every day, but on the concepts I believe to be tricky I will post the explanation. Nice!

At conferences, there was a request to put the Read 180 spelling words on my blog. I said that is great! I will start next week. Any other suggestions? Let me know!

Have a super OUTSIDE weekend, and please continue to practice those multiplication facts 0-4 this weekend. There are a million games online that help with this. There is also a ton on the Bitterroot Web Page, which is under my favorite links. Just click on learning links and go to math. What a great fun activity for the car too? Enjoy being a family! You are all awesome!

Wow!!! I just noticed that this is my 80th blog post thus far! Now that is a lot of communication! The BEST part is hearing you parents rave about it at conferences!! Fun to hear and man does it motivate me to do even more!

Speaking of doing more, I am adding two new gadgets to the blog this weekend. There will be a writing topic of the day. This will be a question that ALL students need to write about nightly. It must be a half of a page in length daily, and written in 4th grade quality work. It will be checked daily and recorded for completion. You will see a writing grade on their next report card. The other new gadget will be a trivia question worth money daily. This question will require some research in books, encyclopedias, or googling! Kids can use computers before school instead of walking outside if they do not have working computers at home. Answers that match mine will be worth $20 a day! Students need to write the answer in their planner daily. Oral or other communication devises will be corrected but not rewarded with money. Fun!!!!

Wednesday!

Well hello there! It was GREAT to see some of you today and just talk. I so, so appreciate that we are all on the same page and team. It makes life easier for all of us, but even more than that it makes success unavoidable for your kids!

In math, your child is learning two concepts at once! We are reviewing our basic multiplication facts (0-4 right now) and the concepts of time. Your child will need their basic math facts memorized ASAP. Last year, they learned the reasoning and meaning behind them. Now, they need to just memorize them. When I say memorize, I mean they need to know them like they know their name: instantly. Multiplication will be a skill that will continue to build. Not knowing the basic facts will make for long frustrating work ahead. So, please get those flashcards or computer games going!! Also, if you EVER have time between 8:30 and 8:45 and could come in and help test kids please just show up and I will put you to work!! Seriously! Thanks!

We are working hard on our Montana History lessons in S.S. Next week, you will be seeing their final project pick list come home (similar to science). Students will need to select one project to complete and share. We will be learning from them!!!

Next week, we will be partnering up with Mrs. Hankin's class to begin our Force and Motion unit in science. Can you say/think raw eggs flying though the air. Oh yeah!!!

Have a good night!

Conferences!!

Hi! Conferences start today at 12:40. I can't wait to just sit and listen/talk about your kiddos. They really are a great group of kids. 4th grade is always tough for students, parents, and teachers because it is such a huge transition from 3rd grade. Luckily, we have all survived to see that all really does settle down, and the focus can become more on academics rather than behaviors and routines and procedures. Yay! Here is the conference schedule. If the time given does not work out, please call the office to reschedule. Also, as you can see, the schedule is packed tight. Please be on time, and know that we need to end on time as well. See you later today!!

Today: Nov. 4th

12:40-1:00 Kaleb
1:00-1:20 Paige
1:20-1:40 Preston
1:40-2:00 Jacob
2:00-2:20 Maddie
2:20-2:40 Jasa
2:40-3:00 Garret
3:00-3:20 Hanna
3:20-3:40 Jewel
3:40-4:00 Logan
4:00-4:30 Seth

Monday!

New Calendar came home today. Please take it out of the take home folder and mark your calendar at home. Please note that the Billings Gazette had this weeks dates/times wrong. We are in school a full day tomorrow, and half day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Kids get out at noon.

Sending thoughts of getting better to Jasa, Abby, Skyler, Kaleb, and Marley!! Class is just not the same without you! Hope you are back tomorrow!

Have a great night!

Star of the Week and Harvest Party

Trick or Eat...Yep!

Wow, wow, wow! I was so proud to drop off all of the food you collected! We helped a ton of people by doing this! So proud!

Red Ribbon Week!