Snow? What? It's October

Let it snow! Well my request for better weather did not come thru. This weather is supposed to last throughout the week. Students need to wear warm clothes, boots, hats and gloves. It is not sweatshirt weather anymore. If students do not wear a coat they will be asked to stay inside for recess and walk the halls for their exercise. Please help students remember to dress warm in the morning.

Fitness club will not meet in heavy rain or if there is snow on the ground. Sorry. I am just as bummed as the kids!

We tried to name all fifty states today in class without looking at a map. By the end of the day they had 48. They were missing Maryland and New Jersey. Very good for day one.

Kids also need to start to remember and be able to locate all seven reservations in Montana. Maps can be found online to practice at home. This will be on the final Montana History Test.

Have a great night!

Jeff the Nature Guy from Redlodge!

Find Out Friday!

It is Friday!! Can you say cold, rain, freezing wind, sun, warm, CRAZY!!! I hope the weather makes up its mind next week.

As you can see in the picture, today in reading class we used a computer program called inspiration. This program is one that allows kids to brainstorm and organize information in an organized way. So, today we watched a youtube of Jeff the Nature Guy from the Redlodge Beartooth Nature Center and collected facts about the Great Horned Owl. Then we put those facts under the categories we had previously brainstormed together. Then we began to add pictures to our webs. Next Tuesday, during Reading class, Jeff will be oovooing in to talk to our class along with our Burlington School Buddy class across town. He will be giving us more details to add to our webs. Fun!! I have posted the video we watched today above.

Fitness club starts Monday after school. Since I am one of the directors this might mean that the blog is not updated until after four but still before five. I am really going to try to update before school gets out though. We will be running/walking our two miles come rain or shine, and it is only supposed to be in the high thirties on Monday so dress warm kids!! Students may bring their I-pods to listen to while running but them MUST stay in their bags until fitness club. Remember, if picking up kids you need to be in the parking lot at 3:45. Thanks!

Ms. Hankins and I are starting to plan our events for Drug Free Week. It is the last week of October. We will be having guest speakers daily that week and we will end our unit by taking a trip to the Yellowstone Detention Center on October 30th. This field trip will have no cost real or fake money. Thanks to the PTA for paying for our bus! I have one chaperone already, but I would love to have one or two more. Kids are split up into groups and need adults that are as strict as I am with making Bitterroot proud with our excellent behavior and mannered kids. If this is you, shoot me an email or note in the planner. Any and all parents are invited to meet at the jail to join in on the tour with your child. It truly is an eye opener to the kids to see how life with drugs just continues down a road of bad choices, not bad people.

Next week we will also continue our journey back in time to see how Montana became the state it is today. We will be talking about the 7 Indian reservations and tribes found in Montana, and taking an in depth look at the Battle at Little Big Horn. Very interesting! We will conclude the week by having a guest speaker about the Montana tribes and some traditional Native American games. You know I will be filming those for you!

Next week in science you will be seeing a list of options come home. Students will need to select two of the options or make one of their own to complete and share with the class. This will end our unit on weather. I am hoping for a field trip to the weather station, but nothing is finalized quite yet! Keeping our fingers crossed. If all works out we will take the Met bus and possibly have lunch at Fuddruckers and also visit the National Weather Station to learn a little more about Earthquakes and Hurricanes. We shall see!

Well, have a wonderful weekend! Don't forget to sell, sell, sell those Believe items. PTA is awesome to us and I hope to help them to help us! See ya in two day! Peace!

Hey There!

Hi! Boy is life busy or is it just me?

The Believe Fundraiser is coming home today! BELIEVE oh my! My favorite word in the entire English language. So, lets get out there and hit all the people we know in order to support our school. This is the biggest PTA fundraiser at our school and ALL profits will go towards buying a third computer lab and you know I am all over that! Please make sure that students sell safe. Avoid door to door sales and feel free to take the packet to work. When my daughter did this last week for Miles Ave. it was helpful to have more than one catalog to pass so ask PTA or the office if you feel this way too. An extra incentive: students will earn $50 fake dollars from me for each item sold. They will get paid when they turn in their packet. On a final thought, think Christmas and think ahead. Sell, sell, sell and thanks!

There is an October calendar of upcoming events is also in your child's take home folder. This needs to stay in the folder. We will be adding events as they come up. Feel free to make a copy for your fridge, but return to their folder soon! Thanks!

On a final note, I just want to say thanks to all the parents that have been communicating with me on a daily, weekly, every now and then basis. I love that we are building this bridge.

Have a great night!

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)