We started the day off with Rusty's lesson. Today, he talked about the connection of making responsible choices and being a person of trust with the fact that we may lose our freedom to do fun things or have things we like at school or at home, and even later in life. I asked the kids if they liked to do this or that. They would raise their hands yes. Then I said that I was now going to step into their parent's shoes and take it all away. WHAT!!!!! NOOOOO!!! they said. I shared with them that in life, if we want to have fun and have things we like then we need to make responsible choices and be trustworthy people. When we don't or aren't then our freedom and things start to disappear. I lastly connected this to school. If kids want to do fun extra activities or have fun extra things they have to buy in with their money. If they are irresponsible or dishonest, then they lose the money that they need to buy into these things. We ended with me saying, "Ah man, Ms. Erickson is teaching us one of those life lessons again!" Yeppers!
After CC meeting, we did our final Snow-ology lesson. It was a COLD science lab! Kids had to go out and fill up their jars with snow to the top and pack it down. Then we came in and took the temperature of the snow and measured the height of the snow to the nearest centimeter. We also took note of it's physical characteristics and any signs of pollution we saw. I then asked kids to hypothesize on three questions. 1. With the temperature of the liquid snow go up, down, or stay the same as the solid snow? 2. Will the height go up, down, or stay the same? and 3. Is it easier to see signs of pollution in solid snow or liquid snow? Then, we sat the jars on our desks and let them melt naturally. Kids recorded the time that their snow all became a liquid. They then recorded their second set of data: temperature, height, characteristics, and pollution signs. We then discussed the outcome of the three questions I asked and why the answers were the way they were. Great lesson with TONS of scientific vocabulary and lab skills going on.
In Montana History, we continued our journey up the Lewis and Clark trail. We are really starting to understand that life back then was very different then life now. I am also trying to establish a sense of empathy in the kids regarding what it would be like to be doing this adventure as a white explorer, a black slave, and as a Native American. I really want to present this from all sides. We had a class debate the other day, and it was very interesting to just sit and listen to where the kids stand on these issues. The topic of the debate was: Should this expedition have even taken place? Many kids thought about that question from a Native perspective and the consequences it had. Others thought that they might not have even been born had it not happened. Others thought that Montana might not have been their home without it. All great perspectives! We stressed that everyone has a right to their opinion and to share the evidence they have to support it. :0) And the kids think that we only have CC Meeting once a day on the carpet???? Nope!
Tomorrow is Friday. That means we get to have some fun the last half hour of the day. Kids may bring in their electronic toys tomorrow. A big thank you to Collin for mentioning that he just got the newest I-phone and wanted to bring it to class. Well, he said that it has been delivered and he is ready to show it. So, kids may bring in any type of electronic devise to play with during our Fun Friday time. The buy in, as always, is $100. I will offer a $300 buy in to use it all throughout the day when I am not teaching directly. Kids bring them at their own risk.
Tomorrow is also Hats for Hope day again. Please encourage your child to wear their favorite hat all day long for just 50 cents. Remember, all money goes to Bitterroot families in need.
Tomorrow is also the last day to pay for the Operation Cookie Drop. I will mail the letters and the money out tomorrow afternoon. I have reserved a box for each kiddo and each kiddo has a letter ready to send. So, please send in the $3.50 tomorrow if still need to. Here are the kids that still need to bring it in: Evan, Collin, Alyssa, Robby, McKenzy, Tyson, Sebastian, and Cameron. Thanks so much.
Tomorrow, we will make the snow globes. They will come home, along with the Biography boards. Kids are excited, excited, excited to do those snow globes!
Lastly, I love that so many of you took the time to relax last night. Was it relaxing???? Tonight's homework is a little odd. It is two printing handwriting sheets. Why in the world are we doing small and capital p practice sheets in the 4th grade? That is a very, very good question. Your kids have the answer for you. Just ask them. If they can tell you why, and you understand it, then write the word HANDWRITING in the planner for $20 tomorrow. Let's go 4th graders! Best work every single day!
Have a lovely night with your amazing kid!
