Concert Tomorrow: 1:30 in the Gym

Hi. What a crazy weather day. Snow one minute, sunshine the next. Gotta love that Montana weather.

Tomorrow is the recorder concert. I have put the link to watch it live from home or office or wherever you might be with internet access. All you have to do is click on the link that says Recorder Concert Live and it will go right to my ustream channel. If you don't see anything, it may be too early. The concert begins at 1:30. If you can't do the live version, you can always watch it later in the same place as I will record it. Just go off to the right and select the one that says Recorder Concert Live 2013. I hope all of you can join us in the gym, but if not here is an alternative. :0)

Students that dress the part tomorrow (Sunday Best) will earn $100. That means hair brushed and clean, nice clothes on. I need to be able to tell they made an effort to look better than their normal dress. I know Mr. Goodheart will appreciate it. :0)

This morning I shared a hidden talent that I discovered of my son a few days ago. He is an amazing little drummer by ear!  I asked if your child has a hidden talent. We will showcase those talents in our classroom talent show next Thursday. They need to sign up by this Thursday. They can do any school appropriate talent. This is completely optional.

The trip to the Grewell Ranch will be on Tuesday, May 21st. We will be gone all day. We will serve a hotdog branding lunch with lots of fixings! If your child doesn't like hotdogs then they will need to pack a lunch. Students will need to have permission and buy in for $500. Most already have. :0)

I soooooo enjoyed reading and sharing your parent homework this morning in reading class. Thanks so much for doing that. What a fun way to connect to their new novel. We read Ch. 1 today. Charlotte won the horse race against all the boys. Yay girls!!! Her horse is not sick however, and somebody is getting adopted soon. They had a great time predicting whom it would be. Read 180 and Learning Center kiddos are also reading this book as it is a lot of the Ranch field trip. Awesome!

We wrapped up our Hands On Equations in math. We ended on a 9th grade level and the kids wanted more. They were rockin it. We were balancing equations with legal moves and taking out values of zero. Say what??? Yep. They were super advanced. Ask them about it and if they enjoyed being challenged. If they share with you, write EQUATIONS in the planner for $20.

Well, that about sums up our day. Have a great night!

Field Trip Moved To Next Monday!

Hi there. It was a busy day today in E4.

First and very importantly, a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Gleason for organizing the amazingly fun STEM science night last Friday. The kids had GREAT things to say about it today in CC Meeting! Thanks for all that you did. I know that you put in a TON of time!

Secondly, and almost equally important, we changed the field trip to Zoo Montana from tomorrow to next Monday. The weather is not supposed to be very outdoor friendly tomorrow, and our good friend Jeff the Zoo Guy had an important meeting come up that would have stole him away from us for part of the day. He is soooooo awesome at making all that we do come to life so we agreed to switch to a better day for all. So, we will hop on the bus next Monday instead. A new field trip slip went home today. If your child was not able to attend due to the lack of your or my permission, then I did NOT send home a new slip. We will be in school tomorrow for a regular day. Please still pack your child's lunch tomorrow, as our cafeteria did not plan on us eating in there when ordering food for the week. Those that ordered a lunch, they will have food for you! Thanks!

We have some movies coming up in class for many different reasons. Would you be willing to send in a snack that we could use to allow kids to buy like a movie theater concession stand? Candy bars, pop (cans only), chips, popcorn, fruit snacks or roll ups, juice boxes/bags, homemade treats, store bought cookies (no cupcakes please), or whatever kids like these days??? If you do, I will pay your child $50. This is always a fun way for them to spend their hard earned cash. I wish I could do it for them, but we have depleated our 4th grade funds for field trips and busses. Thanks for you help. We will not need them until at least next week. Send them in anytime. :0)

We finished our Owls in the Family book today. The kids came up with quite the list of facts about the Great Horned Owl. They will get to see one and dissect an owl pellet on our zoo field trip. Awesome! Tonight's homework is to pick a character from the story and to write them a letter. Their letter needs to have correct punctuation, capitalization, and show evidence from the story. I gave them ideas in class today. They also must use a heading, greeting, body paragraph(s), a closing, and a signature. They HAVE to have at least 5 topics from the story. They are NOT to tell the character what they learned, but rather interact with the character in a conversation as if they character would write them back. There is no size limit. It just needs to fit the above criteria.

We took our 50 states and capitals PREtest today. We will grade it tomorrow. This allows kids to bring it home and study the ones that they have forgotten. They will have all the right answers when they leave. I suggest that they make flashcards for the states and capitals that they struggle on, and I also suggest that they play the state location games off to the right. If you have a US puzzle at home that would be a good idea too. I know the dollar store has them for a buck. Might be worth it. Our test will be in a couple of weeks. I will announce the actual date when it comes closer. Ask your child how this went for them. If they share, write MAP in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

Kids in my spelling class took test 7 today. They are coming home with their corrected tests to study tonight.

Thank you to those that have written your end of the year letter! I love the feedback. Please send them in at any time.

Lastly, if your child is in my reading class, then YOU have homework tonight! Yes, YOU!!! :0) We started a new novel today in reading class. It is called Riding Freedom. The main character is Charlotte. Today, the kids learned about what she was like as a baby up thru the age of 2. They have a slip for you to fill out. The directions are on the sheet. This will be worth a grade, and kids need to be able to share their connections tomorrow in class. This helps us compare and contrast with stories. Thanks for your willingness to share.

Well, that about says it all. Have a super night. It is going to be cold tomorrow, so please remind your responsible child to dress for the weather. :0) Thanks.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Customize your own free photo slideshow

Hi there. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, and enjoying the finally spring weather! I heard a rumor that snow is not out of our sight quite yet, and that there is a possibility of it on Tuesday. I hope not. That is our zoo field trip day.

This Wednesday is our recorder concert. Mr. Goodheart has done such a great job preparing these kiddos for this. If you are unable to attend watch for online LIVE link information coming home on Monday. The link will be off to the right under Ms. Erickson's Favorite Websites. The concert is at 1:30 in the gym. Come early for a great seat! It will last about 20-30 minutes. Ask your child what their favorite song is that they will be playing for you. If they tell you, write it in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

Friday was STEM science night. I heard it was fun, fun, fun! I was sorry that I was unable to make it after all. If your child attended with an adult please write STEM in the planner for their $300 reward.

Don't forget that I am offering the $500 reward for the end of the year letter to me. This letter should tell me what worked for you and your child, what didn't work, how your child changed while in my class, the amount of communication with you, and things you have noticed that have applied at home as well as school. I love this feedback, and it helps me become a better teacher for the following year. Just send it in with your kiddo or mail it to Bitterroot. I would love these anytime before the end of the year. Thanks in advance!

Sebastian was our star of the week last week. He was the last one. He shared so many fun pictures of him and his family growing up. Such a cute little baby! He also shared some of his skateboarding skills, which were really amazing. What a talented kiddo. The video is in the smilebox above.

Next week is a short week. There is no school on Friday due to the district music festival. Monday thru Thursday though will be packed with everyday learning. We will start our new and last novel in reading to prepare us for the Grewell Ranch field trip. We will also hit MT History hard again. We will see how Montana started to become an organized and legal state when the gold rush settled in. Then, the farmers and ranchers come next. Busy, busy!

Lastly, it was time for our monthly Purple Hand Cookie Nominations and awards. There were some good ones this time. Natalie and Alyssa were nominated by Kenzi for coming over to her when they noticed that she was sitting along the wall alone at recess. It made her feel wonderful to be noticed and seeked out. Awesome girls! Daniel was nominated by Olivia for inviting her to play a really fun game with him at recess. Well done Daniel! Chloe was nominated by Alexis. Alexis did not have a white board marker and needed one. Chloe happened to notice this and realized that she had extras that she wouldn't need before the year ended. So, she gave one to Alexis without even being asked. What a kind heart you have Chloe. Lastly, Austin was nominated by Alyssa for showing a huge change in his attitude lately. He has been working hard to let things go and be more positive. Many other students also had nice things to say about all the changes they have seen in Austin this month. Austin took home the cookie, and it was well deserved! Way to go buddy!

Well, have a wonderful Sunday.

Have You Mailed In Your Vote?

Hi there. What a beautiful day!

I was out this morning watching my little Emma's music concert, so the kids had a sub. She was sooooooooo impressed with the amount of respect shown to her, for me, and for each other. I mean she was really impressed. That warmed my teaching heart. Love that they love to make themselves proud!

A special thank you has to be given to Miss. Olivia. She ran our morning meeting (and even took away a letter for the class talking. Yay!!! A miniature Ms. Erickson!). She also gave the spelling test. The sub she did a great job and she will be a great future teacher if she ever decides too. Thank you so much Olivia! I am proud of you. I am also proud of the class for respecting her.

We finished up our worm unit today. We only have a few questions left to answer. If you or your child has time to google them I would be willing to give a $100 reward for the answers. Here are the questions we still have left:

1. Why do they call worms worms?
2. Do worms have a brain?
3. Do worms have a special communication system they use to talk with each other?
4. Why do they have segments?
5. What does the inside of a worm look like (If you want to open one up and pin it down so we can all look at it that would be awesome, but I just can't be the one to do it!!!) I will double the money on this one!

If we can't find the answers we will ask Jeff when we go to the zoo next Tuesday.

Don't forget that the recorder concert is next Wednesday at 1:30 in the gym. I will also be recording it and streaming it live from my ustream channel. I will send info home on how to do that next week. I know that sometimes it is impossible to get off work. At least this way, you could tune in from work and watch the concert from your office. :0) They sure have worked hard, and I know that they always love looking out and seeing family supporting them.

As the year comes to a close next month, I always ask for feedback from parents. I love to hear what your kiddo learned, what you liked, what you think was not as effective, how well I communicated with you throughout the year, and changes you noticed at home within your child while they were in my class. If you could write me a letter before the year ends letting me know these things I would so appreciate it. I read them and reflect on them before the next year starts. Because this is so important to me, if you write me a letter sharing your thoughts and reflections, your child will earn $500. That is a whole field trip! You can just send them with your child or mail them to the school at 1801 Bench Blvd, 59105. Thanks in advance!

Lastly, the ballots are out. Have you voted yet? If you have mailed in your ballot for the school levy, please write I VOTED in the planner for $100.

Have a wonderful night!

Rodeo Up!

Hello there. What a great comeback today was. Busy and back in action! I just love the 4th grade, and daily I remind myself how very lucky I am to be blessed with a job that I enjoy. Kids are great, great, great!

Today is the bike rodeo. It is spring time, and that means bike riding! Hopefully, your child was able to come on over, get some bike exercise, and get their bike tuned up if needed. This is perfect timing as we will need to be all tuned up and ready to go for our last day bike ride to the park.  I am sorry that I didn't get the word out a little better on this one. I was out when all the explaining went home. Those that did attend may earn $300 tomorrow however. We love when you guys participate in our school/home connections. Just write RODEO in the planner and I will pay them tomorrow. Please remind kiddos to always wear those helmets.

I allowed kiddos to buy into three more upcoming events today: Pompey's Pillar Field Trip $500, Grewell Ranch Field Trip $500, and Hawaii Fun Day $200. Many were able to buy in no problem. Save, save, save. Permission slips will come home in May.

Homework tonight is to study for spelling tests, read, and finish up those ecosystem adaptation packets for my reading class. Now that our reports are done, I will be giving regular nightly homework again. Yay!!!

In science today, we talked about Great Horned Owls. Ask your kiddo if they can tell you three really cool facts that they learned today regarding these awesome creatures! If they can write HOOT in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Back to Ms. Erickson Tomorrow!

Hello there. It was sooooo great to come to school today for the worm farm presentation. I sure have missed the kiddos! It was also fun for the class to be able to meet Beau. He wanted to go outside and play with them for recess but there just wasn't time. Next time. :0)

The presentation was very interesting. Who knew there was so many facts about worms? Like....what is a worm farmer actually called???? It stems from the word that means the study of worms. Say what??? Ask your child or google it, and write the name of it in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

Mr. Pertuit said the kids were just great! I am very proud of them. I did hear that they were so into their ecology reports that they forgot to do their spelling test and DOL today. Too funny! That is great that they were working that hard. No worries, there is always tomorrow. So....test tomorrow!

Well, that about says it all for today. More tomorrow when I know more. Have a great night!

Happy Earth Day!

Hi there. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! The Grewell ranch is LOVING this!

I spoke with Mr. Pertuit on Friday. He said the kids were GREAT and that they all were well behaved. I knew they could do it! Way to make yourselves proud kiddos! Now, let's keep it up. Mr. Pertuit will be there for the next two days as well.

Above you will see my little sister, Kristy, and I up in Red Lodge at her favorite spot. I sure do miss her a lot. Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow if you think about it. It will be a happy yet hard day for my family. She was and always will be my best friend. I will spend the day doing something that she loves. There is a reason that she was born on Earth Day. She LOVED saving the environment. So, as I am walking around tomorrow I will be collecting trash in her honor. I asked that the kiddos do the same as their homework tomorrow night. Take a look at your neighborhood, yard, kids bedroom, baseball field and see if there are things that can be thrown away, or better yet, recycled. She will be smiling down on us all if we do! Thanks!!!!

Kids will finish their ecosystem reports tomorrow. They have done a great job thus far. I am so proud to report that almost every single student scored a 100% on their states and capital's test. WOWZERS!!! We will have a test on all 50 before the end of the year. We will do a lot of reviewing at school, but the games on the blog would be a great way to study at home.

On Tuesday, the worm lady will be at Bitterroot. I can't wait to see all that she does, says, and brings. How cool is that!

I will not blog again until Tuesday night. Enjoy your next few days! Thanks for all that you do!

Thank You Mother Nature!

Hi there!!!

First and foremost tonight's homework! ALL student MUST play outside! :0) Finally, the cold has come and gone and we can play, play, play outside. So, out they go. That is their only homework besides to study for the spelling and states and capital's test for tomorrow. We reviewed both in class today.

The ecosystem dioramas were super neat! It was fun to have the kids compare theirs to a different ecosystem of a friend. There was a TON of 4th grade effort shown. I am proud to display them in the hallway. We will rap up the reports early next week.

I am out tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. Mr. Pertuit will be here. There will be a blog post on Sunday. I told kiddos to be the best THEM while I am gone, and to make THEMSELVES proud. I know they will be great!

Have a wonderful night, weekend, and next few days.

Dioramas Due Tomorrow!

Hi there.

Wednesday was a great day. I am impressed how well the class has been keeping their letters as a class. We have yet to have to run any laps. Good thing too, as one minute our field is dry and the next is snowy and wet. Loving this weather though as a rancher. Man, we need all of this moisture and more.

Today we had a guest speaker in class. Julie was from NorthWest Energy. She came in and talked to the class about being careful around electricity found in power lines, lightning, and outlets in our homes. Kids also learned that when their family is going to do a project that requires them to dig they should dial a specific number to have someone come out and mark lines BEFORE digging. Ask your child what that number is. If they can share that with you, write it in the planner for $20. They also learned how to escape a car that has a power line down on it or around it. Have them show you this (like get up and show you show you). If they do, write the verb that they are doing when getting out of the car in the planner for another $20.

Due to the guest speaker, we only had time to take our spelling test. Therefore, there are no words to study tonight. We will take test 3, grade it tomorrow, and send it home tomorrow for study. Test 3 will be taken on Friday.

Dioramas are due tomorrow for my reading class. Please have kids bring them in, and they may bring them right down instead of taking them out to morning walk. We will enjoy looking at them and comparing our ecosystems with other group's ecosystem tomorrow. Our projects in class are coming right along. Hoping to finish those up in the next few days. When finished, they will be on display in the hallway.

I think that about does it. Have a great night!

Ecosystem CrAzY!!!!

Hello there.

Thanks for the speedy return of the permission slips to the zoo. Those that still need to, please do so as soon as you can. They are due no later than Friday.

As you can see our worm farm is still looking pretty active. I snapped a few shots this morning when I first came in. I meant to show the class these when we were doing science but I forgot. Please share them with them now. See how the worm is curled up in a spiral. Ask your child how this is possible for a worm to do. If they can tell you write the word invertebrate in the planner for $20. You can also see the other worm making a burrow (tunnel). Super, super cool. The kids have enjoyed just hanging out observing the farm each day.

As you can also see we were busy, busy, busy in reading class today. The ecosystem reports have begun. Today, we did our paper towel food chain. Kids had to start with a top predator and make their way down the chain to the producer. We also began to post our Wordles of our consumers, producers, and non-living objects. What is a wordle? Ask your kiddo!!! Tomorrow we will continue on with our predator/prey mystery doors and animal/plant adaptation wheels. They are starting to come together. Hopefully they will be done by Friday! Remember, those dioramas are due on Thursday. Some kids shared today that they have yet to start. This part is worth 25 of the 100 points. If they don't have one on Thursday they will be down to a C already. Yikes! Please encourage them to get going.

Full Credit Diorama Reminders:
*living plants AND animals (labeled)
*non-living objects
*Ecosystem name
*Student name
*Size of a shoebox at least
*Evident and obvious 4th grade effort

At the end of the day, we did a fun interdependence lab with Cheetos. I used them to demonstrate how a bee or butterfly helps a flower using pollination. Ask your child to share how this was done and what it means. If they can tell you, write the word Cheetos in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

We took our first Sitton Spelling test today. EVERYBODY passed!!!! I had a ton of hundreds. I think now they know that it is not as hard as they thought. They came home with Lesson 2 to study tonight.

States and Capitals test is this Friday.

Just a reminder that I will be gone this Friday for MT. History. I will also be gone on Monday and Tuesday of the next week. Monday is my little sister's birthday. She passed away almost two years ago and she was my best friend. It is just a day that I like to take and go up in the mountains to spend time with her. Her ashes were spread in Red Lodge. It is usually a rough day for me, and it is best that I am not at school that day. Tuesday, I have my little Beau's music program and then I am taking him to lunch for a little prince date with mom. We will be coming to school after lunch though to hear the worm lady's presentation and for the kids to meet Beau. I always talk about them, but they have yet to meet him. :0) Mr. Pertuit will be their sub all three days. He was their sub for PE/HE when Mrs. Buss had her baby. They love him, and they will for sure not miss me one bit with him in the house! Yay! I will blog on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday just like normal.

Mr. English mentioned a bike rodeo here at Bitterroot on April 24th today on Tuesday News Day. I am guessing there will be more information being sent home. I will let you know when I know! I am sure it will be a lot of fun! He even mentioned giving away a couple of bikes. Wowzers! More information to come.

Don't forget to mark those calendars for our STEM Science night here at Bitterroot on April 26th. There will be many fun stations for your kiddos to go through and participate in all sorts of science labs. I can't wait to do this!!!! Many of the kids in here are helping out at a station as well. If that is your kiddo, you have already received a permission slip from Mrs. Gleason earlier this week.

Well, that about covers it. Have a wonderful night!

Did You See the Grade Report???

Hi there. It seems we have a local celebrity in our class. Miss. Olivia was in the Billings Gazette. She was spotted having a great time at Chicks In Science this weekend. Awesome fun times!!!!

Today was a busy day. We started out with PE/Health. Kids are learning about illegal drugs there. This should be a review for these kiddos as we hit that pretty hard way back in Red Ribbon Week.

In CC, we continued on with our Owl story. However, we got so into watching a text to text connection (movie) that we didn't quite get to read today's chapter. I blame the boys. They wanted to watch, watch, watch. Well....ok....so did I. LOVE the movie Sandlot. It was a great connection of how kids come up with solutions to their problems. We will find out how Billy and Bruce solve their owl problem tomorrow.

In Language Arts, we spent the entire 90 minutes on the computers. Kids found their food chain pictures, captured them, and slid them into a word document. They did awesome!!!! What great listeners I had this morning. We then moved onto making 5 wordles, capturing them, and sliding them into the same word document. Then we emailed them all to Ms. Erickson and printed them out on the color printer! Now, we have them ready for tomorrow's fun. Let the posters begin!

We took our first spelling test today. Kids have their corrected one with them to study tonight. Please spend some time with kiddos on this one. It is very different then they are used to, so they will be nervous. Really help them understand when to use which homophone by having discussions about which word to use. Today had its, it's, their, there, they're, and which. They will take test one for a grade, and test 2 for a study guide for tomorrow night.

We took some time to study our states and capitals of the Western states. The test will be on Friday. It will be the same format as always.

Permission slips came home today for the zoo field trip. If I marked that your child does not have my permission to attend then they will NOT be going. Their behavior choices need to change. Hopefully they may join us on the next one. If I marked this, you have heard from me in the past and/or had comments on the report card pertaining to behavior issues. Choices....consequences. If I didn't mark it, then they have my permission to go and I am soooooo proud of their 4th grade choices in class! Please return slips as soon as tomorrow, or as late as Friday. There is no real money cost for this trip.

We ended the day by finishing up our Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer story. Did she win the blue ribbon at the fair? Ask your kiddo and have them retell you the story. If they can, write FINN in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

I did send home grade reports last Friday with the kiddos. I wanted them to see their grades thus far. There are no missing assignments at this time!!!! Yay!!! If you did not see it, please ask them for it. If you did see it, please write GRADE in the planner for another $20 tomorrow.

Thanks so much! Have a wonderful night.

Six More Weeks of Learning Fun!

Hi there. Happy Sunday! It feels weird to be typing this on a Sunday, as we haven't had Monday school in awhile. :0) Full week this week however! Well, at least for the kids. I will be gone on Friday for MT History class. Pretty excited about that!

Testing is DONE! We got all makeups done as well. Everyone is accounted for, and I could not be more proud! We finished off with our language tests on Friday. The scores were out of this world! It really is a reflection on how much the kiddos have learned in one year, and in turn that is a reflection upon me. I honestly do put in a lot of work and planning into your child's education and it looks as if it payed off. Of course it also takes YOU! Your support, encouragement, and discipline at home plays a HUGE factor at school. I appreciate all that you do. Looks like we can all pat ourselves on the back and say JOB WELL DONE! Ask your child how they did on their language test. They needed a 6 point growth and to top out at 207 to be on level and ready for the 5th grade. Again, I am soooooo proud of every single one of my students!

Now that testing is behind us, we can do a little more hands on and different types of learning. We will stop using the regular spelling book and go into a program called Sitton Spelling. This program is designed for kids to spell and use every day words. It takes a bank of frequently used words and puts them into short passages. Many of these words are homophones and contractions. Students need to determine which form of a word to use depending on the context around it. They also need to know when to use a capital and a lower case letter depending on if the word is in the beginning of the sentence, middle, or end. I give the students the passage and it has blanks in it. I then read it aloud to them filling in the blanks as I go. Students need to be able to fill in the words, spell them correctly, and determine capitalization rules quickly. These words are all every day words, and should be known by a 4th grader by now. Many have been our spelling words in previous lessons. Each passage will have words that repeat over and over again. On Monday, I will give the first test. We will then grade it (going over it in HUGE detail) and have it to take home and study. On Tuesday, I will give the same test for a grade. Students that miss one or two words will earn an A. Three to four wrong gets a B. Five wrong will earn a C. More than five wrong and the student will not have passed the test. It is VERY important that they study the words every other night. They only get one chance to pass, and their grade earned is the grade earned. Again, these words are every day words, and should not need a lot of time to study. I have put the words for the first two units off to the right in case kids forget their paper at school. They won't have the context, but they can at least study the words. This is ONLY for my spelling class.

Hopefully my reading class started their ecosystem diorama project at home this weekend. I showed them mine at school the other day, and have posted a picture of it above. Mine was the desert ecosystem. We talked about my expectations. In order to earn full credit, kids need to include: living and nonliving things, producers and consumers (plants and animals), and label their ecosystem and living things. Their name also needs to be written clearly on the box somewhere. Students need to refrain from making things up, and stick to their text and ecosystem report worksheet. I met with each group and we went over each and every part of this sheet together. Students were told to bring home their book and their worksheet to use this weekend. They also HAVE to bring their sheets and books back tomorrow. Dioramas are due on Thursday. They must be at least the size of a shoebox. When I shared mine, I showed them that they can use anything and everything they have at home ALREADY. My supplies came for printed pictures off the internet, clay models, dirt and bushes from my backyard, and hand drawn objects on construction paper. Please don't feel like you have to buy anything for this project. They are ecosystems...that means the outdoor nature! Creativity goes a long way! If your child started or even finished their diorama, please write DIORAMA in the planner for $20 tomorrow. This is MY reading class only.

We started our Owls In the Family book in CC Meeting last week. It is FUNNY already. The class is really enjoying it. We have some fun activities planned to go with it here at school and at the zoo with Jeff on the 30th. Speaking of the 30th...we have good news on that! We are able to pay for the bus and the entrance fee for all kids. Yay!!! So, there will be no charge for the kiddos for this one. Our Pompey trip and the one to our ranch have been paid for by Indian Education for All. That is the organization that MT History was funded by and that Mrs. Hankins and I have been working with all year. They ROCK!!!! So, no charge for you there either! Wowzers!!!!! A HUGE thank you to them for that! All kids will need for all field trips is a sack lunch, $500 buy in, and permission from BOTH you and I. Remember, even if kids can buy in...I may not allow them to attend due to effort issues or classroom behavior choices. I will contact you well in advance if this is your child. Ask your child if they think that they deserve to go on zoo trip coming up. Have they been making positive choices and doing their best on every single assignment. Many, many, many of them can honestly say yes. Some however, need to pull it together. Spring has sprung and some think that school is out. Not quite yet!!!!

Well, that about sums it up. Other than above, it will be business as usual. I leave you with this question to ask your child, What would I find inside a worm's gizzard that helps it to grind up its food? Write the answer in the planner for $20 tomorrow. Have a super night!!!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Well, it was another great day in E4 land. Actually, it was a cartwheel down the hall day!!!!! I told kids that I have NEVER seen NWEA scores like the ones they did today!!! I am afraid the testing police are going to come arrest me and blame me for giving them the answers! They were THAT good. The expected growth for a 4th grader in math is 8 points. I had 15 students gain over 10, and 12 of those over 15!!!! Can you say.....OMG!!!! Ask your child what they scored today and what they started out with! These kids learned a TON this year in math! To be on level and ready for the 5th grade, students needed to be at least at a 211. Ask your child where they ended up. Next years teachers will use that data to determine how to help your child in the best possible way next year! I could not be MORE proud then I am right now! ONE PROUD TEACHER!!!! If your child is able to share with you about their scores, write the word PROUD in the planner for $100 tomorrow!

A big happy birthday to Ethan today! He brought some super yummy treats! He wanted everyone to get one, but unfortunately some kiddos again showed less than 4th grade choices so some went without. They sure were yummy though!!!!! Thanks Ethan!

We had a fun time with our 2nd grade buddies today. We wrote Cinquain poems about gummy worms. This was great practice for the 4th graders to learn how to write a Cinquian poem. They will be writing one about their real worms soon.

Well, I think that about does it. Thanks for all you do!!!!

Rocked the Reading Test!!

Hi there. Well, our first day of our very last 4th grade Standardized testing is done. Kids took their reading tests today. This morning I gave them their score from when they took this test at the beginning of the 4th grade. We set two goals.

1. To be on grade level and ready for the 5th grade students should score at least a 207 on this test.
2. To show adequate growth, students should gain at least 6 points to their beginning score no matter what level they are starting on.

NWEA/MAP tests are on each students individual level. As they take it on the computer, it challenges them at their level based on if they get a previous question correct or incorrect. The majority of students in this class are on grade level. Some are below, so hopefully they will make more growth then the 6 required. We want them to get back up to grade level. So for example, if a student is starting out with a score of 187 (below level) we would want them to gain the 20 points needed to bring them back to the 207 (on grade level) rather than just the six. On the other hand, some students are above grade level (like 7th or 8th grade level). It will be VERY difficult for them to grow the 6 needed points because they are sooooooo high already. The questions become VERY difficult on their level. Many times these kiddos only gain one or two points, and sometimes none. Hopefully, they don't go backwards. The bottom line however, is that they are doing great no matter what they score. They are still above grade level. SOOOOOOOO, ask your child what their starting score was today (post it note) and what they scored on the test. If they did their BEST, then they passed the test regardless of what the numbers say! :0) Remember, this is just a test. It does NOT define your child. They should and you should be proud that they honestly did their very best!

Spring pictures arrived today. Lifetouch trusts you to view your child's picture and decide if you want to purchase them. The price list is inside. You may buy the entire packet or just pieces. Whatever you DO NOT buy, needs to come back to school. Please do this by next Friday. Thanks.

A couple of dates for your calendars at home and/or at work:

April 23rd-Worm Lady Presentation
April 30-Field Trip to the Zoo
May1-4th Grade Recorder Concert
May 15-Field Trip to Pompey's Pillar
May 31-Last Day of School, Noon Dismissal, and 4th Grade Bike Trip to the Park

(Watch for more details to come)

I noticed that many of you didn't read the blog yesterday (no code word), so I have added the mill levy information from Dr. Bouck again. If you already read it, please feel free to read it again or skip it. If you have or are reading it now, please write LEVY in the planner for $50 tomorrow. Mail in ballots will be coming in a couple of weeks. Please Vote.

Elementary Technology Levy Fact Sheet:

Every Elementary and Middle School Classroom will have:
*A teacher desktop or laptop
*Wireless Internet Access
*Interactive Projector and/or Whiteboard
*Document Camera

Every Elementary Grade Level in Every Building will have:
*Mobile Learning Devices for Students
*Printer/Scanner
*Assessment Tools
*Classroom Response Systems (Clickers)

Bitterroot will receive $26,324.91 annually forever. The levy is permanent.

How much will the tech levy cost taxpayers?

$100,000 home: $0.84 a month/$10.08 a year
$200,000 home: $1.68 a month/$20.16 a year.

How much will the General Fund Levy (Used to Hire New Teachers) cost taxpayers?

$100,000 home: $0.71 a month/$8.55 a year

$200,000 home: $1.43 a month/$17.10 a year. 

Well, that about sums it up. Have a wonderful night! 

Upcoming Field Trip Information

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Well hello. Whew...what a day. Tuesdays are difficult because we have no specialists so it is go, go, go from beginning to end. Thanks for being patient with the blog post tonight.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun building our worm's home last Friday. Everyone got to help. Today, we took off the black surrounding paper and got to see all that they had done over the break. The worms were very busy. We could actually see the tunnels they had made, and were able to see a couple of worms in action. So, so cool. Tomorrow, we will start our fact list about worms and get down and dirty with the concepts.

In Lead 21, (Reading), we started our ecosystem projects. Kids read about their assigned ecosystems and completed their ecosystem guide. We will finish those up and discuss them in depth tomorrow. I want to make sure everyone has a solid grasp on their ecosystem happenings before we begin to create the actual reports. The entire report will be done at school, except for two parts. The first is the shoebox diorama of their ecosystem. Emma made mine this weekend, and I will share it with the class in depth. I will explain my expectations and all that they will need to score all their possible points in this area. The other part done at home is the Sally Ride Career figure. I will give the kids the paper doll, and they will need to create it into a person that resembles the one that they read about. They will need to add props, tools, and/or whatever else they want to add to make it resemble a person that would do the job they read about. All the jobs deal with careers found in ecosystem studies. Again, I will totally explain all expectations and show an example in class. I have not set a due date on these yet, and I DONT want kids to even start on them yet. The only thing I want them to start doing tonight is looking for a shoebox. They only need the bottom part. Please avoid using the ones with the attached wrap around lids. I know that Payless over by Walmart and Little Ceasers donates boxes to kids if you go in. I don't expect kids to start this part of the project until this coming weekend. They will have a least a week to work on them at home. Again, please don't start the projects until I have gone over them in depth in class.

In CC Meetings, we will add a new component to our lessons. I will be reading aloud the novel, Owls in the Family. It is a funny book about a family that adopts two owlets. What is an owlet you ask? Well if you find out and write what they are in the planner kids will earn $20 tomorrow. The owlets get into all sorts of trouble and fun adventures. We will tie this into our ecosystem studies and all the concepts that go with it. One of the components of study is predator/prey. What do owlets eat exactly? Well, one way to tell is to look at an owl cast. Owls eat their prey bones and all. They then later barf up a wad of fur and bones. We will have an opportunity to dissect those exact pellets and discover what our owlets ate. We will of course wear gloves and use sterilized casts from a respectable company. I haven't told you the BEST part yet though. We will be doing this at ZOO MONTANA!!!! Our good friend, Jeff the Zoo guy is hosting all Bitterroot 4th graders for a day at the zoo on April 30th. We will board the bus shortly after school starts, and spend the day being amazed by Jeff's fun, adventurous knowledge and activities. He ROCKS! We will spend all day there. Kids will need a packed lunch. Please watch for upcoming permission slips. The reason I am doing this during our CC Meeting is because I want all kids to go along, including those that leave my room for reading. If they don't hear the story, they will not understand the activities we do at the zoo with Jeff. Of course, the kids will need to buy into this super fun event. The buy in price will be $500. I also have a couple of kids that need to turn around their 4th grade behavior and/or effort before I give them the green light to join us (even if they can buy in). Those that don't put in the work or effort, will stay behind to redo their work instead of joining in on the hands on fun stuff! Let's go 4th graders! I want them all to be able to attend, but the choice is theirs. BELIEVE!!!!

Last week, all Bitterroot teachers went over to Beartooth Elementary for a second meeting with Super. Bouck. He discussed, once again, the important facts about the upcoming mail in ballot levies for school district 2. There will be two levies on the April ballot. One is to hire 15-18 new teachers to lower class sizes in the district. ALL dollars will be used for this purpose. Currently, 93 classrooms are above accreditation standards. Bitterroot has 3 overcrowded classrooms. The second one is a technology levy. This money would go to all district 2 schools to buy new technology for each classroom. Bitterroot would get over $20,000 to spend. Right now schools use their general funds to buy new equipment. As you know, in the past our amazing PTA has helped us buy our mobile mac laptops along with our school wide fundraisers. Please take a look at the posters on the front doors when you first walk in and the information below from Bouck's handouts for more concrete numbers and how Bitterroot will be effected by both levies. If you have any questions please feel free to text me them and I will find out the answers to them. You may also email Dr. Bouck directly at superintendent@billingsschools.org. Ballots come out in the mail later this month. Please vote.

Elementary Technology Levy Fact Sheet:

Every Elementary and Middle School Classroom will have:
*A teacher desktop or laptop
*Wireless Internet Access
*Interactive Projector and/or Whiteboard
*Document Camera

Every Elementary Grade Level in Every Building will have:
*Mobile Learning Devices for Students
*Printer/Scanner
*Assessment Tools
*Classroom Response Systems (Clickers)

Bitterroot will receive $26,324.91 annually forever. The levy is permanent.

How much will the tech levy cost taxpayers?

$100,000 home: $0.84 a month/$10.08 a year
$200,000 home: $1.68 a month/$20.16 a year.

How much will the General Fund Levy (Used to Hire New Teachers) cost taxpayers?

$100,000 home: $0.71 a month/$8.55 a year

$200,000 home: $1.43 a month/$17.10 a year. 

Well, I think that about sums it up. Have a wonderful evening.

Sorry. Today's blog will not be up until later tonight. I have a conference with my son's teacher right away after school. Check back later or in the morning. Thanks.

Testing this Week!

Hi there. I hope you enjoyed your day off. I was home sick today, so this is going to be a short post. I have tons to write, but will do it tomorrow when I KNOW I will be feeling better. Everyone else in my family has only had it for 24 hours, so I should be good to go. Am feeling better all ready.

We have NWEA/Map testing this week. This is the test that is on the computer and I get the results as soon as they finish it. This is the one they took in the beginning of the year and before the winter break. Now, we see just how much they really learned in the 4th grade. There are expected number of growth that we like to see. I know that they are all going to surpass those numbers. We will test W-F. Please make sure kiddos are going to be here. If you forsee an absence, please give me a heads up and I will have them make it up ASAP. Students may bring gum to chew if they want to.

Ask your kiddo about our worm home. If they can tell you how we made it, write WORM in the planner for $20.

Have a great night.

No Gray Hairs Today!

I LOVE new days!!!!What a difference a day makes. Kids were greeted with this sign when they first walked in this morning. It set the tone very quickly. The class was not its normal chat, chat, chat that it has been, but instead it was productive and quiet. Kids that talked to others were quickly fined $50. At CC meeting we talked about a new RECESS system. I write the word on the board each day, and when they transition if they are silent and respectful they keep their letters. If they are not, then I go erase one. If they don't have any letters left by recess time (morning or lunch or both) then instead of playing with friends, they spend the 15-20 minutes running laps to and from the fence. Today, they kept all their letters up until lunch. After lunch, a group of kids became silly when the elmo was turned on and cost the group a letter. They also lost another letter after that. So, because they lost the letters after lunch, they will start with that tomorrow morning. After lunch, all the letters go back up. (We don't have a recess after lunch). They are helping each other remember to stay focussed. It is day one, and I shared with them that this is a bad habit, and habits are hard to break. We will do this until I see a consistent change, and not just a honeymoon phase. I appreciate all of you for talking with your kiddos last night. It was a much better day. Ask your child how it went. If they can share some differences, write the word CHANGE in the planner for $20.

In CC Meeting, Rusty had a great, great lesson. He posed the question, Do you handle making mistakes like a diamond or like a lump of coal? We dissected what those looked like. My goodness was this an amazing discussion. Man, the kids really got into this one. Check out the poster above to see all the ideas they came up with. The next time they throw a temper-tantrum, just say to them, you are acting like a lump of coal! Awesome!!

Tomorrow is cake/cupcake day! Please bring in your baked goods on give away trays/plates in the morning or at the carnival. I am so proud of how many people are volunteering to help us out! That is awesome and so generous. Thank you.

Recorders are needed for tomorrow's music class.

Have a wonderful night!

Gray Hair, Here I Come!!!!

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Hi there. Boy was it a day!

The worms arrived and we did some very fun experiments with them. I wish I could say that they went well, but as a teacher it was kinda a flop. Not because of the content and educational value, but because of all the silliness, arguing, and whining. It was over the top. I honestly wish I could have just taken the ten that really wanted to learn from the fun aside and had a blast with them. I am soooooo tired of the silly antics, class clowns, and whine, whine, whine negative behavior. It literally drains all the energy out of me and makes me not enjoy my job as much. I shared this with the kids today, and told them that this kind of behavior has to stop RIGHT NOW! I am going to really start fining this behavior heavily starting first thing tomorrow morning. I will NOT take kids out in public on a field trip if they are going to argue over little things like who gets to hold the flashlight, or that someone is touching someone else's worm. The point is to observe and problem solve. I felt so bad for those that really wanted to learn. They kept trying to referee their groups, and the learning was lost.

Again, I beg you to go over my expectations of your child:

1. Sit in a chair for at least 15 minutes. (and I mean sit flat and still)
2. Don't get up and wander around the room while I am talking.
3. Don't talk when I am teaching.
4. Don't talk when you are supposed to be working.
5. Be kind to one another.
6. Encourage one another.
7. Have a positive attitude and only say positive things out loud.

If you discuss these once again, please write EXPECTATIONS in the planner. By the way, only PARENTS may write the code words in the planner. I will not pay for kids that write it in. The code words are meant for you to communicate to me that you are discussing important things to your kiddos. Thanks. $20.

Have a good night.

I Need Your Help!

Hi there. We had a very busy and a great first day back.

We started the day off with our CC Meeting. Today, Rusty asked us what the 7 dwarfs did while they worked. Of course the answer is whistle. We talked about how making things like homework and chores fun makes them easier. I shared with them how I used to play school with my homework. I would teach my "students" my homework problems and then write down the answer. I loved it! Some others shared how they made chores fun by making games out of it. Rusty is sooooo good at reminding us that if we just think a little, we can make the world a brighter place! Great message, and great way to start off a short week.

We started our worm unit today. Kids shared what they already knew and what they were wondering about worms. Ask your child what they shared. If they can tell you at least 2 things write WORM in the planner for $20 tomorrow.

I need your help. This coming Friday is the Bitterroot Carnival. 4th grade does the infamous cake walk.  We are always one of the favorites at the carnival. :0) We depend directly on you though! So, if you could make/buy a cake or do some fun cupcakes (6 to a plate) and donate them to our booth THIS Friday that would rock! Please wait until Friday to bring them. Kids may bring them directly to me on Friday morning or they can bring them to the carnival that night if they are planning to attend. The more creative the cake/cupcakes are the more people want to play. We have had hamburger cakes, lady bugs, clowns, and so on. The sky is the limit. When people win the cakes, they take it home with them, so please use dishes that you DON'T want back. I will pay kids $100 for each cake or plate of fun cupcakes. What a great way to earn money for out upcoming field trips, and all the money earned goes back into the 4th grade!!! If you think you can help by making something for us, please write CAKE in the planner so I can kinda get an idea. If not, write NO CAKE.  Thanks, thanks, thanks in advance! $20 if in planner.

I am also still in need of those paper towel rolls. I have a lot of toilet paper ones, but still send those in if you have them too. We need to be able to cut the rolls into different heights, so we need some taller ones (paper towel or wrapping paper). Thanks so much for sending those in. They are still worth $10 a piece. We won't do the project until next week.

Homework tonight is working with a line graph. The rest of the week, it will be decimals, fractions, and percents. Kids need to be able to look at one of these and create the other two quickly. We will get there. Testing is next week, so review, review, review is in order. :0)

Kids need their gym shoes and recorders tomorrow.

I think that is about it. Have a wonderful night! I hope to see both Alexis and Andrew at school tomorrow. We miss you!!!

Welcome Back!

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Well hello there! I gotta admit sitting down writing this is difficult, difficult, difficult. I LOVE my job and your kids, but I could use another 5 days off. I am just not ready to come back yet. We spent the day at Chico swimming and then eating pizza at our favorite...Rosa's Pizza in Livingston. What a great way to end the break, but tired!!! That water sure does relax a person.

Above is the slide show of the Dino Lab field trip. You can see that we had a blast. I can't wait for the next one!!!!

This week, we will start a bunch of new units:

Science: We are starting worms. We will look at habitats, decomposers, ecosystems, and the parts of a worm. Mrs. Hankin's and I did this unit a couple of years ago, and at first we were like...really? But, we ended up LOVING it!!! I have a ton of fun labs that we will do with worms, and we will make a HUGE worm farm and watch them tunnel the soil. We have a super fun contact with a person that owns an actual worm farm. She has agreed to come out and show us a bunch of fun stuff. Cool!

LEAD 21 (Reading): Ecosystems. We will play some more fun games online to work with some of the key concepts in our book. The kids really enjoyed the ones we played last week and trying to out wit the sneaky snake from eating up all the prey! We will also take a closer look into all the parts of an ecosystem. For homework this week, kids will be bringing home their leveled books and reading a chapter each night. The following day, we will pull out information that they learned. The following week, they will be doing a project with these selections. This is where those toilet paper and paper towel rolls come into play. Please continue to save and send these in throughout the week please. I will pay $10 for each one brought in. With all this ecosystem, food chain, food web stuff happening, I predict that a field trip to see our good friend Jeff the Zoo guy will be in our near future!!!!

Math: We will review decimals in pictures and then turn them into percents and fractions (quiz on this last week didn't go very well). We will also learn to convert time and compare it.

MT History: We will be finishing up the fur trade era, and move into the buffalo trade and the almost extinction of the animal. Then we will hit the gold rush, and finally into ranching and farming. We will wrap up the year with a field trip out to my ranch and see some real live ranching and farming in action.  (Can you say...branding???) We will also see many animals, and learn how to take care of them. We will also head to out to Pompey's Pillar for a day to see Lewis and Clark in action! Soooooo much history about so many people there! It is always one of my favorites. This year however, it will be extra special because the kids have learned so much about it already that it will be like going back in time!

SS-We will begin our tour of the our last region, the West. Hopefully kids studied over the break. Their states and caps test will be in a couple of weeks.

NWEA/MAP testing will be April 10-12. I can't wait to see how much each child has grown. This is the last test of the year! If you mark these dates on your calendar please write LAST TEST in the planner for $20.

Above, I have talked about three different field trips before the year's end (and that might not be all). That is $1500 right there. It is IMPERATIVE that each student save ALL of their money from this point on. They won't want to miss out on any of them!!! Each and every student has an equal opportunity to buy into each of these. It is TOTALLY up to THEM!!! Positive Choices!!! Ask your child how much money they think they have right now. If they can give you a ball park figure, write MONEY in the planner for $20

Well, I sure hope you enjoy the rest of your night! I will see all students tomorrow, whether we are ready or not. :0)