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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.
