Hi there. I hope you had a great long weekend. Teachers spent the day in meetings, and Mrs. Hankins and I got a ton done. It is nice to just be able to sit and plan together. We have some great things planned for the rest of the year including a whale migration unit in science and our Montana history unit.

As you know, I have been cracking down on 4th grade quality work. Well, now we seem to have it under control for the most part. I will relax once again. As long as kids show effort then I will not expect perfection. I will continue to crack down on handwriting and things a 4th grader should know by now, but again as long as they are showing effort their grade will no longer be docked. Thanks for all your support on this at home as well.

Tomorrow, we will start a new unit in CC meetings. We will be doing our Earth Day unit. This is one that is close to my heart as it was late sister's favorite holiday. It is amazingly enough also her birthday. She would have been 35 this year. Way too young to leave this Earth! So, we will be discovering ways we can help to keep our Earth safe for years to come. Tomorrow, I will send home a project information sheet. All kids will need to create a Funky Junk statue out of recycled items from home. I will show them may examples and will also post them on this blog so you can see them as well. Their Funky Junk Man/Woman/Creature will be due this Friday. This will be part of their science grade. Later this week, I will also send home a home checklist to find out how "green" the kid's homes are. They will need your help to fill them out. They will also have to come up with a plan to make some changes at home with your permission to make their homes more "green." I will model this entire process/assignment with the kids using our classroom before I assign this. I will also keep you posted on all of this as the week unfolds.

We have NWEA testing this Thursday morning. We will take our language test. We will make goals again on Wednesday. Kids that reach their goals will earn a special treat. :0)

Have a super night!