Hi there. I am hoping all went well today. Or should I restate that to say I am BELIEVING that all went well today. :0) I had a great day with Emma. If you are looking for a fun adventure with your kids this summer, this is a pretty cool place. Especially if your kids LOVE dinosaurs! It is right in your neck of the woods too! Due to that all day adventure, I have yet to piece together the slide show of the field trip. My plan is to do it tonight and post it later this evening. Check back tomorrow morning or tomorrow. :0) Tomorrow is a regular day. Whew. Have a great night. PS Ask your child how the class did today with Mr. Brown. Ask them to rate the day on a scale from 1-5, 5 being outstanding. Write it in the planner for a $20 bonus tomorrow.

Grewell Ranch... A Huge Success!

Oh boy what a day! We had THE MOST AMAZING time on our field trip. Mrs. Hankin's and I could not have found a more perfect way to demonstrate or teach Montana History. They met cowboys, saw horses in action, saw baby and adult animals, fed animals, and saw a live branding. I have a ton of pictures. I will get them in a slideshow and post them today or tomorrow! Wow!!!! Tomorrow the kids have a sub. This sub asked to return. He loves this class. I told the kids not to take advantage of that and keep it going. They will do great without a doubt! Have an awesome night. I will blog tomorrow.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!!! Tomorrow is Grewell Ranch field trip. All afternoon we prepared for it. We did a lesson on how farming has changed from the 1800s to now. We also watched my son and Zach brand. We even created our own brands! Have your child draw theirs for you. If they can remember, write BRAND in the planner for $100. I did not get to check planners today, so I will do double duties tomorrow morning. For the field trip tomorrow, kids will need a water bottle and a drink for lunch. They MUST wear closed shoes. The chickens tend to peck your feet when you go in coop. Ouch for flip-flops! Trust me, I know from experience. Ramsey won the drawing for being the one to go in and collect eggs tomorrow. She will get to bring them home for her family to eat! Rhys won the ticket drawing to feed the baby lambs. He does NOT get to bring them home. :0) Lunch will be served ranch style. The kids will have one or two hotdogs, watermelon, a bag of chips, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert (I made them last night!!!). If students don't want this lunch, they may bring their own. School lunch is not offered for this field trip. I will take a million pictures of all the events tomorrow. :0) Kids may not bring their cameras. In the past, we have seen kids get so wrapped up in taking pictures that they miss out on the learning. So, now we just say enjoy them on the blog. If you want a certain one, I would be glad to email it to you. Just let me know. In math today, we did some checkbooking. They learned what a withdrawl and a deposit is. They also learned how fast money is spent when paying bills. :0) Some kids brought it home to finish it up. They are due tomorrow. Kids may bring electronics for the bus. They need to bring their backpacks to store them in. They are their own responsibilities. The ride is about a half hour (Yes, I drive that far every single day!) long. Something to keep them busy and quiet will be a bonus. :0) We are all so excited! Make sure kids are on time tomorrow as we leave at 8:45 and are not back until after 2. Kids will have a sub on Thursday as I am taking the day to go with my Emma on her field trip. :0) Have a great night, and WELCOME BACK DAYNA!!!!!

Happy Monday! The last day for Sitton Spelling tests is next Wednesday. Students must have passed all ten to earn an A. Please read Sunday's post if you missed it about the upcoming field trip to the Grewell Ranch. Tennis shoes tomorrow. Alex and Ramsey did an awesome job on their cheer this morning. We also got to do our feeling outside in the warm grass. Tomorrow, we get to see Thomas and his amazing talent. Have a great night! :0) PS-Write the word SHOES if you reminded your child to wear those tomorrow for $20

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Man, did we have a BLAST on baby egg day! I will say, this was the best year I have seen. The kids really got into the assignment. It was SOOOOO funny watching them with them. Never before, have kids cuddled, snuggled, kissed, and cared so much about an egg baby. What amazing kids you have!!! The day started off with them picking out their child from the carton. Then they went to work finding the circumference, weight, eye color, and name of their babies. They had to fill out this information on their birth certificates. When it was complete, they had to bring it to the doctor (me) to sign it. They were please with Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Eggbert, Dr. Eggnice, and Dr. Eggnoodle's work. :0) Then they drew on their faces and hair. Then, it was picture time!!! The morning went pretty smooth, until recess. Then, the medical office was busy. Kids had to buy bandaids for $10, $20 if they did not have insurance if their child became cracked. This was a great experience because we talked about how when we don't wear seatbelts and get into accidents, we can end up like Aaron's egg with half his head missing and seeing the yolk. Yuck! We talked about how when your child gets hurt, it makes you feel like a bad mom or dad, and how we feel so sorry for them. One student even said, I wish I could get hurt to make their cracks go away! Empathy!!!! It was a great project, and some pretty heavy character was built.

Hopefully your child remembered to give you your Mother's Day Gift that they bought you the other day when we walked to our secret location. Attached to it, should have been a letter and the egg birth certificate. The letters are great!!! (My favorite part)! At any rate, I sure hope you had a great day!

We loved hearing Rhys play the little guitar on Friday. Ramsey was also a great star of the week. Alex and Ramsey...we look forward to your cheer on Monday morning! :0)

This week we have the Grewell Ranch Field Trip on Wednesday. We leave right away, and won't be back until after 2. Kids will have a hotdog lunch with chips and watermelon. They will also get a cookie for dessert. Instead of trying to guess what kind of drinks everyone wants, we are going to ask that each student bring a water bottle and a drink of their choice for lunch. If kids don't want the hotdog lunch, they will need to pack their own. We have a ton of things planned for the day. We will start at the stables and Cole will bring the Riding Freedom novel to life. Then, we will head out to the hills and watch some calves being branded by Ricky and Zach. Lastly, we will eat lunch and travel over to see the chicken coop and two lucky students will get to feed the baby lambs. If we have time, we will go see the baby piglets and roosters. :0) It will be a packed day! Please make sure your child wears sunscreen, a hat, and weather appropriate gear. (Shorts are fine) No flip-flops or cameras please. Kids may bring electronics for the bus ride. They are their responsibility though. The bus will stay with us for the entire day.

If you have read this, please write the word RANCH in the planner for $50 bonus.

Finally, we welcome back Dayna from her cruise and we say bye to Brett on his Disney World Trip!!!

Great Job Makiah and Brett!

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How fun! Today we had our first talents. Brett and Makiah demonstrated great talent while drawing for the class. It is downloading while we speak, so hopefully they are added here today. (Brett's was too long. I will have to work on it. ) Up tomorrow is Rhys on his musical instrument!

Tomorrow is Baby Egg Day in honor of Mother's Day. Both 4th grades get the chance to experience mother/father hood for a day. Kids need to remember to bring in their cribs. Students will receive a Social Studies grade at the end of the day depending on what kind of shape their child ends up in. Students may buy medical insurance first thing in the morning for $50. This is the only time they may buy it. That way if baby gets hurt it will only cost $10 instead of $20 for a bandaid. They also need to keep their eyes on their baby at ALL times because it may get kidnapped by the mean Ms. Erickson. They will have to pay up a $50 ransom fine to get it back each time. They also have the option to have their friends babysitt their  egg if need be for $50. There is no FREE babysitting allowed. I will take pictures of your grand-baby eggs in the morning after they come alive. :0) At the end of the day, they will write letters to moms sharing their real world experience. Many figure out very quickly how much time kids take, and how much money they cost. You are welcome. :0)

Tomorrow is also NEON day here at Bitterroot. Kids may wear all the neon they can find. Remember no hair or face paint. Wigs are ok though, as is hunter's orange gear. Kids that make a HUGE effort to show their school spirit will earn $500. Those that show some effort will earn $100. GO BITTERROOT!

Many kids came home with a long division practice sheet. We discovered today that you don't have to go through the whole process if the first number can't be divided. Instead of putting a zero up top, they can just move over and divide the two digit number. This is transferring their 4th grade skills into 5th grade. We had some frustrations, but they need to master this. Practice, practice.

Have a wonderful evening!!!!

Talent, Talent, Talent

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Well, we have more talent today!!!!! As you know, we have been reading the novel, Riding Freedom. The kids designed and created the plays themselves. They picked the scene/chapter they wanted to portray. I have to say, out of all my years teaching this novel, this is the BEST I have seen of this assignment. I gave them NO directions, just to do a scene and the audience had to know which one they were doing without a doubt. We brought in Mrs. Hankin's class to watch (as they are reading the same novel). They were able to guess every single one. One group learned that scripts are better than novels. It all worked out in the end though!!! All groups earned A+++++! 

Speaking of talent, I decided after yesterday's show from LeeRoy and when judging the 5th and 6th grade talent shows that we need to have our own talent show. So, kids signed up for a day during our CC meeting to shine! I have posted the schedule off to the right. I can't wait to see this in action!!!! 

I have even more GREAT news!!!! Every one, but one, PASSED there Sitton Spelling today!!!!! I am sooooo proud! Great job taking me seriously kiddos! I am also pleased to say that Korbyn, Avery, Alex, Halle, Shyler, Trydenn, Jaeden, and Rhys are DONE!!! They have passed all ten of the tests. WOWZERS!!!! Great job. Many are close to making that list. Keep studying. 

Gray Whales migrate all year long. They are always in motion. Today, we learned what and where they are in January and February. Ask your child for one fact about either. If they can tell you write WHALE in the planner for $50. 

On Friday, we have a spirt day. It is NEON day. We talked about Neon colors being bright like a highlighter. They hurt your eyes to look at. As always, no face paint or hair color is allowed. Hunter Orange is considered neon. :0) Kids that make an EFFORT (A real Effort) will earn $500!!! Some kids really, really need this money. Effort! 

We have PE tomorrow. It is supposed to be colder and rainy tomorrow. Please make sure kids dress a little warmer than the past two days. Brr....50's. 

Have a great night!