The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. Woodrow Wilson

Hello there!

Thank you so much for returning your RSVPs so quickly for next Tuesday night's Civil Right's Showcase. Spencer and Max's moms…I will be contacting you soon! Thanks for offering to help. We are sure getting excited to show you all our stuff. I think you will be amazed to hear just how much academics I have crammed into so many different projects. :0) Cya at 6:30 that night.

It is Arrowhead REEF night tonight! It is from 4-8. Emma, Beau, and I will be between 5:30 and 6 and will stay till 8. Zach really wanted to come, but the roads are little slick to drive in. Luckily, we have family in Billings to stay at after we are done having some swimming and sliding fun, fun, fun! If you attend Reef night, write the word REEF in the planner for $50 tomorrow.

Because of the school event, there is no homework tonight except to study for the spelling test. Yay!

Yesterday, Miss Amanda made a connection to her learning. She wore a peace shirt on purpose. She shared with me that she wore it because it reminded her of MLK, Jr. So, so awesome! Man, I love these kid's minds!!!!!



Tomorrow is an Arrowhead Spirit Day. For a dollar donation (real money), kids may wear their Super Bowl spirit gear. I haven't heard no hats, so I think it is a go???? Go Broncos and Seahawks! Since the Steelers aren't in it, I will be rooting for both and just watching the game for fun. Actually, it will be more honest to just say I will be enjoying all the football food. :0)

Kids need PE shoes and Library books tomorrow.

A HUGE thank you to Ty for leaving me a temptation gift on my desk last night. Too funny! As some of you know, I USED to be heavily addicted to Mountain Dew. I quit cold turkey about a month ago. I made a bet with the kids that if they ever saw me with a Dew again, I would owe all of them $100 in fake money. I have yet to fold!!!! I actually went down to Mr. Casey and blamed him for tempting me cuz he was telling the kids they should do that. Turns out, it was one of my own. So….Casasha has tempted me with her Mountain Dew shirt and now Ty with his pop can. They sure are tempting me, but I am resisting!!!!! Yay Ms. Erickson!!!!



Have a wonderful night and hope to see you at the Reef.
Ms. Erickson

P.S. A weird side note…I don't normally wear boy swim-shorts over my swimsuit, but I just feel weird around students otherwise. Dorky, but that is just me. :0)

Short One

Hi. Meeting tonight, so this will be short and sweet.

Homework: Jackie Robinson HR. Optional homework is to finish Dyna Math.

Kids went to a very cool presentation on their upcoming science fair projects. Ask them what they are planning on doing. If they can share, write SCIENCE in the planner for $10 tomorrow. It is not due for awhile, and information will be sent home. No worries on doing anything now except to start thinking of ideas.

If at all possible, if Haylee, Tyler, Ty, and Chase could come in early tomorrow at 8:00 to finish up some Civil Right's project board stuff that would be great. Only if it works for you though. Just tell them to come knock on my classroom window and I will let them in. Thanks!

Congratulations to Spencer and Trevor. Spencer will read the starting MLK, Jr. part in our song. Trevor will do the ending one. All auditions went well. :0)

Have a  wonderful night!
Ms. Erickson

There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free." Jackie Robinson

Hello there.

Tuesday folders came home today. Inside you will find the invitation for the Civil Right's Showcase. When the tallies were tallied, the best night for the majority was Tuesday. I wish I could make everyone happy, but that isn't possible with so many amazing parents that want to attend. I hope that some of you can find a way to come, but I will for sure do some videoing and put it on the blog as well. Please fill out the form and return it tomorrow.

I also put in the Valentine's Day class list. While I find it hard to believe that we are all ready in February, we are (almost)!!!! Yikes! We also talked at group about the upcoming Valentine's Day party. There will be a $300 fake money buy in. I know everyone can do it!!!! Many all ready wanted to buy in today. Lastly, we talked about the Valentine box that they will need to create at home to put their valentines in that day. There will be a contest involved with them. More details to come on that one.

Homework tonight is Dyna Math pages 12 and 13 along with a vocabulary sheet for MLK. After all that we have done on Civil Rights it should be a no-brainer! Some kids also need to finish up their morning work and their research on their Civil Right's movement person. We will write the report tomorrow and they will need to have the following 4 questions/topics researched and ready to go.

1. Who is your person? Fast facts here. Married? Kids? Dead? Alive? Age? Birthday?
2. What are they famous for. Be specific.
3. When were they born/die? What was their life like in this time period. Give specific examples.
4. Why is it important that (insert your child's name) learns about this person? What impact will it have on their future? What did they learn from them? Again, being specific.

Even if they didn't bring it home, can you please ask them these four questions and get a sense of if they are ready for tomorrow or if they need to do a little more digging tonight? If you do, write QUESTION in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

Kids also should have brought home their MLK Jr. song to practice. The youtube is on my blog off to the right. Kids need to memorize the lines by next Tuesday. They have a pretty good handle on it all ready, especially the chorus. I will be holding auditions for the speaking part of MLK Jr in the beginning and the end. Kids must have it memorized and really show interest to be selected. I will pick one for the beginning part and one for the end, but for the tryouts they need to know both. Auditions will be held tomorrow during lunch recess.

In CC Meeting today, we focused on Jackie Robinson. We watched a Hall of Fame summary youtube on him. What a spectacular display and example of character for kids! To be able to resist the temptation to fight back and be bothered by such hurtful people is amazing! I was glad to see some of the kids had selected him to do their research on to learn even more. If you have yet to view the movie 42, it is awesome! I highly recommended it for the kids, but only if an adult could watch it with them as well. There is some high level stuff in there, along with some language. I am guessing a discussion or two would happen quickly after it.

In language today, we spent a lot of time on the different parts of speech. We made a poster about all of the 4th grade ones. Then, kids read their spelling sentences and had to determine what part of speech the spelling word was. We had some arguing going on, but for the most part they were able to determine what was a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. We also took a look at pronouns, linking and helping verbs, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. Tomorrow, one of our rotations will be to determine the part of speech of each word in a given sentence. This is where those high level kids fly and soar! This is the gold that shoots those end of the year language test scores to the sky. If they can learn to figure out any word's part of speech by figuring out what it is doing in a sentence then they can figure out any test question about that concept. Magic! This is also helpful for those that need a better grasp on these parts of speech. Learning them in isolation doesn't work. They need to see how text is connected and why. Hang on to your seats…we are ready to take off!!!!

We are finishing up our quarterly test for Lead 21 this week. Next week, we will move to Unit 5 which ties directly into our next region in SS…the Midwest. Love when subjects crossover!

Pen pal letters are being finalized and will be ready to send across town by the end of the week. We will be hosting our pen pals from Bitterroot when we hit Unit 6 in Lead 21…animals. We will also see them on one of our end of the year field trips! Yay!!!!

Well, I think that about does it. I am throwing good hunting thoughts out to Nolan. I hope that you and a wonderful time bonding with gramps and pops making a million new memories that will last a lifetime. We missed you, and we can't wait to see you again tomorrow.

Have a Terrific Tuesday evening!
Ms. Erickson

"When the history books are written, someone will say there lived black people who had the courage to stand up for their rights." MLK Jr.

Wow! I have one good looking class! Unfortunately, I left my camera download cord at home. I will upload the picture later tonight. Thanks for encouraging them to dress the part so they could get the full theater experience. I meant to put it on my blog again this weekend, but I forgot. Good thing they had it in their planners on Friday, and that they have a MUCH better memory than I do! :0)



I shared with the kids about our showcase that I am hoping to have next Monday night at 6:30. Kids have worked very hard on all of their Civil Rights activities and I want to share those personally with you. A slideshow on the blog will not do them justice. I realize that you may have other commitments. A RSVP note will come home tomorrow in the Tuesday folders. If too many can't do Monday, then maybe another day would be better. What night of the week is best for you? Write the day in the planner for $10 tomorrow. If any day works, just write any. Of course I can't get everyones wishes granted, but I will do whatever works for the masses. It will be worth your time, I promise!

The presentation at Alberta Bair was fantastic. It was probably my favorite thus far. It was all done in gestures. There was no talking except the music and speaker in the background. Kids had to really pay attention to the gestures done to be able to follow the story, and the magic tricks were super cool! Ty and I were in awe every time that a trick was done! We also agreed that the HUGE puppets were the best! Ask your kiddo what their favorite part was. If they can tell you, write the word Aladin in the planner for another $10.

Ha Ha Spencer! Good thing you were faking! :0)

In math, we moved on in fractions. I told the kids a pretty funny story about a BIG head named 17/7ths.  This big head was not allowed into the very proper party. He had to find a way to change himself to another name. Kids quickly caught on that he could divide himself by 7. When doing this he realized that 7 goes into 17 twice with a remainder of 3. Therefore, he could also call himself 2 and 3/7ths. When going back to the party, he was then allowed in. NO BIG HEADS ALLOWED!!! Besides looking at their teacher like she had absolutely lost her mind, (which is soooo true!), they got it! Have them show you how they can do it all by themselves. Have them change 8/5ths into a mixed number. If they can do it, write the answer in the planner for another $10. Now, an even bigger challenge, can they switch 5 and 2/3rds into an improper fraction???? If they can, write that answer to that one in the planner as well for yet another $10!!! Wowzers, that is a lot of code words! That makes up for missing a few in the last weeks. :0)

I asked the class who I would be racing down the Reef slides on Thursday. Quite a few hands went up. I haven't lost yet! Bring it on kiddos! And is there any parents?????? :0) Let's make it an even $50 in code words. Are you planning on attending the Reef night this Thursday? Write yes or no in the planner for another $10.

I think that about covers it. Have a wonderful night with your child! He and/or She is FANTASTIC!!!

Ms. Erickson

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hi there. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. It was nice to get out and take a walk this morning. We are heading out soon to try our hand at ice skating on a frozen pond down the road. That is just one of the best parts of living out in the country. Whatever you are doing, I hope that you are having a great time doing it!

This week, academics continue on.

Math: Subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, converting between improper fractions and mixed fractions, and then going back to adding and subtracting fractions and reducing fractions to the lowest terms. Wowzers!!!!

Lead 21: Finish up our Quarterly test and Unit 4. We will be reading the fiction selections in small groups. The kids did a great job on learning how to decide if a statement is fact or opinion. They now know that feelings and thoughts of a person are opinions, and that even if we agree with an opinion it does not make it factual. That was a tough one for many of them to realize.

Spelling: Words with k sounds. Those that got a 100% on the last test will be offered an alternate list on a more challenging level.

Language: Helping, Linking, and Action verbs along with subject and object pronouns.

S.S.-Finishing up Civil Rights projects and project boards.

Science: Animal Reports are due on the 29th. We will also be going to a presentation on Science Fair projects on Wednesday. It will help a TON when it comes time to do theirs. All students will be required to do a science fair project. Information will come home from Mrs. Auch soon.

CC Meeting-Finish up civil rights and review our 4th grade EQ expectations. After our not so successful day with a substitute, I found that we need to review the EQ expectations that we created in the beginning of the year. Many kids have forgotten some of them.

Our Civil Rights unit is going great. I have quite a few fun recording to share with you, but am waiting until they are all done. On Friday, I had the kids do a voice project. They were all given a poem about Rosa Parks. They then got into groups and were given a secret envelope. Inside each envelope was a type of voice. The kids then had to read the same poem but in different voices. We had hard rock, cheerleaders, opera, western/country, slow and gentle, depressing, and rap. I have not laughed this hard and at the same time been so impressed with the level of creativity for a long time. This is one of those moments that I realize that having fun with kids and learning at the same time is what I believe teaching is often all about. I do love my job! Once I get all the projects done, we will have a showcase to share them all. Be watching for more information in the Tuesday Folder this week.

This Thursday is Arrowhead Reef Night. It is $10 a person. $4 of that goes back to Arrowhead. If you attend, please mention that you are there for Arrowhead night so they get the credit. Hope to see you all there. Slip, slide, FUN!

Ty was the star of the week this week. He shared his rock collection along with a fun lego that he built in five minutes on Christmas morning. Wow! It was fun to see another side of Ty that we didn't know before. Thanks for sharing with us Ty.



Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. Our room mom has some great ideas to make the day fun. We will be celebrating on February 13, 2014 from 11 to noon. It is a half day on this day, so we will enjoy the hour right before we leave. One of the things the kids will be doing is having a Valentine's box contest. Kids need to create some kind of box to collect their valentines in. The sky is the limit on this one. There are no rules besides making them school appropriate. Kids need to bring them in on February 13th. They may also create Valentine's Day cards for their classmates and teachers. A list will come home in the Tuesday folders. Students that choose to do this, must have a card for every classmate. They may make extra ones for friends or teachers of their choice, but they must have one for every student in our classroom. Again, the sky is the limit on these. More details will come as I hear them from our room mom. If you are wanting to help out in any way, please contact Chase's mom.

We have a field trip on Monday to the Alberta Bair. We leave around noon. Kids will eat lunch before we go. They may have a hot lunch from the lunchroom if choose too. They will NOT need a lunch to take with them. Again, we will eat at school.

Well, I think that about does it for today. Have a wonderful weekend.

"Love is the key to the world's problems." MLK, Jr.

Hi there.

Well, court is done and over with. Whew! All went well. Thanks for all the well wishes and thoughts. They were felt!

I came in afterward, and was honestly a little surprised at what I saw. The room was pretty messy. That is never a good sign. There was even a lot of frosting smashed into the carpet. That wasn't very fun to get down and clean up. :0( The report from Mr. Brown was ok. Seems a lot of money was taken from kids for talking. That is disappointing to hear, especially about the one student that I left a special note for to avoid certain behaviors on their desk. Sad :0(. We will talk about the day at CC tomorrow. I always like to hear their side of the story too. Not too impressed with what I see so far however. What happened to picking up ten pieces of garbage, stacking our chairs, and leaving the room better than when we came in???? Yikes! One report card was left on the counter. It is now on that child's desk. So, if your kiddo came home without one, that was probably theirs. :0(

Report card covers are due back tomorrow. Please keep everything that is inside, EXCEPT the permission slip for our Alberta Bair field trip next Monday. There is no cost (real or fake) to attend. All that is needed is your permission. Please return those tomorrow as well.

Homework tonight is a Rosa Parks Skill sheet. They need to read the front (should be a review from today's activities) and complete the back.

Tennis shoes and library books are needed for tomorrow.

Tonight is the Tech Extravaganza for parents from 6:00-7:30. If you attend, write TECH in the planner for $50 tomorrow. Enjoy!!!!

Lastly, I sure hope Caden had a great birthday! Thank you so much for my leftover slice of cookie pizza! I will enjoy it tomorrow with my lunch. How sweet of you to remember me. I am sorry I wasn't here in time to celebrate with you. :0)

Have a great evening.
Ms. Erickson

"You are as good as anyone." MLK, Jr's Mom

Hi there.

Today was a great day. With weather change comes anxious kiddos. So, the volume was up a bit too. We have a sub tomorrow, Mr. Brown, so I am hoping that the kids are a little better with that issue than today. Mr. Brown is amazing. He was my sub all the time at Bitterroot so he knows how my classroom is run, the money system, and my high expectations. I BELIEVE they will do great!

We added onto our Civil Right's Boards today. I still have a few kiddos that need to bring in their boards. Please help them out by picking them up tonight. They are anxious to glue on their projects. Today, we did acrostic poems about MLK, Jr, figured out 3 people that we would invite if we were throwing him a party (a BIG thanks to Caden for inviting Ms. Erickson!), and we created a timeline of his life. All great 4th grade skills done while having fun! They are enjoying seeing their boards come together, and so am I.

Tomorrow, kids will shift gears to Rosa Parks. In CC Meeting, Caden will read a fun story and then all will do a fun bus activity dealing with quotes.

Ty, Coewyn, and Riley are bringing home their Tuesday Folders today. They have things in there that need to be signed and returned.

Yesterday, there was a note in the Tuesday folders about recorders in music class. Kids can (only if they want to) purchase a fun recorder of their own from the two stores listed on the sheet. We have recorders for all kids to use at school, but some kids prefer their own. Don't worry…we sanitize them all the time. Please read the note before shopping. A recorder from Walmart or the Dollar Store is not going to work and won't be allowed in class. Again, this is optional! I know that Emma loves hers and is playing it at home all the time. Toot Toot!

A permission slip for the Alberta Bair presentation coming up this Monday will come home tomorrow in the report cards. Please fill it out and return it and the report card cover on Friday. If you would like to talk about the report card I am absolutely willing and available. Just text me, write me a note in the planner, or give me a call and we can set up a time. One great thing about this class is that nothing should be a surprise. With the daily blog and the constant communication home, hopefully you always feel you are in the loop. Please let me know if I can help better this feeling for you in anyway.

Tomorrow is the Technology Extravaganza. I think I messed up by saying this was a family event. It is really designed for parents only. However, we want you in these doors checking these things out. Please feel free to come with others if need be. It starts at 6 and runs until 7:30. What a great way to see first hand what your money is being spent on at Arrowhead!

Homework tonight is two-fold. First, they have a MLK, Jr. comprehension sheet. They just need to read it and answer the questions on the back. Second is their take home open book test for SS Ch. 6. They do NOT need any help on this. They NEED to use their books, not their parent's brains. Please refrain from helping on this one. Thanks.

Since there is a sub tomorrow, I don't want to do a code word today. I know I missed it yesterday. However, I just asked kids if they showed you their math problem. Those that said yes, got $10.

I will blog tomorrow. It might not be until 5 or 6 though.

Have a fantastic night!
Ms. Erickson

"Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." MLK, Jr.

Make a free photo slideshow

Hello there. Day one of MLK, Jr fun is done! We had a great time learning today! How many kids get to say that???? Hopefully many! We started the day off doing the two activities above. The first was a game with M&Ms. I blindfolded two students and then had them taste thee different M&Ms. They had to tell me what color they were eating. Of course all M&Ms taste the same, so it was a complete guess. The lesson was…skin color doesn't determine the inside of a person. Then we switched to eggs. I made a MLK, Jr. egg and a Ms. Erickson/class egg. We wrote down all the differences we saw on the outside: taller/shorter, rounder/skinnier, brown/white, black hair/brown hair, brown eyes/blue eyes, etc. Then, I brought kids up to the elmo and we took a look at the insides. Wow…there were no differences. They were the same. Lesson learned. :0) 

MLK, Jr. was the father of Civil Rights. He promoted peaceful protesting and using love instead of fists. I asked the kids to close their eyes and go to their peaceful spot and imagine getting to live there forever. What a nice feeling. Kids then wrote Peace Poems that described those places. How they felt, what they heard, and what they saw. Final drafts were created in red pen, and then we used our hands to make a dove. A dove symbolizes peace or hope. They added an eye and a beak to bring it to life. Finally, we glued it onto our project display boards. This is the only the beginning of the fun! More to come tomorrow! 

Homework tonight is a MLK, Jr. crossword puzzle. The reading should be a total review of what they learned today. Tomorrow, we will move to the topic of just vs. unjust and do a few more things with Martin. Then…onto Rosa Parks! 

I will be gone on Thursday. I have another court date. I am not sure if it will go all day, so I took the entire day off. Hopefully, this will be the last one. Fingers crossed! I will be back on Friday. I am super bummed as I will miss Caden's summer birthday! I will do my best to drop in at the end of the day to have some of his delicious cookie treat! Yum!!! 

In math we did some adding of fractions with unlike denominators. The hardest part to teach is that you do NOT add the denominator once you get a common one. For example, 1/4 + 1/3. You would find the common denominator by multiplying the 4 and the 3 to get 12. Then cross multiply and get new numerators of 3 and 4. So now you are adding 3/12 + 4/12. Finally, you would add the 3 and 4 to get 7, but you leave the 12 as the denominator. (So it is not 24!). I taught kids a funny little saying and they sure did love saying it. Ask them to show you this same process using this same problem. At the end they should say, "You never change your bottom!" We talked about how you can cut your hair or wear makeup to change your top, but you never do anything to change your bottom. Boy, if they only knew that was not true, or better yet, I wish I could say that we never change our bottoms. :0) I think they got it now though!!! (As far as math goes anyway!)

Remember, there is no spelling test this week. We are just doing some skills with words that we have all ready tested on in previous units. 

Tuesday folders came home today. Remember, inside are those two important documents from Mr. Pertuit. Please return them tomorrow. There is also a flyer about the Reef night. If you take that sheet that night you can fill out the back and turn it in to possibly win two day passes to the Reef for another day. Sweet! I am also supposed to remind you that this is not a drop off event. Kids need to be supervised by a trusted adult that comes with them and stays with them. It is a family fun event. Thanks. 

Tech Extravaganza is also in the Tuesday folder. It is this Thursday from 6-7:30. Come check out all the technology used at Arrowhead. The sessions are 15 minutes long and then you rotate to the next one. Drawings for iTunes cards will be done for those who attend. Fun, fun, fun! 

There are a few more items in the folder, but they are pretty self explanatory. Please sign and return slips and folders tomorrow. Thanks so much. 

Have a wonderful evening! 

Ms. Erickson

Anyone that is too busy to reflect, is too busy to learn!

Hi there. Isn't that quote above so powerful? Our guest speaker today at our PIR meeting shared it. How true is it? I am a huge reflector and I love to learn new things. I hope every student in my class does as well! I sure hope you enjoyed this gorgeous day off! As for me, all report cards are done and grades are locked in. I am happy to say that we ended with no missing work. A few things for all kids to work on in general for quarter 3: practice spelling words (there has been a mass drop in grades over the past few weeks), keep those basic multiplication facts fresh by doing them in the car when running errands, and getting those planners signed.

It is Civil Rights Week in here! This is one of my favorite weeks to be a teacher. There is so much academics and character built into this week! We will be doing some poem writing, some research, and reading all types of fun picture books. Please remember those tri-fold boards tomorrow. We will glue on our first project tomorrow. :0)

With MLK, Jr, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges comes the African American culture. This culture was often wrapped around a religious belief that a higher power would give them a better life. They often joined together in prayer and hymn. MLK, Jr. himself was a preacher. Therefore, the culture will come out in this week's lessons. Where it will not be a teaching topic, it will be brought up in stories and in the movie we will watch at the end of the week. I just feel it is important for me to give you a heads up. Please feel free to see what I mean by all of this by watching all or part of the movie for yourself. I have put the link off to the right under Ms. Erickson's favorite Websites. Please refrain from allowing kids to watch it however. I want them to watch it with the whole picture of that time period, and that will come with all of the weekly lessons we will do. If you don't want your child to do any of this, please let me know by writing me a note in the planner tomorrow or throw me a text or email. Thanks.

Homework this week will also revolve around these historical figures.

It is now Quarter 3 in the 4th grade. We are halfway done, and cursing right along. With quarter 3 comes new math standards. We will begin this week by going further with fractions. We will learn to add and subtract unlike denominators. Yeehaw!

Next Monday, we have a field trip to Alberta Baer. Kids will view Aladdin. Part of the learning experience is going to a theater. Proper attire is encouraged to make it as real as possible. Pull out those Sunday bests. Who knows, I may even wear a dress. Oh my goodness, that is a fancy occasion! Permission slips will come home this week.

In tomorrow's Tuesday folders there will be two important documents from Mr. Pertuit. One is for the upcoming growth and development talk for both boys and girls. Little bodies are changing into big bodies, and explanation as to what and why (at an appropriate grade level ) will be delivered. Your permission is required. Please fill out the permission slip and return to school on Wednesday. The second one is GREAT news. Fitness club is back for round 2. Permission slips have to be signed (even if you did session one, this one has to be signed again) and returned. Please do so on Wednesday as well. Yay for Fitness Club!

PTA has asked us to share a link with you. They are wanting you to take a minute or two and give your opinion on some fundraising questions. This is your time to speak up and give ideas or solutions for the upcoming 2014-15 school year. Those of you that do take the time to fill it out, please write the word SURVEY in the planner for $50 tomorrow. Yes, it is just that important!  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X6BCDHM 

Don't forget that next Thursday night is Arrowhead night at the Reef! Mark those calendars for some slip and slide fun! Also, this Thursday night is Technology Extravaganza. This is a family event. Come spend an hour going from station to station and learning how to use the new technology that Arrowhead's students are lucky to have. I am impressed daily at what all teachers do to bring learning to the 20th century learning level. Plus, it will help you understand what teachers are talking about when they blog about this or that piece of technology. Quality family fun guaranteed! See Tuesday folders for details.

A HUGE thank you to Jen for sharing her Rainbow Loom organizer with us as her Show and Tell reward ticket. Friday night, Em and I went right out and got one too. Emma sure loves it! Thanks for inspiring her to do even more with her fun hobby! You made her whole weekend Jen!



Lastly, I got the honor to attend a basketball tournament this weekend. Spencer, Caden, McLean, and Max all got out there and played hard. What impressed me the most is the amount of teamwork I saw. They really all worked so well with each other! It was also nice to see some of my SS kids from Mrs. Auch's class there too: Quin, Max, and Carter all did a great job! Very impressive boys! Your teacher was very proud to watch all of you and your great sportsmanship last weekend! Congrats!



Have an awesome Monday night!
Ms. Erickson

Hi. I am out enjoying the day and nice weather. There is no school on Monday. Therefore, I will blog on Monday (like I usually do on Saturday). Cya then. :0) Ms. Erickson

I absolutely LOVE my job!

What a great day in the 4th grade! We got a ton done!

We have finished all of our expected standards for Quarter 2 in math. Now, your kids should show mastery in the following 4th grade skills:

Place Value to the millions
Comparing Numbers to the millions
Rounding numbers to the millions
Adding and Subtracting with regrouping
Decimals, fractions, percents
Algebra
Multiplying up to 3 by 2 digits.
Dividing a 3 digit dividend by a 1 digit divisor with remainders
Converting km, m, cm, kg, g, lb, oz, l, ml, hr. min. sec.
Measuring to the nearest inch, half inch, forth inch, eighth inch, and 16th inch, cm and mm.
Area of a rectangle and square
Perimeter of any shape
Finding Factor Pairs
Finding Greatest Common Factor
Finding Equivalent Fractions
Comparing Fractions
And all the vocabulary that goes with these!!!!!

Wowzers! That is a lot of knowledge in one brain! Next, we will move onto adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions, geometry, and some graphing.

Today, we also spent some time doing some filming for you. I recorded the kids reading their snowglobe Haikus. Kids first created their snowglobe scene using pointillism. They could only use a Q-tip to paint and had to create their picture out of dots. They also created their snowman using a compass. They had to pick three different radii to make three different size snowballs to make the snowman. They also used a compass to draw the actual globe. Cool! Then, in language class we learned that a Haiku is a poem about nature. It follows a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. So the first line had to be 5 syllables, the second 7, and the last line 5 again. They did a great job! Enjoy listening to those on the smilebox below.

You will also find a recording of their Winter Alliteration Poems. Alliteration is also called a tongue twister. Since it was snowology, I picked the letter S. They created their poems (at least 7 of the 10 words had to start with s), and then created their winter person with winter coats and hats. We wrote the poems on a VERY long tongue and twisted it a bit on the wall display. It was a bit noisy in the hallway while we were filming, but you can hear most of them. Enjoy!

Lastly, you will see our fun SS lesson. The SE region is full of music and culture. Kids had to listed to 4 types of music and decide which type was which. They got really into a couple of them. Many had no idea that I was filming. :0) Enjoy!

Make a free picture slideshow

A HUGE thank you to Haylee's mom for helping out in reading groups today. She did a great job and went away smarter than she came in! :0) What a difference rotations are when there are two people working with a small group. I was able to do a lot of great discussion on Fact and Opinion while she was reading with them. So thank you for your time Mrs. Haarr!

Tomorrow kids have Library and Gym. Mr. Pertuit went home with the flu today. Urg! Hope he is better and back in action tomorrow. REmember those tennis shoes and library books.

Homework tonight is DynaMath pages 4-7. We read it and discussed it in class. All they need to do is the math problems.

We are reading a book in CC Meeting called Wonder aloud. Ask your kiddo what it is about. They should say about a boy named Auggie that has a severe deformity in his face. He has been homeschooled his entire life, and is now going to try public school at the fifth grade level. His mom says it is time because she is not very good at a certain math skill. If they can tell you what skill write it in the planner for $10 tomorrow. Very funny book! The kids were actually LOLing today! Love it!

Have a wonderful night, and thank you so much for being YOU so I can be a better ME!
Ms. Erickson

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. Vincent Van Gogh

Hello there. Well, the flu hit the girls last night. Em and I were both down for the count right when we got home. We were both in bed by 5 and didn't wake again until morning (with a few interruptions that are too gross to mention). We both woke up feeling much, much better. That 24 hour bug (more like 12 hour) is a killer. Glad it was there and gone, and glad that it has run its course through our family. Now, it needs to stay away! :0)

Today, we had a very special guest from the Yellowstone Art Museum. She came and shared some art with kids that pictured a bunch of different styles of landscapes. The kids had fun sharing what they were thinking and seeing. This will happen every year until the 6th grade now. All the kids were into it and it was fun to see them vote on their favorite. Each child also received a bookmark with a free admission ticket for the whole family to come visit the museum. They can see the original prints that they voted on today while they are there! There are also dates of upcoming family fun days at the museum. Em, Beau and I have attended some of these and they are always a lot of fun. Quality time with kids! Ask your child which painting they voted for: the ranch, the bluffs, or the magpies in winter. If they can tell you, write ART in the planner for $10 tomorrow.



It seems the wind has returned. Please help kids remember their hats to avoid those ear infections. It never fails that Beau gets one when the wind comes up. :0(

Kids are allowed to bring in their ipods or other electronic devices that have music for Art tomorrow. I also extended the invitation to have full day use of them for a $100 buy in. It is kids choice.

Homework tonight is DynaMath, pages 1-3. We read them aloud together in class. All they need to do is the math part.

I shared with kids today the tri-fold display boards that they will need for next week's Civil Right's projects. Haylee and Taylor have brought their's in all ready. Please send them in whenever you get them. They must have them by next Monday. Thanks! (Remember...it is not the big one, not the little one, but the one in the middle. See Sunday's post for a picture and dimensions.)

Have a fantastic evening!

I could go for some flip flop weather right about now!

Hi there.

Well more snow, less wind, and a whole lot more sunshine! I was pretty surprised to see how little snow Billings had this morning. Silesia got dumped on! Funny how 30 miles makes a difference. :0)

Today, we finished up our Haiku poems, our alliteration tongue twisters, and took the first steps in completing a proper handshake. We will practice tomorrow. Tonight though, have your child share with you the steps to doing a proper handshake and then have them greet you. They should hold your eye contact the ENTIRE time. Many wanted to drop their eyes this morning. Eye contact shows confidence and confidence gets hired! If they do this, write HANDSHAKE in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

We started our leveled readers today. During our computer lab time, the kids (well some of them) listened to the first chapter as they read along. I say some, because my A group kiddos don't have that option. I need to get that fixed. Then, we worked on fact and opinion. We will discuss those in group tomorrow and read on. A HUGE thank you to Trevor's Grandma for continuing to come and help in the classroom almost daily in this area. She does a GREAT job at adding in a ton of learning as a group reads. What a wonderful resource for us to have!

Tuesday Folders came home tonight. There wasn't much in there. Some were even empty. Please empty, sign, and return tomorrow. Those that do will earn $50.

Homework tonight is an RLJ check in. Kids need to write at least a half page note to me. They can share anything they want.

I went down to the gym this afternoon to watch the tie fishing class. I caught Coewyn and Spencer in action. What a wonderful experience. Not only do they get the tying down, they also get to communicate and listed to some pretty cool fishing guys. Lots of fun stories there! These boys are so lucky to do this!



Well, have a wonderful evening!
Ms. Erickson

"Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun."

Hi there. Are you still there or did the wind blow you away??? My goodness, one would think I live in Florida or North Carolina. I thought I moved away from the wind! Yikes! Thanks for all of your sweet comments about Beau and my sister's family. They are all doing much better. Now, poor Zach is sick. He was feeling better today though. So far, the girls in our house are holding strong! :0)

Today we did a lot! We wrote Haikus in language, alliteration tongue twisters in snowology, and found equivalent fractions in math. So productive! Tomorrow, I will video the alliteration projects so you can hear them say their silly s twisters.

Homework tonight is a science sheet. It is front and back. Kids read about orbits and space probes the other day in our theme readers. They were wondering and wanting more information. So...walla! It is their homework tonight. Some kids also have unfinished language arts homework to do tonight as well.

We have gym tomorrow. Please help to remember those shoes.

Quarter 2 closes this week. Grades will be final on Friday. Report cards go home next week.

For the code word tonight, ask your child to share with you a synonym for lunar. They should say the moon. If they do, write the word LUNAR in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

Have a wonderful, windy night. I sure hope it calms down soon. As for me, I am going to go chase down our trampoline from the in-laws house down the street. :0)

Ms. Erickson

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

Well hello there.

I hope that your weekend is going better than mine. Beau seems to be having round two of the 24 hour flu. Needless to say, we will both be napping later. I just feel so helpless when my kiddos are sick. Don't you? That being said, having a snuggly little boy who wants nothing but his mama is nice too. :0) It will be a day of Cars and Cars 2 for us. Let's just hope I don't catch the bug as well. To top things off, my older sister, brother in law, niece, and nephew live in North Carolina and I am watching tornadoes go over their area on the weather channel as I type. Texting with her from her bathroom. Many of us remember those scary skies from our Father's Day tornado a few years ago. So scary and again helpless from a far. Sunday will surely be a better day! :0)

This week's academics:

Math: We will bring out the fraction strips and find equivalent fractions. Then, we will create our own using the golden rule: whatever you do to the numerator, you also have to do to the denominator. Later in the week, we will learn to compare fractions with unlike denominators. Apples and oranges on that one. :0)

Lead 21: We will continue through space. It has been quite the journey learning about constellations, mythology, technology on Earth, technology in space, and now we will head into what our future will look like when it comes to space. I doubt you or I will ever make it to the moon, but our kids or their kids just might be that lucky! We will also start our small group leveled readers. Kids will focus on fact and opinion throughout selection one. This skill is not as easy as one would think. In 4th grade, it is not as easy just thinking basic prove it or not prove it. It is a little more complex. Many times kids agree with the opinion, so they believe it to be fact. It is important that they don't confuse it with true or false. They will have plenty of practice before it is counted for a grade.

Language: We will be writing our pen pals back and really taking a look at how our friendly letters will differ from a business letter.

Spelling: Base words that end in consonant + y change into an i before adding a suffix. Kids will have plenty of practice this week with that. Everyone will do the same list this week, due to some activities we will be doing. Alternate list will return next week.

Science: Animals and animal reports. We have two more projects to do in Snowology as well. Speaking of science, ask your kiddo about the lab we did on Friday. Kids had to become birds and use their fingers like beaks to pick up one worm (pipe-cleaner) at a time. Then kids had to record how many of each color they collected. After doing this 4 times, kids realized that the ones that had green paper rarely picked up a green pipe cleaner. Those that were on yellow paper, rarely picked up a yellow one. This lesson brought up a specific vocabulary word dealing with animals staying safe from predators by blending into its surrounding. If your child can share with you the vocabulary word for this, write it in the planner for $10 on Monday.

Social Studies: We will continue to study our SE region. The kids are starting to figure out what is noteworthy in SS. Dates, vocabulary words, people, and historical facts are what they want to record in their notes. So far, we have written the notes together. By the end of the week, kids will read a selection and take their own notes. They will then have a quiz using only those notes. Before doing this, we will have done it together 5 times. I am confident that they will be able to do it all on their own. Life long skill there...especially in college!

MT History: We will begin to take a look at the actual history of MT. We will start with the American Indians that were here long before European's came over. What was their life like before all the confusion? Kids will find out this week.

CC Meetings: MLK Jr and civil rights. We will be reading MANY books about this topic. In celebration of MLK Jr's birthday on the 15th, we will be taking a look at all he did. MLK Jr is one of my personal heroes and on many occasions, I have been called Rosa Parks Jr, by many of my friends and colleagues. I am always standing up for kids and looking out for their best interests. Nothing makes me more angry or frustrated than when I see kids being treated unfairly or bullied. I have never feared anyone or anything that stands in the way of making sure those issues are solved quickly. Hence the nickname I have gotten at times. :0)

Next, next Monday (the 20th) is actually MLK Jr day on the calendar. Kids are off that day, but teachers are in meetings. So, we will also be doing a lot of fun projects in CC Meeting the follow week as well. Kids will need to purchase their tri fold board for this. They may start to bring them in anytime this week. They will need to have them for sure by Tuesday, January 21st. They will need to get the medium sized board. It is not the giant one (like they need for science fair). It is not the tiny one either. It is the one that is 40 inches by 28 inches. I got mine at Walmart for less than $3. Kids will display all of their fun projects for MLK Jr., Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, and the Little Rock 9 on this board. We will hopefully display them in the library for all to see.



Arrowhead Reef night is approaching. Make sure you mark January 30th on the calendar for some splish splah fun! Emma, Beau, Zach and I will be there hitting the slides! We may even make a night out of it and stay the night. Fun! It is $10 a person. Arrowhead gets $4 out of that. It is from 5-9 pm. We sure hope to see a bunch of you there. I would love to hang with the kids in a fun way! Thanks PTA for putting this together!

Quarter 2 is coming to a close. It is hard to believe we are almost halfway through the 4th grade. I am proud to say that we are right where we should be academically. We do have two standardized tests coming up in March-April. We will take the Smarter Balanced (Common Core Standardized Test) and the MAP NWEA's. I am not a big test person, so I don't put a lot of pressure on kids for either of these. It is just another day to me and another way for kids to shine, shine, shine. All we can ask is that they do their best, just as I expect every day. For my class, it is a time of celebration of learning rather than a stressed out you better pass this test atmosphere. I already know each and every child in my classroom is smart and growing. That is what matters to me. They will be ready, prepared, and most of all they have the BELIEVE power instilled in them to rock any and every test I put in front of them! :0)

Trevor was once again or star of the week. He brought some legos and his United Airline fly pack. He shared some more artifacts from his trip to Korea. He is so knowledgable about Korea, and it is so fun to listen to his excitement about it. I could just see him becoming a reporter one day. :0) Trevor ended his sharing with his fox friend. It was funny that when Trevor first heard the song, What does a Fox Say, he was in bed with this little guy. Awesome! Thanks for sharing with us again Trevor.



I would like to throw out a couple of happy thoughts to some families: Congratulations to Max's family on moving into their new house. Max sure was excited on Thursday! Warm thoughts for Nicolas's and  Liam's family as they say goodbye to important family members. My thoughts are with all of you during this difficult time. A big congratulations to Tyler's mom getting engaged over the holiday break. How exciting! Safe travels to Riley's grandparents as they come home from a trip. I know that Riley missed you both! A big hug to Amanda. I hope to see you back in class on Monday. We missed you on Friday. I so enjoy about hearing all about your kiddos lives outside these four walls. They share so much during our feelings time during our daily CC meetings. Relationships matter now and forever.

I would like to wrap up this post by sharing with you the last two points from the article I presented all week. I sure hope that it hit home with you as much as it did me. Being a parent and a teacher at the same time often makes it hard to remember these points when looking at my own children's educations. Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Erickson

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

9. Don’t compare me to any other teacher your child has had, or will have. We, like the students, are unique in our own ways and styles of teaching. What makes this great is that it mimics the real world where your child must adapt to others in leadership. From colleagues to the boss, your child must use the experience of school to help adapt into the workforce. Social Skills are important to learn during these years, so empower your child by allowing them to handle their issues. Your support is important, but your personal involvement should be the last option.

10. Lastly, but most importantly, I care for your child as if they are my own (In my mind, they are a part of my family and always will be). I have but 180 days to instill a passion to be a life long learner and empower them to chase their dreams. It is NEVER about straight A’s, but rather taking steps forward, no matter how small. Failure is NOT an option.  I will be there to help out even when they have moved on to higher grades if ever needed.  I am just a phone call or email away, for help, or simply to update me!

Just like every other profession out there, 10% are bad teachers. Unfortunately you will have to experience one or two educating your child. Use it as a learning experience in adapting to make the most of a bad situation (for you and your child), and never hold it against your next teacher! Do what you need to support your child and document everything!  Lastly, if your child is struggling and you feel there is something wrong, ask for your child to be tested. Document all of your worries and things you see, approach your teacher, and don’t stop until you see results. Lastly- remember to “Thank a Teacher” when you appreciate the work they are doing. At a time of teacher evaluations based on standardized tests, government mandates, and the norm of teacher bashing, a simple handshake or a note is priceless in uplifting the spirit of a teacher.

Arrowhead Reef Night Is Coming!!!!

Hello there!

Happy Summer Birthday to Trevor!!! What fun treats from Dr. Who! You and your parents sure are creative Trevor. I hope you have a wonderful 10th birthday this summer.



Tennis shoes and library books are needed for tomorrow.

Bonus code word tonight is ANIMAL. Ask your child which animal they are planning on researching for science class. If they tell you, write the word animal in the planner for $10.

Here is the next two fun thoughts from the week's article. Enjoy!

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

7. The most important skills your child needs to learn in Elementary school are- Study Skills! From flash cards, to note taking, your child must learn to study for Secondary and Post Secondary years. Especially keep an eye on your child if they are a straight A student- as elementary school may be too easy, but eventually the subject matter will become increasingly difficult and they will be ill-prepared to study and ill-equipped to handle failure.

8. Don’t compare your child’s learning to any other child’s learning. For both success and struggle, asking your child to be like another child is just wrong. Keep it focused on what your child can accomplish. Forming better study habits or asking for help, are reachable tasks that can help a C student shoot for a C+ or B on the next test/report card. If you know your child has worked hard, be proud, show encouragement and your child will continue to put forth the effort and blossom!

Sorry for the short blog, but my little Beau Beau went home sick from school and I want to get right home. Have a wonderful evening! 

Ms. Erickson

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, you’re doing something.” – Neil Gaiman, author

Hi there.

Today started of with a great discussion in CC Meeting. Rusty's thinking question was how can we make our classroom/school a safe school zone in 2014? The kids came up with a great list of how tos. Then, I read them a powerful book called Each Kindness. It is a book about a new girl, Maya, that wears used hand me down clothes. Maya's new classmates ignore her and leave her out of their play. One classmate in particular won't even smile at Maya and they nickname her Never New. Then their teacher does a lesson on being kind and how kindness is like dropping a stone into water. It ripples out. The mean classmate, realizes instantly that she has been unkind to Maya. She really wants to become friends with Maya, but she is absent from school that day. She eagerly awaits Maya's return to school, but she never does. It turns out she moved away again. Now, the girl will never be able to be kind to Maya. She missed her chance. After the story, the kids were able to add even more powerful ways that we can help our classroom become a safe school zone for everyone to learn and grow in. Things like, never make fun of people clothing, always be nice to new students, never regret a time you could be nice or kind, and so many others. What a great lesson!

In Science, with Mrs. Auch, your child is learning about animals and all the things that have to do with it. They all selected an animal to research today. They now have to do some research at home. They have a sheet with all the expectations in their take home folders. On the back of that sheet, they wrote the grading rubric so they know how they will be scored. They need to get their own poster board to do this. (We do have some if they need it. They just need to ask). Also, the Science Fair is on March 27th. More details will be coming home about that soon.

In math, we worked on finding the greatest common factor. Kids have finding factors down. They even liked it so much, that a few of them asked for extra problems to do tonight for homework. Love it!

We studied constellations today in Lead 21. Each student was given a constellation. We went to the computer lab and did some research on the story behind them. Many kids wanted to just tell me fast facts. Many had to go back and try a different search to find the story. Most kids finished and are ready to present tomorrow, but some brought it home to research again tonight. The presentation tomorrow is about 20 seconds to one minute long. They will just stand up and share their constellation and its story.

We used the compasses again today to draw some circles for another snowology project. They are getting better and better on doing this and finding the radius on the tool. This will help a ton when we actually get to circles in our math books.

For homework tonight, kids have their Elvis Presley HR. We read it together in class. They just need to complete the back side. I am not sure every kid has listened to some of the songs listed in their HR reading. Maybe they could youtube one and listen to it??? If they (with you) do, write the name of the song you rock out to in the planner. :0) It is worth $10 tomorrow.

Kids have earned an ipod day in art. They may bring those with them to class tomorrow.

I again leave you with more of the article I am sharing.

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

5. Most important- Stop focusing on getting Straight A’s!! This is propaganda being pushed by society. If your child gets a C, it does not mean they are failing, it means they were average. There is nothing wrong with having a goal of A’s, but getting some B’s and C’s in 4th grade will NOT stop your child from getting accepted into Harvard as you may have planned. I do not give out grades, your child earns them. Be PROUD of a “hard earned C”, because it is better than an “easy A”!

6. Elementary School is NOT as easy as you remember it. Sure adding and subtracting is easy for you now, but can you find the mean, mode and median? How about naming the parts of a plant cell? Indirect objects? Prepositional Phrases? How about labeling all 50 States and their Capitals? Trust me, your child is not struggling to frustrate you. Take a deep breathe, remain calm, and listen. (Remember that I have to do this with 25+ students everyday!) Frustration is a fine line- It is good cause it means they still CARE and desire to be better! However,  you have to be careful, because the next step is to quit. Make sure your child knows “You are not allowed to quit!” No matter how frustrated they are, let them know you care too and will help or get help for them!

Have a wonderful evening! 

Ms. Erickson

Time to Just Be Kids With Other Kids! :0)

Hello there. Hopefully your kiddos shared with you that the blog would be late today. I had a conference with Emma's teacher right after school. Thanks for being patient :0).

Today was a busy day. We learned, learned, and learned right from the start today. However, mid way through we took time out to just be KIDS! Our class paired up with Mrs. Powell's 2nd graders to make some fun snowmen. Kids had to model how to do it to their 2nd grade buddy. For thirty minutes, the teachers backed out  and the kids took over. It was so fun to see them help those little ones. What a great group of kids in both classes! In a half hour, we did not have to tone down the volume one time. Wowzers when you think of 40 some kids together in an open classroom. And didn't they turn out absolutely adorable???? Academic purpose: NONE! Social purpose: Their entire future on leadership and socializing skills with others. Pretty important stuff if you ask me!



In CC meeting today, we read another RJ book. Today, he helped us discover why it is important to work with others and to share. RJ put a great twist on the concept. He taught us that when we work on a team, we learn more about ourselves. We learn what we are good at and what we can bring to a group setting. Rusty's show was also on this exact topic. He sure knows how to read my mind! (Or is it me reading his????)

We continued on in our Lead 21 Theme Readers today. We finished Chapter One. Kids had to figure out what planet they would like to live on if they could choose any of the 9 and then provide specific evidence from a picture as to why. Ask your kiddo what planet they picked and why. If they can tell you, write the planet they chose in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

I would like to close by adding the next two points of the article I posted last night....

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

3.  I am not perfect. I, too, will make mistakes. I am sorry. If there is a problem, please approach me with a mindset of what is best for your child, and don’t hold it against me. (Remember I know we are both not perfect- see #2!)

4. Your child’s education is not about you and any embarrassment you may have. I simply want what is best for your child to be successful. This may mean being honest with your child. There is nothing wrong with being honest about negative behaviors you are observing with your child as long as you reassure them you are there to support. Please work with me if I approach you. I am doing so to help your child, not to inconvenience you.

Have a wonderful evening and thanks for trusting me with your kids!
Ms. Erickson

Do You Laugh Like I Do at Your Job???

Slideshow created with Smilebox

Hilarious day! We had indoor recess, which was quite entertaining in itself I tell ya. Kids crack me up! We also had a fun game in SS. Kids had to try to survive the many obstacles colonists faced at the Jamestown settlement in the 1600s. It was realistic to have more people die in that time period than survive. Turns out that is how it went down in our classroom as well. Enjoy the videos for yourself above! Love this kind of learning! 

We also began our new unit in Lead 21: Space. Kids will be doing an inquiry project during this unit. Watch for more details and a rubric in the near future. Today kids revolved and rotated around our sun (Taylor). We were sure dizzy. I posed the question...Why don't we feel the Earth moving when it is moving 77,600 mph? No one could figure it out or guess correctly so I told them in would be the blog bonus question tonight. Research with your kiddo and discover why we don't feel the Earth moving when it going that fast. Write your findings in the planner for a $10 bonus tomorrow. 

We began to find factors for numbers. We used divisibility rules to do so. Kids did great until they hit a factor that matched with itself. Yikes! That took forever to get them to understand that they only needed to write the number once in the factor list. For example the number 9 has the factor pairs 1 and 9 and 3 and 3. Therefore, the factor list is written as 1, 3, 9 and not 1, 3, 3, 9. Ahhhhhh! Why was that tough? No clue, but it was. :0) The best though was number 72. Now that is a number with a lot of factors! Who knew???? We sure do now! We will quiz out on this concept tomorrow after a final review in class. Thank goodness for calculators! 

This weekend, I ran across a great article online. It was written by a retired teacher. Their words could have been my own. In fact, I have decided to post a part of it each day. The purpose of the article was to list 10 things that every teacher wants parents to know. It was so right on! I wish I could take credit for these fine words by I can't. I will post 2 each day. Enjoy! :0) 

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

In my 15+ years of teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, I tried to keep a very complicated system as simple as possible. We kept our standards high and did our best to reach them. I only asked one simple question to determine the success of my students and their efforts….”Are you PROUD?”

Whether I was talking with the smartest kid in class, or the one who struggled the most, this one question was all I could ask for from each and every student. There is a connection when you look a student in the eye and ask this one question that any standardized testing will never be able to capture. Let’s remember that every student is an individualized learning anomaly. As parents, it is hard to keep an open mind when your child is grouped with his or her peers and is struggling in comparison. However, just like learning to walk, each child is able to rise on their own 2 feet when their mind and body are ready to do so. The main objective for both parent and teacher is to be a great supportive net to help each and every child when they are ready, and be there to support them in good and bad times.

With that being said, I always wanted my students’ parents to know 10 things when their child was in my care:

1. Your child does not treat me as they do you. You are their parent and they will test you 100 times more.  Don’t get me wrong, they will also test me in the classroom (it is a part of growing up), however, I have the power of peers, the Principal, and you on my side. If you teach your children to be respectful, chances are they are being respectful!

2. In Elementary School, your child will tell lots of stories of what goes on at home! We only believe half of what they say, but the question is what half do we believe?? 

I would like to close with an apology. I am so sorry to Nicolas's family. I went home this weekend and was reflecting (like I always do) and realized that I think I said the wrong thing in the lunchroom the other day. I said to Nicolas, Oh lucky you gets to have lunch with both mom and dad. Well, I  believe now that dad was really big brother visiting from college. Urg! I apologize! I felt really silly when I thought about this later! I shared this apology with Nicolas in class. So sorry! :0) 

Homework tonight: Finish classwork from Language Arts. Those that finished: Graphing Practice Sheet

Have a wonderful and SUNNY evening! 

Ms. Erickson