A Fly on the Wall: I BELIEVE Library Books Due Tomorrow and It is Picture Day Tomorrow!

Hello there. Another blustery day in Billings. The good news is, tomorrow is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!!! At least that is what our favorite meteorologist said this morning. Erin…if you are reading this, we are holding you to it!!! I have not had a chance to watch my recorded news programs. I am not sure if we made the news yesterday or not. Some kids said yes, and some said no. I will watch them soon and try to publish the link here. :0)

Today in math we worked on rounding large numbers. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the kids caught onto the 7 steps needed. Have the kids show you how to round 987,543 to the thousands place. They should underline the 7, draw an arrow from the 7 to the 5, tell you that the 5 means they have to round up, change the 7 to an 8, keep all the numbers in front of the 7 the same, and change all the numbers behind it to zeroes. They should end up with 988,000. If they do, write YAY!!! in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

We took some time and banked money this morning. We exchanged smaller bills for larger ones. I even brought out the $500 bills. Cool!!! Well over half the class (I would even say 75%) was able to exchange in for one of those. That tells me that most kids will be just fine to buy into our first field trip to the NILE in October for $300. There were a few that were not able to exchange in for that. That doesn't mean they are broke, but they are in danger of being able to join us outside the classroom walls and into the public. I will not take kids that do not know how to behave, control themselves, or be trustworthy out in public. It is not safe, and it is not conducive to the learning for the rest of the group. Those kiddos that like to shout out and have trouble staying focussed need to buckle down and use the strategies I have taught them during Fly Time. Ask your child tonight how much money they have in their wallet. Then ask them why if they are below $500. I said this before, and I will say it again…students should NOT be relying on the bonus code words from the blog for their money. The money they earn off of here should be a BONUS! They earn everything they need IN CLASS to have enough to participate in ALL buy in events. It is what THEY do with their money (earn or lose) that is important. So, please do not believe them when they say they have to bring in a gift card and get the $100 bonus or they can't go on the field trip. They can earn all they need IN class WITHOUT a parent's help. Anything dealing with you or coming from home is a bonus!

At Fly Time this morning we talked briefly about the importance of today's date. September 11th is always a tough one to teach at this level. It is scary to them and the details are violent and foreign. They were not alive, and they find it hard to imagine that kind of world in America so close to home. So, we focused instead on the people that helped out and have great character. We talked about the firemen, ambulance drivers, EMT's, hospital staff, and the military. We said the pledge with a new understanding this morning. We also said it in the 4th grade language, taking out the harder confusing words we say as an adult. So, we said…I promise to be loyal to the flag of the United States of America and to the country with elected leaders for which it stands, one country, under God, cannot be divided with freedom and fairness for all. Pretty powerful for 4th graders.

Homework tonight is two math practice sheets. We are constantly needing to review place value concepts. The sheets tonight are a little more than just straight forward skill work. They are questions that are made to make them think beyond the obvious skill and actually apply the skills to solve a more difficult problem. Avoid jumping in and telling them. Allow them time to think for themselves. That is what the sheets are designed for. If total frustration or shut downs occur, feel free to jump in of course.

I am hoping that kids are reading their school chapter book at home. They are telling me they are. We are down to less than two weeks now. Kids will need to bring in those books tomorrow to recheck out in the library. I will also be recording the titles tomorrow and do a quick check in with each kiddo as to where they are at in the reading. Projects will come home not next Monday, but the following Monday. They will be posters that the kids will need to fill in information about their books. We will do one totally together on the book we are reading aloud in class. Right now, they just need to be reading for enjoyment.

The weekly spelling test is tomorrow. Please remind them to study one last time.

Thank you's going out to Dominic's, Hanna's, Noah L's, and Claire's families for donating gift cards today! I love all the variety we are getting. The last day for cards in not this Friday, but the next. Thanks again for supporting Arrowhead's kids!

I leave you with some pictures of your amazing kids doing some puzzles this morning. 4th graders have to be able to identify where all 50 states are by the end of the year. We study these by regions and learn little by little each time. Doing USA puzzles is a great way for them to start to know where those states are. They are always at the dollar store if you want to pick one up for home. There is also a million online games (I will add them later to the blog) that help kids learn these. As you can tell, doing puzzles is still one of their favorite kid thing to do. Actually, I know that doing puzzles is still one of MY favorite things to do! :0)