Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. Vince Lombardi

Hi. Happy Super Bowl Sunday! What do those Roman Numerals mean anyway? We will learn just that this week. Kids will practice reading those and figuring them out in their homework towards the end of the week.

Here's a question for some bonus money. If the Patriots are the NEW ENGLAND Patriots, which New England state is their home stadium found in? Write it in the planner for $10 tomorrow. See...this is exactly why we learn those states in S.S. :0)

Here is what else we will learn this week...

Math: We will continue with fractions. We now know how to make equivalent fractions, reducing fractions to their lowest terms using divisibility rules to find factors and the GCF, and compare them by finding a common denominator and then cross multiplying to find equivalent numerators. Now, we will continue by making mixed fractional numbers and improper fractions along with adding and subtracting fractions with uncommon denominators. Big stuff here!!!

Reading Lead 21: We will continue with our space studies in our informational texts in whole group and our small groups. We will focus in more on fact and opinion at a deeper level. Kids tend to think that if they agree with an opinion, it then makes it fact. They also get easily confused if the given text is someone's feelings. Since there is no way to prove how someone is feeling, they are always opinions. Summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting will be the focus of our small group meetings this week.

Language: Combining sentences without using a comma and conjunction. This is the opposite of what we learned last week. This week, we will combine subjects, predicates, and adjectives, but will not need a comma due to the fact that we will not be combining whole sentences. Nothing like messing them up when I just got their minds fixed one way. :0)

Spelling: Kids will use, understand, say, and spell words with a final /j/ and /s/ sound. Please make sure kiddos are studying their words daily at home. A few kiddos have really dropped in this area on their new quarter grades.

Science: We will use iPads to slow motion record our pendulums swinging back and forth depending on the height you start at. We will talk a lot about speed and energy. We will do the same with our cars going down an inclined ramp.

Social Studies: We will study our MW states and capitals.

MT History: We will finish up our first unit: The basics. We will soon move into the first Montanan's...the Native Americans. We will take a close look what their life was like before European influence and after.

Fly Time: We will take some time to get online and track our grades thus far. I will show kids how to get into the online grade book. We will start to do this weekly so kids know exactly how they are doing in all academic areas this quarter. I recently went to a workshop about how allowing kids track their own progress helps them to make short term and long term goals. Let's give it a try. :0)

Again, I want to thank all of you for coming to the MLK, Jr. share night. What a wonderful night to be a teacher. I am sure it was also great to be a parent that night, but for me...it was nothing but rewarding to sit back and watch all of you. When kids were up performing their Rosa Park poems I watched you instead of them. Watching you laugh and smile made it all worth it. Then, during the poster share time, my heart really swelled. Hearing all of you interact and sit so close to your kiddos and really, really listen to them and all that they learned made my night even more special. Your kids learned so much, and I hope that you did too. :0) Enjoy the slideshow of your special evening with your child!

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Miss. Hanna was our star of the week this week. She brought in her puppy, Moka. This puppy was SUPER energetic and fun. All the kids enjoyed being attacked by dog kisses! She also brought her brother Owen. What a cutie! Hanna likes Minecraft, collecting crystal puppies, porcelain puppies, and drawing. What a talented little girl. Thanks for sharing with us Hanna, and a special thanks to dad for bringing in the pup! :0)


Thank you to all that supported the local animal shelter by wearing a hat, bringing in a stuffed animal, or bringing in a toy for a dog all for a dollar or more. We appreciate you! We had a fun time with Gwen's turkey vulture. I am good friends with Jeff the Zoo Guy at Zoo Montana so I called him up knowing that the turkey vulture is one of his favorite animals too. He was getting on a plane when we called, but he did text us this fun information about the bird. GROSS!! Gotta love how Jeff connects with kids. The grosser the better! :0)



This week some 4th graders will be taking the NAEP test. This is a national test. You know when you hear things like, Montana is the ____ out of all 50 states in math, reading, or science? Well, this is the test that determines that data. Arrowhead staff has nothing to do with this test. NAEP has it's own test people that come in and administer the test. Since not all 4th graders will be tested (it was a random selection done by them) I will be monitoring those that will not be testing. We will be silent reading and doing other very quiet activities. Therefore, the kids that were selected from my class, will go into other classrooms to test. They will either take the math, reading, or science test. Again, that is a random selection done by NAEP. So, not all kids will take the same test. If your child was selected, you received a notice home in the Tuesday folder a couple of weeks ago. If your child was not selected to test, you did not receive notice at all. The test is Wednesday morning and will last 90 minutes from start to finish. I know that Arrowhead will be an awesome addition to Montana's ranking in the nation. I am already so proud of all of them!

I hope you have a wonderful week! I leave you with a few more fun pictures of kids supporting the local animal shelter!


Mrs. Grewell