You can't hold them responsible until they are response-able. Cindy Goldrich

Well hello there.

I will see you in a short few hours, but here is the quick run down on today. It was a fantastic, fun, and packed day. We learned a ton…though I am not sure they realized it. :0)

As you can see from the slideshow below, our Chinese lunch was a HUGE success. Everyone's orders came out correctly and with Noah B's mom's help we had it passed out and organized in no time! Everyone was full, full, full! It was great fun to watch them eat with their chopsticks and to just sit and listen to them talk about their food and how it tasted. Thanks again for helping to make this happen for your kids!

A digital slideshow by Smilebox

This afternoon we finished up our Puff Mobile lab. The kids gave their mobiles one big puff, measured the distance traveled in centimeters, and then graphed it in a histograph. What is the difference between a histograph and a bargraph? Ask you kiddo. If they can tell you write GRAPH in the planner for $10 tomorrow. They should tell you that in a histograph the bars are smashed together, where in a bar graph they have space in between them. After each trial, they made adjustments by problem solving to see if they could make it go farther each time. This room was flowing with ideas! Awesome learning happening! Then, of course we HAD to race them! How could you not! We have some good puffers in here. Some huffed and puffed and blew their mobiles over! :0)

A gentle reminder to send a snack with your child daily. We eat lunch so late. Today, I had 5 without it. I do have a box of Cherrios, but they really do need to bring their own. It breaks my heart when I say they can get their snack and some kids don't have one and look at me with those sad hungry eyes. Just something simple like a piece of fruit, a granola bar, or a cheese stick helps them make it that extra hour before lunch. Thanks.

Inquiry projects are due tomorrow morning. Has your kiddo practiced their presentation with you? Please practice one more time tonight to work out those bugs. I can't wait to see them all tomorrow!!!

I think that about covers it. Remind kids to read their school book report book over the weekend. They need to be done by next Wednesday. I will begin to model the report in class next week, and that will be their homework.

Have a great, great night! If you attended the Open House tonight, write OPEN HOUSE In the planner for a $50 bonus. Thanks for supporting your kiddos! :0)

Mrs. Grewell

Chinese Food Tomorrow for Lunch!

Customize a free digital slideshow

Well, as you can see above we had a great day in the 4th grade! The first part of the slideshow is from our Fallen Rock book. Before we got to the actual picture of the boys in the book, I had the kids draw what they pictured the two brothers, Fallen Rock and Running Water, to look like. The first time I read it, I pictured very similar to most of them. I pictured little boys about the same age as these kiddos and very modern. When I saw the actual picture, I was like…no way!! I totally forgot they were even Indians. Don't you love Laney's! I love how she thinks outside the box and made the actual road signs for their heads. Hilarious! I love kids! 

The second part of the slideshow is from science today. We have been studying wind and yesterday we talked about how wind has power to do many things. It can make electricity, it can pump water from the ground, it can dry our clothes on a clothes line, and it can push things like boats and cars. So…today I wanted to bring that alive. With Project Lead the Way science this year, we are encouraged to allow kids to do more thinking on their own and mimic engineers. Today, I gave them the needed supplies to make a puff mobile, a few rules like it has to roll and you can't use anything else than what you have, but no directions on how to make it. I never showed them mine. I am sooooo glad I didn't because we ended up with 23 different models of puff cars. They were soooo creative! I am pretty sure we even have some serious future engineers in here!!!! What they learned the most however was how to problem solve and how to breathe. When they would become frustrated or do a trial run that would not work, they had to look at what did work and what they needed to tweak a bit. At the end, most kids had a finished product that they can use tomorrow in the actual wind experiment. Some kids wanted to take theirs home to finish. I said that was fine as long as they followed the rules and did NOT get any ideas or help from anyone else. They must come back tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, we will actually blow our mobiles and measure the distance travelled in centimeters. We will then graph it. We will do this 10 times, adjusting and problem solving as we go, each time trying to get more distance and continually wondering how we can make it even better. And of course…we will see the power of wind in action! Fun!! This will conclude our study on wind. Next up…hurricanes! 

Today in math, we got on the computers and took a look at Golden Phoenix's lunch menu. Kids each selected what they wanted to order for tomorrow's lunch. They also had to add a dollar tip for the delivery driver and then find their total. My goodness this was a tough choice. I didn't allow them to order off the kids menu because the food selections were not Chinese food (grilled cheese…). That would defeat the purpose now wouldn't it. I will place the order in the morning and have it delivered for lunch. If students are not buying lunch from here, they will still eat in the classroom with us. AND EVERYONE will use chopsticks tomorrow. The point of doing this is to take in a new type of heritage and learn something new. I also told kids they may bring in a drink of their choice to have with lunch. Pop is fine. NO JUMBO sizes. Just regular 20 oz bottles, and they MUST have a lid. Other drinks are also fine. They may come home with leftovers for dinner. :0) Yay! 

PLEASE LOOK IN THEIR TAKE HOME FOLDERS FOR THEIR ORDER FORM, SEND IN THE NEEDED MONEY (ROUND UP SO I DON'T HAVE TO MAKE CHANGE PLEASE), AND SEND BACK THE ORDER FORM SO I KNOW WHAT TO ORDER AND FOR WHOM!

So excited and so are they. Thanks for helping to make this happen! 

Homework tonight is a crossword reading comprehension sheet. We read the front together in class and discussed it at length. I modeled how to do a crossword puzzle to those that have never done one. So, everyone should be ok on this one. We talked about how spelling is a big part of crossword puzzles. Many kids also came home with their reading leveled bookwork. Please refrain from helping on these, as I plan to grade them for a reading grade. They all know how to do all the skills as we talked about them in small groups and they just need to go back in the text and look! Thanks.

A BIG thank you to Landon for the Jakes Gift Card donation.Yummy! 

Inquiry projects are due on Friday morning. 

We have art tomorrow! Kids love art! :0) 

Tomorrow night is open house. It starts at 6. I can't wait to see you all there! :0) 

Have a fantastic night with your fantastic kids! 

Mrs. Grewell

Library switched to TOMORROW. Please bring books back!

How do you get 4th graders to focus? Put a very challenging game in front of them on the computer screen and tell them they can do it!!! It was AWESOME watching your kiddos in the computer lab today. To go along with our science topic of wind, I found a pretty challenging game that requires some logic, engineering, and patience. Have your child show you the game and do a couple of levels together. They know how to get there! If you go save the villagers together, write WIND in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

Tuesday folders came home today. Not much inside. There is a reminder for our Open House on Thursday, but I just know that all of you already have it marked on your calendars. :0) Please sign, date, and return them tomorrow.

Homework tonight is to read those school themed book report books, study spelling words, and complete a review math page. Feel free to check the math page and give them some feedback. These were skills we learned from day one.

A reminder that Inquiry projects are due this Friday. Kids must show mastery of the concept that heritage is the passing of things from generation to generation starting with our ancestors. They also need to be ready to present to an audience. Practicing at home is a sure fire way of doing this. If you are bringing in a recipe and sample of the dish for us to share please make sure it is here by 9:30 on Friday morning.

A HUGE thank you to Kara, AJ, Gabrielle, and Emily for bringing in some fun gift cards. There is still three more days to donate. Please check the list off to the right to avoid duplicates. I will be sending them home with Noah B on Friday for mom to work her magic and create our appealing and eye catching basket for the following weekend at Saturday Live. :0)

Have a great evening!!!
Mrs. Grewell

BELIEVE that homework is NOT optional. Thanks!

Hello there. We had a great Monday, however, a lot of money was taken today. My oh my we have some talkers in here. I am sure hoping all 23 students get to join us on our field trip in October to the NILE. They still have plenty of time, but some kiddos really need to take my expectations seriously. Please remember, kids should be able to earn enough money for these things on their own. They should NOT be relying on you to earn them money for code words and or gift card rewards. It is imperative that they figure out how to behave in our little society now before they get out in that big one out there. I keep telling them that eventually they will not have mom, dad, and teacher to remind them how to behave in a community of learners. No one in here is extreme and beyond hope. They can all do it if they buckle down. Unfortunately, some kiddos need a harsher consequence to really get how their actions have consequences.

Another way to lose money is to believe that homework and classwork in G4 land is optional. It is NOT optional. Many kids are blaming you and making excuses. My mom made me do this…my dad said I couldn't do my homework…I had football…I forgot. I tell kids, they may need to reevaluate their priorities for their future and make a to do list with a time table. I don't give that much homework. It should easily be done within the 40 minutes allotted to a 4th grader. Part of the problem is that kids are not using their time wisely in class and end up with more homework than I assign. I give more than ample time in class to finish an assignment and often wait for almost everyone to finish. However, I am not going to give more time if kids are off in la la land or messing around. Choices…consequences. Please discuss with your child what your expectations are for homework: where? when? what happens if it doesn't get done? If you do this, write HOMEWORK in the planner for $10 tomorrow.

Homework tonight is a reading comprehension sheet on the Star Spangled Banner. Kids learned about this in music class, and we read about it being 200 years old this month in our Scholastic News today. Therefore, I did not read it aloud to them in class. They will need to read it and then do the activity on the back. It is DUE tomorrow morning.

Fitness Club (PEAK) is tomorrow after school.


Have a fantastic night!
Mrs. Grewell

Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason. Katrina Mayer

Hi there. Happy Sunday! We sure had a great weekend. Friday night, Zach and I had a date with some friends to attend a fish fry. Fresh from Alaska…delicious! Saturday, my daughter and I got to see Mr. Noah L play some soccer. He even made two goals!! What a great player. I was also very impressed with his coach (also his dad). He was really positive and was yelling words of encouragement throughout the game. No wonder Noah is such a great kiddo! Thanks for inviting me Noah L! It was laundry, grocery shopping, and church today. Now, it is blog time. Believe it or not, this is one of my favorite parts of Sunday! :0)

This Thursday night is Open House. Please plan on attending. We will go over many key points for 4th graders to be successful. I will also explain some of our basic procedures that you have been reading about. Please come with any questions you have about the 4th grade year in general. Let's save personal questions about specific kids for our one on one conferences. Thanks.

So many of you have contributed to our gift card basket for Saturday Live. A special thank you to Avery, Noah L, Josh (again :0)), and a beautiful little girl that may not be named on here. :0) Our basket is going to be so fun!!!! The last day to contribute is this coming Friday.

This weekend, if your child is in my Lead 21 class, your kiddos had some homework. It was not doing homework, but it was thinking and discussing homework that involved interacting with you! In their take home folders, they have a menu of choices for their Unit 1 Inquiry Projects for our Heritage Unit. There are 5 different projects they can choose from OR they can come up with one of their own. They will need to let me their choice on Monday. What am I looking for and grading? Kids need to be able to clearly present their understanding of how heritage is the passing down of things from the past from generation to generation starting with their ancestors. No matter which project they pick, they will need to explain  the story behind it. I will be modeling this throughout the week as well with some examples of my own heritage. The presentation will be around 5 minutes in length. If students create their own project, they need to approve it with me on Monday. Once I write down their choice, it is locked in and there will be no switching. Projects will be prepared at home, and will be due in class this Friday to present. Please do NOT bring in projects early. I have no where to store them, and it ruins the element of surprise. If your child chooses the head outline collage one, I will trace their head on Monday for them. We went over all 5 projects in length, but if kids or parents have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. The ones in the pictures are just suggestions on the different topics. They do not have to be done in the same fashion. It is the idea that is the choice. How they present it and do it ti totally up to them. For example, if they chose the timeline one. They could also draw a family tree or some other way of displaying it. What matters is that they go from ancestors to themselves and not skip the order of generations. :0) I look forward to traveling back in time with all of your kiddos. If you would like to join us as well, we will be doing them on Friday starting at 9:30. If you have this discussion, please write the word HERITAGE in the planner for $10 on Monday.

The other day, we were reading about the Chinese heritage and their tradition of using chopsticks to eat with. I was surprised how many kids liked to eat Chinese food. So, I told them that maybe one day this week we could order lunch from Golden Phoenix and have it delivered and eat it the way they do. I would love to provide this for them for free, but that is not possible. So, I want to poll the audience. Would you be willing to send in money to pay for your child's lunch? We would do a little math lesson with the menu and add up our individual totals. Then, kids could bring them home for your approval, and the next day, they could bring in their money and we could order it. This would be totally optional, as I know some kids don't like to eat this kind of food. We would do it during our regular lunch time in the classroom. If you want your child to do this and are willing to pay their bill, please write FOOD in the planner. I will do the lesson with them this week. My guess is we would do the lunch on Thursday. It sure is fun to connect with our reading textbook! :0)

This week…

Math: Learning how numbers relate due to the place value they are in, rounding in real world situations,  and counting and making change with money.

Lead 21: Continue to read about heritage. Be able to pick out important information from text. Show examples of Author's purpose. Antonyms and Synonyms.

Book Report: I checked in with each kiddo on Friday. I recorded the name of the book they will be doing their report on at home. I also wrote down what chapter they were on. Some of them need to get reading, reading, reading. Most, were right on schedule. They need to be done not this Wednesday but they next. Report forms will be coming home that day as well and reports will be due the following Monday. It is an easy one this time, and I will have modeled it in class so they know exactly what to do at home. In the meantime, read, read, read. At this point, they may NOT change books.

Language: Adjectives: kids will be able to identify if it is a what kind or how many adjective. Nouns: kids will be able to identify if it is a person, place, or thing and if it is singular or plural. Also, how to take a verb and add a suffix to the end of it and make it into an adjective.

Spelling: short and long i sounds. Alternate words will be available this unit to challenge those that got a 100% on Friday's test. Kids may decide if they want the alternate list or stick with the book. Congratulations to Carl, Cayden, Kyra, Landon, Reece, Claire, Laney, Avery, and a little girl who can't be named on here for being the first to have this honor. They will decide on Monday if they want to try the alternate list this week. Challenge, challenge, challenge! Many kids missed the 100% because they used capital letters when spelling. When this is done, the word is not spelled correctly and I have to mark it wrong. I made sure EVERYONE understood this before our test on Friday even started. It always saddens me to do this, but once they have it happen, it usually corrects itself. Drats.

S.S.: We will continue to follow Fallen Rock and his brother Running Water on their journey across the United States. They are now in the Rocky Mountains heading toward the Grand Canyon where they will collect a pouch full of water from the Colorado River. The kids are really enjoying the story and all the mini lessons it is providing. We are still trying to find a way to bring Bill Merical out here to visit. More to come on that in the Tuesday folders. :0)

Montana History: The three regions of our great state and what kind of land, plants, and animals live in those regions.

Science: We will finish up wind on Monday, have a cool whole class experiment on Tuesday, and be into Hurricanes by Friday. Wow…we are "blowing" through this weather unit! :0) Next week, kids will show their knowledge about the parts of a hurricane by making one using origami and another one using shaving cream and glue. Say what????? Wanna come help? More on that next Sunday. I will need volunteers that day!

FlyTime: Being trustworthy and a good sport. We didn't get to this last week due to Fallen Rock, but we will hit it this week. :0)

I leave you with some pictures of our Star of the Week last week. Mr. Carl shared more about himself. He likes to collect rocks and play basketball. Cool! Reece also brought in a special visitor. We got to meet Charley, his baby golden doodle puppy! Adorable. Anyone doubt that I love my job??? :0)



Have a fantastic Sunday! PE shoes on Monday.
Mrs. Grewell

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)



Enjoy your super soggy Thursday night. Let's hope we wake up to sunshine tomorrow morning!
Mrs. Grewell

Believe, Believe, Believe!

Hello, hello!

I hope you had a great day. Even though the weather was blahhh, our day in room G4 was packed with learning from the get go! Tomorrow is even supposed to be colder…and SNOW is in the forecast! Oh my! Please have kids dress warmly. We do go out for recess in the morning and a lunch daily unless it is below zero. Hard to believe I am typing that in early September! Crazy Montana weather!

Speaking of weather…we had a special guest today. Ms. Erin Clanahan! She is a meteorologist on KLUR8. The news team was also here. That means our class will be on the news tonight on the 5 OR 6 o'clock news (she wasn't sure which) AND again at the 5:00 news with her tomorrow morning. Fun! We learned a ton, ton, ton. She even brought an anemometer to show us. It had a wind vane on the top. She also shared with us what a hygrometer is used for. If they can tell you (Do NOT let them look it up!!!!!!) then write what it is used for in the planner for $10 tomorrow. Again, a special thank you to Erin for coming out, and to Kyra's parents for setting this up!!!



Thank you to Reece, Espen, and Morgan for adding to our gift card collection! Yay!!!

Homework tonight is a math review sheet. They need to stretch those numbers like a slinky! Here is an example of number one: 4,000,000 + 500,000 + 0 +2,000 + 0 + 90 + 3. They also need to fill out three bucket filler slips. They can do one teacher. The other two need to be to kids they don't know.

Have a wonderful night.
Mrs. Grewell