Opening our gifts

We love talking with Santa!

Talking with Santa

Santa Visits Our Kindergarten Class!

Kindergarten Holiday Program

Merry Grinchmas!

We are reading Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and on Wednesday we will be watching the classic cartoon version of this story. Kindergartners are invited to wear their pajamas to school on Wednesday, the 22nd. WE WILL HAVE P.E. AND RECESS, SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND APPROPRIATE FOOTWEAR AND OUTERWEAR.

Star of the Week

Connor is Star of the Week for December 20th-24th. Connor did a wonderful job on his poster, and brought in his football card collection to share.

Thank You!

A HUGE thank you to representatives from United Way of Yellowstone County and First Interstate Bank. They visited our room today to read to the kindergartners, and present each of the students with their own copy of The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth. The kindergartners are so excited about their new books!

Awesome website

If anyone is interested, I found this really fun website! You can make a video from Santa for your son or daughter, and it is free! It is really cool.

Portable North Pole

Student of the Month

Our Student of the Month for December is Connor. Connor is a good listener, he always tries his best and he's a good friend to others. Congratulations, Connor!

Our Santas

Last week we wrote about Santa Claus, and this week we completed this art project to put with our sentences. Happy Holidays!

Student of the Month

Our Student of the Month for November was Carmen. I always look for students who are good listeners, good friends and who always try their best. Great job, Carmen!

Star of the Week

The Stars of the Week for the past three weeks are Grady, Sarah and Trinity. Thanks for bringing in your wonderful show and tells, and sharing information about yourself with us! We enjoy getting to know each one of you.

The Reindeer Hokey Pokey Video!

The Reindeer Hokey Pokey!

Gingerbread Men Measuring

Our sixth grade buddies came to our room today to help us measure gingerbread men. We used a variety of items like marshmallows, M&Ms and gumdrops to measure how tall the gingerbread men were. First we estimated how many we thought it might take, then we used the items to measure. Afterwards, we got to eat our treats! This was a fun project!

Our Gingerbread Cookies!

Thanks to our parent "Gingerbread Elves", who came in today to magically transform our colored gingerbread men into yummy gingerbread cookies! The kids absolutely loved this activity. A huge thank you to room moms Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Workman for coordinating this, and everyone who contributed supplies and came in to help!

Catch me if you can!

Gingerbread Man Recipe

Since we are reading about gingerbread men this week, and having a treat on Thursday, I thought I'd share a favorite recipe. The kids really love it, because it uses butterscotch pudding instead of molasses. Yum! Gingerbread Men Recipe

Santa's Workshop

On December 8th, our class will shop in "Santa's Workshop." A shopping list will be sent home with your child today. If you choose to participate, please return the shopping list and money (each gift is $1.50) by December 8th. The kids really love picking out their own gifts for their family and friends! This is a fun event provided by PTA.

Friendship Feast

Turkey Dinner

Gobble, gobble!

We enjoyed making turkey hats in Ms. Miller's room, then wearing them to our yummy Friendship Feast! Thanks to all of the parents who contributed items for our feast. The kids really enjoyed it, and their time together. A big thanks to the parents who came to help out during the feast!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Are you eating pumpkin pie?

Pumpkin Pie

Next Week

I apologize - I just noticed an error I made on the snack calendar for this month. Next week, there is full-day school on Monday, November 22nd and a half day (out at noon) on Tuesday, November 23rd. There is no school November 24-26th. School will resume on the 29th. Sorry for the confusion!

We Like Pumpkin Pie!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we have been talking a lot about pumpkin pie! Our Poem of the Week is even a song about pumpkin pie. On Friday, I brought in some pumpkin pie and whipped cream and we all ate some, then graphed who liked it and who didn't. Lots of kindergartners LOVED the pie! We also painted pieces of "pie" and added cotton ball whipped cream. The kids really enjoyed this project.

We are thankful for ...

We practiced writing the word and and added it to a poster with all of the kindergartners' pictures to show who we are thankful for this holiday season. This is a favorite poster for students to read during our Read the Room center!

Friendship Feast

We are planning a Friendship Feast with all three kindergarten classes on Tuesday, November 23rd at 11:00. Since this is a half-day of school, this will also be our lunch. We will be making Taco Soup in class. Each child will bring an item to school to help make our Taco Soup, or an item for our feast. Please check your child's red folder next Wednesday to find out what item you need to bring. Please bring the item by Monday, November 22nd. If you are unable to bring your item, please let me know. Thank you!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Thank you to everyone who attended Parent Teacher Conferences this week. It was wonderful visiting with you all about your awesome kids! Please let me know if you ever have questions or concerns about anything that is happening in our classroom, or if you'd like to help in our room anytime.

Have a great weekend!

Girl Scouts

Two of our kindergarten parents, Benette Johnson and Sarah Strauser, are leading Girl Scout Troops in our area. These two troops are Daisy troops and are open to Kindergartners and first graders. This does not mean a girl from another school or area cannot be involved in these troops. Benette's troop, Troop #2144, will be meeting on Monday for a parent meeting from 6pm to 7pm. Please call her if you are interested in Girls Scouts or know someone who is and have not been contacted by one of the new troop leaders yet. We may not have the correct contact information. Benette's number is #690-6388. Thank you!

Sorting Candy Wrappers

Candy Wrappers

Thanks to everybody who remembered to send in Halloween candy wrappers. We had fun sorting the candy into like groups, and graphing our favorite kinds of candy today!

Happy Halloween!

We had a busy and fun day at school today. Thanks to everyone who sent in supplies for our yummy "spooky" trail mix. A special thank you to Airianna's mom, Benette, for purchasing the fun candy corn man craft supplies. The kids loved making these!

Have a happy and safe Halloween! Don't forget to send in a few wrappers from your child's favorite candy for sorting, patterning and graphing activities on Monday!

Thankful Week

The staff and students of Beartooth School would like to invite you to help us celebrate Thankful Week, November 15th-19th. We encourage guests to participate in a read-in and join us for lunch. We hope you will be able to come in and read with some of our students during our class' time.

Monday, November 15th: 10:40 (read), 11:00 (lunch)

Lunch is $3/adult. The school must have your RSVP at least one day in advance if you are coming.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE TO SCHEDULE IN NEWSLETTER: SECOND GRADE LUNCHES WILL BE ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18th and THIRD GRADE LUNCHES WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17th.

Graphing Candy Wrappers

There will be a Ziploc bag in your child's red folder. Please fill it with a few candy wrappers of your child's favorite Halloween candies, and return it to school on Monday, November 1st. We will graph our favorite candies!

Halloween

On Friday, October 29th, we will have a small celebration in our room for Halloween. It is Beartooth School's policy for students to NOT wear their costumes to school on this day.

I will send home a Ziploc bag in your child's red folder. Please fill the Ziploc bag with a treat to share in our "Spooky Trail Mix". Some items I would recommend are Halloween-shaped pretzels, Halloween-shaped marshmallows, Halloween-themed cereal, M&Ms, etc. Please remember NO NUTS OR PEANUT BUTTER.

If you would like to send in any other treats, you are welcome to. Please let me know. Thank you!

Black Song

B-l-a-c-k spells black, b-l-a-c-k spells black.
Flying bats are black,
Scary cats are black,
Jelly beans are black,
I like black!

Orange Song

O-r-a-n-g-e orange, o-r-a-n-g-e orange, o-r-a-n-g-e orange,
Orange is what that spells!
Pumpkins are always orange,
Carrots are always orange,
Oranges are always orange,
O-r-a-n-g-e!

Student of the Month

Each month a student from each class is chosen as the Student of the Month. I look for students who are good listeners, good friends, and who always try their best. It is always very hard for me to choose! This month I chose Emily. She will enjoy a McDonald's lunch with Mrs. McCall on Thursday. Congratulations, Emily!

Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe

Today we made pumpkin pancakes in our room, and the kids LOVED them. I promised I would put the recipe on our website. :)

Make a regular pancake mix, and add 1/4 c. pumpkin, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. nutmeg. Stir it all together, and cook as you normally would. I added chocolate chips to ours, and served with butter. You can also serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Measuring

Today the students used Unifix cubes to measure how tall and round a variety of pumpkins are. The kindergartners also compared their pumpkins to each others', looking at whose pumpkin was bigger or smaller. Here are a few pictures from this fun activity!

Our Trip to Sartorie Farms

Thanks to the parents and grandparents who helped us make it through the corn maze and pumpkin patch! We had a great time!

Time for Kids magazines

Thanks to Beartooth PTA, the kindergartners at Beartooth will soon be receiving weekly issues of Time for Kids magazine. The magazine has lots of great non-fiction stories, as well as activities to do at home. Your kindergartner will be able to bring it home, which will be fun to for you to read together! Thanks, Beartooth PTA!

National Geographic Kids Videos

The kindergartners have enjoyed watching some cool videos of bats and spiders at the National Geographic Kids website. Check it out here: National Geographic Kids Videos.

Scary Spiders!

Today we made spiders using our handprints. The kids wrote "This is a black spider." We have been having a great time learning about spiders and bats this week!

Stellaluna puppets

Today we read the story Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. We compared bats and birds, and talked about what is alike and what is different about them. Then we made these cool Stellaluna puppets!

Field Practicum Student

This fall, we are lucky to have a junior field practicum student from MSU-Billings helping in our classroom, Dusty Weiand. The kids have enjoyed getting to know Ms. W, and she has been a big help in our room.

We see pumpkins!

The kindergartners made pumpkins by tearing orange paper and gluing them on plates. We wrote "We see pumpkins." They had fun making these!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

On Friday, October 15th, the kindergarten classes from Beartooth will be going on a field trip to the pumpkin patch at Sartorie Farms on Hawthorne Road. We will leave the school around 12:10, arriving at Sartorie Farms around 12:20pm. This will be a really fun opportunity for the students to see how and where pumpkins are grown, go on a hayride, and pick their own pumpkins! They are very excited.

Cost for the field trip is $6/child. A permission slip will be sent home with your student today. Please return the permission slip and money by Thursday, October 14th.

We also need 4 parent chaperones. Chaperones are free, but cannot pick pumpkins. Let me know if you can join us!

Green Song

G-r-e-e-n, g-r-e-e-n
I know how to spell green,
G-r-e-e-n, g-r-e-e-n.
Caterpillars are green, and grasshoppers, too.
I know how to spell green,
G-r-e-e-n, g-r-e-e-n.

Brown Song

There is a color we all know, can you guess what it is?
B-r-o-w-n, b-r-o-w-n, b-r-o-w-n and that's how we spell brown!
Teddy bears and squirrels are brown, autumn leaves are, too.
Chocolate cake is always brown, chocolate candy's always brown, chocolate milk is always brown.
I like brown, don't you?

Pumpkin Activity Pages

Check out these links from Bry-Back Manor for some fun pumpkin-themed skills practice:

Make a Pumpkin Pattern
The Pumpkin Patch Game
Which Gourd is Different?
Pumpkin Concentration

We like apples

After trying the different types of apples, we each decided what our favorite is. Then we made hats with our favorite color of apple, and practiced patterning and sorting by apple color. Thanks to everyone for the yummy apples!

School Bus Safety Field Trip

On Monday, October 4th, the students will be participating in a school bus safety field trip. A bus driver will talk to the students about school bus rules and procedures, and we will take a short field trip on the bus to a park nearby Beartooth, so students can practice the rules and experience riding the bus. A permission slip was sent home in your child's red folder on Wednesday. Please sign and return the form by FRIDAY so your child can attend the field trip.

Thank you!

Science with the 6th Graders!

Snack Calendar

A snack calendar for October will be in your child's red folder this afternoon. Each student will be assigned a day to bring snack for the class. We have 23 students in our class. We do have a small refrigerator in our room, so you are welcome to send things such as cheese sticks, yogurt, fruit or veggies. We do have a nut allergy in our room, so please be mindful of this as you plan snack. Thank you!

Teddy Bear Picnic Fun!

We had a great time at our Teddy Bear Picnic! The kids helped make biscuits, that we ate with honey. We graphed who liked them and who did not. We also sorted our bears into lots of different groups - this picture is sorting them by color. Thanks for helping the kids to remember their stuffed friends for a fun day! And thanks to Isabella and Jass for bringing some treats to share!

Teddy Bear Picnic

Kindergarten Service Project

The kindergarten classes at Beartooth are going to participate in the Drink Pouch Brigade upcycling program. Pouch Brigades are groups of kids and adults who collect empty drink pouches (such as Capri Sun). When they collect enough, the pouches are mailed away to be upcycled into new products. Think of how many pouches are saved from landfills each year!

Beartooth School will receive $.02 for every drink pouch we turn in. So the MORE pouches our class collects, the MORE we will help the environment and the MORE cash we will get for our school! All money collected will be donated to the Beartooth PTA to use on projects to help our school.

Here's how kids can help:
1) Finish your drink.
2) Remove the straw.
3) Put it in the collection bin. No rinsing or washing!
Collection bins will be available in each classroom and the lunchroom. You can bring pouches from home, and recycle pouches used at school. Easy!

Empty pouches are mailed for free to TerraCycle, a company that turns them into cool bags and pencil cases for kids and adults.

Help us out! Drink it. Save it. Upcycle it!