Featured in the Billings Gazette

A photo of our class using technology was featured in an opinion article in the Billings Gazette this weekend.  Click the image to view the article.

Halloween Ideas

On Halloween, I am planning to have harvest or Halloween-themed learning stations set up for the afternoon. The kids will rotate through the stations, and then have treats near the end of the day.  If you would be available to help facilitate the learning stations, or bring in treats, I would really appreciate it!  We would probably begin around 12:30 on Thursday the 31st.  I am thinking apples and caramel dip and maybe some cider would be fun for a snack, but I am open to other ideas.  Let me know if you're available!  Thank you so much. 

The Week of October 22nd-26th

Letters of the Week: O-T Words of the Week: and, we, she, he Reading Focus: We are reading Spinning a Web by Melvin Berger and lots of fiction and non-fiction stories about spiders and bats. We are also reading stories about the five senses. Comprehension Focus: We are learning to make inferences and identify the difference between fantasy and realism in stories we read.  We are comparing and contrasting information we learn in stories. Writing Focus: We will practice forming letters correctly, using the D'Nealian style of writing. We are writing facts we learn about spiders, and writing our own "Itsy Bitsy Spider" stories.  Math Focus: We are learning basic counting and number identification skills with numbers through 10.
Science: In kindergarten, science is often integrated into our English Language Arts curriculum. For the next couple of weeks, we are studying bats and spiders.  Social Studies: This month we are learning about making new friends and what makes us special.Theme Question: How do I use my five senses?

Pumpkin Investigation

Today we observed pumpkins using our senses.  We used mostly the sense of sight today.  Tomorrow we will TASTE pumpkin pancakes and either tomorrow or early next week we will use our sense of TOUCH to investigate the inside of a pumpkin.  The kids are enjoying learning about pumpkins using our senses!

Thank You for Your Support!

I am working on submitting a grant proposal through the Farmers Insurance Thank Montana Teachers program. If awarded, the grant would provide funds to purchase additional technology and learning resources for our room that would benefit the kindergartners.  I am really excited about this opportunity!  

In order to be considered, I need to receive "thank you"s on their Thank a Montana Teacher page.  So ... I am reaching out and asking for your help! :)  If you support this project and what it would provide for your kids, would you please take a minute of your time and fill out the Thank You form?  I filled one out for my son's teacher, and I promise it takes less than a minute.  THANK YOU for your support, it is appreciated!  :)  Traci

Global Read Aloud

We continue to participate in the Global Read Aloud Project.  We are excited to read the new story, Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle, with our partners in Virginia!  We will Skype with them tomorrow to read the story together.

Star of the Week

Painting Pumpkins

Today we learned that mixing yellow and red make orange!  We mixed the paint and will make our paintings into a pumpkin patch in our classroom.

Pictures from Traci

Click here to view these pictures larger

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We had such a fun day at the pumpkin patch today!  Thanks for all of the parents who were able to come and help, and provide yummy treats when we returned to school.  Next week, I will bring some pumpkins to school for us to "investigate" using our 5 senses.

Star of the Week

Fun Pasta Fundraising

Beartooth Elementary PTA is fundraising with Fun Pasta Fundraising!  We're raising money for the PTA general fund.  This includes: buses for field trips, teacher grants, Tears of Joy, Venture into Schools, 6th grade end-of-the-year party, Santa's Workshop, field day in the spring and various other activities too numerous to mention.  Our goal is for each seller to sell 10 items.  More information went home with your child today.  To shop online, please click the image above or share this link with family and friends:

www.funpastafundraising.com/shop/beartooth-pta

Top sellers will receive a gift card.  Money is due October 22nd.

Please remember no door to door sales.  Thanks for your support!

Bus Safety Field Trip

The kids had a great time learning school bus safety, and taking a bus ride to the bus barn!  They loved seeing where all the buses sleep.  :)

Global Read Aloud

Our class is participating in the Global Read Aloud project!  This morning we met Mrs. King's kindergartners from R.C. Longan Elementary in Virginia via Skype.  We are going to be reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar together, and sharing our observations about the book on our blogs.  We are excited about this project!

How to Make Applesauce

It was delicious.  Thanks to everyone who brought in apples!