Math Masters Mini Meet

I have been coaching the 5th grade Math Masters for many years. Today we had a Math Masters Mini Meet (say that 5 times fast)! Gretchen Hynk is the local director of the program and she came in today to give the kids a taste of what Math Masters is all about. The class competed in teams to do some pretty hard math problems.

The Hill City Math Master team will be selected this week and we will soon begin to practice. Our first competition is in January in Grand Rapids. I have a feeling we are going to have a successful year!

Hands are not for Hitting

Today we had a special guest from Aitkin County Kinship come in and talk to the class about healthy ways to express anger. We did a little role playing and as a final project the students decorated grocery bags that will be given out at Roadside this month.

Science Presentations

The kids have been learning about the 5 kingdoms of all living things: protists, bacteria, fungi, animals and plants. In groups, the students researched their assigned kingdoms and are now busy preparing Power Point presentations to share with the class.

I taught them how to use Power Point last week. Actually what I did was go through a quick demonstration and then told them, "You will figure it out on your own." And that is exactly what happened. It is amazing how young kids can figure out technology so quickly. Within minutes of playing around with Power Point they had inserted photos, typed text, and added cool backgrounds.

Honor Flight

Today we had a special presentation from Harley Kiger. Harley is a World War II Veteran and participated in the Honor Flight program. Honor Flight sends a group of World War II Veterans to Washington D.C. to take in the new World War II Memorial each year.

Our school is having a penny drive to raise $600, the cost of sending a Veteran to Washington. We hope to be able to send a Hill City area Veteran to Washington D.C. next year. If you have any lose change (or bills), send them in!

Homemade Smoothies!

For the last 3 weeks, we have had Jolene Gansen from the Aitkin County Extension Service come talk to the class about nutrition. She always brings healthy treats and today the class made smoothies out of yogurt, fruit and juice. Jolene shares important information about how to stay healthy. Hopefully, the kids will think about this a little bit the next time they grab a snack - good health starts at an early age!

Thank you, Mrs. Jorgensonsen!

Once again I had to leave early on Halloween. Usually Mrs. Crabbeesub comes in and subs for me, but she recently fell and broke a hip. So her friend, Mrs. Jorgensonsen, came in for me this afternoon. She was a good old fashioned Norwegian substitute teacher. She loved the Halloween treats brought in by the kids and I understand she had a lot of fun dancing with Just Dance on the Wii.

A Visit from John Latimer

John Latimer is a rural mail carrier from Grand Rapids who also has a radio show on KAXE radio (91.7 fm). Every Tuesday morning he hosts the "Phenology Show" and my class has been a part of it for the last 8 or 9 years. Phenology involves watching nature to see how it changes over time. Things like the first robin spotted in the spring, or when a tree loses all its leaves. Every day we talk about weather and changes in nature during science class. We write up a report and call it in to John's show on Tuesday.

Today John came to our class and talked about phenology. We got to go outside (in freezing cold temperatures, I might add) to look at some interesting phenology right along the path near the school forest. We saw a few late blooming wildflowers, a robin's nest and we learned about willow galls.

Thanks John, for being a part of our class.