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Written By: Brooke Fisher, 6th Grade Teacher Sixth grade is a huge year not only for learning but also for transitions. We are working on skills everyday to help students transition to a middle school model for next year, while also teaching independent skills and group skills they will need in the future.
Social/Emotional
Literacy Our literacy block is the first half of our day and is composed of writing, whole group, small group, and independent work time. For writing we have spent the month of February researching a civil rights leader and creating an informational essay on that person. Students also get practice going through the rubric with me to see where their strengths are in their writing and where their areas of growth are for the next assignment. For the whole group, we are wrapping up an entire series on weather and the plastic pollution problem that the world is currently in. Students have been identifying themes, main ideas, and questions about these texts both while we read and after we read. Small group instruction focuses on a novel at the students reading level where we really narrow in on their comprehension of a text and the story elements that are taking place. When not meeting with a teacher, students have their own independent work they can complete which could include; reading a book of their choice, working on developing skills on lexia or moby max, creating sentences using chosen words, and comprehending shorter texts at their level. Math The sixth grade students use the CPM curriculum for math. Students are taught a concept through problem solving either as a class or in small groups. We then discuss the lesson and work through some practice problems. After the lesson the students work through a few questions on their own, and these questions focus on past concepts that have been taught so that students are constantly reviewing these concepts. We are moving into our variables, expressions, and solving equations chapter, getting more into the algebra part of the 6th grade standards. Written By: Andy Theis, 5th Grade Teacher
Fifth grade has been packed full of learning, laughter, and love. This is such an incredibly special group of students, and every day is a new adventure. We have been very busy working on a variety of things to strengthen our academic skills, social/emotional well-being, and relationships with each other. Social/Emotional
Literacy: Our literacy block consists of multiple components including whole group lessons, small group instruction, and writing. Our whole group lessons are integrated with science, as we work on skills such as finding the central theme, comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, asking and answering questions, and using text features. Our current topic is severe weather. We have been learning about different kinds of severe weather, how it develops, and how it impacts us, our communities, our environment, and our world. Writing goes hand-in-hand with what we are learning in whole group reading. We have been working on writing narrative analysis essays about severe weather. Students gather information from texts we have read together, as well as texts they have read independently, and use that information to write their essays. During small group instruction, students are able to work on skills that are personalized, while reading chapter books together. Students take part in engaging conversations as they read and analyze the text. Math: We use Bridges in Mathematics for our curriculum, which allows for an extensive look into many focus skills. Bridges lessons and activities give students the opportunity to learn through discussions, investigations, group activities, games, and hands-on activities. During whole group lessons, 5th graders have been working on fractions. During this unit, students learned how to identify and model fractional parts, find equivalent fractions, find common denominators, add and subtract, and simplify. We are moving into multiplying and dividing fractions. Students also participate in small group lessons. During small groups, students work on skills that are geared towards their personal needs. Small groups change based on the needs of the students. Pre-assessment, post-assessment, and informal observations help determine student needs. Blog Post Written By: Ms. Lisa Horn, 4th Grade Teacher Fourth grade is quite the learning adventure! We continue to build on concepts learned in third grade like multiplication and division, but take it to a whole other level when we learn strategies on multiplying two digit numbers, and then introduce fractions and angles. Fourth graders also write daily and learn to add detail, purpose and personality into their writing. Our scholars never fail to rise to the challenge and display amazing growth. My favorite part of fourth grade is seeing emotional growth and supporting students through conflicts and emotions. I engage with hands-on activities throughout the year and constantly adapt to the learning needs of the individual students. Social/ Emotional
Literacy During whole group literacy instruction, we teach important reading skills while also integrating science. Most recently we have been learning about severe weather! We continue our literacy work in our small reading groups. All students meet with the teacher 4 days a week to get more personalized reading instruction that caters to their reading level! Students have been working on stretching their sentences by adding more detail and answering who, what, when, where and why questions in their writing. After learning about all of the severe weather that happens, students began researching more about one of these to write a nonfiction piece. Their stories are such a wonderful way to show off learning, research skills and writing. Math In math, we use Bridges Math Curriculum to help build a solid understanding of math skills while also learning multiple strategies to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. We focus heavily on small group instruction for math as well. All students meet with the teacher 4 days a week to get more personalized math instruction that caters to their needs! During small groups our students work in stations which include technology, hands-on, independent practice, and meet with the teacher. In these stations I have observed collaboration, team work, problem solving and stamina.  Written by: Ms. Emily Hanrahan (3rd Grade Teacher) 3rd grade is a big year for our students! We learn new concepts, like multiplication and division, while perfecting and practicing things that were learned in previous years, like reading skills and cursive. Though we put in a lot of work, we never fail to have fun while learning in our classroom! Scholars are engaged in their learning through hands-on activities and projects that connect to their interests.  Social/ Emotional MELA Tickets: In our class we follow our MELA expectations by being mindful, empathetic, leaders, and accountable. Throughout the day students in 3rd grade pass out MELA tickets to peers they see displaying these expectations. We also have conversations about our emotions and how to handle those emotions daily. Mindfulness: Calm Connect, our mindfulness program, is a patented system used around the world that contains dozens of short digital sequences designed to calm the nervous system and build a bridge to the social world quickly and effectively. Student of the Month and Most Improved: The Student of the Month and Most Improved students get to sit at a special table in the lunchroom to celebrate!
Literacy/Phonics During whole group literacy instruction, we teach important reading skills while also integrating science. Most recently we have been learning about severe weather! We continue our literacy work in our small reading groups. All students meet with the teacher 4 days a week to get more personalized reading instruction that caters to their reading level! We are also working on improving our cursive writing. We just finished reviewing all our lowercase and uppercase letters and will now move into writing cursive sentences.  Math
In math, we use Bridges Math Curriculum to help build a solid understanding of math skills while also learning multiple strategies to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. We focus heavily on small group instruction for math as well. All students meet with the teacher 4 days a week to get more personalized math instruction that caters to their needs! |
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