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21-22 School Year Blog

6th Grade

2/23/2022

 
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 

  • MELA Tickets- These tickets are one way that teachers can show students they are exemplifying mindfulness, empathetic, leadership, and accountability throughout the day. These tickets are passed out throughout the day as students showcase these skills on their own, to their classmates, and to other staff in the building. 
  • Class Goal- Every month we set a focus goal that the students work towards. The month of February is all about quick transitions. Students have one minute to gather materials for their next subject and be in the spot they choose ready to learn. Our transitions are getting faster everyday, and this helps them get more organized with their materials as well! 

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. ​

5th Grade Spotlight

2/18/2022

 
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 
  • MELA Tickets: MELA tickets are one way to acknowledge students as they demonstrate MELA expectations, with a big focus on being MINDFUL, EMPATHETIC, LEADERS, and ACCOUNTABLE.  In 5th grade, students are given points on our Leader Board when they demonstrate the expectations.  The number of points represents the number of tickets they receive.  Students fill in their tickets, reflecting on the positive choices they made to earn them.  The tickets are placed in a bucket for a drawing at the end of each month.  In addition, the students earn a little prize for every 5 tickets earned each week
  • Mindfulness: Our Mindfulness time is a very important part of the day.  Every day students are given the opportunity to participate in calming activities.  In 5th grade, our Mindfulness time is a 15-minute block immediately after recess.  Students are able to watch a variety of videos that focus on being aware of your emotional needs, breathing strategies, and movements designed to calm your body and mind.  Students are also able to choose activities that help them calm down, such as drawing or coloring.  Another part of our Mindfulness time is having students listen to a read aloud.  Currently, we are reading a book called "My Life as a Stuntboy" by Jake Tashjian, which is quickly becoming a favorite.
  • Class Points: Class points are awarded when students are going above and beyond the expectations.  When students earn enough points, they earn a class party.  Students vote on what the class party will be and the number of points needed is negotiated between the students and teachers.  So far, we have earned 2 class parties.  Our first party was a 1-hour kickball game when students earned 20 points.  Our second party was a hair-dying party.  Mr. Theis and Mr. Gears agreed to dye their hair pink and green after students earned 30 points (Yes, the teachers negotiated to make students earn more points for this one).  Currently, we are working on a pajama/snack/movie party.  We are almost there!!!!

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.

WELCOME TO 4TH GRADE!

2/10/2022

 
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 
  • MELA Tickets: In 4th grade we follow MELA expectations by being mindful, empathetic, leaders, and accountable. Students get three MELA tickets to give to students showing MELA expectations. I let them know that I am not always around (lunch, gym, and music) so they need to catch their friends showing expectations and make sure they receive a ticket for it. At the end of each week I have a MELA drawing and pull one ticket from mindful, empathetic, leaders, and accountable for a small prize. I think their favorite part is being able to also give me MELA tickets, it keeps me accountable and I love being part of it. 
  • 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 Week: Star scientist  is something new this year. Each week a student is selected to be the star student/ star scientist. They complete an 'all about me' poster and choose one science experiment to present to the class on Wednesday. Students work hard decorating and writing on their poster to share out on their day, and then they walk us through the process of their experiment and demonstrate it while wearing a lab coat :) This year we have seen slime, volcanos, floating paper clips, the invisible egg and more. Students learn from others and this is a wonderful way that I spotlight each of my students in the classroom. 

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. 

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

2/2/2022

 
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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. 

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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!

Read to the Final Four Competition
​Read to the Final Four is a literacy challenge aimed at creating a lifelong love and interest in reading for students across Minnesota. The NCAA, Women’s Final Four, and the Minnesota Local Organizing Committee have teamed up to inspire and incentivize third graders across the state to develop their abilities and entice participation in this nine-week program. Schools and students can win fun prizes and compete for an overall grand prize of $5,000 of books for the school library. Our class is currently ranked 31st out of 101 schools and we won the first prize that was given out! Our class has also read over 10,000 minutes in 3 weeks! 
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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.

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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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