Fifth Grade Homeroom will begin their religion study titled, The Sacraments: Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This month they will be learning about the Means of Grace, confirmation, and liturgical arts. They are memorizing the 7th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer this month.
In grades 5-8 Language Arts, the students are finishing up their grammar unit on sentence mechanics. They will begin their study on pronouns and prepositional phrases. In Writing, students are finishing up their persuasive essays. Following the essay assignment, students will begin evaluating informational texts while researching a topic of interest.
In Reading, students have finished their novels and will report to their peers how the central idea developed in their story and then compare it with others stories. Students continue to study academic vocabulary and individualized word study.
Creating relevant lessons involves checking a variety of boxes. Student engagement? Check. Hands-on learning? Check. Multi-sensory experience? Check. Real world application? Check. What two words not only meet the criteria but also elicit a new level of excitement in learning? Field Trip! Our 7th and 8th graders recently took their learning to a new level by visiting the Science Center of Iowa. Students engaged in hands-on activities to complete their unit assessment on motion. They calculated the velocity of paper rockets, used friction and momentum to hit the “house” in curling, worked against the force of water to build a dam. Leaving the classroom to connect what is happening at school to the ‘real-world’ creates lifelong learning. Impact? Check. #sciencerules
Our 7th and 8th graders were also privileged to attend the recent Education Celebration at the Iowa State Capitol. Students were able to deepen their understanding of the legislative process while gathering with hundreds of youth from across Iowa. Our future leaders meeting the leaders of today. Student engagement? Check. Authentic experience? Check. #democracyinaction
Want to become a savvy shopper? Chat with a 6th grader about unit rates and proportions. Looking for the best deal on go-gurt? Let’s do the math. On a recent field trip to Walmart our 6th graders experienced lessons in ‘real world’ math by calculating unit rates and doing some comparison shopping. Concept mastery? Check. Community connection? Check. #mathforlife
