FIFTH GRADE TEACHERS REFLECT ON ANOTHER FULL YEAR

Where has another school year gone? We can’t believe how quickly it has flown by! We are proud of how hard our fifth graders worked this year. Watching them grow and mature as the year progressed is one of the best things about teaching. Our students learned to reflect more upon their learning, solve their own problems and build their collaboration skills. It has been our goal all year to have our students not only learn academics, but to also grow their character, so we focused on integrity, compassion, empathy, initiative and perseverance. We enjoyed getting to know our students, encouraging them in their learning, joking around and having fun with them.

In math class, our students were challenged with multiplication of fractions and mixed numerals, as well as division with fractions. We extended our learning about volume that we started way back at the beginning of the year and ended the year with division of 2-3-4 digit numbers using strategies such as ratio tables and partial quotients.

In English language arts class we learned how to share in a discussion, write essays and understand complex text. We studied the rainforest, as well as our own Wisconsin forests, and we learned about tree identification, plant identification and conservation. We even turned our classroom into our own little rainforest. We studied how different athlete leaders have been important in making changes in society. Finally, we wrapped up the year by learning about natural disasters, creating slideshows about them, and then teaching others about them and how to stay safe. Throughout the year, students were challenged to read 40 books, and several students were able to accomplish this feat. We read whenever we could, and celebrated accomplishments along the way through our reading incentive program.

The kids were challenged in science to learn about the web of life and how food chains work, as well as what makes a healthy ecosystem and then were able to look for these things on our school forest trip. They also studied the United States in social studies by learning where the states are located and how to spell them correctly. Many fifth graders rocked learning the spelling and placement of all 50 states.

Junior Achievement was new for us this year. We were fortunate to have Amanda Rodgriguez come into our fifth grade classrooms to teach us all about finance, economics and entrepreneurship. She did an amazing job, and students enjoyed the learning activities each week, as well as exploring the possibilities of what they might want to do as they get older.

The last few months of school brought some fun activities. In April, in honor of athlete leaders, we celebrated Jackie Robinson day by watching a baseball movie and eating hot dogs and Cracker Jacks. In May, our students had so much fun and learned about the outdoors at the Taylor County Youth Expo. The goal of that event was to enrich our relationship with nature and try different outdoor activities. Students fish stamped t-shirts and learned about campfire cooking, fly fishing, archery, target shooting, snowmobiling and ATV safety, and taxidermy, to name a few. We were so grateful to all the parents who gave of their time to help make this event possible. We had beautiful weather, and it was a great experience! We also took a trip to our school forest to evaluate the health of the forest, as well as to identify the different plants, trees, and animals that live there. A big thank you to DNR forester Nick Hovda for joining us that day to help us with our identification. May also brought the Rocket Way Fun Day, Track and Field Day, our last music concert as Spencer elementary students, as well as our first concert for our new band students. In addition, we created cards and delivered them to Stoney River to brighten the residents’ day. It was nice spreading some cheer and kindness around our community, as well as creating some special memories together!

As teachers, we have learned a lot from our young Rockets this year. The memories and stories we take with us about this class will stay with us. It has been a privilege to spend the year with them, and we wish them all the best in middle school!

~Heidi Michaelis and Patti Jennings, fifth grade teachers