By Susie Rogers, ELA, 5th-8th

For the past week, my fifth graders have had the absolutely best time of their lives by digging deep into the figurative language. They were detectives as they found words and phrases that shouted, “Don’t take me literally!” Today, the students were as busy as bees trying to escape the St. Patrick’s Day Escape Room by using their knowledge of alliteration, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeias, hyperboles, idioms, and personification. Though some will remain locked away forever because of the quick as a wink time limit, most students simply soared like eagles and were successful with their excellent and exciting escape!

According to Merriam-Webster, a cloud is a visible mass of particles of condensed vapor (such as water or ice) suspended in the atmosphere of a planet (such as the earth) or moon. Fifth grade is currently investigating the water cycle. As a lab demonstration, students set up a model of a cloud (shaving cream), and slowly filled the “cloud” with water to visualize how clouds fill up with water vapor and create precipitation. Students were able to see the connection between the model created in the lab and the real world.

“Clouds are the sky’s imagination.”

After lots of research and preparation, the 5th grade Historians hosted a walk-through Colonial Village. Each of the six locations was set in a different colony and represented lifestyles from the tip of New England all the way into the deep rural south of Georgia. Visitors were treated to a demonstration of horse-shoeing, by a real blacksmith (and mom). Following that demonstration they walked through a Massachusetts general store, a Rhode Island home, a Blacksmith shop in New Jersey, the bedroom of a sick Pennsylvania boy, and a kitchen in Georgia and farmhouse in South Carolina.

by Jennifer Jordan

Fifth graders have learned 9 chapters of Latin vocabulary and grammar concepts so far, with a fair number of quizzes under their belts. Basic individual review is an essential study skill, and I encourage students to test their knowledge on their own. However, group review offers a variety of benefits— the opportunity to challenge yourself against your classmates, show what you know and figure out what you might not know, and of course, move around the room. We enjoy a few different review games— old-fashioned flyswatter which pits students against each other at the board to “swat” the board with the correct Latin term; the digital Blooket game in which students answer vocabulary questions to collect points, toys, or another token and amass as much as possible within a time limit, and vocabulary match up, wherein students receive a few Latin words on paper and have to find the classmate who holds the correct English translation (an interactive “I Have, Who Has?” game). Students really enjoy these interactive games; I believe that it helps to cement knowledge that they apply not only on assessments but also in our daily instruction. They also practice collaborating with partners and enjoy the experience of proving their knowledge to their teacher and to themselves. Interactive games for the win!

The Spartan Science Olympiad team has hit the ground running this year. After finishing 1st place at Regionals and 11th place at State last year, we are on a quest for continued success on ongoing improvement. We competed in two early-season virtual tournaments this month against some of the top teams in the country to sharpen our skills and get a taste of next-level challenges. While the program is designed for 6th-9th graders, we have students as young as 4th and 5th grade who are eager to learn science and engineering. We look forward to an exciting year…Go Spartans!