
What's Going on at School?
Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire Schools Feb. Edition
February Fun
February is known for many different celebrations. Between snow days students were able to observe Ground Hogs' Day, Valentines' Day, the 100th day of School, and Presidents' Day. These activities keep students engaged in learning and surviving the cold of Winter.
RA 1st Grade
Groundhogs' Day
RA Preschool
Valentines
GT 3rd Grade
100th Day Collections
GT Unified Science Projects
Students in Unified Science researched and presented endangered species to wrap up their ecology unit this week. Students were given freedom to choose their presentation medium and showed some creativity with posters, podcasts, videos, slide shows, display boards, and more!
Games with Fractions
Mrs. Hunefeld's math group of 4th and 5th grade students wrote fractions while attempting different types of games. Students wrote the denominator (attempts) and numerator (successful attempts) as a fraction. Then students will recognize equivalent fractions and compare fractions.
Making Groups
Mrs. Dreeszen's second grade students did an activity separating pom poms into small groups. This experience foundation for students in multiplication and division. Students can connect repeated addition to multiplication and repeated subtraction to division.
RA 5th Grade Math
Ms. Strensrud walks a small group of students through adding fractions with unlike denominators. Then students made proper fractions with the answer.
RA 4th Grade Literature Circles
Mrs. Sikora works with this group of students during literature circles. Students read an assigned portion of their text on their own time. While reading they complete a job assigned such as a Summarizer, Illustrator, or Connector. The students then share what they learned from their job creating discussions or additional insight into the text. Literature circles are in addition to guided reading where students read text at their instructional level.
Progress Monitoring
Between test periods, teachers progress monitor to see how students are doing to reach a goal that has been set. Mrs. Smith is listening to a first grade student read a passage listening for fluency and accuracy.
RISE Up in Reading
Mrs. Benjamin is using a reading program called RISE (Reading Intervention for Students to Excel) with a group of second grade students. Eight students who are at the same reading level work at 4 stations for 15 minutes each in Mrs. Benjamin's classroom. With the help of Ms. Jessica, students work on sight words, phonics, decoding, comprehension, fluency, and writing.
Students Prepare Breakfast for Staff
Under the direction of Sous Chef (Mrs. Myers), the 8th grade FCS exploratory students worked as Prep Cooks on February 14. While preparing breakfast casseroles for a GT/RA Teacher PD, the students were introduced to several vocabulary and processes used in the Culinary industry.
Guest Speakers in 8th Grade Reading and Language Arts
Mrs. Jungers' 8th grade reading and language arts class have invited guest speakers to share about career opportunities. Students take notes to eventually write an essay analyzing and evaluating career opportunities of their choice.
RA 6th Grade Reading
Mrs. Geelan's 6th grade class are reading the book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Students wrote a letter from the character, Jess, telling about the qualities of another character, Leslie. Students use examples of text evidence to support their inferences.
Ms. William's RA Preschool students experience interactive writing.
RA 1st Grade Writing
Students in Mrs. Hersom's first grade wrote about snowy owls integrating writing into science. They explained what the owl has, can do, and likes. Students have learned how owls survive, grow, and meet their needs.
Cultural Foods Class
I Notice, I Wonder
Mr. Girres uses the questions, "What do you notice?" and "What do you wonder?" with a group of kindergarten students as they listen to a story about a bear learning how to be a duck. The students are asking and answering questions about key details and predicting what might happen to the bear.