As I’m sure many of you know, we have many acronyms in education and one of them is PBIS. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. We currently are using PBIS at Oakview in numerous ways. We have lessons that have been taught to our students on what good behavior looks like. We focus on what we want to see from them and we try to make it very clear what our expectations are to our students. We also have a behavior support staff person, Shannon Mitchell. Shannon works with our students on making positive choices. She leaves positive notes in lockers, gives breaks to students that need them, and works with individual students to pre-teach what our expectations are before different activities. The other big thing we do for PBIS is that we give out behavior bucks. These are gold slips that are given when we notice a student making positive choices. Every week we do a drawing and students have the opportunity to win a prize for making good choices. We also do PBIS celebrations when the student body gets over 2000 behavior bucks.

Another piece of information that tends to get misunderstood is caution cards. If a student makes a bad choice during the day, they may be issued a major or minor caution card. Caution cards are a way for us to communicate with you on any possible poor choices that your child may make at school. We may send home the caution card for you to sign or we may give you a phone call to explain what happened. It is our way of communicating any behavioral concerns that we might have here at Oakview. They are also a way for us to collect data and see if there are any areas where we need improvement. We are constantly looking at our practices and trying to find ways to make Oakview a great experience for all of our students.

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Valentine’s Day Parties:

Our parties will be held on February 13th, from 2:10-3:00. More details will follow as the party gets closer.

Math:

We are just getting started on Unit 4. In this unit we will learn all about linear measurement. We will measure items using inches, centimeters, feet, yards, and meters. We will also learn how to convert measurements and will explore perimeter and area. In addition to measurement, students will sort and classify polygons, measure angles, and learn about symmetry.

We have also started using a computer program called Math Fact Lab. This will give students extra practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. It also helps students gain tools to help them solve basic problems efficiently.

At home you can support our learning by having your child measure objects, or find the perimeter and area of a room in your home. As our society doesn’t use cash as frequently, it is important to be sure your student is able to name and count bills and coins correctly. This is a skill that was taught in previous years, but many students could use additional practice. Students should also look at an analog clock to tell time.

Science/Social Studies:

Mrs. Parker’s students are finishing their unit on human machines. We looked closely at how the eye works and how muscles move. Soon we will be moving on to our next unit in social studies. In the human geography unit students will explore the five themes of geography, migration, immigration, and regions of the United States.

Mrs Berkhousen’s students are getting started on anEarth science unit where we will investigate what causes Earth’s landscapes to change over time. We will dig deep into erosion, tectonic plate movement and the formation of Earth’s structures.

Mrs. Taylor’s & Ms McCracken’s students are completing the Energy Unit and should be completing the final stages of their chain reaction machines. Their creations will be going home in the next week or so, then students can add on to them if they choose. When chain reactions are complete, students will complete a Unit test. Soon after we will be starting the human geography unit.

Reading:

Parker/Berkhousen classes have been working on reading and comprehending nonfiction texts. We have learned the difference between a topic and a main idea as well as how to recognize key details. We have practiced using the main idea and key details to write summaries of nonfiction texts and using evidence from a text to answer questions. All of these practices are vital in developing a deep understanding of our texts. In our next unit, we will be exploring poetry and figurative language. This will be our focus for both reading and writing.

Taylor/McCracken classes have been developing vocabulary, and determining text structure in nonfiction texts. We have been learning about landforms and their importance. We are starting a new unit about biographies. Students will need to research an important figure and complete a biography research project and present it to the class during the week of February 18-21.

Science

We will finish the last two lessons of our unit hopefully by mid February. Here are the last two lessons from our Elwha River Unit. We use our criteria, constraints, and comparison tool to choose the solution that we think will best improve the water related problem at the location we are researching. We develop a model that explains how the solution will address the problem caused by human activity. We evaluate another pairs’ plan for a solution and they evaluate ours. We review the peer feedback and choose which feedback to use. We apply the feedback in order to optimize our plan for solving the problem.

In this Putting the Pieces Together lesson, we gather information about a new to us water problem in El Paso, TX. We read an article about the problem and then are introduced to two solutions that are already in use in El Paso. We use what we have figured out about generating and comparing solutions to think about the problem and three solutions and choose the solution that impacts the Earth’s spheres the least while still improving the problem.

ELA

We’ve just wrapped up all of our mid-year assessments, including the I-Ready test and the BAS one-on-one reading assessment. As we move forward, our focus will shift to diving into our Informational Writing Unit. Students will learn how to compose strong, evidence-based extended responses while exploring engaging topics. Stay tuned for details about our exciting end-of-unit project—we can’t wait to share it with you!

Social Studies

In our continued study of “Three Worlds Meet”, we have shifted our focus to Europe. We have located key European countries on a map and studied a timeline comparison of Europe, North America, and West Africa. Students will explore how the Renaissance and new technologies enabled European exploration and colonization, analyzing historical sources to answer the question: Why was Europe able to colonize the world despite the advancements of societies in the Americas and West Africa? We will also be examining the motivations behind exploration, the role of nation-states, and the impact of mercantilism, engaging in discussions, journaling, and source analysis. Finally, we will investigate the consequences of exploration, including land claims, new trade routes, and the devastating effects on Indigenous Peoples and West Africans, as well as exploring the Columbian Exchange, where students will analyze its effects on food, economies, and populations across three continents.

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