Oshki Ogimaag Community School
February 10, 2025
Boozhoo Oshki Ogimaag Community School Families and Community Partners,
Last week our Migiziwag class engaged in a 3-day Textile Traditions course offered at North House Folk School. Ms. Jeana collaborated with the wonderful individuals at North House to coordinate participation of her full class in this course, traveling to Grand Marais Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday last week (Miigwech to Mr. Fish for his flexibility in transporting our students!). Textile Traditions engages students in hands-on learning experiences, and students learned about textile history, felting and weaving.
Participation in this program is one of the ways in which we honor our mission of preparing students through hands-on, community-based projects and instill the desire to be lifelong learners!
On Wednesday, February 12th, classrooms will pass out Valentines at the end of the day, as has been a tradition at Oshki Ogimaag. Students will have opportunities to make Valentines in their classrooms as well. Class name lists went home in your child’s Go Home folder on Friday, February 07th. This is one way we celebrate friendship, and show appreciation for others around us.
A Peek Into Our Week
Waagoshag - In Reading, Kindergartners continue to sound out CVC sight words, and read poems, identifying rhyming words. In Reading, 1st graders continue to learn new 1st grade sight words, read short stories and respond to comprehension questions. In Writing, Kindergarteners continue to work on Letter Identification and writing sight words. In Writing, 1st graders continue to learn about different types of sentence structures and identifying prefixes and suffixes within words.
In Math, Kindergartners are learning about addition and subtraction and continue to work with shapes. In Math, 1st graders continue to work on adding and subtracting within 20. In Science, the class continue their unit on Winter and Weather. In Social Studies the class is learning about Black History month, Presidents’ Day, Friendship month, and Groundhog Day.
Makwag - Last week, Makwag completed their FastBridge assessments in Reading and Math. In Foundational Reading Skills, students completed Cycle 57. For phonemic awareness skills, students learned to identify words with the suffixes -ing, -ed, and -er after a double consonant (e.g. skipping, stepping, flipping, whipped, napping, sipping, skinned, petting). In their Poem Launch, Makwag read What’s Over There, a poem about all the things observed between home and the park. Each weekly cycle includes a decodable reader, a short story that incorporates the foundational reading skills we are targeting within the week. Last week's the reader was, The Spelling Bee (see attachment below).
In Language Arts Module, Makwag finished their series of close-reads of Stone Girl, Bone Girl. Students learned about how Mary Anning found her biggest fossil and became a famous fossil hunter. Students identified habits of character of Mary Anning, including perseverance and initiative, and how she used these traits to respond to challenges at the beginning, middle and end of the story. Students responded to the focus questions about how Mary Anning responded to challenges and practiced retelling the story. Each lesson is aligned with state standards to build a strong foundation of literacy, social studies, science, and social emotional skills.
In Math, Makwag focused on Standard Units of Measure, learning to identify the need for standard units of measurement and measuring by iterating same-size length units. In Social Studies, Makwag continued their Geography unit, learning about contents and the imaginary lines on a map, including equator, longitude and latitude. In Physical Education, Makwag combined with Waagoshag, to play multiple varieties of tag and learned about fair play and playing with respect towards others. During Cultural Specialist time, the boys engaged in traditional drumming with Mr. Gene and the girls continued painting ornaments with traditional Ojibwe floral designs and made pinecone flowers, with Ms. Kat, Ms. Char, and Ms. LeeAnna. During Social Emotional Learning (SEL) students listen to a read aloud of The Worst Day of My Life Ever! by Julia Cook, did a one-step listening coloring activity and Ms. Kat read the class Brother Wolfs’ Journey by Dama Vondall, and discussed the valuable lesson Brother Wolf learned about helping others.
Migiziwag - Last week the class went to North House Folk School for Textile Traditions class! Migiziwag learned about different types of textiles from different sources. On their first day, the class made name tags, learning how to felt and sew. On the second day, the class learned how to braid fabric, to make a handle for their bags, and selected fabric for the small bags they made. The class worked on sewing everything together and felting a design for the bag. The students were engaged in the process all week, and had so much fun participating in this course! North House Folk School also sent a message communicating how delightful the Migiziwag students were to work with as well!
Hands-On, Community-Based Projects Happening at Oshki Ogimaag
Mr. Gene joins us each week on Thursdays, for traditional Anishinaabe drumming with the boys, and when he’s working with students, provides valuable cultural lessons. Our students love their time with Mr. Gene and look forward to it each week! When boys are drumming, our Cultural Liaison, Ms. Char, along with Ms. Kat and Ms. LeeAnna, lead the girls in Ojibwe cultural activities. Last week, the girls continued painting wooden ornaments with Ojibwe floral designs and made pinecone flowers.
Ms. Tess Bailey, Grand Portage Nutrition Educator visited our classrooms last week to talk about preventing the spread of germs and proper handwashing techniques, to prevent the spread of illness.
Students continue swimming lessons, lead by certified instructors from Cook County YMCA. Students have swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays through the end of February.
Students work with Anne Brataas, from the MN Children’s Press, engaging in Writers Workshops, on Mondays and Wednesdays through the the end of February.
North House Folk School provides Woodworking classes after school on Wednesdays.
Mondays 3:30-4:30, through March 31st, Dr. Erik Redix is leading Ojibwe Language Table, located in the OOCS Conference Room! Join us to learn and/or increase your Ojibwemowin skills! See flyer below for details!
Each Friday afternoon, the whole school joins together for hiking in the woods, along trails, creeks, adventuring to different local spots in nature, including the shores of Gichigami. Forest Fridays are lead by our Environmental Education Coordinator, Ms. Jeana Van Dyne, and Forest Friday activities target meeting our Environmental Education goals with our authorizer, Osprey Wilds.
Last week, students visited the deep-winter greenhouse with Emily Derke, Grand Portage Agricultural Coordinator, checked for rabbit tracks and Ms. Emily explained why we pull the snares before a big snow. Students put down Asemaa before harvesting red willow and made heart designs crafts with the willow.
Jenn Sorenson, RN, Health Director at Grand Portage Health Services sent out the following message about increased flu activity this week:
An increase of influenza has been seen in the community over the past few weeks. Flu viruses primarily spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. These droplets can land on people nearby or on surfaces that others might touch. It is important to continue to practice safety precautions during this time. If you have flu-like symptoms such as cough, fever, or body aches stay home except to get medical care. Most people will recover in a few days to less than two weeks. If you are very sick or at high risk of getting very sick from flu, talk to your health care provider to see if antiviral medication is recommended.
In addition to getting the flu vaccine, simple preventative actions can help stop the spread of influenza and other respiratory viruses:
- Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when sick.
- Cover cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
Please call the Health Services for testing, questions and recommendations for managing flu-like illnesses.
During this time of increased flu activity and other illness activity, we want to keep all of our students, staff and Community safe. We will be diligent about sending symptomatic students and staff home to prevent the spread of illness. See flu fact sheet below.
Chilly Temps Call for Cold Weather Gear
Please make sure your student comes to school in weather-appropriate clothes and outdoor gear every day. We are committed to outdoor learning and experiences throughout the entire school year, including the many months of chilly, snowy, weather we experience in Minnesota. Now is a good time to switch to long sleeves each day so your student can be comfortable. Each day your student should have the "Big 5": Boots they can hike in, a jacket warm enough for the weather, snow pants, hat, and mittens or gloves.
If your family faces barriers preventing you from providing these items for your students, please reach out, we often have donations of winter gear and/or can help you connect with Human Services to ensure all students have warm winter gear. Please include sizes and color preferences, when reaching out.
