Oshki Ogimaag Community School
December 16, 2024
Boozhoo Oshki Ogimaag Community School Families and Community Partners,
This time of year for many, is a time of reflection. Blankets of glittering snow cover the world around us. The world becomes quiet cloaked beneath banks of snow. We look out to a sparkling blank slate and it invites introspection and reflection. Inside, we seek warmth and comfort, seeking out our cozy places to tell stories and sitting by our fires, deep in thought. Winter is a mindful time.
As Ms. James reflected on our upcoming Holiday Program, she thought about the history of Grand Portage and the history of our school and how meaningful it would be to celebrate this time in a place filled with the history of the people of Grand Portage and the history of education in Grand Portage. The Log School building is a historical place where Elders, family members, including some of our staff members attended school. It is meaningful for our students to spend time there, singing songs in Ojibwe and telling sacred stories in this space.
The space is connected to so many histories and when our young students learn, and sing, and listen there, it connects to so many futures. There are approaches to education that view the environment is a third teacher.The first teacher being parent/guardians, the second teacher being the classroom teacher and the physical environment acts as the third teacher. Spaces are set-up with intention to be comfortable, engaging, to invite learning and creativity, purposely avoiding appearing institutional.
At Oshki Ogimaag, we view our physical environment, whether in a classroom, the forest, a garden, or Community spaces such as the Log School building, as spaces students (and all of us) should respect and can learn from, and learn to care for. The spaces and places in which we learn have meaning and histories, we honor these histories and add to them.
I came across an old article attached below, written by a Grand Portage teacher, I found to be an interesting read, inviting reflection on connection and histories.
A Peek Into Our Week
Waagoshag - In Reading, Kindergartners continue learning new sight words, sounding out CVC words, and writing sight words. Kindergartners also continue to read poems, identifying rhyming words and sight words within the poems. In Reading, 1st graders continue to read short stories and practice answering comprehension questions, and identifying 1st grade sight words within the short stories. In Writing, Kindergarteners continue to work on identifying letters and sounds, and 1st graders continue to work on writing full sentences. In Science, the class is learning about winter and what different animals do in the winter. In Social Studies, the class is learning about holidays around the world.
Makwag - In Foundational Reading Skills, students are using phonemic awareness skills to delete the first part of three-syllable compound words. Students are learning about spelling patterns in words, to help them read and spell unfamiliar words. Students are practicing sound spelling and continue to learn about contractions and closed syllable words, mapping out the syllables within the words. In Math, students practiced using different methods for subtraction and comparing the methods. Students are subtracting with and without decomposing (breaking a number into its smaller parts) tens.
In Language Arts Module, students are working on synthesizing their research to write their own books, about why schools are important and comparing our school to their research school. Students are working through taking notes from their research and creating focus statements, identifying differences and similarities, and writing a conclusion. Students first write a rough draft and then work through a revision process to create their final drafts.
In Social Emotional Learning, students have been learning about how their reactions should match the size of the problem, and how to problem solve when things don’t go their way, if there is conflict, or if there’s unexpected changes in plans.
Migiziwag - 3rd and 4th grade are working on a research project about animal defenses. Students are writing introductions that describe their animals’ physical characteristics, habitat, predators, and defense mechanisms. The narrative will describe an encounter with a predator and two possible defense mechanisms for survival. Students will use details and examples from their research to write their narratives. 5th graders are working on text structure for a research paper, and researching why rainforests are important. Student will cite their sources in their research, including author, web page title, and date of publication. Students will write their focus statements, the main idea, with evidence to support their statements.
3rd grade finished their unit on area and multiplication in math and moved into a new unit focused on adding and subtracting within 1,000. 4th grade moved into a math unit focused on adding and subtracting fractions. 5th grade moved into a math unit focused on multiplying and dividing fractions. The class is working on a new science unit about energy and matter in ecosystems.
Holiday Program in the Old Log School Building
When: Thursday, December 19th 5:30pm (Students should arrive to the Log Building at 5pm to prepare for the program)
Where: The Old Log School Building
What: Oshki Ogimaag Community School's Annual Holiday Program, followed by the Grand Portage Community Center Gift Distribution at 6:30pm (candy bags will be available at the program)
In the event that Oshki Ogimaag Community School needs to close due to hazardous weather/driving conditions we will notify families via email, post to our Facebook page, post to our website, and send closing information to: Boreal Community Media, WTIP radio, KBJR and WDIO news stations. Please note that Oshki Ogimaag does not typically do a late start, and unless we have sent out a school closure alert, we are open!
Decisions to close are based upon safety of students and staff of Oshki Ogimaag. Please reach out if you have any questions!
The Snowy Season has Begun!
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 can connect with Human Services to ensure all students have warm winter gear. Please include sizes and color preferences, when reaching out.
Hands-On, Community-Based Projects Happening at Oshki Ogimaag
Sue Hennessy, from the Grand Marais Playhouse, continues to work with Ms. James and students, preparing for our holiday program. Students are practicing collaborating across all grade levels. We continue to focus on the joy of the learning experience and doing our best work, versus focusing on perfection. Our aim is for students to put in their best efforts while having fun!
A special miigwech to the Grand Marais Playhouse for use of their sound equipment!
We have Yoga with Ms. Carly each week. This can be such a busy season for everyone, yoga is a wonderful time to reset. Reminders of mindfulness, bodily awareness, and taking deep breaths are grounding and support emotional regulation and focus.
Miigwech to Ms. Sue and Ms. Carly for their important work with our students!
