Tiger Times

UPK students have been working on winter theme projects and learning about holidays around the world. Students made snowman crafts to celebrate winter. 🌲⛄

They have been learning their alphabet every day and practicing the sounds that each letter makes. 🎶 The UPK students have mastered being good friends. A special tradition is having class parties 🎉 and winter reindeer games.🦌

Also, the UPK students think the classroom experience is amazing because they love their teachers very much! ♥️

The kindergarten students are working on exciting holiday crafts from around the world 🌍. Each classroom represents a different country. They are learning about the traditions and customs of those countries.

They also recently celebrated the 50th day of school 🎉 and dressed like they were from the 1950’s. In addition, the students made interesting crafts based on the #50!

Some things the teachers like to do to keep things entertaining are movement breaks, hands-on activities, crafts 🎨, and working on projects as a whole grade level. Classes have been working on reading and pronunciations of letters, words, and writing CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words ✏️.

Kindergarteners watched The Polar Express 🚂 and built gingerbread houses. Their family members came to visit their classrooms in December 🎄.

The 1st grade has had a few STEAM days 🔬🎨. STEAM means Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. During their most recent STEAM day they made sugar cube ziggurats, created cuneiform ornaments, and designed their own Egyptian head dress. They used AI to chat with an ancient king 🤖👑! To top it off, they had an exciting “67th Day” of school 🎉! It's been a busy and exciting stretch of learning in 1st grade.

First grade teachers are teaching their 1st grade students fact families, magic “e,” and about ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia 📚. A memorable classroom time is when a student learns something that they were having trouble understanding ⭐.

First grade teachers keep their students engaged by doing hands-on activities and loving them a lot ❤️. They also keep them engaged by building strong relationships with their students. A skill they have mastered is their phonics, which is a big thing in first grade. Learning their magic “e” is helping them soar 🚀. Some of their special traditions are writing letters to Santa 🎅, participating in the Holiday Hootenanny, and doing activities within their own classrooms.

2nd grade students are reading and learning about Greek myths 📚. They are also writing friendly letters to Santa 🎅. They made Christmas present drawings 🎁. A memorable moment was when the teachers dressed up as “67” 🎉. Teachers keep students engaged by doing group work and working with friends 🤝. Students move very quickly and also incorporate brain breaks 🧠 and regroup often.

Some of their favorite events are Polar Express Day 🚂, lunch in the classroom, and Santa Paws 🐾.

The kids favorite subjects are Core Knowledge Language Arts Listening and Learning Strand, Tall Tales, and the War of 1812. They are also learning subtraction with regrouping ➖.

2nd graders are excited to learn cursive writing ✍️ and multiplication soon. Their favorite genre of book is graphic novels 📖. A favorite activity of many students is learning Greek myths, especially Arachni and Theseus and the Minotaur. Their favorite Tall Tale is Pecos Bill.

They have two elves Snowflake and Peppermint 🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️. The 2nd graders love looking for and finding the elves. The students' biggest strengths are that they are very good listeners 👂. They have perseverance 💪 and are great readers. Everyone likes building with Legos, using Chromebooks 💻, talking about K-pop Demon Hunters, and baby dolls.

3rd grade students are finishing Christmas presents for their parents 🎁. They are also completing their ELA unit about the human body 🧠.

Earlier in the school year students had a visit from Nickel City Reptiles 🐍 and they had the opportunity to hold a large snake. The teachers keep their students engaged and excited to learn by doing a lot of partner work 🤝 and they teach AMAZINGLY interesting topics ✨.

One skill or concept the students are learning is rounding to the nearest tens and hundreds 🔢. They have been practicing multiplication and division ✖️➗. In addition, they have been learning to use words like, “ so, but, and then” in their writing ✍️ and they have really excelled using these skills ⭐.

A new special tradition in 3rd grade is a bookshelf that students fill with books that they have read to meet the monthly Reading challenge 📚. Once they fill in one shelf they get a grade level party 🎉!

Finally, they had their very first performance at the holiday concert 🎶. They were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! 🌟

The fifth grade students made constitutional superheroes 🦸‍♂️. Each superhero was about one of the three government branches 🏛️ and what “super powers” they have! Each project included powers of the branch students were assigned, an original superhero uniform 👕, and a catchy slogan ✨.

Students recently watched The Watsons Go to Birmingham 🎬 to connect to their first novel study.

They also taste tested different salad dressings 🥗 that they made themselves!

In math, they have recently been using the rectangular fraction model with adding and subtracting fractions ➕➖. Some memorable moments are that this grade level had their first Small Business Day 🛍️ recently. Their Pre-K friends shopped too! Lots of things were sold there, such as bracelets, keychains, slime, and many other cool things!

Fifth grade teachers keep their students engaged and excited about learning by doing stations in math 🔄. The students enjoy the stations very much. During the stations students rotate to different activities such as fun math apps 📱 and math worksheets.

The fifth grade students have recently mastered explaining evidence 📖 and adding fractions ⭐.

One of their special events is writing Santa letters 🎅 with their Pre-K Book Buddies 🤝. In addition, they held a walk-a-thon 🚶‍♂️ and they raised over $7,000 💰 for the fundraiser in September. The money will be used to support 5th grade activities throughout the year.

Mrs. Dojnik keeps her students engaged while in the computer lab 💻 by letting them have choices, such as moving around the room, choosing the sites they go on, and even more. A memorable moment Mrs. Dojnik loves is when one of her students comes up to her and says, “This is the best class ever!” ⭐ One very impressive growth Mrs. Dojnik has seen is in Typing Club ⌨️. It teaches students how to type properly. An exciting tradition in the Computer Lab is having the opportunity to color bonus sheets 🎨, which are coloring pages based on the next holiday that is coming up. Outside of computer programs they use, Mrs. Dojnik’s favorite thing to do is teaching kids about kindness ❤️, and always being there for each other. She loves when students come to the lab, feel safe, and talk to her.

Mrs. Kershenski organized the 25th annual food drive 🥫 this year. All the food our students collect goes to families right here in Akron. It is delivered to the Akron-Newstead Food Pantry. Our school collected over 1000 items, and 42 boxes of food this year! 🎉 In February, we’re going to have our “Soup-er Bowl” 🏈. Everyone brings in cans of soup and votes for which team they think will win the Superbowl. Again, all the food goes to the Akron-Newstead Food Pantry. Canva and Google Slides are used frequently in the library 📚. “5th grade is really rocking Canva!” Mrs. Kershenski said. She was very excited when the Pre-K was able to sign out their own books by themselves! She tries to do 2 or 3 different things to keep our students moving, engaged and excited about the library. A special tradition in the library is having Christmas stations 🎄 where our students can go around the library and do different things, such as having gingerbread men disguised as book characters! Mrs Kershenski’s favorite stuffed animal is Mudge 🧸. She has a very memorable story that goes along with Mudge.