Aanin Oshki Ogimaag School Families and Community Partners,
Last week was a beautiful celebration of spring at Oshki Ogimaag Community School!
On Tuesday, students practiced stewardship of the local environment by participating in a Community Clean-Up. They were joined by OOCS Board Member, Ms. Agatha Armstrong, and Grand Portage Community Nutrition Educator, Ms. Tess Bailey, who also spoke with students about the importance of environmental stewardship. Later in the week, students had another opportunity to connect with the earth by starting seeds with Ms. Tess during Seed Starting activities.
On Wednesday, Oshki Ogimaag students welcomed Grand Portage Head Start students to our school for Reading Buddies! Our students loved reading to their Head Start buddies, and Ms. Lynn from Head Start commented on how impressed she was with the reading skills of our Oshki Ogimaag students!
On Thursday, students participated in Yoga with Ms. Carly, while the boys took part in Drumming with Mr. Gene and the girls learned about the Fancy Shawl Dance and continued Seed Starting activities.
We ended the week with Forest Friday at Waaban. Students spent the afternoon cleaning up Sugar Bush Camp, joined by Mr. Erik Carlson and Ms. Tess Bailey. Ms. Tess prepared popcorn sprinkled with cinnamon over an open fire for an afternoon snack. After the clean-up, students reflected on the changes they observed in the natural environment now that most of the snow has melted, and enjoyed imaginative free play in the forest.
Ending the week outdoors on a beautiful spring day is one of the many great joys of being part of Oshki Ogimaag Community School.
A Peek Into Our Week
Waagoshag -In Reading, Kindergarteners continue to work on sounding out CVC sight words and identifying rhyming words. In Reading, 1st graders continue to read short stories and respond to comprehension questions. In Writing, Kindergarteners continue to work on writing simple sentences that include sight words. In Writing, 1st graders continue writing sentences using 1st grade sight words.
In Math, Kindergarteners are working on making and breaking apart numbers to make 9 and 10. In Math, 1st graders continue to work on adding and subtracting multiples of 10. In Science, Kindergarteners continue their study of the Weather and 1st graders continue their study of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
Makwag - In Foundational Reading Skills, Makwag students are learning to read vowel teams, including ei, aw, and au. They are practicing identifying and reading words with affixes such as im-, -able, -ible, -less, and -ness. Students are also working with new phonograms, including kəl, j, and ch, and are applying their knowledge to read new words that end with an -le syllable or the /cher/ sound. For Poem Launch, students read When We Went Camping, a poem that features many of the sight words and phonograms they are currently learning.
In the Language Arts Module, students are drafting and editing narratives inspired by The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard.
In Math, Makwag students are using number lines to represent place value strategies for solving addition and subtraction equations, including those that involve decomposing a ten.
To celebrate Earth Day, students learned about the "Three R’s"—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—and completed a composting activity. Ms. Tess also guided students in starting flower seeds and taught them how to tend to seedlings while tracking watering cycles and growth.
In Art, students created self-portraits for their portfolios. As part of their Social Emotional Learning (SEL) work, students reflected on how making mistakes is part of the learning process. After completing their self-portraits, students placed them on their desks and wrote positive adjectives to describe their classmates, helping build a culture of encouragement and support.
Migiziwag - Migiziwag students have been reviewing key concepts in preparation for the upcoming MCA testing in math and reading. They also recently completed their Oregon Trail unit. For their final project, students worked collaboratively to create an ABC book about the Oregon Trail. As a class, they brainstormed vocabulary words for each letter of the alphabet, wrote a paragraph for each word, and illustrated accompanying pictures. This project fostered cooperation, teamwork, and deepened their understanding of the historical journey.
Throughout the spring, Migiziwag students have also been writing reflections on the many cultural activities they participated in over the school year. Reflection helps students develop essential life skills such as self-awareness, the ability to learn from mistakes, and resilience.
There IS After School Woodworking Class this Wednesday, April 30th!
- 3:15-5:30pm.
- There Will be Woodworking April 30 and May 07
- May 07 is last day of Woodworking and the traditional Open House, where families and friends of the students are invited to join us at school to see the various projects that students have created, listen to a brief presentation from each student and enjoy some treats together! The schedule will look like this:
Wednesday, May 07
- 4:45-5:00 - Walk through to view the various projects students have brought in (Please have your child bring in the projects that they have made over their time in Woodworking class. Please bring them in by 4:45 on May 07). Each student will have a spot to display their creations. This is a tradition that has been a fun time for students and families to celebrate the work of the students! We hope each family will be able to join us!
- 5-5:10 - Listen to a brief presentation from each student
- 5:10-5:30 - Socializing and treats!
Hands-On, Community-Based Projects Happening at Oshki Ogimaag
Last week, Ms. Tess Bailey started seeds with each class, joined us for our Community Clean-Up Day, and spoke with students about the importance of environmental stewardship. Ms. Tess and Mr. Erik Carlson also joined us for Forest Friday at Waaban, supporting students as they cared for Sugar Bush Camp and reflected on changes in the spring landscape.
Each Thursday, we offer Intergenerational Yoga with Ms. Carly. Yoga sessions are 20 minutes long and support students' focus, attention, mindfulness, emotional regulation, and bodily awareness. Elders are invited to join each session! See the flyer below for more details, and feel free to reach out with any questions.
Mr. Gene joins us weekly for traditional Anishinaabe drumming with the boys. During these sessions, he shares valuable cultural teachings alongside drumming instruction. Our students deeply enjoy their time with Mr. Gene and look forward to it each week. While the boys are drumming, our Cultural Liaison, Ms. Char, along with Ms. Kat and Ms. LeeAnna, lead the girls in Ojibwe cultural activities. This week, the girls learned about the traditions of the Fancy Shawl Dance.
After school on Wednesdays, Susan Ferguson from North House Folk School, assisted by Ms. Kat, provides woodworking classes for students.
Additionally, on Mondays from 3:30–4:30 p.m. through March 31st, Dr. Erik Redix leads an Ojibwe Language Table in the OOCS Conference Room. All are welcome to join and grow their Ojibwemowin skills! See the flyer below for details.Special Note: Dr. Redix has EXTENDED Ojibwe Language Table to go through Monday, May 19th!
Chi-miigwech to Ms. Tess Bailey, Mr. Erik Carlson, Ms. Carly, Mr. Gene, Ms. Susan Ferguson, Dr. Erik Redix, and Ms. Kat for sharing their time, knowledge, and gifts with our students!
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.
