Art Class
All Walker Bulldogs are showing their artistic abilities with Ms. Zucker. Fourth graders participated in an American Love project, while our younger students have been creating kirigami (Japanese origami), molas from Panama, yayoi kusama pumpkins, and sugar skulls to honor Dia de los Muertos.
Reflex Math
Students continue to utilize Reflex Math, an adaptive math program, to master their fact fluency. Since the start of the year our builidng fluency has improved by 24%. As a buliding, students have solved 200,000 facts with 5,800 new fluent facts.
50's Day
Our primairy grade classes celebrated the 50th day of school on Thursday. Students wore 1950's inspired clothing, learned about the retro decade, and enjoyed root beer floats. The students loved this fun-filled day.
Guided Reading
Students participate in small group instruction during guided reading groups. By working in smaller groups, instruction is tailored to the needs of the students. This also allows for students to practice their reading skills and critical thinking. Students encounter a variety of texts during guided reading groups.
STEAM Update
Our young scientists are busy researching and creating with Mr. K in STEAM. Students are mastering Power Point, creating stained glass windows, and researching floods and biomes. These future engineers are constructing ideas on how to protect roads from flooding. Additionally, some classes are building Tinkerbots.
Fry Bread
Parents need to know that Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, by Kevin Noble Maillard, highlights the importance of a certain food in generations of a family and in the culture they share. With spare text and warm illustrations by Juana Martinez-Neal, the author shows that fry bread is not just food but also art, history, a sense of place, and more. "Fry bread is us." The characters are diverse, with many different skin and hair colors and ages represented.
We Are Wather Protectors
Parents need to know that Crole Lindstrom's We Are Water Protectors won the 2021 Caldecott Medal. Lindstrom is Anishinabe/Metis and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe Indians. Her picture book is a powerful, uplifting call for environmental stewardship that protects both Native American and First Nation peoples' heritage and global health. It's gorgeously illustrated by Michaela Goade, who's from the Raven moiety and Kiksádi clan from Sitka, Alaska. Her images first focus on an Indigenous child's local community, and later include all skin tones: The water flows beyond their land, so the damage caused by the "black snake" of the oil pipeline threatens everyone. The child's anger about the threat to Indigenous land is softened for younger readers by the positive focus on community power and action. At the end of the book, there's a glossary, notes from the author and illustrator, and a Water Protector pledge.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/we-are-water-protectors
We Are Grateful
Parents need to know that We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga is a book about gratitude as practiced by the Cherokee people, written by Traci Sorell, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation who lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where the tribe is based. The book has been widely praised for its realistic depiction of present-day Cherokee families and their contemporary culture and celebrations. It sprinkles the text with Cherokee vocabulary, as well as bits of history, referencing the Trail of Tears and the 1839 signing of the Cherokee Constitution. The core Cherokee value -- the daily expression of gratitude -- is accessible and helpful for all.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/we-are-grateful-otsaliheliga