by Dave Rodich
Winter has been an eventful time for the Eagles class. We continued with our social emotional learning by working through all the minutiae of daily school life through the lens of our class guidelines and CARES competencies (cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, self-control). The students brought all of this together in their rehearsals for the Poetry Recital. Their practice and leadership paid off, as they did a great job singing songs, reciting poems and serving as role models for the younger students.
Academically, the students have made a great deal of progress over the last few months. In math, they focused their efforts in December on solidifying their fact knowledge and mastering computational skills. This work set the stage for our fraction unit, which began after winter break. It has been highly differentiated, with some starting the unit by working on identifying and modeling basic fractions before moving on to finding fractions of numbers, creating equivalency, and computation. Others started the unit by jumping right into computing with fractions. All of the students have learned to compare fractions using three methods: unit fractions, creating common denominators using LCM or GCF, and using ½ as a benchmark. They have all also worked on creating models to show and prove fraction equations. We’ve put a good deal of emphasis on developing a calm, confident mindset through challenging problem solving situations. I’m so proud of their progress across the board.
In ELA, the Eagles have undertaken a study of the book, Return to Sender. The novel has provided the class with a shared text to analyze, discuss and write about. The students worked extensively on short response writing: making an analytical claim and backing it up with evidence from the text. They have also had class discussions and debates, and showed their comprehension of the text by planning a hypothetical party. Another focus of our ELA class has been the class newspaper ‘The Fox’s Word’,
which has been officially launched. The newspaper serves as a landing place for a multitude of writing styles. It is student-created, with the kids conceiving, writing, and editing pieces. The students also do all of the graphic design via Canva. It’s been amazing to see them take this on.
"Ah yes, tubing you might think is just like sledding but it's not at all. While sledding is pretty fast but tubing is super fast because when you're sledding you go down a steep hill but in tubing you do down a steep hill with ice on it so it's much faster. Lastly, when you are sledding you use this small part that makes you go fast I guess but in tubing you use a tube of course which is really great for tubing hills. All in all tubing is really different than sledding." - Will
"My mom, AKA Maxine Linehan is going to perform her annual U2 concert celebrating St. Patrick's Day. She is a talented Irish artist who feels a strong connection to the band U2. The date of the concert is March 10th and Red Fox students have a choice to sing Your Song Saved My Life. Her connection to the band U2 brings her back to her Irish roots. She was born in Northern Ireland but moved to Cork which is located in Southern Ireland. The band U2 is also from Ireland." - Gabriel
"Hey there, my name is Jim. I'm going to tell you how I ended up in un pueblo loco. So at the start of my life I was in the town called Windmill Village. I loved the town but I heard of a huge treasure that was located under un pueblo logo. So I left my village to go find the treasure. I set sail on a boat. The huge treasure is called the Donkey. The current were rough and I realized I was drowning, I almost died! But luckily somebody saved me. I woke up on the shore with a pigeon sitting next to me. He said, "You need a better boat to survive." So after a year of being stranded on that island I built a giant boat to sail to un pueblo loco. I got to un pueblo loco without any more problems but when I got there it turned out that there is no such thing as the Donkey. So I just decided to live here." - Jack
"Hi my name is Bu (boo). I moved into this crazy city named the City of Locos! When I moved here I was in this purple house (which I still am) and everyday I go and pet these ducks but one day I go and pet these ducks but one day there wasn't any in the in the pond! I immediately suspected the bear near my house and when I got there, there was yellow feathers in the bears mouth! I knew that it was the bear! Or so I thought. The bear got mad that I accused him so he mulled me! I was limping as fast as I could to the hospital. Once I got there they put me on crutches and I'd have to use them for a year! So I went on the search for my ducks and in the end I realized that Moe the horse ate them! I cried for hours and all of the sudden I head a ding dong! And it's Moe and she gave me ducks! I jumped in happiness. I was as happy when a child gets candy! I put them back in the pond and gave them some bread crumbs. I realized that I could move to a different city I said, "I can't leave my ducks!" But there isn't a pond in the place that I'm going to move in so it was a hard choice but I left them there. I said my goodbyes and said I'd visit them soon. I packed my bags and went to another crazy city. The crazy city had a wine seller but I don't care about that because I'm only 13 but the crazy thins is that there's a trail that flys with pigs! WAIT I THOUGHT THAT PIGS CAN'T FLY!?!?! And there's a banana car??? " - Narissa
"In Hawgol I live with Hallie and Narissa. We have a great house. It is so good. So all in all Hawgol is boring but it's okay cuz I have a great house." - Evelyn
Explore. Discover. Learn
Some of our adventures this winter:
Our annual Winter Gathering with parents, students and staff.
Ice skating at Riley Rink.
Our Poetry & Music Recital
Simple Meal at RFCS!
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