ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT – Written by: Zoe, Madeline, Tenzin
First, in Spanish, we’ve been learning numbers and listening to many spanish songs. Second, in Art, we have been making big paintings. We drew them on a big piece of wood, then painted them. Half of the class painted a moose, and the other group painted a fox. It was very fun and inspirational. Third, in literacy, we have been learning about the heart- figuratively and literally. Now, we are learning how to write poems. In our writer’s workshop class, we have been writing our spooky stories and learning the essay writing process. Finally, during math, the 5th graders have been doing color by numbers to practice multiplication, division, and PEMDAS. The 4th graders have been doing multiplication, division, and rounding.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT – Written by: Charlotte, Wren, & Peter
Charlie & Clark making up a handshake during the greeting for Community Meeting.
Recess
During recess we sometimes disagree with each other, it’s sometimes hard to make up after fights. But, we use communication skills to help us figure out a solution. We usually make up and then have even more fun!
Value Box
The value box is a decorated box that we all added to. Each month has a value that we decided on. If we see someone showing this value, we write it down, and put it in the value box. At the end of each month Katie and Dana take the paper out of the value box. The people with the most papers written to them get are celebrated.
Stars
We earn stars when our whole class is working hard in a subject, and we are all on task. The stars go into a jar that we try to fill up. When the jar has 18 stars, the class decides on a prize!
PROJECT LAB – Written by: Owen, Charlie O., Harriet, & Charlie F.
Our first priority at the beginning of the year was preparing for our fall journey. For preparation for the Yellowstone journey we did a scavenger hunt. We had a packet of activities that helped us learn more about Yellowstone. The activities that we did were… one a sheet with some interestings things about Yellowstone that you had to read then answer a sheet on the other side. The second activity was a timeline that we had to fill in. The third task was a fact sheet with a place that you had to answer. The forth activity was a opinion sheet, we had to read a sentence and color it orange if it was an opinion, or color it green if it was a fact. The fifth and final activity was a wordsearch. When everyone was finished we got to have s’mores at the school.
To decide our project we made up some ideas and voted. We already had to learn about Laws and Government as a 4th and 5th grade class and we decided to learn about sports to go along with this topic. In Project Lab so far, we went to the mayor’s office and met some county officials. We noticed the mayor has the smallest office. We asked the mayor a bunch of questions like, what is the population of Victor? He answered all of our questions!!! We also went to the Public Works building. At the Public Works building we learned about the cool machines and what people do there. Recently we each choose a state in the USA, and are studying the sports teams, population, and fun facts that we are making posters for. Next we are each going to study a sport.
JOURNEYS – Written by: Rowan, Johnny, Millie, & Clark
So far this year we have gone on six journeys. We have gone to Sheeps Bridge trail, the Public Works building, Yellowstone National Park, the Jackson Campus-twice, and we went to the Victor Park to interview Mayor Will. On our Yellowstone journey we saw a famous wolf pack, the wolf reclamation pen, and saw Old Faithful and Beehive Geysers erupt. We also went to the Old Faithful gift shop and a lot of us got stuffed wolves, then we got in our tents and there was a thunderstorm so no one got any sleep until 11:00 P.M. It felt like a few of us stayed up all night. So far this year we have had a lot of fun on our journeys, we can’t wait for our next journey!!!
STUDENT CORNER – An Informative Essay about The River Otters Class Written and Edited By: The 4/5 River Otters
We are in a 4/5 class called The River Otters. This essay is going to be about everything I know about my River Otter class. We will share who we are, where we are, what we learn, when we go to school, and how we learn.
We will start off by sharing who we are. We are people named Thea, Rae, Wren, Charlotte, Lottie, Owen, Millie, Zoe, Maddie, Clark, Charlie O, Cheeze, Tenzin, Johnny, Rowan, Peter, Miles, and Harriet. We are also part of a school called Mountain Academy.
We live in Teton Valley, Idaho. Our school is the Teton Valley Campus, and our classroom is in the Gray House. If we looked at our school from far away, you could find us in North America. If we zoom out even further, you would see that we are on planet Earth in the Milky way Galaxy.
At our school, we learn about the Place Triangle. The Place Triangle is made up of; Ecology, Economy, and Culture. At our school, we also have a class called Project Lab, which is different from other schools. We are currently learning about States. We learn about plants and animals in our Farm and Garden class.
At Mountain Academy, we learn how to work as a team. We learn to be kind and thoughtful here. Other subjects we learn are; math, literacy, writing, art, spanish, and outdoor education.
We go to school from 8:00 a.m. to 3:05 p.m., unless it is a half day, in which case we end at 12:15 p.m. Our school year starts during the last week of August, and goes till the first week of June. You can go to Mountain Academy from preschool up to Middle School. We start our morning off by settling into the day and having a morning meeting. We end our day with hands to work and a closing circle for reflection.
We learn by being surrounded by classmates and teachers, as well as expert visitors. We also learn by going on journeys and adventures. Some of our journeys are just one day, while others are over a couple days and nights. We learn by showing up for all our classes and through connecting with our community through projects. We also learn Spanish to help us connect with our community better. We practice the 3Ts to help us learn. The 3Ts are; Treat with Respect, Take Responsibility, and Try Hard.
We really enjoy being in this community and we hope if you come visit you will too!
STUDENT REFLECTIONS – Written by: Miles, Lottie, Thea, & Rae
Interview Questions:
- What’s your favorite part of being in 4\5?
- What are you most looking forward to this year?
Wren: 1. Being in the highest class in lower school 2. Seeing paws
Cheeze: 1. cozy chairs 2. math
Clark: 1. doing 5th grade math 2. spring journey
Rowan: 1. being the oldest grade in lower school 2. Halloween
Johnny: 1. we are trusted to use our computers 2. spring journey
Peter: 1. teamwork and a good class 2. journeys-because they help the environment
Millie: 1. the teachers let us be ourselves and are really nice 2. spring journey and learning about lacrosse
Harriet: 1. everything 2. spooky stories and journeys
Zoe: 1. different teachers 2. journeys
Owen: 1. everything, 2. halloween and spring journey
Charlotte: 1. being one of the oldest kids in lower school.
Tenzin: 1. snack & recess, 2. halloween
Maddie: 1. everything, 2. projects & journeys
Dana: 1. connecting with each of the River Otters and watching them learn and grow, 2. the spring journey.
Katie: 1. I love learning with all the River Otters, 2. more journeys and projects
Author answers
Thea: 1. having a awesome class & being a “queen” of the school (oldest kid in elementary school), 2. journeys and projects
Rae: 1. everything, 2. journeys
Lottie: 1. everything, 2. Halloween
Miles: 1. being in the oldest grade of lower school, 2. journeys
