State Projects

We are working on State Projects in Social Studies. Every student selected a state in the Southeast to study. They may use the text book, iPad, or other sources to gather their data. Students are sharing their data on state posters. As students finish their projects, they are invited to read the two chapters about the South in their text book. It is fun to see how the information in our text compares to the resources we are using in class.

Mr. Greninger's class needed two extra class days to work on their Southeast Notes, when Valentine's Day, Fitness Fever, the teacher workshop day, followed by President's Day scheduling changes required some review before we could continue. They are actively working on their projects this week!

LOVE to Read

Throughout the month of "I Love to Read", we have Drop Everything And Read time. A few weeks past, I captured images of Mr. Greninger's homeroom of readers. Last week, I took pictures of Ms. Leom's homeroom of readers. It is fun to see the iPad reading apps in use and the stability of the paperback standard.

We LOVE to read!

Our Local Heroes

Each week, our local heroes speak to us during announcements. We have Captain Olweus, Tucker Turtle, and Friendship Girl.



We continue to be committed to being a safe school and bully free. We actively work on prevention, teaching skills, and helping students learn how to problem solve.

Lately, Tucker Turtle, who relates well with our preschool and kindergarten students has been taking an active role. He is teaching us about strategies to share or trade. To fourth graders, it can seem "babyish" (their term), but we often talk about how we can apply the skill to our world.

Feel welcome to ask your fourth grader to share what our local heroes are talking about this week!

MY Community

I LOVE living Milaca, the community where I teach and work! I love being at the grocery store, and running into kids ... attending church, and there are MY kids ... going to events, and more of my kids. I sometimes get busy in my "mom role", and I am not as attentive as during the school day, I still enjoy watching my kids with their friends and their families.

Last week, my mom role brought me to a girls basketball game where the youth girls were being honored and a boys basketball game where the youth boys were being honored. I love how our community comes together to share in these events.

The high school, varsity girls players, with no prompting, before the end of their half time, formed a tunnel to greet the players as they ran out to the floor! What GREAT kids we have at Milaca Schools that they value ALL participants!!

The fourth grade girls team and their coaches.

The Milaca Girls Youth Basketball players

The Varsity Girls honored Brenda Ruckert. Brenda is a paraprofessional in the high school. Most of the painting of words, walls, and more throughout our building are her work. Brenda is a Milaca graduate, and has dedicated her life to Milaca girls athletics as a coach, a referee, a line judge, an official, and more. She has organized countless fundraisers over the years to raise money for varies needs. At Tuesday's game, she was honored for her years of dedication to our school, students, and athletes.

Mr. Leom and Brenda

 On Friday night, the youth boys' basketball teams were recognized. It is exciting to watch this group of fourth graders at the game, because several of my former fourth graders are senior starters, and I can see the potential and future in my current students.

 The fourth grade boys team.

The Milaca Boys Basketball Youth Teams

My focus in this post was on the basketball program, because that is the recent event where I ran into so many students. I also am so proud of my hockey players, archery participants, wrestlers, swimmers, karate (masters), horseback riders, students who participate in 4H, and many more activities and events! Milaca is a great place to live!

Pretend

I saw this meme the other day, and it reminded me of my classroom and students.

In fourth grade, some students have moments in their day when the start of their hormones, their strong feelings, heavy thoughts, and now you want me to learn ?! all collide, leaving the nine or ten year old overwhelmed and stuck. At home, this might include tears and frustration that sounds like, "I don't know what to do!" or "I don't get it." Sometimes the tried and true, "It is just too hard." also makes an appearance. It is real. What students feel, think, and experience, is real to them, and needs a strategy to get past the "stuck". In fourth grade, a great method is "Pretend".

Pretend you know what to do. What would you do first if you knew what to do? Write your name on your paper ... read the directions ... look for something on the page that you do KNOW ... Sometimes if we just start ... and we can formulate questions of what we "don't get", it can help us determine what we need to do next ...

We pretend. Feeling shy, unsure where to go? What to do? How to handle this new situation? Parents use this strategy all the time as our children grow and develop ... they don't come with a instructional manual, so we step up, pretend we know exactly what we are saying is right, go with our best intentions, and figure it out along the way. It is a life skill. You also have to be a little bit brave, to know that if you make a mistake, you will learn, and it will be ok.

Fitness Fever

On Wednesday February 15th, fourth graders participated in Fitness Fever. It is a tradition at Milaca Elementary, every February, when the possibility of inside Recess is real, and our bodies need to move. Inside Recess wasn't the issue this year, and we enjoyed the additional gym time and playing with our friends. We participate in a variety of activities with six grade Student of the Month students helping run the fun. The event ends with a tug-a-war against the different fourth grade classrooms.

What great memories!