The Falcon's Nest
November 2018
Principal's Corner by Jennifer Updike
How Will You Inspire Learning? How will you inspire students to see learning as an opportunity versus a chore?
That is the question I asked the teachers to reflect upon this school year based on a summer reading many of us selected called, The Wild Card. I just wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the exciting learning opportunities our students have been experiencing at Clinton-Massie Elementary School based upon the question above:
Student Jobs
4th Grade Native American Project Based Learning Activity
Our teachers are working hard to make learning fun, yet, rigorous, personalized, and standards based. The perfect example is our 5th grade team’s Scooby Doo inspired room transformation. Our 5th grade teachers set up each classroom around a Scooby Doo episode and then tied in learning standards. For example, students were studying circumference, radius, and diameter with flashlights. An alien invasion scavenger hunt with fractions or a homophone lesson that led students to determine, “Which witch turned Mrs. D’Amico into a skeleton?”. Or mining for gold and finding the latitude and longitude, a figurative language sort, and a chemical change lab. The 5th grade teachers reported their students were so well behaved because they were engaged and having fun learning!
Other room transformations including Dr. Seuss in the first grade and a dinosaur inspired unit in the 3rd grade. A military boot camp at 4th grade. Our 5th grade has had two; including a Book Tasting and recently a Scooby Doo inspired learning theme.
Mrs. Ford, parents, and community businesses have supported our Makerspace housed within our library time by allowing students to select stations and be creative based on their interests.
Standards Based Grading-authentic assessments that we can use to purposefully drive instruction
These are just a few of the inspiring learning activities we have here at CMES. I hope your child comes home excited about learning and looks forward to coming to school. We are always open to ideas and look to get better at inspiring our students to be lifelong learners, so feel free to share by emailing or stopping by to share your ideas.
Thanks for sharing your students with us and have a fabulous November!!!
November Calendar
8th - 2 Hr. Early Dismissal
10th - CM Craft Show
21st-25th - No School, Thanksgiving Break
28th - Ticket Town/Pizza with the Principals
Dr. Seuss Adventures in 1st Grade
Wacky Wednesday with Dr. Seuss Adventures and 1st Grade
Fall Festival Fun
Clinton-Massie Elementary
Email: esther.wyatt@cmfalcons.org
Website: cmfalcons.org
Location: 2380 Lebanon Road, Clarksville, OH, USA
Phone: 937-289-2515