Raider Reporter
Fall Edition
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Mr. McCain
Important Dates
November 10th: Veterans Day Parade
November 11th: Veterans Day, No School, Teacher Inservice Day
November 24th: End of Trimester 1
November 25th-27th: No School, Thanksgiving Break
December 24th-January 1st: No School, Winter Break
MAES and MVA Student-Led Conferences
Parent Communication
Nurses Notes: What to do if your child has symptoms?
For more notes, please visit our the COVID-19 page on our district website (www.marathon.k12.wi.us) or CLICK HERE.
Veteran's Day Celebration
4K: Learning to Play... a New Way!
In 4K, we have a very important emphasis on play and learning through play! Play is such an important piece to a child’s foundation. We work on problem solving skills, creativity, role playing, social skills and so much more!
This year is different with all of the guidelines we follow. So, as early childhood educators, we have struggled with this change for the kids and have tried to do our very best to offer as close to “normal” as we can...trying to make the best out of each situation! Well, the kids have TAUGHT US something!!! They have taught us that learning to play by yourself is a really good skill to work on in these younger years too! The kids get time to play on the playground with their peers, run around, and also work on social skills that we would on any other year. But, we are also being reminded that it is ok for kids to feel that little bit of boredom as they play. As we have observed this new playtime begin to unfold, we are seeing the kids play with the toys differently than they may have the first time they were offered them. We are watching some kids observe how their friend on a different play towel is playing with the same toy, then seeing the lightbulb go on in their imagination too! What was feeling like such a negative in the beginning of this...has REALLY turned into a great positive learning experience for not only our students, but the teachers too! We are so proud of our little ones!
Toys and Play in 5K!
Kindergarten kicked off their school year learning about toys and play by becoming toy experts! By reading, writing, talking and singing about what makes toys fun students were able to compare and contrast toys from the past and today. Students were able to use their imaginations to create a new toy out of recycled materials.
Questions that guided our learning:
What can we do to make playing together fun?
What makes toys fun?
Which classroom toy do I prefer and why?
What toys do others prefer? Why do they prefer them?
First Grade Problem Solving
This year has challenged teachers to rethink how we operate on so many levels. I think parents, teachers, and students all agree that some of the changes we have made will be ones that stick with us for years to come. One new thing in first grade being our morning/indoor recess bins.
These bins are activities that our students can do independently that encourage them to use problem solving, logic, creative and/or critical thinking skills. Each week students are given a different bin where they are able to explore and engage with the materials at their table spot. Most allow for extensions and endless potential to create new things. Some examples of the activities include a spirograph, sudoku picture puzzle, leggos, bracelet making bin, Brainflakes, creative mosaic and rainbow scratch paper.
Although we miss and look forward to the time we can play together again, these have been a fun addition to ensure that recess is still fun.
Mapping Marathon By: Second Grade
The second graders have been learning all about communities in their “Building a Community” module. The first unit called “What is Community?” discussed how characters respond to events in their communities. The second unit, called “Mapping Marathon,” taught them all about maps, including what a compass rose, legend, and the title are used for. To better understand how a map works, each class took a walk around Marathon City. Students used a map to locate features that make our community special. The third unit called “My Town, Your Town,” focused on different types of communities, such as rural, suburban and urban and why people might move from place to place. The culminating activity was for the students to write an informative paragraph comparing and contrasting two different communities.
Third Grade-Readers to Leaders
Mrs. Krautkramer, Mrs. Mrozenski, Mrs. Bankes
Our first English Language Arts expedition this year is entitled, Readers to Leaders. It uses literature and informational text to introduce students to the power of literacy and how people around the world overcome learning challenges. In Unit 1, students began to build their close reading skills. Throughout their readings, students determined the gist, identified the central message and considered what key details convey that message in mentor texts. In Unit 2, students consider how geography and where one lives in the world affects how one accesses books. Students built their background knowledge and tied in our Science and Social Studies standards by researching and looking for patterns in biomes, temperature, and precipitation. With that knowledge, they went through the engineering and design process to build a bookmobile that would transport a book and solve the identified problem. They also applied their background knowledge, skills we are learning in spelling and grammar to write a simple informative paragraph about how people access books around the world. In Unit 3, students will focus more on what it means to be a proficient and independent reader. They will continue to read literature about characters who are motivated to learn to read and overcome struggles to do so. In addition, they will assess their challenges as a learner and identify strategies to become an effective learner. This unit also emphasizes heavily on reading fluency. You will be surprised to see our final performance task as we culminate this expedition!
In Math, students just finished Unit 1 where they learned and used a variety of strategies to practice the multiplications 0-5s, 9s and 10s. They also discovered how multiplication and division are related, as well as used drawing and math equations in solving real world problems. Unit 2 will consist of using what they know to solve multiplications and divisions of the 6s, 7s, and 8s. A lot of time will be spent on mastering and building fluency in multiplications 0-10s.
4th Grade Update
4th graders have had a great start to a wild year. They are settled into the new routines and changes and are thriving in their new educational content.
In ELA, students studied characteristics and themes in poetry while reading the book, Love That Dog. They moved into studying famous poets and writing an informative essay about where these poets found inspiration for their work.
To wrap up this module, they are writing their own original poems and an essay about what inspires them for their final presentation. We are looking forward to seeing their finished products!
We are halfway through Unit 2 in Math learning about why the shortcut methods for multiplication work using area models and properties of multiplication. 4th graders are working hard at brushing up on their multiplication facts to set a solid foundation for mathematical understanding throughout the year.
As always, CREW is an important part of the Marathon way, so students spent the first couple months revisiting our character traits and dissecting why these habits are important to being an ethical person and effective learner. They were taught within a variety of activities including a physically distanced friendly competition amongst all 4th graders through a good old-fashioned relay race!
What is Happening in Fifth Grade
By: Mrs. Riesgraf and Mrs. Haehlke
We have had a fantastic start to our year!
In fifth grade math, students just finished up their first unit of study in which they used their prior knowledge about fractions from fourth grade and worked more in depth with fractions. During this unit, students learned how to find equivalent fractions and how to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers. Students will share out about what they learned during this unit at their upcoming virtual SLC.
As we move into Unit 2, students will be working with decimals and understanding the relationship between fractions and decimal numbers. They will be working with and exploring place value, writing numbers in different ways, adding and subtracting decimals, and learning how to model decimal numbers.
In Reading we have been working on our Stories of Human Rights module. Through books and non-fiction stories, we have been learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and what types of rights everyone should have. In class, we are reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, which is set in Mexico and California during the Great Depression. The story follows Esperanza Ortega, who, at the opening of the novel is a wealthy girl living on a beautiful vineyard with her loving family. Esperanza's father and some of his men are killed by bandits, throwing Esperanza's life into chaos. She is forced to work at a young age to help support her family. We have taken time to discuss the situations presented in the novel, and compare them to the 30 articles of the UDHR. We have used text evidence to support our thoughts on which rights Esperanza is having affected throughout the book.
Using our new knowledge of the UDHR, as a final product, students will be given non-fiction stories of children that are faced with challenges that cause their human rights to be affected. 5th graders are tasked with writing an essay outlining which human rights are being affected while providing text evidence to support their thoughts.
MVA NEWS
River Within Us
7th grade Culture of Climate Change Expedition
MVA Athletic Academic Eligibility
Each student participating in co-curricular activities will be expected to maintain academic eligibility. Students are ineligible for co-curricular activities if they have any I’s reported on their Mid-Trimester or Trimester Report Card in ANY classes, or if they have N’s reported on their Mid-Trimester or Trimester Report Card in 2 or more classes.
At trimester end, students not meeting eligibility will have a one week suspension from any competition. If there is not a competition scheduled during the week of ineligibility, the suspension applies to the first contest following suspension. Grades will be reviewed after one week and must all be passing in order to regain eligibility. Students not passing after the grade review will serve an additional week of suspension and start the process over. Students will still be expected to participate in practices and attend games unless after school time is needed for homework help.
At mid-trimester progress report time, students who do not meet requirements will remain eligible to participate in contests and practices if they attend Homework Club.
The procedure for informing students and parents of sporting eligibility will be as follows:
The principal will receive grades from teachers
The principal will notify coaches
Students/parents will receive contact from the principal
When students are eligible, principal will communicate to students/parents
SPECIALS
Music
With all the new Covid guidelines, the MVA Music Department has been working very hard to still make music with students this fall. On days when the weather is favorable and warm enough, the band and choir students have been going outside for group rehearsals. Choir continues to have group singing lessons inside. Band students have their lessons outside when the weather permits as per Health Dept. guidelines.
As the weather gets colder, it will get to a point that band lessons and all rehearsals will not be able to occur outside.
For band lessons: Each week students will take a video of themselves playing 4-5 songs they have prepared for their assignment and share that video with Mrs. Sternberg via Google Drive. She will assess the videos each week and offer feedback. The videos are due Sunday night of that week at the latest.
For band/choir class: Rehearsals will transform into General Music class for each cohort, taught by Mrs. Sternberg and Ms. O’Leary. This class functions as a music appreciation class. Students will be learning aspects of music theory, composition, history and genres.
Together, we will get through these trying times and continue music education to the best of our abilities. Continue to look to music to inspire, comfort and sustain you.
PE
September and October have been action packed with outside PE activities! Most of the weeks were filled with great weather so that we could be outside! The early snowfall threw us off a little bit, but we will continue to take advantage of the weeks where the weather allows us to be outside! Make sure you are remembering to dress for this!
So far this year, we have been able to participate in a variety of ways to play good old fashioned kickball, soccer, capture the flag games, and are now starting some flag football skills and games. The MAES students have also been able to go on a nature scavenger hunt right here on our school grounds!
Throughout all of our units, we have been taking some time to work on our fitness levels with the incorporation of running and a daily warm up, as well as some fun tag games to increase our heart rates, while having a whole lot of fun! We also make sure that we are practicing the related skills to the game that we are learning. Teamwork comes into play every class period, and we are sure to stress the importance of working together!
The students have been doing an incredible job! Keep it up!