Reminder of PACT meeting:

http://www.pactforsjsd.com/

What are they teaching kids these days?

Have you ever wondered what they are teaching students in schools today? At Lake Contrary we teach students non-fiction writing during writer's workshop. Writer's workshop is a lesson model for teaching students to write. It is made up of three parts: mini-lesson, independent writing, and author share.

The mini-lesson is a 10-20 minute lesson on a specific objective in writing. This may be grammar, the craft of writing, editing skills, or figurative language. There are many objectives a teacher covers and varies with the writing genre (such a poetry, memoir, research report, etc.) Independent writing is when students pre-write, write, research, edit or revise their paper. The teacher conferences with students one-on-one, takes anecdotal notes, or meets with small groups about their drafts. Author share concludes the lessons and provides students time to share and give feedback on the latest version of their writing.

Here is an example of a 1st grade non-fiction writing piece:

This student began by writing a table of contents for her self selected topic, butterflies. Our first graders were encouraged to ask questions about their topic, research using a plethora of resources, and answer the questions in their book.

Here the student writes the heading and sentence to answer her guiding question.

Notice in the picture the use of bolded words, labels, and illustrations. Just like real non-fiction books!

Finally, the student concludes with her glossary.

When completed you will fine finished works along with rough drafts, rubrics, anchor charts, and objectives posted in our hallways. Students love to share their writing with fellow students, teachers, and parents!

Meet Mrs. Gillies

 Mrs. Gillies is our preschool teacher for high intensity/autism students. Mrs. Gillies' classroom is warm, welcoming and safe for all learners. She teaches basic preschool objectives along with learning to learn skills.

Mrs. Gillies graduated from NWMSU in the spring 2009 with a teaching degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Special Education. She is currently enrolled at MWSU in their Masters of Applied ScienceProgram with an emphasis in Autism. Becky has grown up in the St. Joseph Area and plans to raise a family and grow old here.  

We are so very lucky to have Mrs. Gillies teach at Lake Contrary! Her passion for early childhood education and dedication to her students make her a valuable member of our team.

10 Picture Tour of Lake Contrary

Lake Contrary Elementary

Named after the area lake, Lake Contrary Elementary is a Title I elementary school grades pre-K through 6.

Welcome

Each day our students, parents, and staff are greeted by our school district’s mission, Educating Each Child for Success. Our Welcoming Committee shares a good morning, smile, or immediate intervention for students each day. They also welcome visitors, direct them to the office or to their teacher’s classroom.

Wall of Distinguished Alumni

Our school’s motto is, Dream, Believe, Achieve. Through a PTA grant we were able to fund this wall that displays a photo and name plate of some of our most distinguished alumni. The purpose of our wall is to enhance career education for our students by displaying real careers and post-secondary education of our past students. Our wall showcases educators, doctors, police officers, majors in chemistry, physical therapy, finance, and even professional athletes!

Lake's Gym

This is a photo of our gymnasium. Our amazing PE teacher posts student work all around our gym walls and encourages students to set and track goals based on our formative assessment professional development.

Classroom Entrance

This is what an entrance to a typical classroom looks like. You will see an All-About-Me poster from the teacher so that new students and parents can read all about their teacher! The school community also fills classroom buckets with compliments (notice the bucket and bag of shapes). Our entrances are designed to be welcoming and promote our BEARS Expectations: Be responsible, Everyone matters, Achieve success, Respect others, Safety first.

Student Work Displays

Our school posts what we value, student work! In this photo you are seeing how one classroom teacher displays work that incorporates components of balanced literacy with problem and solution. The teacher includes rubrics, reading response journals, guided and independent work, and modeling of read alouds/think alouds with problem and solution. 

Classroom Library

This is an example of a classroom library. We organize them by genre, author, reading levels, featured books, and student or teacher recommendations.

Music Room

Our music room incorporates literacy, cooperative learning, and technology daily.

Playground

Our playground includes equipment that promotes physical health from Project Fit America.

Special Education

This is our classroom for special education. I love the welcoming messages each morning for students. This one says, “We believe in you!”

Outdoor Classroom

Just one more…the outdoor classroom is located next to our future sites for a kickball field and community garden, coming this May!

Music Blog

Check out our classroom blogs below. Our newest is from Mrs. Kikoler! Her music blog is complete with student work, videos, and choir information.

http://lakemusic.blogspot.com/