Classroom Spotlights
In high school world history the students are learning about the unrest during the early to mid 20th century. We are discussing the world wars, great depression and independence movements around the world.
Middle School Social Studies: Starting this week, the Middle School students will be learning about two major religious developments that occurred during the end of the Roman Empire. These developments being the rise of Christianity and Islam, these religions will provide our students with a good base for learning our next big chapter which is the Medieval Period where we will focus on how society was set up during this period and we will learn about the Crusades and how these "Holy Wars" would bring on the "Renaissance" and the "Age of Discovery."
History Through Film: As we get closer to the end of the year, so too does our film crew get closer to our contemporary history. Currently, our students are watching the movie, Dr. Strangelove, which is a war/comedy movie that teaches our students what life was like during the Cold War and how the fear of nuclear war affected every person from every nation. Students will be tasked with writing their final essay of the year where they will take a closer look at how the Cold War impacted the world we live in today.
Geography: Our geography students are currently working diligently on their Latin American Nations project! Each student was randomly assigned a Latin American nation and asked to answer 15 questions over that nation. Students are learning the importance of proper research while also having fun learning about new and exciting places from around the Western Hemisphere. Once their research is completed, students will be tasked with presenting their findings in a slideshow presentation where they will get to show off their creative side as well as practice their public speaking skills.
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Journalism: Our Journalism students continue to work hard on creating a newsletter for our school each month. Each week they work on analyzing a news story and determining if it has bias, if it is written in a correct manner, and what could be added to it in order to be more detailed. As the school year comes to a close they will begin re-writing news stories in their own words in order to work on their summarization and formal writing skills.
MS English: These students are wrapping up their final novel, A Mango Shaped Space, for the school year. As they finish they will be practicing their presentation skills by re-designing the cover of the book and explaining why they would make the changes that they did. After this gets wrapped up, they will be starting a research project on a famous author and creating a presentation for that they will share with the whole class. With doing these things the students are practicing their research skills, public speaking, and organization of information.
ENG 9: These students are working on reading the novel Of Mice and Men. We are about halfway through the novel and hope to finish by the end of the month. After they finish, they will be creating a project based on the novel and the time period in which it was written. After we finish with this novel, the students will be working on a research project on a topic of their choosing to teach the class about what they were researching. This is to give the students a chance to show off their own knowledge as well as hone in on their research skills and public speaking abilities.
ENG 10-12: The upper high school students that are taking English this semester are getting two versions of class this semester. They have been learning about how to apply their ELA skills within workplace environments as well as learning about different careers and what it take to be in those particular fields. These students are also working on reading Of Mice and Men and working on their literature analysis skills as they read through the story.
Ms. Katy
This is my first year at Oakstone Community School! I graduated from Kent State in May of 2022. I am so excited to be working with the students this year and helping them achieve their math goals. I will be teaching middle school math and two algebra I classes along with co-teaching financial algebra with Mrs. Therese and a co-taught middle school ELA class with Mr. Zach.
Middle School Math:
This class is designed using the Ohio 7th and 8th grade math standards. We will be covering a wide range of topics throughout the school year. The first quarter we will be focusing on proportional relationships using ratios, percentages, and scientific notation.
Algebra I:
This course is designed for high school students and focuses on the fundamental basics of algebra. We will continue to build students arithmetic knowledge. The first quarter numerical and algebraic expressions, one variable equations, and interpreting graphs.
We have been having a great year in Room 300! We have just finished up a science unit learning all about animals and animal characteristics. We are starting a social studies unit on Economics through our interactive Unique Learning Program. Everyone has been working hard and working on their own individual levels in reading through our Reading Mastery program and math in our Math Ladders program. Every Thursday, the Oakstone Therapists come in and our class has been working hard in the community garden planting, watering, and composting. On Fridays, our class has been alternating between playing board games as a class and cooking recipes. Both activities have been a huge hit and we are able to really work on life and social skills.
Hello! As we roll into the spring, we are working towards many different goals in our classroom. In Reading, all of our students are continuing to show growth in understanding letter-sound correspondence and we have even seen a few students move onto more challenging content. For Math, we are currently working on solving for missing numbers, counting change and we will be moving onto scatter plots, 2 step equations and shape congruence. In our Daily Living class we are continuing to work on soft/motor skills and gaining independence with everyday tasks. At the end of March we had the exciting opportunity to take a shopping trip to Kroger! For the entirety of March, the students worked on planning a menu, making a shopping list and practicing their budgeting skills in order to be as prepared as possible for the community outing. We also have future plans of running a lemonade stand, working in our school garden and many other culinary activities that we can tie into other math and science topics. Speaking of science, we have been discussing what make us who we are(genetics) and what makes up the world around us by discussing the different layers of the atmosphere and moving onto the study of matter. Finally in Social Studies we are almost through with learning about the industrial revolution and will finish off the year with the Progressive Era and World War 1.
Miss Tara
This month in art, students are learning about Earth Day! We'll be studying different artists that create Recycled art and will then be creating art reusing things like cardboard, magazines and cartons. First up, we'll be making abstract collages with cardboard. Students will design their piece and then will then draw cut out, paint and assemble their art. After that, they will we will assemble a large mural that includes each student's art hung together.
In PE, we have been working on team sports. It's typically easier to do things on your own and to be an individual athlete, however, when you are part of a team it's different. Learning to work as a team, the students are doing whatever they can to help the team win or reach a goal for that day. We have also been working on handling emotions when things don’t go our way individually because we are part of a team. We have come a long way and are getting better each and every day.
Miss Chelsea
Hi from 5/6th grade! We are a class of ten super smart kids and three adults.
We have loved learning a lot of things this year from Space, Early Civilizations, how to write persuasive essays, and so much more! The kids loved building our class terrarium to show the 4 systems of Earth (Geosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere, and Hydrosphere).
Currently, this is what we're doing:
Science: We are currently learning about Structure and Properties of Matter (motion, light, sound, matter, and energy).
Math: In math, we are learning about Numbers and Operations in Base Ten.
Social Studies: We are working on finishing up our early civilizations then we are moving into Government, Human Systems, and Places and Regions.
Reading and Language Arts: We are using our Reading Mastery program which the kids are thriving in. As well as in Language we are working on Spelling, Idioms, Vocabulary, Writing (letters), and Grammar.
Miss Therese
In Physical Science, the ninth graders just finished a unit on motion, forces and energy that culminated in designing and testing their own roller coasters. The students then demonstrated their coasters and answered questions from students and staff throughout the building. We will finish out the year learning about the history of the universe, types of galaxies, and stars.
In the Financial Algebra II morning class, we have been learning about the choices we must make to live independently. Our focus has been determining whether it makes more sense to buy or lease cars and homes. We have learned about types of credit, car loans, and how credit scores are determined. We will spend the last quarter of the school year comparing credit and debit.
The Chemistry class is learning about the human body. We are currently studying the nervous system and the endocrine system to understand how they work together to maintain our homeostasis. We will be dissecting a cow eye and sheep heart in the fourth grading period as we continue to learn about the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the immune system.
In Middle School Science, the students are beginning a life science unit about the diversity of species, evolution, extinction, and inheritance. We spend every Friday learning about and working in the garden at school. The students have been part of every step in preparing the garden and are finally enjoying getting out and weeding, planting and watering.
The afternoon Financial Algebra II class has been focusing on making wise financial choices. The students worked on creating shopping lists from recipes, comparing prices, and budgeting their money. They also learned about the different types of shopping available and the pros and cons of each.
