What a great year it has been! We have learned a lot and had tons of fun :) This is the end of my sixth year, so the first year that I've had an outgoing group of FVE 5th graders their whole elementary career. It's bittersweet to send them off to Middle School. I know they are ready and will do great things; however, I WILL MISS THEM!! :( I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing, fun summer break. I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone back here in the fall. :)  ~Mrs. Hoell

Transitions for everyone!

5th- Talked about all the things we have learned this year and how they will prepare us for Middle School. We talked about what makes us nervous about going to MS. One thing that tends to worry kids is being able to open a combination lock--so we practiced! Some kiddos got it right away, but most needed several tries and some help from their friends. If they had time, students were asked to reflect back on their time in elementary school and consider some things they are looking forward to next year.

4th- We spent the last part of class talking about transitioning to 5th grade and setting goals for ourselves. The first part of class we finished up talking about career paths and the career path stations we did last time.

3rd- We talked about changes: what changes are coming up for them and how they feel about those changes. We read Little Tree and talked about how you have to change and try new things so that you can grow. We discussed strategies for dealing with the tough feelings that come with change.

2nd- We talked about changes: what changes are coming up for them and how they feel about those changes. We read Don't be Afraid to Drop. We discussed what might scare us about change, but how to cope with those changes.

1st- We talked about changes: what changes are coming up for them and how they feel about those changes. We discussed coping strategies and did some magic to show how coping strategies can help us deal with tough feelings. We read The Koala Who Could and talked about all the things he was missing out on when he didn't change or try new things. We tied in our conversations about life changes, feelings, and growth mindset.

K- We talked about changes: what changes are coming up for them and how they feel about those changes. We read The Night Before First Grade and discussed things they can do to make a smooth transition to first grade. We also talked about how we can help others who might be new!

My fourth grade classes explored the six career paths through hands on activities!

Business path- students sorted and counted (fake) money. They had to put words in alphabetical order and a few who had time fixed errors in a paragraph.

Health path- Students bandaged Mr. Bear's hurt leg. They then practiced taking their pulse while sitting and after jogging in place.

Helping path- Students took turns offering advice to each other for some pre-written problem situations. If they had time, they then got to practice taking a pizza order and following those directions to prepare the person's food.

Fixing, Building, & Technology path- Students were to build a creation of their own design with LEGOs.

Nature path- Students worked together to assemble a dinosaur skeleton using a provided diagram. Next, they were asked to do research in animal books to find a fun fact about an animal. A few had some additional time and did some experimenting with light and making a rainbow using a CD.

Creative path- Student were provided with three objects: a plastic snake, a wooden apple, and a wind up set of teeth. They had colored pencils, crayons, and regular pencils and could draw a picture, create a cartoon (with provided cartoon strips), or write a short story involving one or more of the objects.

Later, during debriefing, we talked about which activities they enjoyed most and why. We connected that to what kinds of jobs they might enjoy someday.

K- Careers! We talked about different jobs and the tools people use to do those jobs. We read and discussed Busy People. We also played a Curious George game on PBS kids that let us match workers with their tools.

1st- Careers! We talked about the jobs that adults do at Fairview. We discussed the responsibilities and skills of those different jobs. We also read LMNO Peas and talked about some of the different jobs in the story. 

2nd- Careers! We reviewed the six career paths and what we did on the STEAM bus during our last class. Then I handed out cards with different community job related pictures on them. Students paired up by picture. Together they filled out a sheet about that job--it's path, why the job is important, school skills/subjects a person with this job would need, and other skills used in this job. Pairs presented their information to the rest of the class who tried to guess what the job was.

3rd- Careers! We watched a video about the 6 career paths. The video was made in Columbia so it is extra cool :) It talks about interests, strengths, and school subjects connected to each of the six paths. It also lists many jobs in each path. After the video I handed back their multiple intelligence surveys from earlier in the year and we connected our strengths to the career paths.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUSSglCvyyE
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5th- Careers! We pretended we were going on a trip out of the country. Students had 5 minutes to write down everything they were going to pack or do to prepare for the trip-if they didn't write it they didn't take it or do it! Very few of my friends remembered their passport, transportation, AND lodging! Lots of trips with sad endings (or starts!). We used the activity to discuss the importance of an educational plan. How to plan for a future career by choosing the right classes, participating in volunteer opportunities, and talking to people who have jobs we might want. Only ONE more counselor class before Middle School! AHHH! :(

4th- Only one class met this week because of MAP testing. We worked on Career Path stations, which I'll explain in more detail once the other classes have done them, too.

K- Careers! We talked about why jobs are important to individuals and as a whole. Then we talked about things we like to do and don't like to do at school and at home and how those things help us decide what jobs/careers we might want or NOT want someday! Read The Berenstain Bears On the Job and indicated if they were jobs we might like to do.

1st- Careers! We talked about why jobs are important to individuals and as a whole. We talked about strengths and interests and how those things help us decide on jobs/careers we might want someday. We read ​People in Your Neighborhood and for several of the jobs (until we ran out of time!) we talked about their strengths and interests.

2nd grade- STEAM bus!!! Last time we took an interest inventory. I took the results of those to group kids by career path. Each class had an hour on the STEAM bus to explore an activity related to their career path group.
Health- solved a break out box mystery to save the world from a deadly virus
Helping- designed and drew a park with certain elements (playground, tennis court, etc)
Creative- used little bitz synth kits to make different sounds and music (see pic below)
Business- designed and marketed a video game using Bloxel 
http://edu.bloxelsbuilder.com/ 
Fixing, Building, & Technology- followed directions to build a famous monument out of LEGOs.
Nature- because of  small class sizes I cut this path :( 

Some groups got to check out Tinkercad: simple, online 3D design and 3D printing app for everyone. Adults can sign up for an account and then let students use it to create projects. With a button those projects can be transformed into Minecraft objects or LEGO creations that can be broken down by layer. https://www.tinkercad.com/ 

We had LOTS of fun!! Be sure to check out pictures in my Twitter feed!

3rd- We started talking about college and career readiness! We brainstormed the responsibilities and skills of different careers then shared that info with students around us. Kiddos were called at random-two at a time- to come up to the front, present their assigned career, and then we all compared and contrasted the two jobs.

4th- We took a self-assessment to think about what we like and don't like to do, working conditions we would/wouldn't tolerate, and skills we have/don't have (yet) that would help us choose a career. We reviewed the 6 career paths and connected different factors on the self-assessment to the career paths. Some of the classes had time to briefly talk about resources available for researching careers- books, internet, people, etc!

5th- We continued using MissouriConnections to find out about jobs! This week we took an interest inventory to find out which career clusters we might be most interested in. Students chose a career in that cluster to research using the website.

All of my classes started by reviewing our last two lessons about safety.

Kinders: We talked about our learner skills. We talked about using our bodies to be successful in school. We learned the steps for being a whole body listener and a song to help us remember them. We read Lacey Walker, Nonstop Talker and how her talking caused her to miss out. Then we discussed how to ask questions and practiced asking questions to guess objects. Busy day!! :)

1st- We talked about growth mindset and the power of YET. We read Beautiful OOPS! and talked about how mistakes help us learn and grow. Mistakes are good because they mean we are trying new things! We also talked about some awesome things (like chocolate chip cookies and the slinky) that were created by mistake.

2nd- We started talking about careers. We talked about things we have learned so far and how everything helps us decide what kind of career we might want someday! We went over the 6 career paths. We started taking a career path inventory. Mrs. Hoell is going to use this info for a FUN activity coming up in a few weeks!!

5th: We started working on college and career readiness skills. We took a "reality check"  survey on the Missouri Connections website to see how much money we will need to earn in our future jobs. It's interesting how many kids have no idea how much money is needed for things like utilities, car insurance, etc! Now might be a great time to start talking with your kids about money, saving, and budgeting!

4th: We talked about positive problem solving. We reviewed bullying then talked about how to solve all the other unkind situations we might encounter. We practiced using I-statements to let others know how we feel. We also practiced using the steps of STAR problem solving to come to peaceful solutions.

3rd: Read Tyler Tames the Testing Tiger and talked about the tips in the book. We can use those tips to help us succeed on all types of tests as well as other learner tasks at school.