5th/6th Grade Adventures
By: Mr. Michael Beeson
March 15th 2024
Greetings from the 5th and 6th grade classroom at Miltonvale Grade School!
In the blink of an eye we’ve gone from the first day of school in mid-August to now looking at the final 2 months of school. Where did the last 7 months go? It has been a refreshing experience to work back at the 5th grade level where most of my experience lies and to build connections with the 5th and 6th graders here in Miltonvale.
Since Thanksgiving when our previous article was published, the kids have been involved in a variety of activities. On December 5th, my parents Ron and Denise were invited to the grade school. For only the 2nd time in 19 years, I was able to talk Dad into teaching the group about taxidermy, a side occupation he’s had for roughly 40 years. Using a variety of items (glass eyes, foam bodies, drift wood, tools, etc.), Ron explained how he takes a dead animal and makes it look alive for decades to come. The students were interested to know that they can earn a living doing this kind of work and that only a few of the actual animal parts are preserved and used in the final mount. I felt many of the kids could relate to Dad’s stories of growing up on a farm near Clifton and his interests in the outdoors, hunting dogs, setting bank lines along the Republican River, and just being out in nature. My mom (Denise) also spoke briefly, explaining the importance of working hard and finding something you are passionate about. I was truly giddy with excitement to have my parents come to meet my 5th and 6th graders. And they, too, were eager to know about Mr. Beeson when he was growing up.
On December 15th, the 5th and 6th graders graduated from the DARE program. Special thanks to Officer Ashley Tobald for her work with the kids throughout the fall. In November, each of the students were responsible for writing their own D.A.R.E. essay, detailing some of what they learned from the program. Congratulations to Adley Bates whose essay was selected by a team of officers for being the best written.
Miltonvale Grade School had one 6th grade participate in basketball for USD 334. Jacob Clairmont played a great deal for both B-team and A-team this season. Although it was a tough season for the kids, Jacob stuck with it. As I reminded him, playing against those taller, older, quicker, etc. will make you a better athlete in the long run. Being faced with those challenges as only a 6th grader can be excellent opportunities for growth.
Just after Christmas break, students were paired to participate in a “Junk Box Wars” competition. Students were given a box of miscellaneous supplies (tape, pipe cleaners, string, etc.) and given a task to create the longest chain that will hold the most weight. All students had the same supplies and the same amount of time to build. Fishing weights increasing in size were carefully added, and their chain had to hold that weight for 30 seconds without breaking before the next weight could be added. Points were awarded according to the length of the chain and also for the amount of weight it could hold. The kids worked hard on this, and it was interesting to see the creativity and focus of perhaps some future engineers. The competition ended up being incredibly close. Congrats to Mason (Williams) and Jaxin for their 732 point final score, which got them first place. The students all worked together well to help out during the actual competition.
Last January and February, the 5th graders participated in the Starbase program. For a total of 6 days, Mr. Beeson and 6 students traveled to Salina to take part. Starbase is a government-funded national program that teaches kids coding and programming, team work, and other skills through hands-on activities, emphasizing the areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). It was exciting to see our kids work together and participate in so many activities that included a CAD-type program called “Onshape” for use with a 3D printer, programmable LEGO robots, rocket building, flight simulator, and various other engineering, electronic, and mechanical type tasks. Students even got to take turns riding a small indoor hovercraft!
Karra James, a nutrition expert and educator with K-State Research & Extension, is currently making 6 total visits to our classroom this spring to educate the 5th/6th grade about healthy eating and physical fitness. Her program is called CHFFF:Choose Health: Food, Fun and Fitness. Students are learning how to read and understand nutrition labels and choose serving sizes from food items that would be among the more nutritious choices. At the end of each session, students get to try a homemade healthy snack such as hummus, pico de gallo, or a nutritious smoothy made from real ingredients. What seems to be most interesting to students is how many grams of sugar are in some of our juice or soda drinks. When you visually see what 40 grams of sugar looks like in a single drink, you realize why these drinks taste so good and why that much sugar isn’t so good all the time!
Students in USD 334 this year have been provided with opportunities to use a program called IXL, currently for math only. A lot of districts utilize this program as a way to master a specific math skill or topic in which they need more practice. Once or twice per week, in addition to their math text assignments, the 5th/6th graders are assigned specific skill sets that are aligned with their current Saxon texts, generally in whichever math skill students appear to be struggling with. On January 23rd, IXL awarded our group of 11 students with a certificate for the completion of 5,000 math problems! And on Feb.1st, another IXL certificate was granted for “Outstanding Completion of 50 Hours of Math Practice”. Congrats to the MGS 5th and 6th Graders!
What are these boys doing with bags of popcorn on their head? Welcome “Brain Breaks”. Brain breaks are shown to help relieve stress, anxiety, frustration, and as a result help students to refocus their attention and increase memory after a long work period. Throughout the year, students have participated in nearly 2 dozen variations of Brain Breaks, the most recent of which we call “Granny’s Wacky Prizes”. These come from the “Pax Up! App shared with us at a recent teacher inservice, and are intended to serve as a reward for good behavior. Though Brain Breaks are meant to take up to 5 minutes, we have been known to spend 10 minutes on some of the more fun and exciting activities. Brain breaks get the kids up out of their desk and moving around in a fun way, often with a competitive element. It is evident these kids enjoy these relatively short opportunities to do something new and refreshing with their classmates while utilizing movement and sometimes facing challenges. Brain Breaks can help kids practice cooperation, good sportsmanship, balance, and may be one of the more fun parts of the day for many. The Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament and Museum Guards appear to be among their favorites.
During the afternoon on the 100th day of school on Friday, March 1st, the 5th/6th grade students spent their afternoon watching a movie, snacking on pizza, preparing and then providing a launch of 8 rockets for all the grade school students. Jaxin did a great job helping to bake, slice, and serve the pizza while all of our 5th graders reloaded their Starbase rockets with new engines and igniters for the afternoon launch. The launch was a success. Judging by the noise and reaction from many of the kids, this activity appeared to be a highlight of the day for many.
As we work through the final two months of school, I wish to thank those who have been helpful and welcoming this school year, all the parents of the students I teach, Laurel Wurtz for the encouragement to give Miltonvale Grade School a try, and Mr. Vestal Teeter for his ongoing support. Making a transition from teaching one subject in a Catholic school close to home to the challenges that a combined classroom present is humbling to say the least.
Thanks again,
Mr. Michael Beeson
