Welcome to my classroom!
I LOVE adventure and learning! We are a small multi-grade class (3rd-5th) in Kenny Lake, Alaska. We don't always follow our schedule because you never know where both adventure and learning will take you. You just have to be ready! Follow along with us here to see what we are doing!
Keep Connected!
Check out out Facebook Page & YouTube Channel for the latest happenings in our classroom!
January 2024
Copper River Watershed Project Program Director, Kate Morse, and Kenny Lake Hawks school teacher, Jennifer Hodges along with Tommy Sheridan (Alaska Blue Economy Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks), were featured in the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission Newsletter in January!
Wax Museum
2024
Wax Museum
2023
Our Wax Museum posters are going up. We only have a few students left to finish. After Spring Break, we will begin working on our Bottle Buddies, then our speeches, and finally our costumes. It's been slow going without the extra help, but we are getting there. Hoping to be able to schedule it around the end of April so stay tuned!
Our class was featured on NPR! We are so excited to share what is happening in our classroom with people all around the nation and the world. A special thanks to Kate Morse from the Copper River Watershed Project for all she does to connect us with these amazing opportunities and for the work she does with Salmon in the Classroom.
Diane is a staple in our community. It's amazing that she knows every kid and they love seeing her. On this day, she visited us virtually as Ranger Diane. The kids enjoyed learning about Wrangell-St. Elias National Park --the park in our backyard!
We love having guests coming into our classroom especially when they are from our community. We learn so much from WISE every time they visit. The kids LOVED learning about chemistry and experimenting with elephant toothpaste.
Thank you Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment!!!
Oobleck Properties of Matter Experiment.
We made oobleck in conjunction with our discussions on the properties of matter.
Dec 2, 2022
A week or so ago we planted some herbs and peppers in our hydroponics unit. Now, we are starting to see sprouts! The kids find it exciting and interesting how each one is different with its rate of sprouting and growing (just like kids)!
More Pictures Here
Trying Caviar: What an experience!
Amazon sent us caviar by mistake (instead of kleenex). They didn't want it back and the kids wanted to try it. So we set up a taste test. They are a competitive group so when 1 person finished it, the rest were determined to make it through. Some did and...others did not!
Copper Basin 300 is scheduled for
January 14-18th, 2023
We will be doing lots of fun learning activities leading up to the race!
Nov 4, 2022
Native American Projects-- students chose a region and a tribe to research. They created dioramas to show the types of houses, food, environment and more of their tribe. We are now reading and listening to tales from different tribes.
Oct 16, 2022
We have been reading a story called "Digging In" from our textbook. The story is written as a journal by a 10 year old boy who accompanies his paleontologist dad on an archeological dig. Before reading this 3-part story, we "excavated" our own dinosaur fossils. At the end of the story, we created podcasts with one student as the main character, Maddox, and the other interviewing Maddox about his time in the desert. While many students went a little off script and didn't use details from the story in their podcast, I still count this as a successful wrap-up activity because they enjoyed reading and had fun creating presentations which is what learning is all about!
Oct. 13, 2022
Alaska Essays : We have been working on the writing process for several weeks.
First, we brainstormed and then sorted our ideas into categories. Next, we used those ideas to create outlines and then our first drafts. After that, we went into the revision stage where we added "flavorful" words. After editing we created our final drafts. The last stage of the writing process is sharing so we are sharing this with you.
Sept. 30, 2022
We've been studying types of rocks along with the rock cycle. After looking at the characteristics of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, the kids did their best to sort them into the 3 categories based on what they learned. We talked about all the ways that rocks can actually change back and forth from 1 type to another. Finally, we did an experiment on changing the rocks using crayons as our "sediment". We applied pressure, then heat, then rapid cooling and ended up with some pretty cool "rocks". See our pictures here!
Sept. 25, 2022
On Thursday, we reconnected with Tommy Sheridan who we met last Spring while he was researching salmon out on a ship in the ocean. He shared with us some of his findings. We then walked out to Willow Creek to set minnow traps to see what we could find. We caught several small fish including a grayling. We also caught a slimy leach! We did some activities about redds (the "nests" salmon create for their eggs). The birds smelled our bait and crashed our fun. One of them even got away with some goods!
September 18, 2022
We've had a great start to the new school year. Things look a little different this year, but we have adjusted and are in the groove now! Usually 3rd-5th grade is in my class for all subject the entire day. This year, I have just 4th and 5th in the morning for our core subjects (math and reading). After lunch, the 3rd graders come in and I have 3rd-5th for social studies, science and interventions. Also new is early release on Fridays.
So far this year we have been working on routines, beginning of the year testing and several science activities. I've posted lots of pictures on our Facebook site and will start updating this page soon. https://www.facebook.com/groups/271494540367821
We have lots of fun planned for the upcoming weeks beginning with salmon spawning activities next week then a trip to the hatchery in October to do a live salmon take and possibly bring back salmon eggs in their beginning stage of development. It's a fragile time for them rather than the eyed-egg stage that we usually receive them.
This year should be an exciting year-again!
April 13, 2022
Today we visited with Tommy Sheridan who is currently onboard a vessel in the North Pacific doing salmon research. He told us more about the expedition and answered lots of questions about salmon and other marine life. He shared with us a few pictures including zooplankton which the salmon rely on for survival. You can visit this website https://yearofthesalmon.org/2022expedition/.
It was exciting to track the Research Vessel as we were talking with him. A big thank you to Kate Morse of the Copper River Watershed Project for connecting us with Mr. Sheridan!
Middendorff Armhook Squid (Gonatus kamtschaticus) caught during a deepwater set on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
Juveniles of this squid species tend to be found near the surface during the day, and are important to the diet of salmon, especially King Salmon.
Here’s me enjoying a root beer float on our downtime. We worked until ~11 PM last night, and treated ourselves. One of the expedition scientists is from England, and he had never had a root beer float before!
Middendorff Armhook Squid (Gonatus kamtschaticus) caught during a deepwater set on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
Juveniles of this squid species tend to be found near the surface during the day, and are important to the diet of salmon, especially King Salmon.
April 9, 2022
New videos on our YouTube channel!
April 6, 2022
Wednesday afternoons we have Outdoor Discovery time. This week Robin Mayo from WISE came in to present a lesson on skins and skulls. The kids enjoyed sharing what they already knew and also learned some new things. Afterwards, I invited the K-2 class to participate. Next week, we have a special guest. We are doing a salmon education collaboration with a fisheries biologist who is currently on an expedition. Tommy Sheridan will visit us virtually from the North Pacific and give a tour of the boat and some discoveries they have made during their expedition. You can learn more and see where the boat is currently at this link: https://yearofthesalmon.org/2022expedition/
March 22, 2022
We had a great time going skiing, snow shoeing, building qhinzees (snow caves) and learning safety and survival skills. It was lots of fun!
March 11, 2022
Congratulations to Kai for winning our classroom chess tournament and to Preston for a strong 2nd place! Thank you also to Sue Moore for keeping this tradition going!
March 10, 2022
It's TREKS week! During TREKS, the high school takes their electives classes. We are taking this time to go skiing. We are privileged to have lots of ski gear thanks to previous KLS staff. Soon we will take a field trip to the Wrangell-St. Elias NP Visitor Center to take to the trails!
March 9, 2022
Today was a success! We started the day with hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls before our wax museum. We had a great turnout of people coming to watch the kids give their speeches, and I was ecstatic to see 100% turnout of parents! I am so thankful for everyone who came to support our kids as they brought history to life. Thank you!!!
Feb 25, 2022
We worked in teams to create our own space stations. Teams had to collaborate (which wasn't always easy) to build their stations according to the specifications required. Teams also had to present their stations to the class for inspection and answer questions about the design.
Feb 23, 2022
We recently had our K-8 spelling bee. The top 3 spellers from our 3-5 class were DJ, Killian, and Acai. All 3 boys did great in the school bee with both Killian (2nd) and Acai (3rd) placing in the top 3!
Feb 11, 2022
We have finished the first part of our biography project. Everyone did a wonderful job! Next we will be writing our speeches then preparing for our Virtual Wax Museum.
Also this week we have our Valentine's exchange, Chess Tournament, starting our autobiographies, investigating/building our own International Space Station and our salmon eggs are due to hatch! Another busy week is ahead of us.
Feb 4, 2022
We have been working on our biography projects this week. This is an intensive unit, but one that the kids look forward to every year. They start by choosing a person, reading a book and researching. Next is the poster with a timeline, vocabulary, quiz questions and fun facts along with some decoration. Then it's the bottle buddy. They decorate a bottle to represent their person. Finally, they write a speech, memorize it, transform themselves into their character and get ready for our wax museum.
It takes several weeks to accomplish all of this, but it's well worth it!
Feb 2, 2022
Before we embark on our next unit in science: Earth Science, the kids shared some great thoughts. It looks like we are going to discover answers to some very interesting questions.
Jan 27, 2022
Wow! It's been quite the whirlwind. When we returned from Christmas break, we had crazy cold temperatures which kept most of our class (and school) at home followed by 2 weeks of MAPS and iReady testing and our Geography Bee. This was our first "normal" week back at school.
Our classroom Geography Bee winners were Killian (1st), Raiden (2nd) and Styrling (3rd). Both Killian and Raiden made it into the top 3 for the school narrowly missing out on that 1st place win which went to Dallas in 8th grade.
In class, we have continued practicing for our annual Valentine's Day Chess Tournament which will be Feb. 14th. We have also been coding using our ozobots, Lego robots, and code.org. I have enjoyed watching the kids problem solve and go through that productive struggle that all great learners must experience!
Finally, our most exciting news for this month has been our salmon! We worked on salmon projects (I will post pictures soon) learning the types and the life cycle. You can keep up with the progress of our salmon on our salmon page along with watching our Live Salmon Cam!
What's up next? Biography Projects!
Dec 5, 2021
I haven't been updating our website because I haven't been teaching. Sami Knutson came in and did her student teaching with us. Sami was not only a student teacher in our classroom, she was a student in our classroom many years ago! She grew up in KLS and graduated then came back to to finish her teaching degree. Her dream is to one day teach at our school. We really enjoyed having her with us and hope she will be back with us very soon!
I had a busy first week back. Third graders are wrapping up their study of graphs and data. Fourth and fifth graders started multiplication of whole numbers with multi-digit numbers and also decimal numbers. In reading, we are all writing our own children's book. I am going to work with them on using Google Slides to publish their book.
The highlight of the week was our Economics Project. I had the kids form businesses to produce ornaments. They had to order their supplies from me, then had a set amount of time to work their magic. Friday was shopping day. They worked in their business, practicing the handling of money and practiced spending (and managing) their money as consumers. It was a fun experience for all and a great learning opportunity. Please take the time to watch our video! I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas how to make this even better! jhodges@crsd.us
Pictures from this week include students creating their ornaments, our avalanche safety presentation and students spending their points on root beer floats. They collect points from reading books but more importantly from being Hawk STRONG (Successful, Tenacious, Respectful, Outstanding, Noble, Gracious).
October 1, 2021
We have been in school a little over a month now, but this is our first post of the school year. That tells you how busy we have been in these first few weeks! We have finished diagnostic testing, created personalized learning plans and have settled into a routine of learning that will help us reach our goals. Beyond our regular classroom learning, we have had fun harvesting our school garden, created electromagnets and investigated the properties of red cabbage juice--because it's interesting! Now, the 3rd graders are creating a movie with legos while the 4th and 5th graders are using their lego skills to build robots! Click below for pictures:
Marble Mazes Garden Electromagnet Cabbage Juice Coming Soon: Lego Robots
May 19, 2021
Tomorrow is the last day of school! Another busy week for the kids--starting with transition day on Monday. The 5th graders went to visit their new class while the 2nd graders spent the day with us.
This week was all about serving our school. We planted the garden, and painted rocks to "spruce" it up a little. We picked up garbage around the school campus and painted the picnic tables. PICTURES
May 14, 2021
This week was a fun and busy week. We had our salmon release on Monday. Tuesday, the 4th and 5th graders went to Glennallen for Earth Discovery Day. We did some classroom community building and anti-bullying activities. Then on Friday, Students enjoyed a morning of fun partner games followed by an afternoon of exciting collaborative team games! This was our first Spring Fling and we look forward to more!
APRIL 2021
April was a BUSY month!!!! We spent part of the month completing our state and district assessments. We are all breathing a sigh of relief that those are OVER! Here's all the things we did this month:
(Pictures are linked!)
Poetry Month: Our poets wrote several poems this month and while we spent time carefully writing each poem, our main focus was presentation. On Friday, we had our 1st annual Poets and Donuts. In the future, we hope to expand this to more than just our class. We walked around and looked at each book and attached sticky notes expressing what we liked and which poems were our favorite. Of course, the main course was the delicious donuts and cinnamon rolls!
Blue Day: We decked out the classroom in blue to express our commitment in preventing child abuse and letting each child know that they are loved and we care!
Geography: We started out this month learning about all of the different countries around the world. We noticed lots of similarities and differences. We are now creating our own world--each “land” has its own set of laws, rulers and a flag. We are currently reviewing landforms to include on our maps/lands and are starting to lay out where each land will be placed. Several students put their lands together and opened up the conversation of Europe & Asia. They didn’t understand why it wasn’t just 1 continent before and now they are “getting it”!
Chitina Clean-Up: We have just started to work on our project that we are doing in collaboration with WISE. We started with a walk to the bluff and a brainstorm session to discuss what we can do together to help keep Chitina clean now that the debris, abandoned cars and old fishwheels have been removed.
Other fun learning experiences included Art with Amy (this always ends in beautiful pieces to display), symmetry selfies, Ballroom Dancing and we can’t leave out our class pet Guppy who doesn’t consider himself a pet but more like “Lead Fish” considering if he doesn’t get attention when you walk by---you might just end up getting soaked!
Be sure to look at our “Salmon Page” to see what is going on with them.
The countdown begins….only 3 more weeks of school left!
March 5, 2021
It's been a busy week! We finished up our Biography Projects, which turned out wonderful and impressive! Students also planned Dr. Seuss crafts to do with the K-2 class. The littles had fun moving from station to station to complete activities and the bigs realized how much work it can be to teach! This may be the beginning of a new tradition.
Our next big project will involve geography. Stay Tuned!
Have a wonderful Spring Break!!!
Feb 26, 2021
On Monday, the top elementary archers were awarded their medals for the school competition. Congratulations to 1st place--Kai, 2nd place--Anthoney and 3rd place--Acai! All students were able to compete in the state tournament, which was held on Tuesday.
Also this week, we began reading our biography books. Each student chose a person to read about and completed a report including a timeline, facts, vocabulary and the creation of quiz questions. They all finished reading and filling out their report early so I let them start on their Biography Bottle Buddy this week instead of next. We have some very creative kids! We will continue working on them next week along with a poster to display the information collected from their book reports.
Also next week is Dr. Seuss week! Here are our dress up days:
Library Scavenger Hunt--Feb 16, 2021
Every Tuesday, we have library as our specials class. For something different this week, I had them do a scavenger hunt. They had to find a variety of fiction and non-fiction books including books with animals as the main character, science topics, state themed, chapter books, picture books and more! Because our time is short, they had to take selfies instead of writing down the title of the book.
Here are some of their pics that I snatched from their iPads!
Feb 12, 2021
We've had a busy few weeks! Our salmon are developing and have been exciting to watch (see the salmon page). We put the final touches and recorded our wax museum. (I am creating a page for pictures and video). We had our Quarter 2 awards celebration, our 100 book challenge celebration and finally---Valentine's Day!
Feb 1, 2021
Archery Competition:
Students have been training and practicing! Today they showed off their skills in 4 rounds of competition. On Wednesday, they will complete 4 more rounds from a farther distance! They have some pretty good skills!
After each round of shooting, students would calculate their points then record it on their scoresheet.
Our Egypt unit is coming to a close.
Jan 10, 2021
We've had a lot of fun learning about Ancient Egypt and will soon exhibit all of our "artifacts" in our wax museum. Unfortunately, the museum will not be opened to the public this year, but each student will be showcased here.
STAY TUNED!
