By Kassandra Salisbury
Elwood fifth grade teacher Shelby Borden helps her students gain many skills.
In math class, her students are using formulas to find the volume of rectangular prisms and solid figures. In science, the students are learning about ecosystems. In social studies, they are learning about the five regions of the U.S and the early people who inhabited those regions. In reading, they are working on a new phonics curriculum and learning about the six different syllable types, as well as consonant blends and digraphs.
That’s a lot of classroom work, but the fifth grade students have some upcoming adventures.
“We have the Science Fair coming up,” said Borden. “Fifth grade is always the first year of the Science Fair. In the spring, we will go to the Water Jamboree at Harlan County Reservoir.”
In addition to academics, they have some classroom goals for this year.
“Our classroom goals are to continue to persevere even when things get hard, to learn how to disagree appropriately, to show kindness and respect to others, and be responsible for our own learning,” explained Borden.
Borden noted that her students have many strengths..
“This class cares about one another, they work hard and try their best, and they are very passionate about things that mean a lot to them,” she said.
Despite those strengths, the fifth graders sometimes have to overcome obstacles.
“Some of the content gets challenging, especially in math and overcoming unexpected obstacles,” commented Borden.
Borden offered an additional comment about her class.
“This is a wonderful class and I have enjoyed getting to know them so far this year,” she said. “We have lots of different strengths and it has been fun to see students use their strengths to help each other. I have enjoyed getting to know their personalities and what makes each of them unique.”