Author: MARY ROTI

In honor of Hispanic Hertiage Month, elementary art students in Ms. Nedrow’s class learned about Miami based Artist Romero Britto. Britto is a Brazilian artist, painter, and sculptor. He infused elements of cubism, pop art, serigraphy and graffiti. His patterns are filled with bold patterns that express hope, dreams and happiness! They chose from 3 different Britto templates and filled them with bright colors and fun patterns. Elementary also learned about texture by creating cute monsters using crayon rubbing techniques.

Fifth graders in Ms. Kalio’s class worked collaboratively to complete a science experiment about the Water Cycle! Students started by making predictions as to how water from the ocean becomes rain over land. They created a landscape model out of clay and poured water over the model. They covered their container with plastic wrap and secured it with a rubber band. It was placed in a sunny spot and students observed how water moved throughout the landscape. After, students analyzed and recorded their data!  

Fifth graders in Mrs. Portee’s class are sensational with strategies! Students competed in groups to solve multi-digit multiplication equations using various methods such as Area Model, Partial Product, and Traditional.  

Third graders in Ms. Paries’ class are focused on figurative language! Students worked in collaborative groups to identify similes within the text and on task cards.   

In Mrs. Quiles’ 3rd grade class, students transformed into “Math Doctors” to explore the distributive property through a fun and interactive activity. By “performing surgery” on numbers, they learned how to decompose multiplication facts into simpler parts to solve!    

Third graders enjoyed a guest speaker from the UF/4-H program that enriched our Animal Adaptations unit. They discovered how great horned owls use their feathers for camouflage, vertebrate animals, and how turtle shells offer protection. The presentation also covered how predators have developed specific traits for survival. This engaging session helped students understand the various ways animals adapt to thrive in their environments!

Students in Mr. Hammond’s 6th-8th grade Gifted Math classes were asked to design a bridge that could support itself over 10 inches. The surprise was that these mountains had landslides, so rocks were dropped on their bridge to test the strength. Each group was assigned a role of site manager, designer, and two builders. After their construction and before the test, students watched the Tacoma Bridge video to show what happens when engineering goes wrong.  Students had fun testing their engineering skills and being taught a real-world application of mathematics!

Second grade students in Mrs. Barthell’s class started their day with a nutritious and mathematical breakfast of champions! Students used their favorite cereals to make arrays. They completed the arrays based off of repeated addition and multiplication equations.

Gifted students in Mrs. D’Andrea’s class read the difference of how the brain works versus machines. Groups made the connection to how we can solve a problem in different ways and get the same results! The groups were given 4 multiplication equations and needed to show 2 different methods to solve each problem. Before collaboration happened, students came up with examples independently. Students were able to refer back to their Interactive Notebooks and Class Anchor Charts to review previously taught methods. After, students came together to share, discuss, and create examples for each equation. Each group accurately demonstrated how to … Read More

Mrs. Quiles’ students used two-color counters to explore array multiplication. By arranging these counters into rows and columns, they visually grasped how multiplication works, making abstract concepts more concrete and engaging. This hands-on approach enhances their understanding of multiplication while adding an element of fun to their learning experience!  

Students in Mrs. Saget’s 5th grade ELA classes are focused on PIE (Persuade, Inform, Entertain)! They collaboratively worked together on Author’s Purpose and Perspective. Once the purpose of the text was identified they highlighted different phrases and words to determine the author’s perspective (mood/feelings) about the text.

Shark STEAM students used Lego bricks to build better communication. Students were grouped to be writers who made a small Lego build, and then wrote directions for the builders to follow. After evaluating that method of communication, they could then speak directions, but with no gestures or touching the bricks. This was deemed much better than writing and following directions! Finally, all students could build together. Everyone could talk, touch, gesture, and speak to build a figure together. Students learned how valuable clarifying questions and feedback are to understanding each other as well as having fun building bricks!

Third-grade glows crazy for text structure! Students in Ms. Paries’ class focused on compare and contrast. Students are finding clue words to prove that the text is a compare and contrast text.

Students in Mrs. D’Andrea’s Gifted class are focusing on Central Idea. To start their lesson, Mrs. D’Andrea had a bag of three items: a globe, a plane ticket, and the Statue of Liberty. The students guessed that it described a trip to New York City! Students took the opportunity to create a quick “bumper sticker” of a place they picked. Students collaborated in pair shares and then partnered up when the music stopped to have their friends guess where they were describing. This connection helped students activate prior knowledge and show the importance of details building and describing the central … Read More

The Parent Teacher Organization of SLWK8 collaborated with Blaze Pizza in Tradition for their Back-to-School fundraiser. Parents and staff took advantage of the night off from cooking.  The PTO and Shark Nation family are grateful for the support, especially from our Proud Principal, Mr. Lezeau!

Mrs. Quiles‘ third-grade students at SLWK8 explored mathematical concepts through hands-on manipulatives. This interactive approach helps them grasp abstract ideas and strengthens their problem-solving skills, making learning both effective and enjoyable!  

Kindergarten and first grade Character Day at St. Lucie West K8 was fantastic! Students were encouraged to let their imaginations soar as they read a book of their choice, created an inspired book report, and dressed up as an unforgettable character from their book. It was a truly magical day for students and teachers!    

Fifth-grade students in Mrs. Portee’s class played a game of Boom, Snap, Clap to sharpen their mathematical skills. Partners sat across from one another with a set of cards in between them. The teacher boomed, snapped, clapped and gave a rule for what to do with a decimal! Students quickly raced their partner to match the card in their set to the operation the teacher was referring to. They had a blast! \

Third-grade students in Ms. Balfe’s and Mrs. Schettini’s classes were trapped on Planet Emoji! They had to work together in teams to solve reading challenges to escape. Students read poems, used context clues, and identified character traits, the central idea, and text structures. It was a stellar way to prepare for their upcoming FAST assessment!     

Through a collaborative CTE training with local high schools, measuring was a skill identified to focus on to prepare middle school students for high school CTE courses. Ms. Boham’s class learned about rulers, markings, fractions, and how to use tools safely to cut and sand wood. Students measured and used a drill press to make holes needed to complete a Mother’s Day napkin holder. Students were eager to put their skills to the test to complete their creations!