I cleaned out my classroom and moved everything into my new 3rd grade room.
I’ve loved my two years in 5th and I am looking forward to new challenges and opportunities in the coming academic year.
An End and a New Beginning
Author: Aaron Grossman
I am a 5th grade teacher at Roy Gomm Elementary in Reno, Nevada. I started working with elementary students as part of the Montana Reads program and AmeriCorps. In 2001, after graduating from the University of Montana and moving to Reno, Nevada, I student taught at Rita Cannan Elementary before receiving a 6th grade position at Veterans Elementary. I moved out of the classroom to be a Literacy Coordinator, then an Instructional Coach, and finally a School Improvement Program Coordinator. In 2011, I began working on the Nevada Academic Content Standards in the district’s Curriculum & Instruction Department. I returned to the classroom for the 2015-2016 school year to teach 4th grade at Huffaker Elementary.
Before returning to the classroom, I helped develop the Core Task Project that has been featured by National Public Radio, the Gates Foundation, American Radio Works, Eduwonk, the Fordham Institute, Vox, and the Center for American Progress. In 2014, I received the Leader to Learn From Award for my teacher-centered initiative and work to bring college, career, and civics ready outcomes into Northern Nevada classrooms (here).
In 2015, I was appointed by Governor Sandoval serve on the Statewide RPDP Council. The same year, Nevada’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero placed me on the state’s State Improvement Team. This year I will be part of the National Council on Teacher Quality’s Teacher Advisory Group. I am Google Certified Educator and a Nevada Teacher Ambassador.
I believe strongly that teaching content is teaching reading and I make sure my students have ample opportunities to work with social studies, history, science and art outcomes. I do what I can to blend the learning for my students and this blog is part of that effort. You can contact me at coretaskproject@gmail.com
Sprinting at the End
We finished the year with a burst. We completed our study of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, a full unit on sound, multiple opportunities to identify claims, evidence and reasoning in informational text and the elements of plot in narrative (exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action.) We “stepped-up” to sixth grade with mini investigations of negative integers, area of parallelograms and right triangles, and finding rate. We also moved through several inquiry activities including Youcubed.org in which we learned about conjectures. In other words, we ended the year the way we started it, by working hard.
Our Visit to the Capital
We had a great trip to the Capital. We are all enormously thankful for the hard work of the volunteers and their attention to making sure the visit was engaging and thorough.
Great American Day, 2018
I am not entirely sure how far back the Great American Day tradition goes but it was fun to continue what Mrs. Dunn, who retired last year, firmly established. Students picked a Great American and spent the last eight weeks researching the person. This was turned into a full report and then synthesized into a one-minute speech the students shared with the Roy Gomm community.
Creating Mother’s Day Gifts
Former Washoe County School District teacher Paige Ernst helped us with our Mother’s Day gifts this year. It proved a great experience and we hope everyone likes the final product. Happy Mother’s Day!
Act I, Scene 1: Students start reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
We’ve been rehearsing lines and we discussed iambic pentameter. Today was a chance to move through Act 1, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Despite all of the challenges, the kids persisted with the tasks and were able to identify the exposition, rising action and conflict in what we read.
Our Visit to Donner
The weather cooperated and we were able to complete our visit to Donner Memorial State Park. The day included a walk around the park, a scavenger hunt in the museum, a short film and lunch on the grounds.
Spring Break 2018
Great to see what the students are up to and how they are enjoying their time off. Parents, thanks for sharing the pictures!
Stronger and Clearer Each Time
We were visited by Dr. Amy Salgo who introduced the students to Stronger and Clearer Each Time. The instructional approach was developed by the Understanding Language Project at Stanford University and has students engage in multiple rehearsals of a problem or question before coming to a final answer.
Dr. Salgo asked the students if fractions are numbers and the students ultimately arrived at the conclusion, yes!
Fishbowl: Service Animals
We used a sample Smarter Balanced Test item to get ready for a persuasive essay on service animals. We read through three texts, annotated for evidence and then rehearsed for our writing using a Fishbowl.
In a Fishbowl, students sit in a circle with several students in the middle. Participants share ideas around a topic and if someone in the middle needs help or has run out of ideas, they will replace themselves with someone from the outside.
Room 360 