Kindergarten-5th Grade:

Our Kindergarten-5th grade students have a weekly rotation of their Enrichment classes. There are different Enrichment classes/teachers that the students are able to experience.

Students have 4 different Enrichment classes. They have each class for 1 week at a time. They get the following classes: Art, Music, Physical Education, and STEM. Here is more information about each Enrichment class:

Art:

Studio Art Enrichment serves our school family as a community building class. The product of this class is the Child. The Children can contribute to our community in three ways: creating art, completing chores, or caring about one another. When creating art, children work in studios to experience a variety of media and tools. They practice self expression while developing a growth mindset and school appropriateness. It is through art practice that children learn that they have the power to teach themselves anything they want to learn. When completing chores, children become aware of our social obligations as a community member. We practice working alone and together in many different sensory situations. Children fix tools, take supply inventory, and tidy studios. They develop clean up methods that make sense to children and solve problems in our community. When caring about each other, we learn to express our own ideas and respect the ideas of others. We collaborate on school murals to encourage others to do good and grow school spirit. We cultivate a caring community through critiques, daily sharing and conflict resolution discussions, art shows, performing arts and service learning projects.

Music:

The Oscoda Area elementary music program enhances each child's education while simultaneously establishing an understanding and appreciation of this art form. The purpose of the program is to develop awareness that music is a vital part of each student's daily life. Music provides a powerful means of engaging students in learning and improving their achievement. Fundamental in a student’s overall social, emotional, and cognitive development, music education enhances reasoning, inspires creativity, and encourages critical thinking, self-discipline, problem-solving, decision-making, cooperation, and imagination. The elementary music program is offered to students in grades kindergarten through five, and is designed to offer a myriad of opportunities for active participation and success. Students are regularly engaged in singing, playing instruments, moving to music, learning to read and notate music, creating music, and listening to, analyzing, and evaluating music and music performances

Physical Education:

Physical Education is a unique course encompassing the development of the whole child, including mind and body, as well as personal and social skills. Overall, the goal is for students to leave the course as physically literate individuals. Physically literate individuals can apply knowledge and skills into real world activities beyond the classroom. They possess the needed confidence for participation in a variety of situations, and they value physical activity in relation to physical and emotional health. There are five umbrella standards which comprise the course. These standards include motor skills and movement patterns, strategic thinking and application of knowledge, health enhancing fitness knowledge and skill, respect for self and interaction with others, and recognition of challenge and value of daily movement. Physical Education seeks to provide instruction and assessment in each of these categories. Physical activity provided in the course also has a unique effect on the brain which prepares the individual for optimal learning. The most effective time for learning new information is the first 30 minutes post aerobic exercise. At this time our brain is flooded with chemicals such as Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Dopamine, and endorphins all of which enhance mood. The brain also produces BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) through exercise which puts the brain into a state of neurogenesis and actually repairs memory neurons. Author John J. Ratey, M.D., and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School states, “Exercise helps you to learn on three levels: first, it optimizes your mind-set to improve alertness, attention and motivation; second, it prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information; and third, it spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus,” (Spark, the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain). This means physical activity and physical education are vital to learning and brain development!

STEM:

Computer/STEM Enrichment class provides students with the skills needed in today’s workplace: problem solving, analytical thinking, and the ability to work independently. STEM is the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines - science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. From the basic technology skills being introduced in kindergarten and carried through to the fifth grade, students will learn to use technology tools to enhance their learning and become creative and critical thinkers. Following the MITECS competencies, (Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator), students will learn the engineering process while engaging in a variety of STEM Challenges. Students will build, test, and modify Lego/Knex models to reinforce concepts. Math skills such as estimating, measurement, collecting data, graphing, fractions and decimals are utilized. Students explore elements of simple machines, forces and motion, friction, energy and efficiency. Incorporating the Michigan K-12 Computer Science standards: Coding begins with drag and drop games and Scratch Jr. to create simple algorithms in the early grades and advances to testing and debugging algorithms in the upper grades with the use of Lego Mindstorms, Lego Spike and Scratch. Students focus on the Impacts of Computing through the use of 3D design and printing their own creation.

6th Grade:

Our 6th grade students have their Enrichment classes over at Oscoda Middle/High School at the end of their day. The students have two options for their Enrichment class:

Band:

The students can choose to take 6th grade band. Sixth Grade Band is beginning band in Oscoda. Through participation in this class, students will learn to play a traditional band instrument. Band members will learn to read music, in a variety of keys, in a variety of meters, and in a variety of styles. Students will perform in four concerts throughout the year. There will be evening concerts in October, December and May, which are open to the public. A final concert in May will be presented to students of RES.

The students can choose to have a biweekly Enrichment class. For the biweekly class the students have Art for 2 weeks, STEM for 2 weeks and then rotate to Physical Education for 2 weeks.

Art:

Middle School Art classes have been an opportunity to build a foundation for what will be addressed in the 7th-12th grade program. Displaying the proper use of materials and understanding the elements of design have been the focus for several years now. This allows students to enter their high school years with the tools they need to move forward in a way that will give them the most opportunities for success. This shift from 5th to 6th grade is one that is detail oriented and very much based in trial and error, with a high success rate when considering the final project. In addition, students will begin to use creative thinking to solve various design questions that will come with each project/material.

Physical Education:

Physical education provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standard based program of curricula and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for healthy active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence. The essential components of a physical education program include policies and environment, curriculum and appropriate instruction. Physical education provides unique learning opportunities that also contributes to and assures that students become physically literate and engage in a physically active lifestyle. Students learn the ability to move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person.

STEM:

Computer/STEM Enrichment class provides students with the skills needed in today’s workplace: problem solving, analytical thinking, and the ability to work independently. STEM is the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines - science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. From the basic technology skills being introduced in kindergarten and carried through to the fifth grade, students will learn to use technology tools to enhance their learning and become creative and critical thinkers.

Oscoda Area Schools

STUDENT OFFERINGS

OSCODA AREA HIGH SCHOOL

Oscoda High School Interact Club

Oscoda Middle School Earlyact Club

FIRST Robotics

Athletics

Early Middle College

Owl Closet

IRESA Tech Center

Youth Advisory Council

OHS Course Catalog

Extra Curricular Programs

Student Council

National Honor Society

Dual Enrollment

Foreign Exchange

RICHARDSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Grade Level Intervention

RES PBIS

Enirchment Offerings

Owl Closet

RES Grade Configuration