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Brenda Velasco Mizenko

I am a 4th grade teacher at St. Elizabeth Seton Elementary School in Rapid City, SD. I also taught 3rd grade for four years. Prior to that I taught in a bilingual kindergarten classroom in Pasco, WA. I was raised in Neenah, Wisconsin, lived in Washington State for 15 years, and moved to South Dakota 6 years ago. I love teaching! I am a 2018 South Dakota State Finalist for the PAEMST Award. I am also an NSF Research Experience for Teachers participant two years in a row at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. I was a journalist before I decided to get my teaching certificate and use my writing background a lot in the classroom. I have a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Teaching from Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. in 2016 I was one of 154 teachers chosen nationwide to attend the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in Jersey City, NJ. It was a huge honor and one of the best professional development opportunities I've ever been

Location

SD

Recent Posts by Brenda

Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:34 PM in Science Time in Elementary
As challenging as it may seem, there are many ways you can integrate science into other subjects. For example, if you are doing a science unit about honey bees, you can tie that in with literacy by having students read about bees. You could do math activities that pertain to bees.. students can do a writing project on bees. It doesn't all have to be going on in science. There are lots of fun ways...

Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:35 PM in Engaging Elementary Students
Science needs to be hands on. Students can't get what they need from reading out of text book or cutting out pictures. There needs to be a connection. I use essential learning targets and 5E lesson plans. Make sure the experiments you do tie in with the standards because I have also seen the opposite with teachers doing a bunch of experiments but there is no connection to what they should be doin...

Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:30 PM in The 3R's 5E Lesson Plan
You could create art projects or musical instruments from recycled products. Just make sure there are no sharp edges and are clean. Here is a link to some art projects you could do: https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2014/04/recycled-art-project-for-kids-2.html



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