Classrooms - Grades 5 & 6

The fifth and sixth grade classroom is very active, with hands-on education that emphasizes the love of Christ. We use many different styles of learning and assessment. In the course of the year social studies includes many different projects. For example, we have made a teepee, colonial villages, and historical murals. We supplement our reading curriculum with novel studies that the entire class reads. We study Island of the Blue Dolphin, Hatched, and The Great Gilly Hopkins. While reading we use games as a way of reviewing. Our book reports are unique; we have made a dodecahedron book report as well as a book in the box. This year the fifth and sixth grade students are producing the play One Frog’s Story, a monologue about courage. The play will be performed for the entire Grace Lutheran student body.

We find that educational field trips are beneficial. Included in the field trips scheduled for next year are the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the State Capital, and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Our goal is to take one field trip each month.

Springtime is full of excitement. We celebrate National Lutheran Schools Week with special events for the students. All the children in the school prepare for the yearly Spring Choral Concert. This concert is open to the public, and funds awarded support our music department. Last year over three hundred people attended the concert.

We prepare our students for high school by departmentalizing our fifth through eighth grade classes. The students are blessed to be able to interact with four different teachers each day. Mrs. Hengst teaches language arts, religion, music, and social studies. Mr. Gettelman teaches math, science, and physical education. Mrs. Grunewald teaches computer technology, and Miss Kwiecinski teaches art. The students also have a weekly Spanish class.

We are excited about our new gym. This gym allows us to practice volleyball and half-court basketball. The gym is also a great place for our physical education classes.

Mrs. Hengst is married and has two children, one of whom is old enough to attend Grace Lutheran. She herself is a 1993 graduate of Grace Lutheran School. She graduated from Martin Lutheran High School in 1997 and from Concordia University Wisconsin in 2002. Her baccalaureate degree qualifies her to teach Choral Music in grades 6-12, General Music in grades 1-12, and Elementary Grades 1-8. Mrs. Hengst serves as the Music Director of the school, teaches fifth and sixth grades in the morning and seventh and eighth grades in the afternoon. She teaches music from 4K through grade eight and is responsible for the Annual Spring Choral Concert presented in March. For the past fifteen years Mrs. Hengst has served Grace Lutheran Church as their organist and adult choir director. After school hours you will find Mrs. Hengst teaching numerous piano students as well as coaching the Grace Lutheran Girls Basketball Team.