Fourth grade history is jumping off the page in Melissa Klatt’s classroom at Dillon Valley Elementary School, but with a creative twist.
The assignment just before winter break: Think of somebody in history who really stands out to you, and then make a fictional story about that person.
“Reading a prompt, answering a prompt, the planning process of writing,” she tells Krystal 93 news director Phil Lindeman. “We’ve also been working on giving feedback and sharing writing, which is really fun because they get to share their writing and be proud of their writing.”
Miss Klatt has been having fun too, reading what her students dreamed up. One wrote historical fiction for Mae Jemison, the first African American astronaut, a member of the Space Shuttle Endeavor crew in 1992.
“It’s a high-level skill to gather facts, and then interweave their own style of writing and make it a narrative story,” she says. “The kids did a really good job. They included figurative language and dialogue. Just as fourth graders, I’ve been really impressed lately.”
Miss Klatt is also one of three English language development teachers at Dillon Valley. The ELD program helps students new to the area – and the country – catch up with their peers.
Miss Klatt’s fourth grade class at Francie’s Cabin on Vail Pass for an overnight school trip in September 2024.
“The kids learn so fast,” she says. “You can see them opening up as individuals. At first some of the kids were super shy. Now, they come to my group and laugh and joke around. It’s also been super fun to ask them, ‘How do I say this word in Spanish?’”
From ELD to historical fiction, Miss Klatt says she is always learning as she teaches. And that is what Dillon Valley is all about.
“Being a teacher, a lot of it is just, ‘How can I use this curriculum and connect it to student lives in a way that’s actually important to them, that would be fun for them?’” she says. “You learn every single day you are in the classroom what works, what doesn’t work, and by the time May rolls around, then it starts all over again.”
Thanks for going IN THE CLASSROOM proudly presented by Heavenly Times, hot tubs and billiards and boost oxygen for teachers who learn and in local sports, some at high hockey, is gearing up for opening game of the State 4A tournament up against Cheyenne Mountain tonight on home ice. Here’s senior.