Extended Learning Program - XLP - Marshalltown Community School District

08/26/2026

These are some great ways to celebrate and compliment a student's strengths!Credit for this post goes to "Keep 'em Thinking with Susan Morrow". Specific compliments can be very motivating to a high ability learner.

Sometimes the students who need encouragement the most aren’t the ones who need to hear, “You’re so smart.”

They need us to notice something specific.

⭐ “I noticed how you kept trying even when that was difficult.”

⭐ “You asked a question that made everyone think.”

⭐ “You found a solution no one else had considered.”

⭐ “You helped your group work together.”

When we name a child’s strengths, we help them begin to recognize those strengths in themselves.

And strengths aren’t just academic. They might be creativity, curiosity, empathy, humor, leadership, patience, storytelling, problem-solving, or the ability to stay calm when things get hard.

What strengths are you noticing in your students that might not show up on a report card? 💗

08/22/2026

Welcome to a brand new year in the Marshalltown Community School District! Our Extended Learning (XLP) Team wishes everyone a fantastic start to the year! Remember to check out this page for ideas to differentiate for your high ability or highly passionate learners. Here we share strategies, resources, and community-wide opportunities that can benefit the students in your life.

Questions can be directed here to this page or to your building's XLP teacher:

Susan Fritzell - MHS
Ann Jackson - Miller
Vanessa Engel - Lenihan
Nicole Holman-Lankelma - Anson, Hoglan, & Woodbury
Beth Koester - Franklin, Fisher, & Rogers

We wish you all a joyful year of learning! Go Bobcats!

08/16/2026

Junior Science Fair is coming up in November! MCSD XLP 4th and 5th graders could be exploring science and engineering concepts as potential projects early, if they wished. We highly recommend making a list of ideas and editing them down later. The Science Buddies website is a wonderful way to find fun engaging science fair ideas.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/

SAVE THE DATE

The 2026 Junior State Science Fairs are coming this November.

Get ready for a day filled with:
🧪 Hands-on STEM exploration
🚀 Young innovators and researchers
🏆 Science fair projects from students in grades 3–5
💡 Creativity, curiosity, and discovery

Whether your child loves animals, engineering, chemistry, nature, robots, or asking “why?,” this is their chance to shine!

📍 6 Locations Across Iowa
📅 November 2026
👩‍🔬 Open to ALL students in grades 3–5

Registration will open on August 1st!

The future of STEM starts here 💚

08/14/2026

Happy International Left-Handedness Day! This interesting video discusses the science and mathematics behind left-handedness. If you have students exploring ideas for Science Fair this year, TED-ed is a great place to start!

08/11/2026

We're coming Back to School shortly! Below are the Back to School lists divided up according to grade level and building. Enjoy the last days of Summer!

08/11/2026

In celebration of International Cat Day (that we missed a couple of days ago), we have a TED-ed video about the science of why cats do what they do! Enjoy and feel free to respond with a picture of your adorable household predator!

Strange feline behaviors, both amusing and baffling, leave many of us asking: Why do cats do that?

08/08/2026

For some of us creativity and critical thinking skills come naturally. Others of us need to practice these skills in order to hone them. A great resource to help build critical and creative thinking skills is the Creativity and Education page in conjunction with the Fueling Creativity podcast. There are strategies available to assist teachers, parents, and students on their way to thinking outside the box.

The biggest creativity squelcher in any classroom isn't a lack of imagination. It's judgment.

"That won't work." "What a stupid idea." "That's not right."

So before content, before procedures, before anything else this year, teach your students to Keep Open: to delay judgment on new ideas, including their own.

One way to start: hang a Keep Open sign on your door. When someone (including you!) shuts an idea down too fast, bring it to the sign and find three positive things about it before deciding anything.

It takes two minutes and it changes the temperature of the whole room.

Keep Open is the first of the 20 creative thinking skills we teach. Want an easy way to start practicing them? Sign up at creativityandeducation.com and 20 free warm-ups (ten minutes or less, no prep) land in your inbox.

Images by Barney Saltzberg.

08/05/2026

The Marshalltown Public Library has a cursive workshop coming up on Thursday, August 13th. This a fun way to work on hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and have some fun. This skill is extremely useful in learning to read cursive while doing primary research for projects like National History Day.

Children will learn the introductory basics of cursive writing and leave with some tools for practicing the art. This program is free of charge, but pre-registration is required. Register online or by calling 641.754.5738 ext 3.

08/04/2026

A reminder that the Perseid Meteor Shower is most visible in August! The Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines is having a free viewing party this Saturday, August 8th. Check out the skies as we wrap up a great summer!