Wrapping it up!

Third grade’s Social Studies Medieval unit concluded Monday with the annual procession and production of the Medieval Fair.  Many serfs, knights, and royals participated in the production; what a colorful parade through our halls!  In addition to the musical and story recitation in our cafeteria for parents, student projects were on display on tables of purple velvet.   Projects included in-depth study of stained glass traditions in art classrooms (and recreated in vividly decorated bottles), a further study and creation of personal shields, as well as a research paper (either straight research or creative journal entries chosen by some students) tied to the Big 6 research model components.  Loved the morning, loved the recessional around our halls following the performance for audience members, and loved the extra rigor shown in the written projects this year.  Let us then rejoice, While we are young.  After the pleasures of youth And the tiresomeness of old age Earth will hold us. – Student’s song (anonymous).

After school Math Pentathlon Club for current second graders is an extremely popular offering this year.  Sponsored by teacher (and  last year’s Teacher of Promise) Harrison Gay, this club gives students much practice in critical math skills.  Per the official website, “The Mathematics Pentathlon is a program of interactive problem-solving games, supportive curricular and instructional activities, and assessment tools for students in grades K-7. This motivational program strengthens basic math concepts and skills, aligns with National and State Mathematics Standards, and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills through games and cooperative learning.”  When I checked in on Monday, students were intent on a Hexacross game, discovering patterns and developing problem solving strategies.  Mr. Gay shared that the  program also gives these students an opportunity to become more observant and detail oriented.  Currently he has 20-25 girls involved in the session I, next session will be all boys (though, as you can see from the picture below, Jamie got a jump start on Monday); Session III will be a co-educational offering for all interested second graders.  We’ve discussed the possibility of rolling this down to first grade next year, so spread the word!  Thanks Mr. Gay!

Second graders hard at work on Hexacross

Zach Scott is coming, Zach Scott is coming!  The brochures have arrived and they are ready to enroll students in the K-2 and 3-5 after school Acting Classes to be hosted at HP next semester.  Primary students will be involved in Creative Drama (Story Tellers), while our intermediate students will put on an actual play - none other than the classic Peter Pan!  Rog Wall,  the instructor for both classes, has more than 20 years of experience in teaching acting, creative drama and movement (13 being at Zach Scott).  We are more than excited to host this new endeavor at our school, so don’t forget to stop by the front office to pick up an informational flyer and registration packet.  Special thanks to Nat Miller for getting this on track for our school.  Truly, we can’t wait!

Finally, a special nod to our second grade students, teachers, and parents for having a winter party with a purpose.  While enjoying parent provided breakfast goodies today, students heard Cathyleen Requejo, AISD Community Ed Project Supervisor/Homeless Liaison, discuss the  many services of Project Help.  Students had gathered various toiletry/other items, stuffed socks with the items, then gave them to Ms. Requejo to distribute later today.  Thanks second graders for caring enough to give back to others. 

Ms. Requejo and Ms. Marques' 2nd grade students

The time is upon us and our holiday break is just around the corner.  If I don’t see you, know I carry continued gratitude for your grace, wisdom, and all you do for our school, our community, and most importantly, for our kids.  You, my friends, are the best gift I could receive.  Peace and Love to all. 

Something for everyone

Rewind to last weekend and you get a sense of high gear activity in the Highland Park community.  Saturday night HP staff travelled to the Golliher residence for our annual holiday get-together.  What a great evening for those who attended – who doesn't love a White Elephant game! Sunday saw the MAC performance of the holiday music and dance spectacle What-cracka?!  While I enjoyed this student created, unique performance, I only mention it here as several current Scotties hit the stage at intermission for a dance-off (seriously, there were tons of HP’ers there!).  If I’m not mistaken, the Dowd /Mendelsen trio took top honors!  What a way to get kids pumped around the arts!  Thanks MAC, thanks to fluency volunteers Alice Van Zant and Frances Cerbins for the company, and thanks to some top-notch high school performers to boot. 

Monday afternoon Austin Film Kids did indeed roll out the red carpet in our library for their first semester film festival.  We were treated to student created “shorts”, with Brian Cox giving us the ins and outs of what the kids had accomplished.  Camera angles, cut-aways, special effects, directing, and producing credits were noted, as were the actual storyboards used to create the films.   There were even out-takes shown with assistant Traviss Thomas being the good natured bearer of the inside joke.  I hear that students will move on to more in-depth editing processes in the spring and that many a kid has movie making gear high on their holiday wish lists now.  Thanks Brian for inspiring our kids in the love of story telling, for such a creative outlet for this high energy group, and for brainstorming with me the other day on where the program can grow from here. 

Mr. Cox rolling the credits

The year just wouldn’t be the same without Pajama Day.  One of a handful of “special days” sponsored by our Student Council officers, this fun day had most students and staff all cozy and warm in our PJ’s.  I saw LOTS of Scottie Dogs on LOTS of pajamas as I roamed the halls and classrooms, with teachers keeping the learning going (what better way to kick back and read than in your PJ’s?) while lounging in ultimate comfort.  Check out some of the pics below.  Fun!

                       

Kinder teachers travelled to San Antonio one day this week to attend the professional development workshop led by Dr. Jean.  Dr. Jean is known far and wide in early learning circles for creative, musical ways to make learning fun – takeaways for the day included teaching writing/spelling with karate chops – which we all practiced at Thursday’s staff meeting - and additional ways to teach language development through music. 

Scottie Singers came out in full force on Thursday evening.  Maria Satterwhite and Brion Briones led the group in their winter concert performance.  I think my favorite musical number was It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills.  Not only were all the right notes hit, but the choreography was very well done.  Special props to Marcus and Benjamin on having that swing down pat.  Our fourth and fifth graders looked quite nice in their Scottie Singers black and tan; what a wonderful addition to holiday happenings on such a wet, chilly evening.

Just have to say - George Lewellyn at Lamar Middle School, his support team of staff and parents, rock!  I was able to pop over to the Lamar Open House Thursday morning and caught the third group of interested parents and students in the library before the tour (heard the earlier ones were even more packed than the one I attended – some former HP parents tell me they had over 100 parents attend – woohoo!); yep, I continue to be impressed by George’s low key, “we’re going to get it done” approach to school change.   And you know what?  He’s doing it. George shared with me his most recent performance on the district benchmark assessments, with Lamar Middle School falling in the top 5 AISD middle schools in most tested areas (7^th grade writing was ranked 3rd overall!).  It takes a village and great leadership.  Thanks George and team for all you are doing for our kids and our community.

Many Ways to Care

Our PTA board kicked off the week with a festive dinner at Parkside Restaurant in downtown Austin Monday evening.  This incredibly hard-working, caring group of parents (plus one teacher and one principal!) came together for a bit of fellowship, a bit of work, and a bit of reflection on the year so far.  PTA activities and events slated for the year are on target or have exceeded expectations; this simply wouldn't happen without the organization, talents, time, and resources of our parent board, committee members, and parents at large.  Period.  It was a fun evening and special thanks to Parkside owner and HP parent Shawn Cirkiel for providing such a delightful, relaxing space for us to be together. Good food, good drinks, good company equals an incredibly good evening.

Thinking of "good eats", parent Julie Danehy continues her instruction to second grade classes on all things healthy eating.  I happened to catch one of her classes this week, sampled some yummy sugar free "noggin", as well as some honest to goodness sugar cane.  This week's lesson was geared toward the facts behind sugar in foods; Julie really stresses "go foods" with kids (and adults) and always prepares recipes that are far healthier than the original ones most of us are used to eating - this is a person who really cares what we all put into our bodies and is on a mission to change our habits.  These classes, part of an ABC grant Julie and Coach DeLine wrote last year, are informative, tasty, and per Julie, her hope for the start of more healthy eating initiatives on our campus and beyond.  With Julie leading the way, I have no doubt about it.

Good, solid planning (rather than eating) was the norm around here the last few days as well.  Four of our language arts teachers, Laine Leibick, Lia Nudelman, Kati Guimbarda, and Alyssa Smith, met in a day-long retreat, planning grade 2-5 aligned historical fiction units of study, with each grade level tackling a different time period in history, from pre-WWII years in the 1930's through the civil rights movement of the 1960's .  The take-aways from their retreat included historical novel selections (several selected for each unit of study), arts primary resource materials researched and ordered (think WPA posters, Louis Jordan's song "Ration Blues" tied to a 3rd grade unit around Victory Gardens for example), and some concrete inter-disciplinary projects and activities nailed down around essential skills and questions of the TEKS - the ultimate goal being an aligned thread tied to skills/arts/theme/other concept.  Teachers plan to pilot the unit this year in one class per grade level, with the units then being rolled out to all others in the future.  I even heard talk of a History Fair at some point, so we will definitely keep you posted on that.  Kudos ladies for caring enough to take the day to plan together!

Grade 3-5 teachers also had half-day retreat days in our conference room this week.  Teachers, using the district Schoolnet data system, pulled up middle of the year (MOY) benchmark data from recent assessments on reading, math, science, and writing, drilled down to standards mastery and item analysis reports, and made intervention plans for specific students in need and/or students who are now ready to go beyond.  Much work was accomplished, with refinements being made to current after school tutoring groups that have been happening since early November and instructional plans within individual classes.  Though all teachers have much on their plates these days, special "hugs" to those at our testing grades as they truly carry a lot on their shoulders and care enough to dig deep into the data on these important days each year.   Check out 3rd grade in action one day this week.

Finally, a word about the Henson-Wheat family.  I was incredibly privileged to spend a portion of my afternoon Thursday with Ryanna Henson.  As you know, the family was featured recently in the American Statesman's annual Season of Caring, with Ryanna's ongoing health issues a major concern.  A former Scottie and now a student at the Ann Richards School, this poised young lady bowls me over with her spirit, her intelligence, her attitude, and her kindness.  We reminisced about her first year on campus, and how, even though she was the new kid on the block coming in at fourth grade, she still managed to win students over with her student council speech and became an elected Stu Co officer that year!  Thanks to those in our Scottie community who are giving support in many, many ways to the family;  for further information on how you can help, please contact the Statesman at seasonforcaring@statesman.com or by calling Any Baby Can at 512-454-3743.   

A Sea of Science Fair Projects



Merrell Anne and Eileen setting up

 You can't walk into the cafeteria this week without coming into contact with a Science Fair project.  The trifold boards, 265 of them to be exact, are on table after table, as seen in the picture below.  Can I just say impressive? The annual event, traditionally held this time of year at HP, continues to grow from year to year, with many projects now spilling onto tables set up in our hallways.  All fourth and fifth grade students are required to participate, with many others at K-3 joining in due to their love of science or through the encouragement of their teacher or parent -couldn't do it without 'ya!  I love looking at all of them, but what's really cool to see are the Kinder students making their first attempts at idea development, presentation, and reporting on project outcomes - as seen in two examples below.  Today, I also had the privilege of announcing the fourth and fifth grade campus finalists; these students are now waiting in the wings, projects in hand, ready to give their oral defense/explanation of their project to a very knowledgable panel of advanced science students from Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park - thanks Vista Ridge!  This panel's scoring, along with other scoring criteria, then determine the students who will advance to the city-wide science fair in the spring.   All to be announced by end of day.  Phew! As you can imagine, we absolutely could not pull this off without the help from some pretty terrific parent volunteers, Susan Hillman chief among them (seen below), as well as some dedicated teachers getting students ready to roll, scoring projects late into the evening, and more. Check out some pictures from this most marvelous event at our school.



Julie, Tina, and Susan





Kinder Project

 

Another Kinder Example



 

 

Vista Ridge HS students





5th Grade Project on Display


Finally, check out our hard-working staff and students in a couple of pics below.  After school tutoring in content areas is just getting geared up at grades 3-5.  Additionally, our second year of Scottie Homework Club, for 2-5 students who need extra support in organization, prioritizing, planning and more, is now taking place a couple of days per week as well.  With clubs and fitness and night events and academic supports happening, you can imagine what a busy place we are around here on a daily basis, including the weekends.  Thanks to our teachers who tutor and thanks to our HW Club staff Ms. Camarillo and Ms. Bucknall for working on those executive skill supports when and where needed. 



Ms. O'Donnell helping with math



Ms. Bucknall at HW Club



Being Thankful

Many reasons to be thankful this week as we head into our holiday season...



Pink Scotties came out in full force early last Sunday morning for the Komen Race for the Cure.  It was a day to be thankful for as we walked in honor or memory of those who have been affected by cancer.  Our own Mrs. Olson led the charge in her fluffy, hot pink cowboy hat and even made it on air at one point.  Great day and a great cause with Scottie parents, kids, and staff coming out to show support. 

I also continue to be thankful for my visits to classrooms.  In Mrs. Finkle's 4th grade Science class this week, students were involved in learning about the relationship and patterns between the sun, earth, and moon as part of their Science TEKS; there were a variety of aligned activities to keep the engagement high. I saw partner reading and the intro to student created Phases of the Moon flip books, as well as a model demonstration by Mrs. Finkle on the tilt of the earth and the relationship to the sun (think seasons), with students making inferences and self-reflecting on their learning.  I enjoyed speaking with Mac and Trevor following the teacher demonstration and hearing their thinking about how our natural world is connected. Per Mac, "without the tilt of the earth, people in areas without sun would not be as healthy or as evolved.  It would affect crops, livestock, everything".  Trevor further decided if this was the case he could take his "NASA spacecraft out of the darkness..." and this led us to briefly discuss what our earth would be like if we were indeed forced to live in smaller areas of livable space.  Hmmmm....big ideas and no easy answers.  Before I left, Mrs. Finkle did manage to pump up the volume with a Phases of the Moon rap video, with all (yes, including teacher!) joining in a truly rap-tastic dance.  Fun!

There were a variety of other things taking place this week in and around campus.  I visited Mrs. Kolodziej's fifth grade social studies class one day in order to see her graduate intern from UT's theater department leading a lesson.  Mr. Williams had students charting their ideas on "What are Taxes?" as a part of the Revolutionary War unit of study.  Students were discussing various acts, leading up to the use of a DBI (drama based instruction) strategy - role play between "a 12 year old boy and a colonist".  Building empathy, becoming a character, real or imaginary, gives students a much deeper understanding of perspective and the "why" behind the history they read.  Thanks Mr. Williams for working with HP!

Our after school Lego Club was in full swing this week as well.  Steve and Michelle Bohls are the club sponsors, there were truly a "passel" of kids when I stopped in on Monday, and student groups were very enthusiastically engaged in the creative process.  Two groups were in play - ones with predesigned frameworks and one freestyle.  Roan, Jamie, and Benjamin's group had some pretty cool figures and tools in their Lego land model, including a "hybrid troll, ninja, knight" character - just in case one is needed.  Thanks for the visit boys!

Finally, we had a very informative math presentation at our PTA general meeting on Tuesday evening, courtesy of fourth grade teacher Mrs. Finkle and fifth grade teacher Mrs. O'Donnell.  This presentation was designed to give parents information about our school's implementation of Ms. Math and Singapore Math computation methods in our classrooms, methods we've incorporated into our math program for some time now.  These research-based whole-number computation strategies give our students other math tools to use besides traditional algorithm methods; students, through their use, are forming the foundations of learning and understanding of math concepts (think numbers rather than digits) through problem solving, justifying their answers, and explanation by using different methods of computation.   Both teachers talked about three important concepts:  use of strategies that are number oriented rather than digit oriented, strategies that are left-handed rather than right-handed, and strategies that are flexible rather than rigid. Our take-away from the evening was that more of these events need to take place on our campus and we still have need to share information about Model Drawing (also Singapore Math) as it relates to problem solving.  Students learn in a variety of ways as we all know and as Mrs. Finkle stated, "the traditional algorithms are there for use, but it's sort of like stepping back a bit, keeping the training wheels on, so students have a firm grasp of the concrete concept of numbers before moving to the abstract of digits".  Those of us there were truly thankful for both Mrs. Finkle and Mrs. O'Donnell and their presentation on behalf of our campus.


One last picture which will make you thankful you took a look.  Below are student created turkeys on display outside Mrs. Goldsmith's first grade classroom.  They are creative and unusual turkeys as you can see and always draw me in for a moment as I head down that hallway.  Think King Pig turkey and Princess turkey to name two. Check them out if you are need of a smile. Works for me every time!

Lots of good to be thankful for this week, especially the staff, students, parents, and community of Highland Park.  Thank you for making HP a really cool school for all of us to enjoy.

A good week indeed

Good things continue to happen in around our school, as evidenced this week.  Please take the time to pull up fourth grade teacher Ms. Snell's language arts blog when you have a chance (http://tsnell.edublogs.org/).  It's also posted on the fourth grade WIKI at the Highland Park website.  Ms. Snell, finishing her master's in library science, began this blog last year and utilizes the tool for student responses to literature currently being read in her class.  The prompts require students to have an understanding of the text, make inferences, and make personal connections to people and events in the story, which are important for those "text to self" and "text to world" connections. Currently, Ms. Snells's students are in process of posting responses to the novel The Secret School by Avi.  Students are required to respond to 4 of 9 given prompts; the teacher then scores their responses on such components as text evidence cited, vocabulary, and conventions of writing.  Ms. Snell has become a passionate proponent for integrating technology into her classroom, telling me that this forum "lets kids write for a wider audience (than just the teacher or classmates).  It's preparing them for working in an online environment which is a 21st century learning skill.  Even reluctant speakers in class now have a voice and use it".  Pretty powerful.

I was also fortunate to visit a fifth grade Future Problem Solvers class this week, taught by Mrs. McHorse.  This once per week pull-out for our identified gifted and talented students continues to shine and I was impressed with the level of critical thinking, time management, collaboration, creativity, and more I saw in action.  This particular group of students were working in small teams on a future scene about the re-establishment of coral reefs in the year 2038; completed booklets will be sent away for scoring, returned with feedback, then processed with student reflection; this "practice" helps prepare the students for the actual competition in January. 
If you haven't seen an FPS problem solving model, let me tell you it is very involved and requires a level of thinking that would stump many of us.  The model follows a six-prong approach:  Identify 16 (yes, 16!) challenges related to the given future scene overview, Select an Underlying Problem, Produce Solution Ideas, Select Criteria, Apply Criteria, then Develop an Action Plan.  Keep in mind that the 16 challenges have to relate to 16 different global issues categories (there are 18 total and they include such broad topics as defense, law & justice, ethics & religion, and technology) and student teams only have TWO hours to complete the entire booklet.  Pretty impressive.  Mrs. McHorse tells me that though she sees much critical and creative thinking in action, the collaboration piece these kids engage in (true teamwork) is the big takeaway.  Listening in on one group I heard Javier discuss everything shark skins (kids tell me he is an expert on sharks and I believe it!) as well as Daniel stating, "we know there will be one animal in this challenge that is a danger to coral reefs...".  This conversation between team members brought home how important it is for our students to have opportunities for collaboration.  Can't wait to see how these Scotties did on their practice booklets.  On to January!

Great training today also with all teachers and teaching assistants.  We travelled over to Lamar Middle School with the other Creative Classroom pilot elementary schools for a half day staff development on creativity in the classroom.  The breakout sessions, by grade level and specialty area, comprised of 2 geared toward actual models and instruction on creativity (think dance/movement, narrative pantomine, art therapy, and more), with one room devoted to a showcase of community arts providers.  We are all so fortunate to have access to these resources in our community.  Thanks Brent, Christy, and everyone for furthering our understanding of what creatvity in the classroom is all about.  Good stuff.

Finally, our week took a more somber, reflective tone at yesterday's Veteran's Day assembly for fourth grade parents.  The students sang a variety of patriotic songs in their red, white, and blue dress, with many of us in attendance singing along with them.  It was hard not to get choked up during the traditional branch of service songs, with audience members (think parents and grandparents) standing when their branch of service was noted.  Additionally, the red and blue Stars of Valor displayed in our main hallway were a reminder of those who proudly and valiantly give so much for all of us. For those who have served or are serving, we thank you.

Community

I took a field trip one morning this week with a couple of third grade classes.  If you haven't checked out the in-town Elisabet Ney Museum, you really should.  This field experience is part of third grade's Social Studies TEKS, broadly noted as community, and is one of a handful they take to enhance student understanding of some notable members and places of our own community in Austin.  This particular visit, with Mr. Robenhorst and Ms. Smith's classes, gave students information on Elisabet's early years, her unorthodox views (for the 1800's, women wearing pants or riding their horses astride, were both considered rebellious acts by women, something our students have a hard time grasping today), her work as a noted sculptor here and abroad, as well as a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at the building itself (her studio/residence).  We heard about and saw many of Elisabet's noted works and learned that she typically started "small", with a bust of some type before working on full body pieces. We also were able to take the spiral staircase to the study of Elisabet's husband, Dr. Edmund Montgomery, and discover the secret door that leads to the roof.  That was pretty neat. The figures of notable Texans Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin were also on display (see below) and our docent very graciously gave us an overview of their accomplishments, which third graders will definitely hear more about in fourth grade and all things Texas history! 

Soles4Souls is also happening on our campus this week through November 15.  Sponsored by our CLASS after school student service club, this wonderful first semester project will provide shoes for those who need them.  I plan to clean out my closets this weekend, bring in my $1 donation to cover shipping for each pair donated, and help a good cause.  Thanks to our CLASS staff sponsors and students for coordinating a worthwhile endeavor. As the website at http://www.soles4souls.org/ states, "Shoes help prevent the spread of parasitic diseases that plague over 1.4 billion people worldwide, and they are a basic human necessity."  Help a good cause for our community members at large and drop off your new or gently worn shoes in a designated hallway box at HP.

PTA Reflections art projects wrapped up this week and the entries were impressive.  The theme this year was "Diversity Means" and students were to "Reflect on a Theme.  Create an Original Work.  Be Recognized".  Originals works could include dance choreography, photography, film production, musical composition, visual arts, or literature.  Several of the students will be advancing to the next level. Super work!  I enjoyed stopping by for the culminating trip to Berry Austin after school yesterday - thanks!  Check out two of the entries by Sophia and Sophia shown below.  Truly thoughtful work as we think of the diversity in our own community (and what it truly means!). Special thanks to Stephanie Wilson for chairing this annual event for our school.

Finally, I'm posting this a bit early with the hopes that you come out to support our own vertical team community at Lamar Middle School's annual fall carnival, Lamarfest.  Starts at 6:00 pm tonight, Friday, November 4. Promises to be a blast!

Celebrate the Good

You often hear the word rigor thrown around in the world of education.  Many teachers call it the "word du jour".  But what are we really talking about when we mention rigor in the classroom?  One meaningful definition  is found in Teaching What Matters Most: Standards and Strategies for Raising Student Achievement by Richard W. Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Matthew J. Perini, ASCD, 2001. According to the authors, “Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging.”   Pretty tall task for a teacher, but in visiting classrooms this week I believe our teachers are on the right track with ensuring their instruction and outcomes not only remain rigorous, but are creative as well. We've got great things happening around our district in many classrooms and many schools, but here are a few examples from HP.  Take a moment with me to celebrate what's good in our schools.

This week, Mrs. Guenther's second grade students were actively engaged in Puppet Theater.  What a joy it was to visit her class, along with Mrs. Olson's kinder class, as the younger students sat enthralled with the performance related to the book Frog and Toad.  The second graders had created their own puppets out of paper sacks (way cool!), put on the performance behind the curtain, and per Mrs. Guenther, "had a great opportunity for fluency practice in a fun way!".  An authentic way for children to connect with text and practice a variety of skills. 

I also found an example of rigorous thought in Mrs. Read's small group classroom.  When I popped in, her class was engaged in defining/practicing closed versus open ended questions, an activity that then led to a connection/practice with Bloom's level of questions, which you can see on the "Bloom's Mountain" below.  Lance and other "Discussion Directors" chose leveled questions from the Buckets of Blooms related to the book they were reading, Dinosaurs Before Dark; they then practiced the thinking process that goes into a "remember" question vs. a "create" question, and determined which were open and which were closed.  Lance's bucket question "What would it be like to live in dinosaur land?" brought out some very creative answers, extended into the possibilities of how each student could create the world in their mind, through a written story, diorama, or more.  Loved it and hear from Mrs. Read these Keys to Literacy strategies are helping her students practice their thinking in a way that doesn't seem like work for her students.

 

I've seen other additional lessons this week that I could connect to rigor in the classroom.  From Mrs. Matetich's 5th grade scientists conducting hands-on research as it related to bending light (Caroline hard at work, direct right!)

to a whole group spider web creation in Mrs. Davidson's kinder classroom.  This particular web activity served as a springboard for students to individually share fascinating facts they had learned about spiders, including body parts, uses of silk, and types of webs - did you know that tangle webs become known as cobwebs once the spiders are gone?  Kinders do! 

But I'd truly be remiss if I didn't mention the DAR creative strategies I saw in two separate fourth grade units of study this week.  First, Mrs. Hunter's students, working on social studies TEKS related to origins and culture of Native American groups before the European Exploration, did some cool body interpretation of vocabulary words such as primitive, noble, and uncivilized.  They transitioned to the George Catlin painting "Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa", initially describing what they saw, then analyzing what they saw, with an eventual relating what they saw to self or prior knowledge (DAR).  This activity led the class to a brief discussion on stereotypes, done through much "brainloading", and how the painting may have been a stereotypical portrait of the subjects.  Julia Kay was right on when she said "I'm sure not all Indians had feathers or wore the same clothes as shown in the picture".  Hmmm...these connections to the past, thinking about why we think what we do and how stereotypes in life are alive even today, are important for all of us to make.  The follow-up was to be a writing assignment connected to this discussion, so I'll be sure to check back soon.

Final comment on rigor I saw in action this week, namely Mrs. Leibick's language arts students engaged in their unit of study, Voices of the Depression. I saw and heard students making connections between photos of the Dust Bowl (shown large screen, images incomprehensible to those of us in the room who did not live through it), to the review of previous discussion on differences found in the positive lens of Norman Rockwell and the Langston Hughes' African American male experiences to other ongoing unit topics - think Woodie Guthrie lyrics, children's literature set during the period, radio dramas, and even the one-room schoolhouse - all with anchors of support in and around the class.  The heart of the lesson, however, surrounded the aforementioned DAR implemented with Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph, "Migrant Mother".  As the student discussion unfolded, one question was posed by Mrs. Leibick on why this one photograph, out of the many taken during those years, became known as the Face of the Depression; I was anxious to hear the responses and came away sobered by the ones shared.  One student Allison, in all her fourth grade wisdom, very solemnly stated that, in her opinion, the Lange photo "wasn't a picture of a soup kitchen, it wasn't a picture of a bread line, but it was a picture of one person living through this awful time..." This simple statement gave us all a moment to pause and think about the real people who experience hardships behind the headlines and why some images mean as much to us as they do.  True rigorous connections between many mediums, many thoughts, and issues that, in many ways, are timely and relevant today.   

Finally, Scotties always squeeze in some fun each week along with the learning. Fourth and fifth graders travelled over to MAC  for a special fall performance by the high school's orchestra and choir entitled "The Ghoultide Scarols".  Students and adults were fascinated by the accompanying tour of the arts spaces, complete with live models in the drawing room.  Pretty inspiring!  Carrying on the fun, Mr. Supak, one of our PE teachers, was the winner of the all staff drawing for Austin Ballet's upcoming performance of the Nutcracker (given very graciously by Dr. Carstarphen to schools in our district who had the highest attendance for the last reporting period; as an FYI, HP's was 98.7% -good work Scotties!).  Mr. Supak tells me he and his wife Anna, also a teacher, attend every year, and they both will definitely look forward to the evening. And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our current HOOT happenings. Check out Thursday's HOOT Rally pic below (thanks Mrs. Leach, HOOT Queens Mrs. Campa and Mrs. Peele, and all HOOT ladies who helped that day); this annual assembly held each year prior to our big fall carnival always gets the kids fired up for HOOT night.  We cheered, we laughed at the silly hair color put on some of some adult "good sports", and we oohed and awed at the displayed games and prizes to be had at the carnival.  As I finish this blog, let's just say the real deal HOOT was FUN for all who attended on this Friday evening, and yes, it was a good week to be a Scottie.  Big or small, Scotties work hard, but play hard too.

Keep celebrating the good in our schools!  I know I will.