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.
