Day 14: Ariana, 1st Grade Writer

"Reading like a writer"

Miss Tucker's 1st grade students have been studying the craft of writing by reading mentor texts.  Mentor text are books writers go to time after time.  They become a model of writing that writers would like to try and produce in their own writing.  Miss Tucker's 1st graders are creating pattern stories that use the writing craft of pattern sentences.

In order to help her students understand this writing craft, Miss Tucker took them through the following steps:

• They read mentor texts that had sentence patterns the students wanted to investigate.
• They recorded the patterns they found on an anchor chart so that they could go back to it and remember what they have found.
• The students practiced different patterns in his or her own writing.
• Each student decided on a pattern to use for a piece of writing.
• Then, each student planned and organized their thinking using the pattern they chose.
• The final step will be publishing their writing for all to see.

This is a writing process that builds a foundation for growing writers.  It helps students "dig deep" into a text and really think about what makes books so much fun and interesting.  Miss Tucker has also been able to tie patterns in writing to studying patterns in math!

Watch as Ariana, one of Miss Tucker's 1st grade writers, shares her draft.  See if you can notice the pattern she used...

Day 13: "KLIPpers"

Fundamentals

Many of us learn by building our knowledge off of something we already know how to do.  And, often times we had someone to guide our learning as we built our understanding.

Fountas & Pinnell Alphabet Linking Chart

This week marks the beginning of Hilliard Horizon's "KLIP" program.  KLIP stands for Kindergarten Literacy Intervention Program.  This unique opportunity gives kindergarten students a chance to receive targeted literacy instruction in addition to the literacy instruction he or she receives in their kindergarten class.

"KLIPpers" have spent the week adjusting to their new schedule, which includes eating lunch at school.  But more importantly they are receiving the support they need to begin their lives as readers and writers.  This week, they are beginning to connect what they know about their name to help them solve and learn new words.  They are learning to point to each word as they read.  All of this is fundamental in learning to read and write. 

Take a look at the some of the activities "KLIPpers" have been involved in this week:

Early literacy strategies include using names that children know to help them learn letters and words.

Day 12: Ms. Dawson, Hilliard Horizon Secretary

The Power of Words

Last week, I was given an assignment by Mr. Higginbotham.  Like most students, I don’t particularly like homework.  Writing has never come easy for me and I struggle to put my thoughts into words. 

Recently I was sent a video to watch from one of my friends.  It was titled “The Power of Words”.  I watched the video, and then I watched it again.  Then I shared it with others, one being Mr. Higginbotham.

The video made me think about how just a few changes in the words you use can make such a difference in one’s life. 

I welcome you to watch the video:

Words are one of the most powerful things we have in our life.  We should be using our words to make people feel better when it is needed.  They need to be used to describe the beauty of a sunrise or to tell someone how much you enjoy school, or how important your teacher is to you.  It is within this video that you see by changing just a few words made such a huge difference in the way people view this man and his needs.

Writing is something we should try, no matter how old we are.   We should always embrace learning new things and keeping our mind and heart open to new possibilities.

Hopefully, this video will help to enlighten your gifts of The Power of Words.  I know it did for me.  Thank you Mr. H for encouraging me to do this.

Day 11: Mrs. Marsh's 1st Grade students

"It's all good!"

For those who aren't familiar with Pete the Cat, it's all good.  He would tell you not to worry about it, because everything's groovy.  Pete's philosophy is to keep on rockin', even if something goes wrong.

Mrs. Marsh's 1st grade students wanted to use Pete's philosophy to answer the question, "How can we make Hilliard Horizon a better community?"

Mrs. Marsh's students learned that they can share ways we can all help each other follow the rules.  This will make it "all good" at Hilliard Horizon.

First, each student created a cat puppet:

Then, with the help of our Technology Specialist, Mrs. Parker-Jones, the students went around our school to create signs using the puppets.  They used Pixie 3 to add speech bubbles to the pictures:

In this video, one of Mrs. Marsh's students explains the project:

Day 10: 3rd Grade Mission to Mercury

Flying to Mercury

In order to provide students with more options and control of their own learning, Hilliard Horizon's related arts teachers are providing break out sessions during school.

Screenshot of NASA's  Messenger Mission page.  Click on the picture to connect.

During the 1st marking period, 3rd grade students have the opportunity to choose which breakout session they want to attend.  The sessions included fitness activities, musical enrichment, comic book creation, and a mission to Mercury.

In this clip, two third grade students wonder what they might discover on their trip to Mercury with Dr. Dorr, our media specialist, as their "commander astronaut".

Day 9: Hayden, 4th Grade student

The power of read alouds

Hayden is a 4th grade student in Mrs. Smith's class.  Today, he visited Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Ley's 2nd grade students to read aloud a book.  Hayden picked an elementary school staple, Scaredy Squirrel, by Melanie Watt, to read aloud to the class. 

Hayden shares what he has learned from reading aloud in this Evernote recording.  It is amazing to hear his insight into the power of reading aloud to others.

Hayden's Reflection

Day 8: Becky Chase, Intervention Specialist

What Scarlett has taught me

I am Mrs. Chase and I teach students with special needs in grades kindergarten to 5^th at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.  This week we are recognizing Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week.  I am sure that you have seen the green ribbons and signs around the school.  Green is the color that represents Mitochondrial Awareness Week.  Thursday we had a bake sale to get the word out and enjoy some yummy snacks.  

Mitochondrial is a deterioration of cells that give us energy, so if you have Mitochondrial disease your body cannot make enough energy.  It affects children differently and it can make other illnesses and/or diseases worse.  My student Scarlett has this disorder and through her family, community and school support we have been taking part in activities to educate our community.    

I have had Scarlett as a student for 7 years.  After working closely with Scarlett, her parents, therapists and aides, I have learned that I needed to just focus on her abilities rather than her disabilities and celebrate her good health and happiness every day.  In other words, let’s focus on what Scarlett can do instead of what she cannot do.  I feel like I have learned more from Scarlett than she has learned from me.  She is the bravest and one of the happiest children I have ever known.  

Most of us have no idea what she goes through on a daily basis with the numerous medical procedures and medicines she receives.  She has been in the hospital on numerous occasions and sees many doctors.  Scarlett still has a smile on her face and going to school is one of the highlights of her day.  She has the same interests as her other typical 5^th grade friends and just wants to enjoy life.  Mito kids have big dreams, soaring hopes and great aspirations.


Becky Chase is an intervention specialist at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.  

If you would like more information about Mitochondrial Disease, please visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mitochondrial-Disease-Awareness-Week/129614757088058 or www.mitoaction.org

Day 7: 4th Grade Book Clubs

Reflecting On Book Clubs So Far

"remember to thank all the books you haven't read over the past three years" via Flickr by
osiatynska

Some of Mrs. Meister's 4th grade students have started book clubs recently.  The students picked a book they all agreed they would like to read together.  They are in the middle of their book and in this recording, they share what they've learned about being in a book club so far.

AUDIO of Mrs. Meister's students' reflections on book club 

(This is a link to a recording I did with Evernote.  If you have trouble listening to the recording, you may need to add the QucikTime Plug-in to your browser).

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Day 6: Mrs. Wray's 2nd Grade Writers

2nd Grade Writers

Two groups of students in Mrs. Wray's 2nd grade class are involved in a project that is helping them grow as writers.  Both groups are researching information about bats.  They are going to turn the research into a book that they will share with others.  Abbie describes the process.

Starting the Project
The students used the chart below to start the research.  "We started out by writing down what we thought we knew about bats."

"Then we read a book about bats.  If we read about a fact we thought we knew, we moved it to Confirmed Facts."

Anything new the group members learned, they added to the New Learning column.  After gathering enough information, they grouped facts that went together and labeled each group:

What the two student groups will do next is create sentences from the facts and turn them into a book.

What We've Learned as Writers So Far
"I've learned nonfiction parts like headings and the table of contents.  I've learned what a book is supposed to be like.  It's not supposed to have just a little bit of facts--people want to know about lots of facts."  --Abbie

"It's fun!  I have learned what you need in a book. I'm glad we can write our own books!" --Lenora

"Writing helps you read.  You learn new words that you read." --Peter

"You really have to work at it.  If you write one word per sentence, your readers are going to fall asleep!" -- Steven

Day 5: Logan and Trey, 5th Grade students

Collaboration through Google Apps for Education

Logan and Trey, two 5th grade students in Mrs. Ringhiser's class, explain how they used the Share feature on Google Docs to collaborate on a book recommendation for Warriors Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter.

Collaborating with Google Docs from HZN165 on Vimeo.

Day 4: Landry, 2nd grade student

The patterns in numbers

Each day for the past few weeks, Mrs. Estep's students begin the morning by creating multiple representations of a single number.  

Landry, a student in Mrs. Estep's class began to discover a pattern with some of his representations.  Recently, he began setting a goal to create more representations for a new number than he created the previous day using this pattern.  

Here, Landry explains one of his discoveries when working with the number 17:

Day 4: Landry, 2nd grade student from HZN165 on Vimeo.

Landry is a student in Mrs. Estep's 2nd grade class.  He likes hanging out with friends and "making stuff".

Day 3: Herb Higginbotham, teacher

Think different

http://flickriver.com/photos/myluke/sets/749689/

I was a senior in high school when Apple's "Think Different" campaign came out and I still remember the impression it left on me.  Through that ad I understood that people who changed the world thought about the world in a different way.

Since I began teaching, I've always wanted to do something big, something that would leave an impression.  I'm attracted to big ideas, and when I saw projects like edu180atl and 184 Days of Learning, I saw an opportunity to share the learning we do at Hilliard Horizon Elementary each day.

What's funny, though, is that through doing something like HZN165, I've learned that doing something big isn't the only way to leave an impression.

What I've realized is that we can make positive differences by doing the not-so-big-things...the things we often don't think about.

We can listen closely to someone and really try to understand what they are saying.
We can think about a situation before we react.
We can tell someone how happy they make us.

It's as simple as that.  Sometimes we just need to think different.


Herb Higginbotham is a father of two beautiful girls and has been married to Carrie for 9 years.  He is an intervention teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.  He tweets, sometimes, on Twitter (@hhigginbotham).   

Day 2: Splat the Cat and My 1st Day

Day 2: Rees, 2nd Grade student

On the first day of school, Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Ley's 2nd grade class read Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton.  Splat the Cat was worried about the first day of school, just like many 2nd graders were. 

Rees, a student in Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Ley's class, talks about the story, the art she made of Splat, and how the story and project helped her feel happy on the first day of school.

Day 2: Rees, 2nd grade student from HZN165 on Vimeo.

 

 

Rees loves art and loves playing sports, especially soccer!

Day 1: Rebecca, 5th Grade student

What I learned about studying

from flickr: "Studying" by Sterlic

Last year, Rebecca realized something: how she studied wasn't working for her.  "Last year, I didn't study so well.  So this year, I'm trying something new."

Last week, Rebecca got the results on a recent social studies assessment, and she didn't like what she saw.  Mrs. Humm, Rebecca's teacher encouraged her and other students to study over the weekend for a retest on Monday.  This was Rebecca's chance to try something new.

"I studied for an hour.  I put the study sheet in the kitchen away from me and I went to my room with my social studies book.  I wrote the answers to the study sheet and checked then went to the kitchen to check them.  If they weren't all correct, I would go back into my room and study.  I checked the study sheet about 5 or 6 times."

On Monday, Rebecca took the test again.  She got 100% of the questions right.

"When I saw I got a 100% on the test I was happy and smiling, and my eyes got a little watery.  That was something that never happened before."

Rebecca learned a new way to study, a way that works for her and that gets her the results she desires.

Rebecca is a 5th grade student in Mrs. Humm's class.  She likes dogs and hanging out with friends.

165 Days of Learning

We are pleased to present HZN165: 165 Days of Learning at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.  "HZN165" is a project with a mission to share a story of learning on each of the next 165 days of school.

The students, families, and teachers of Hilliard Horizon Elementary have a passion for continuous learning.  This project attempts to share that passion with others in the hopes of encouraging others to continue to learn.  This project was inspired by the projects of George Couros and "edu180atl" in Atlanta, GA.  We would like to thank all who were involved in both projects for sharing their projects and encouraging others to start one of their own.

Our stories will come from the members of our learning community: our students, our families, and our teachers.  If you are a member of our learning community and you are interested in sharing a story of learning, please click on "Share a Story of Learning" at the top of this page.

We hope that you enjoy these stories and that you get a better understanding of the passion that drives Hilliard Horizon Elementary.