April 2016 Hopkins Herald - Hopkinton Public Schools

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Hopkins School Herald Home of the H.A.W.Ks Hopkins Acts With Kindness Issue 5.2016 April 29, 2016 Teaching the “3 Rs” Inside Destination: America! by Rooms 109 & 110 Top Ten List by Room 202 The Age of Exploration by Jaden and Sarah in Room 102 Glass Fusing by Ms. DaRosa th
Hopkins 5 Graders Got Talent by Students in Room 210 Room 211 Takes a Stand by Ms. Kaufman It’s Electric! In Rooms 203 & 204 by Mrs. Tortorella, Clark & Pendleton Room 211 Gets Pumped for MCAS Phenomenal Presentations by Lily Ulrich and Stephanie Johnson A Poetic Pause by Students in Room 206 Hopkins MCAS Dates Important Dates Dear Hopkins Families, My daughters would probably roll their eyes if asked about the“3 Rs” in our home. However, m y husband and I believe that these key attributes: respect, responsibility and resiliency, are critical in creating the emotional intelligence needed to guide children to be their best selves. As a parent, I certainly find that resiliency is the trait most difficult to “teach”. When homework is causing tears, a grade causing anxiety or even a conflict with a friend, I doubt I am different than any other parent who wants to rescue my girls from facing frustration and disappointment. Their hurt becomes our own. Unfortunately, our children are faced with a number of obstacles: academic, social, emotional, personal, and an increasingly unpredictable world around them. As educators, we struggle with the same dilemmas-­‐ how much to help, when to “fix”, and when to let “fail”. Helen Keller wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” This is such an important reminder about confronting obstacles with strength, courage, and determination. Resilience is taught through structured learning opportunities, meaningful experiences, and positive support of the adults in their lives. It gives children feelings of competence, belonging, usefulness, empowerment, and optimism. These key experiences include: authentic evidence of academic success; being a valued member of a community; feeling that they have contributed to the school community; and, feeling empowered in their academic choices and learning experiences. Children who have these experiences on a daily basis are m ore resilient and better equipped to deal with adversity. How do we do this at Hopkins? We attempt to build a sense of community and contribution daily. We emphasize and model the growth mindset. W e empower kids to be independent workers and learners. Our teachers strive to promote academic success by providing purposeful and high-­‐quality learning experiences and it is our goal through these actions to foster resiliency in all our students. Thank you to all our parents for being partners in this journey. Please Enjoy the Herald! Mrs. Bilello Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Destination: America! Presented by Rooms 109 & 110 Destination: America!, a musical revue, was a great experience for Mrs. Davidshofer/Mrs. Audet’s and Mrs. Pires’s classes. Students collaborated and performed a musical revue for families and friends. Many students are sad to see it come to an end and would want to do it over and over again! The Destination: America! musical revue consisted of six songs including: “Destination America”, “Hitsville U.S.A.”, “That’s Why They Call it Country”, “Go G o Guitars”, “All Aboard for Broadway”, and last but not least, “American as Rock and Roll”. Ms. Barkin directed the show and helped choreograph the dances. Every student had a job for the performance in addition to learning all the lyrics and group choreography. The jobs included set designers, program designers, narrators, greeters, dancers, and air guitarists. A few songs even had props to go along with them. T he students worked together to create a performance that won’t soon be forgotten. Can’t you just picture the excitement of Destination: America! ? Maybe you will be lucky enough to participate in it one day too! 2 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Top Ten Things Room 202 Loves about Hopkins by Mr. Davan and the Students of 202 For the kids (and teacher!) in Room 202, Hopkins School is a brand new building full of amazing new people, places, and experiences. We’ve gathered together a top ten of things we love about our new school and shared them here. What would your top ten of Hopkins include? #10 The Hopkins School is really BIG and clean! There is a big playground and it is really beautiful. The playground is probably the most popular spot for kids to play during recess. There are monkey bars, slides, and a basketball court and more. Kids play four-­‐square and they play tag and run around outside. Another thing is that the Hopkins School is really clean because all the kids clean up and that keeps the school beautiful. The Hopkins School is big and has many cool things to do. #9 The library at Hopkins is amazing. It is gigantic! In the Hopkins School library there is a computer lab, even though there's already another computer lab at Hopkins. In the library there is a pit for reading books and in the pit there are soft carpeted benches. The library has all different types of books. At H opkins we are allowed to take out four books for two weeks. When you're on the stairs you can look through really cool windows into the library. It’s cool that the library is filled with really interesting books. #8 Did you ever think about how amazing your teams and teachers are? Anyways, they are. The teams are named after National Parks and we learn about the teams we are on. T he teachers have great humor and they are also very nice. The teachers are nice because they help students learn things we don’t understand. The 4th grade teams are Glacier, Zion, and Sequoia. The 5th grade teams are Bryce, Acadia, and Denali. We think the teachers and teams are awesome! #7 We have great ways to show spirit at H opkins with fun spirit days. We think the whole School Meetings are really awesome, too. There are many ways to show spirit. One is Patriots Spirit Day. We’re sure no one can forget that fun Dare to Wear day that we had. Remember that last whole school meeting that we had? It was really fun. We have lots of fun spirit days and whole school meetings at Hopkins School. #6 We have many after school programs. Not a lot of schools have these awesome school programs. Our school programs are really fun and each season we have a new one. We have the Rubik's Cube Club, Ski Club, Robotics, Indoor Track and much more. You can meet new people and teachers, and learn new subjects and games. You learn a lot and it’s not too long. Some are sports some are activities and some are educational. It’s awesome that our school can have these after school programs. 3 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Top Ten Things, Continued by Mr. Davan and the Students of 202 4 #5 The Hopkins School art room is really cool! The art room has many materials to draw with like markers, colored pencils, crayons and more. There is even a clay center where you can make different objects and cups out of clay. Our art teacher, Ms. DaRosa, just got a new kiln. The kiln can fire glass and clay. Also, you can use a website called Artsonia to post your art. Once you post an artwork, your parents and friends can comment on it and tell you what they like about it. Lots of new 4th graders at Hopkins love the art room. #4 Principal’s Cabinet is a unique thing that most schools don’t have. The Principal’s Cabinet has students who are role models. They vote for fun things like Dare to Wear Day, Free Time Fridays, and extra recess on half days. Also they get to speak at whole school meetings. For Dare to Wear Day you can wear crazy stuff. When the Principal’s Cabinet goes to the whole school meeting, they tell the school if there are people performing something. Principal’s Cabinet is a big privilege that students get. Each month, there is a new student from each class to represent their class at Principal’s Cabinet. There is a core value for each month that the students must show to be on the Principal’s Cabinet. As you can see, Principal’s Cabinet is an amazing and unique activity. #3 The H opkins lunch and cafeteria is very cool. We have open lunch. Open lunch is really fun because you get to sit with whomever you want at any table. The food is really good, some of the favorites are pizza, tacos, meatball subs and so much more. T he lunch ladies are really nice. We also do Friday performances. It’s when students get a chance to perform anything they want. When it’s indoor recess, we are allowed to play games after we are finished eating. Some of the games are Guess Who, Connect Four, and many more. The H opkins lunch and cafeteria is amazing! #2 T echnology and the Chromebooks are amazing things at Hopkins School. When we got the Chromebooks, it was really surprising because it was like having our own computer to use! In tech, there are lots of fun activities like Digital Passport and Typing.com. Also our teacher Mrs. Doty is really nice and always has something fun planned! A lot of people love the Chromebooks and technology at H opkins School. #1 The lockers we have in Hopkins School are helpful and cool. It’s especially helpful since they are right outside our classrooms. It’s really cool that we can decorate them on the inside. Lots of people like to decorate them with chandeliers, mirrors, and pictures. It’s awesome that each of u s has our own locker. The lockers are also very spacious and fit all the stuff that we need to fit in them. We love having our own lockers! Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April The Age of Exploration by Jaden and Sarah in Room 102 This year Rooms 101 and 102 (Mrs. Tremblay and Mrs. Wilkie/Calnan’s classes) have been studying European Exploration. The students enjoyed learning about this topic. The students performed a play called The Age of Exploration. The students worked hard. Memorizing their lines, songs and dances led to a wonderful performance on March 11. This year, the students even wrote seven songs to add to the show! It is great to make history come alive. 5 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Hopkins Students Create With Glass Fusing! by Ms. Kelly DaRosa In the Hopkins Art Room this month we started glass fusing! Glass fusing or flat glass is a type of art that is made by arranging glass pieces together into a design and then melting it together in the kiln. Unfused Fused (work by SW room 110)
Notice that the un-­‐fused glass has hard edges and is attached with a small amount of Elmer’s glue. The fused glass is soft on the edges and is now one solid piece of glass. Working with glass fusing has allowed us to explore the arts through the lens of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEAM). Working in a material like glass allows for a naturally occurring curiosity to sprout up where real and interesting conversations are sparked! So far, students have started discussions about viscous solids, compared and contrasted how heat affects glass, how the electricity in the kiln works, and the engineering design process. The glass fusing program was made possible by a generous grant we received from the Hopkinton Education Foundation. Without their support, this amazing opportunity would not have been possible! Stay Connected
Hopkins Artsonia Gallery
Hopkins Art Room Twitter
Weird Meets Wonderful Blog
Art Room Volunteer Sign Up!!!!
Amazon Wish List ( help support glass fusing by donating supplies!)
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Hopkins 5 Graders Got Talent! by the Students of Room 210
The Opening Act
In fifth grade did you have a fifth grade talent show?
Well at Hopkins School, we did and it was great! Preparation, performance, and people were a big part of
the talent show. All of the fifth graders rocked it!!
Preparation
The students and groups have prepared for this for months. They have had many rehearsals and practices
leading up to the big performance.
All of the students received an application form if the students wished to be in the show. They then had to
go to many meetings preparing them for the big night such as practices alone or with a group, a dress
rehearsal, and a before show practice. At the dress rehearsal, you could hear all of the acts and they
sounded so amazing. The process to get into the talent show prepared everyone for the real thing. They
put in so much effort and the results really showed that.
Performance
There was a variety of 42 acts from singing to Rubik's Cube solving. There was also dancing,
musical instruments, magic, and more! Leading the show were 4 emcees, and each pair was responsible
for half of the show. The emcees had a big part in the talent show. They announced the acts, told jokes,
and did some funny things.
People
But, it’s not all about the performers. There were many behind the scenes jobs too. These jobs were for
students who didn’t want to perform on stage but have some great talents. Some of these jobs were
concession workers, lighting, music and much more! These jobs helped out a lot! Without these jobs, the
talent show couldn’t go on. Parents could volunteer to be ushers or distributing the talent show pamphlets.
All of these people really made the performance happen.
The Curtains Have Closed
The 5th graders exemplified their talents and they rocked it!. It was a truly breathtaking performance with
all of the practice, performance, and people. Thank you to all of the people who participated in the talent
show, and thank you for supporting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation!
Written by: Emma DeMichele and Charlotte Hudson (The Opening Act)
Also written by: Hana Ruran, Alexa Feldmann, Emily Graeber, and Camryn Franks
From Mr. White’s Class
Special credit to all of the amazing performers in the 5th grade talent show.
We would also like to thank all of the parent volunteers that made the show happen
If you would like to see a video montage of the 5th grade talent show please go to the link from the school website
7 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Room 211 Takes A Stand by Ms. Kaufman
The country may be in the midst of a heated and passionate presidential race tug-­‐o’-­‐war, but in Room 211, students are prepping their own arguments and reasons for the positions they have about topics that are important to them. In fifth grade, our persuasive writing unit asks students to take into consideration both sides of the argument – to be able to anticipate the opposing side as a means of crafting the strongest and most persuasive arguments they can; to identify and understand who the intended audience is; and to come up with potential compromises or alternative solutions. The list of topics being researched is extensive and broad –banning big game hunting, and animal testing for non-­‐essential medical conditions, to changing NFL hitting rules and allowing heading youth soccer. Jessica is interested in creating a stress-­‐free program for the district schools; programs that could take place both during the day and after school as a way of recharging and unwinding from a hectic learning day. Emily is concerned about the imbalance that currently exists between men’s and women’s sports, especially the vastly different amount of airtime and salaries. Conner is hoping to appeal to the Canadian Government when it comes to their rules and practices related to seal hunting. Quite a number of students are taking up issues related to better treatment of animals in multiple realms of the world. Having an opinion is just the first step toward inspiring and achieving change, though. Once the research is finished, students will be writing letters and mailing them to people, companies, or groups in some way connected to those topics. In the past, students have written to state representatives, newspapers, private companies, major sports groups like the MLB and NCASS, and government groups like the EPA. And believe it not, many students have received responses to their letters. This year, we’re using Google Maps to track where letters will be traveling. And, oh how some letters will be making quite a long journey! Some letters will enjoy a quick, local commute, while others will need their own passports as they make their way to Canada, England, and even Africa. 8 Hopkins Herald It’s Electric! In Rooms 203 & 204 by Mrs. Clark/Mrs.Tortorella and Mrs. Pendleton 4.2016 : April Room 211 Gets Pumped for MCAS! Reached for a doorknob or kissed your pet on the nose and got rewarded with a ZAP!? It’s been a static-­‐filled season, perfect for studying electricity. Students in Rooms 203 and 204 have been studying the attraction and repulsion of atomic particles resulting in static charges. When electrons flow, rather than build-­‐up on surfaces, we have a more useful kind of electricity, current. A parent, Jerry Sullivan, who works for Harvard University, visited to demonstrate how circuits work. “This is so cool!” could be heard throughout the room as students experimented with various circuits. It took Thomas Edison years to perfect the incandescent lightbulb. Edison’s perseverance will inspire students as they use the engineering design process to create working buzzers. The hands-­‐on nature of the electricity has really motivated students. Stop by and you’ll see them imagining, planning, creating, and improving their buzzer circuits. 9 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Phenomenal Presentations by Lily Ulrich and Stephanie Johnson This year, rooms 111 and 112 got together for book clubs. Each group consisted of four to six students and at least one group leader. T he group leaders were one of the student´s parents. Each group was assigned one historical fiction book. The different books were The Sacrifice, Fever 1793, Cracker, Jackie and Me, Iron Thunder, Quake, and A Strange New Land. The books took place in time periods ranging from the late 1600s to the mid 1900s. Each Friday, every group would meet and discuss the assigned chapters for that specific week. After they finished the book, the groups had to decide which concluding project they wanted to present. The choices were to write a song about their book with specific lyrics to a tune that their classmates would be familiar to, write and perform a reader's theater script about an important scene in the book, including specific details from the scene, draw a new book cover and upload it onto the computer to make it into a puzzle and have some members from the audience come up to solve the puzzle you created, or create a timeline showing all the important events in y our book in chronological order, including pictures or illustrations and dates. When the groups had finished preparing their projects, they presented them to the class. Six of the groups performed a reader’s theatre script about their book, and the other group created a puzzle of their new book covers for the class to solve on the board. Each person from the group that created the puzzle drew their own book cover, so there were four different puzzles to be solved. Some of the plays had costumes and props. There were other plays where the students held their scripts. Some of the performers got really into their parts, acting like they were actually there. Performing and presenting was exciting and fun for everyone involved. It wasn’t only fun for the students, but the teachers had a chance to see what their students were learning in these book clubs. Here are some pictures of the different presentations that Ms. Daubman and Ms. McHugh took:
This group performed a skit about a boy who was stuck in a pile of rubble from an earthquake. Another boy came to find him. Will he make it out alive? 10 Quake
Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April More Phenomenal Presentations
This group put on a show about two girls from England who came to America and settled in Jamestown. They then met a Native American girl called Pocahontas. Will their friendship last? A Strange New Land The Sacrifice There were two groups that read The Sacrifice, but this first group did a skit about the characters in jail waiting for their trial. The aunt is sick with a deadly disease. Will she survive? Another group put on a play about a “bewitched” girl who accused the citizens of Andover of witchcraft. Is the girl telling the truth? 11 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April Even More Phenomenal Presentations
Jackie and Me
This group performed a skit that showed a baseball game with Jackie Robinson. He barely made it to home plate. Will he make it home before he is tagged out? Cracker
12 This group created a puzzle for some of the audience members to solve. The German Shepherd was paired up with a military man. At first, they didn’t get along. Will they stay enemies? Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April A Poetic Pause in Room 206 by Ms. Saunders
I a m a R o c k B y : S a m u e l V a s i n g t o n I am a rock
I can be big or small
A small pebble that you just kick around
Or a huge boulder that you can barely
move
You may overlook me but I am there
Or try to climb me and fail
I am a rock
I can be big or small
You threw me in the water
Hope that I will bounce and bounce
You walk on me day and night
A rock is simple and small
But there is more to me then a little rock
Just like there is more to everything than
meets the eye
I am a rock
In the midst of MCAS testing this month the kids in Room 206 dove into some poetry – reading it & writing it! What’s so great about poetry? Well it comes in all sizes and formats – long & short, funny or sad, rhyming or not, apple-­‐shaped or pear. We found inspiration in G. Brian Karas’ book: Atlantic told from the perspective of the ocean. Some other favorites included: A Year Full of Poems published by Oxford, Love that Dog by Sharon Creech, Book of Animal Poetry from National Geographic and The Place My Words Are Looking For : What Poets Say About and Through Their Work by Paul B. Janeczko. Then it was our turn to put pen to paper and inspire one another. Check out some of our class poets below! Gray
By: Nadia
Gray is an elephant,
big and strong.
Gray is the clouds on a stormy day,
the feeling that sometimes does not go
away.
Gray is dull, the color of a seagull,
it is the scent of morning dew,
the feeling of soft rain,
falling on you.
It is the sound of a faraway call,
a trace of dust in an abandoned hall.
Gray is sadness, it is grief,
gray is the feeling of a windy storm,
the feeling you get when you are alone.
The feeling you get when you are upset,
gray is a color you will never forget.
13 Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April A Poetic Pause Inspiration from Diary of a Wimpy Kid… I am Greg By Alex Gutierrez
Nothing but a Blade of Grass by Libby Barker-­‐Hook
Just waiting in a sidewalk crack
I’m nothing but a blade of grass
Seasons turning, people stirring
Students learning, time is blurring, but I’m practically nothing
Nothing but a blade of grass
I’d like to know what birds are chirping
I try to speak,
Vocals straining,
But I’m nothing but a blade of grass
Fires burning, lightning striking, I’m terrified…
But my roots hold still
I’m nothing but a blade of grass. Someday, just maybe, I’ll be set free Singing, dancing, climbing trees
For now I’m stuck in this sidewalk crack…
I’m nothing but a blade of grass.
The Basketball
I am a…
Basketball, I Pounce and Bounce
I Jump and Fly, I Dribble Side to Side, I Hit the Backboard,
Back to the Ground, People Chasing for the Rebound, Athletes
Feet Running as Fast as a Cheetah, Arms Swinging in a Pivot, I
Swish the Net, Hit Hard Every Step -­‐
14 Ariana Husain I am Greg Heffley
Asleep in the back of the class
I don’t think I’ll be able to pass
My family the biggest, absolute, fail
My brother can cause so much trouble but always get a bail
Parents as dumb as a stegosaurus and as a blind as bats
So called “friends” probably eating things like rats Other brother playing the worst goth band in history
The world is such a big “wonderful” mystery
All this of my past in this one little book labeled “Diary”
The Sea
By Allison
My rippling pools, those seas of blue,
aqua, marine blue, sapphire too.
I house the creatures of the sea,
penguins, whales, fish, anemone.
Those krill, sharks, name them I house ‘em!
My coral, seaweed, bursting with life.
I can be calm, choppy, unpredictable.
I am the sea.
I am a subject of many, books, paintings too.
I am the Sea. The wondrous, magnificent, sea.
Hopkins Herald 4.2016 : April A Poetic Pause Fraction Pizza Projects Mantis
By Conor
I wait Wind blowing over me BBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Some insect coming to its unknowing doom.
KAPOOYA Out like a light
I’m a camouflaged prize boxer and fighter
My eyes catch the light like giant solar panels
I’m as green as jade and as deadly as poison
I’m always watching you
Protecting you from pests
That linger among you I am a mantis, the prized fighter of the brush Snapshots of the Action in Rms. 111 & 112 15 Hopkins Math & Science MCAS Dates: Grade 4 Wednesday, May 11-­‐-­‐-­‐Mathematics (Session One) Tuesday, May 17 -­‐-­‐-­‐Mathematics (Session Two) May 12, 18 & 20 -­‐-­‐-­‐ Make Up Math Sessions Grade 5 Tuesday, May 10-­‐-­‐-­‐ Mathematics (Session One) Monday, May 16 -­‐-­‐-­‐ Mathematics (Session Two) May 12, 18 & 20 -­‐-­‐-­‐ Make Up Math Sessions Thursday, May 19 -­‐-­‐-­‐ Science (Session One) Monday, May 23 -­‐-­‐-­‐ Science (Session Two) May 20 & 24 -­‐-­‐-­‐Make Up: Science Home of the H.A.W.Ks Hopkins Acts With Kindness Hopkins Herald Hopkins School Herald 104 Hayden Rowe Street Hopkinton, MA 01748 (508) 497-­‐9824 hoffice@hopkinton.k12.ma.us Hopkins on the web: hopkinton.schoolwires.net/Domain/10 Twitter: @hopkinsschool 4.2016 : April Upcoming Dates to Remember: •
May 2-­‐4th -­‐ Grade 4 Enrichment-­‐ Lyn Hoopes Poetry •
May 2nd-­‐ 6th Staff/Teacher Appreciation Week •
May 13th-­‐ Principal’s Coffee & Whole School Meeting •
May 20th – Early Release (12:15 PM) •
May 24, 26, 27th – Grade 4 Field Trip (Community Harvest Project) •
May 30th – No School (Memorial Day) •
May 31, June 1, 2 – Grade 5 Field Trip (Lexington/Concord) •
June 6 – Step Up Day (3 to 4) , Field Day (4th) •
June 7 – Field Day (5th) •
June 8 – Step Up Day (5 to 6) •
June 10-­‐ Early Release (12:15 PM) •
June 15 – Grade 5 Eggstravaganza