Our new weekly classroom periscope offers weekly insights into what we’re learning
How was your day?
Fine.
What did you learn?
I dunno.
Sound familiar? Many parents wonder what exactly goes on in the classroom each week – and thanks to our new Curriculum Connections section of our weekly Hillbrook Happenings, we’re excited to give Hillbrook families a desk-level view of our daily wonderings, explorations, and academic achievements.
Each week, Director of Teaching and Learning Ilsa Dohmen, Head of Lower School Heather Stinnett, and Head of Middle School Amy Hand work together with the faculty and the Hillbrook communications department to discover new and amazing things happening on campus each week – in the classrooms, labs, creeks, and gardens of Hillbrook, incredible knowledge is always growing.
Curriculum Connection Highlights from the 2021 – 22 School Year:
Lower School
FRACTIONS IN ACTION – BUILDING MATH FLUENCY IN 3RD GRADE
In 3rd grade math, students have begun to study area and perimeter, including how decomposing shapes can make their area easier to determine. Decomposing shapes relies on students’ use of fractions as well as their division and multiplication strategies. On Wednesday, students practiced creating a row of fictional homes on “Fraction Avenue,” decorating and adding elements to homes along one block to follow different fraction-based rules. Of the eight houses on the block, 1/8 have a blue roof, 2/8 have dogs in the yard, and 3/4 have cars parked outside. Of the windows on all the houses, 1/4 have a person visible inside them, and so on. Students used a range of strategies to determine what number of objects are represented by each rule, using counting, number lines, and division facts to solve problems. Their work prompted discussion about equivalent fractions and required frequent use of fraction vocabulary. This applied practice with anchor fractions supports students’ understanding of fraction vocabulary and builds fluency with their applications of fraction, division, and multiplication facts to concrete and visual problems. Students who finished early designed their own fraction rules, or extended the block to include more homes. Families might practice using fractions to identify or create rules that describe objects around your home, or to play “I Spy” style games. You might also discuss with your child how you would solve a similar fraction problem with a number of objects that isn’t a nice, neat multiple of the denominator – if we have 3 houses and 1/4 are painted blue, what could that look like?
PENNING THE PERFECT PET
Second graders this week worked on finalizing their drafts of an informational writing piece about a “perfect pet” of their choosing. This assignment pushes students to write at their own just-right level of complexity, while practicing a core set of skills: using sensory details and adjectives, transitioning with explanatory and context words (e.g., then, finally, first, because, or else…), applying punctuation and spelling rules (e.g. commas, exclamations, periods, capital letters, r-controlled vowels, adding suffixes like -ed, -s vs. -es…), considering your audience, and more! Students have taken this writing piece through the full process, starting with using a graphic organizer to plan, writing multiple drafts, getting feedback, and revising to improve the work with each new draft. Students’ final pieces feature lizards, dogs, cats, hamsters, horses and more. Wondering how a perfect pet might change your life? Details about responsibilities and chores abound in students’ final pieces, of course, but you might be surprised to learn that a horse can keep you on-time for school, a cat can get rid of rats around the yard, and many pets are self-cleaning! Families might talk with children about the differences between writing informational and fictional pieces, or why authors use the process of drafting and revising their work.
PAWS UP FOR OUR SPECIAL GUEST IN SCIENCE!
Each week, first graders practice science habits and mindsets that build year-long connections. They make and record observations, visually represent their data, and read books about people who have used science to make a difference. Each student also has a chance to be “Scientist of the Week,” where they practice an experiment at home and then teach it to the class. The “I’m a Scientist” Unit teaches first graders the habits and methods of a scientist, while teaching them how to create a lab report, and building their “noticing” and their confidence to experiment and test out new ideas and designs. A weekly featured experiment, discovery, and opportunity to try new tools and methods, students lead and follow, learning to see themselves as members in a community of scientists. In addition to weekly experiments, discovery, and practice with new tools and methods in the classroom, first graders also learn all about careers in science. This week, Zane Zeidler’s mom and her surgical team led us through a make-believe surgery demo, which provided a wonderful opportunity for students to see a scientist in action while learning new words and concepts. We observed as a very brave stuffed kitty underwent a complete surgical process, from diagnosing the cause of a sore paw to scrubbing in, calling a surgical team, counting instruments, and creating a sterile operating room. Afterwards, students tried on real-life PPE (caps, gowns, and gloves) and practiced their own surgical skills with Model Magic, picnic utensils, and polyfill. Thank you to Dr. Zeidler & her team for making this possible! Families can encourage children to share a science habit or tool they’d like to use at home.
JK CHANGEMAKERS TAKE WORD WALKS
In Junior Kindergarten this week and last, students continued their exploration of stories featuring changemakers both living and historical. In JK tradition, teachers guided students in a preview of the next text by walking through the pictures and calling out specific vocabulary words for discussion. Last week, we looked at pictures and did a “word walk” with a story featuring cooperation, trustworthiness, fairness and patience. At each term, students talked about phonics elements they noticed – what letter(s) does this word start and end with? What other words does it remind us of that might give clue to this word’s meaning? They also made use of context in the story to predict what might happen next, and made text-to-self connections about who else they knew who is trustworthy and fair (including themselves!) and when does it matter that we are cooperative and patient. Students in JK continue to lay the foundation for understanding identity, empathy and actions that make change through age-appropriate stories that engage them and connect to their daily lives.
Middle School
STORIES IN THE SOIL – BIG SUR AND BIOMIMICRY
Following their grade-level overnight camping trip in Big Sur, 7th graders wrapped up a unit on plant and animal adaptations and the influences of human activity on the local coastal redwood ecosystems through time. Back in class this week, students observed photos from their trip of plant behavior, shared theories about what purpose the behaviors might serve, and practiced their “biomimicry” analysis skills to name how the observed structure or function might be instructive to human problem-solving. A redwood sorrel folds its leaves in bright light – why? Students apply their cumulative knowledge of photosynthesis, tropisms (how plants react to light, gravity, touch, water and more), and cause and effect in animals and plants to propose explanations. They then completed their review of research sources showing how human activities along the nearby coastline have impacted species like the sea otter, redwood tree, California condor, Cooper’s hawk, spotted owl, and more. Families might ask their children which species they’ve been most surprised to learn about, what inventions have been prompted by observing plant/animal adaptations, or what less obvious human activities have affected the redwood ecosystems nearby.
A LITERATURE LENS IN 6TH GRADE
Literature can be a way to travel – a window into others’ lives and a mirror for the experiences in your own. This week, sixth graders are reading the acclaimed graphic novel Pashmina, by Nidhi Chanani, which follows young Priyanka as she explores the many intersections of her identity and culture, seeking a solid sense of self. An Indian American child of an immigrant, Priyanka yearns to make sense of her mother’s history – and the displacement she senses being caught between an old world and a new one – while facing her own challenges growing up as a young woman in America. As students explore the worlds of Pashmina, both real and imagined, we are inferring, analyzing imagery, how the plot emerges through various characters’ perspectives, and discussing how specific scenes contribute to development of the work’s major themes and central message. How is a human life connected to and influenced by the world, past and present? How do the intergenerational experiences of women in India and in the US compare and contrast? What might cause someone to leave home to build a new life elsewhere? What does economic opportunity look like from first to second generation US immigrants and how much does it matter where you relocate, or why? Pashmina also bridges to 6th grader’s history lessons on ancient India, and they are noticing familiar symbols, geography, traditions, and historical influences as they read Priyanka’s story. History, sociology, personal connections, and current events have all taken on new dimensions through discussion of this text. Families might talk about how Priyanka’s story – her struggles, frustrations, and joys – are similar to and different from your child(ren)’s own.
8th GRADE GEOMETREES IN MATH
Last week 8th graders tackled a longtime favorite project in Geometry: design a method to measure, and prove, the height of the tallest tree on campus, with the greatest precision you can. Over the course of two days, students tested many strategies, from using a photo of the tree with a smaller object of known height for scale, to lying on the ground with an angle meter that has a sight. After comparing their initial solutions across groups, most students agreed that the best method was to use the angle meter, then carefully measure the distance along the ground from the angle meter to the base of the tree, then finally use the trigonometric ratio of the angle’s tangent to find the height. But problems continued to arise! It’s hard to measure precisely along the ground over a long distance, small changes in perceived angle can make a big difference in calculated height…not to mention, do you account for the height at which the angle measurement is taken? Students then used their poster-making and claim-evidence reasoning skills to capture their final best method and solution for formal presentation. Answers varied…To check our work, we flew a school drone to the top of the tree and used its app to give a height. Though we had a near “winning” group, one question remained for discussion: what variables might affect a drone’s precision and accuracy in measuring height?
TOIL, TROUBLE, TEXT, AND THEME – STUDYING “MACBETH” IN 8TH GRADE
This week 8th graders began to read Macbeth, after a few introductory activities all about William Shakespeare. After researching the author and the historical context for his plays, students created infographics, including fun facts about Shakespeare’s works, the time period in which he wrote, and what is known (and unknown) about his life. They played a short round of “Bingo” to find connections between their classroom community and the playwright – e.g. find a classmate who knows where the Globe Theatre is; find someone who has seen one of his plays performed live… After reading Act I, Scene I, students watched the same scene in three different film adaptations, bringing their film analysis skills to bear on setting, costume, lighting, and how the mood is set. Students analyzed and debated which adaptation is most compelling and why. After reading independently for homework, students see the lines brought to life as they act out each scene in class, changing roles frequently, and discussing passages and lines to resolve their meaning and contribution to the larger work. Throughout the play, students are following one motif of their choosing (e.g. hands, eyes, blood, birds) to track how its repetition illuminates a theme. As one culminating exercise, they will write an analytical piece, authoring an original claim about a theme and supporting it with the textual evidence they gathered throughout their reading. Families might discuss what themes and character archetypes in Macbeth seem relevant to students’ lives today or why they think Shakespeare is still so commonly read as part of the English canon.