Community of Clothes

While studying economics, the third graders decided to start up their own non-profit by creating a company called Community of Clothes. The class has been collecting clothes for children and have collected over 500 pieces of clothing so far! They are practicing basic economic concepts by dividing up the tasks (division of labor), using specialization by narrowing down one category to focus on, and have charted and kept count of all the clothing.  The six members of the group were divided into three departments--advertising, collections and communications.  The advertising department designed posters and fliers to send home with the students.  The collections department kept careful count of all of the clothes that came in and tracked the progress.  The communications department checked in daily with the other classes to raise awareness.

Sorting the clothes

Our collections department tallying up the clothes

Thank you to the Hillel families and community for supporting this worthy cause. The girls are proud of their work and there will be many families who will be positively affected by their good deed.

Enjoying Dr. Seuss

The third and fourth graders took time out of a busy Friday to focus on reading silently for twenty minutes. Read Across America is a national program celebrated by many school children across the country.  The event coincides with the birthday of the wonderfully inspiring Dr. Seuss. The girls recounted how they learned to read with many of Dr. Seuss's works and were excited to celebrate his life by reading his books.  

The importance of reading is stressed throughout the day at Hillel, and it was fun to focus on reading for pure enjoyment.  

Exploring Ohio's history

We are fortunate to be in such close proximity with Carillon Park, a wonderful resource for exploring Ohio history.  The fourth graders visited the park last week, and were very interested in learning more about Ohio history.  We spent most of our time exploring the outside structures including the one-room schoolhouse, the transportation center, the Wright Flyer III, and the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop.  It was interesting to see how much transportation has changed over the years and recognize Dayton's role in American history.


One student enjoyed her time at Carillon because she learned that the Wright Brothers had three jobs during their lives--making the first successful airplane, making bikes and running a print shop.  

 They also learned that the one room schoolhouse would include children of all ages, and the students would sit in the room according to their ages.  

One of the fourth graders wrote:


"At Carillon Park, I learned about the planes that the Wright Brothers made.  The guide explained that people from all over the world come to see this plane that is at the museum."


As we stepped into the log cabin, the girls could see how this particular house had many different functions over the years, including a tavern, jail and a living space. One fourth grader liked seeing the small ladder that was used for the children to climb up to the loft to sleep.




We hope to share our experiences and knowledge of Dayton and Ohio history with our twin school in Israel over the next few months with a possible video project.  I am impressed with the students' curiosity about this subject and we have been having fun with learning more about our surroundings.   






For more information on Carillon Park and Dayton history, please visit:
http://www.daytonhistory.org/destinations/carillon-park.htm

Geology rocks!

Last Thursday, we had a visit from Katie Schoenenberger, a geologist at the University of Dayton.  Katie explained that she not only studies rocks and minerals but the Earth's processes (natural disasters, glaciers, fossils, etc.). Since we have been discussing root words, the students understood that the word geology not only applies to rocks and minerals, but to the study of the Earth  (geo=Earth, soil).  We explored and discussed the different types of rocks and minerals, how we identify and classify them and how the rock cycle works.  

Placing sedimentary rocks in their proper place.

Using hand lenses and field notebooks, the girls observed and recorded their findings.  We used our senses as we came up with descriptions of each of the rocks that Katie brought in to the classroom.   The girls also experienced how metamorphic rocks form using heat and pressure from their hands to change the shape and form of Starburst candies.  She also left us with samples that we will continue to work with throughout this unit of study.  The girls enjoyed the presentation because we met with a real geologist and learned things by actually looking, feeling, and exploring actual rocks and minerals.  

Forming a hypothesis about how minerals form.

Using hand lenses to get a better look.

Forming metamorphic rocks using Starburst candies.

Explaining how crystals form.

Using heat and pressure to form "metamorphic rocks".

Writing about reading

The third and fourth graders have devoted a lot of time to reading different genres of literature and writing thoughtful responses using the writing process.  In early December, the girls read fiction that focused on a different culture or country.  They researched questions that they may have had while reading, and presented their findings in a short oral presentation that was videotaped.  Before giving their oral presentations, we watched several author talks online (Kevin Henkes and Kadir Nelson) to learn about their writing process and how they summarized their books.  We also watched examples of students from other schools present books so we could see what goes into a strong oral presentation.  

 A presentation on Meet Josefina by Valerie Tripp, a book about Mexican culture.

We read The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow by Ann Turner, a book about a Navajo girl who lived in New Mexico during the 400 mile Long Walk in 1864.

After the oral reports, we explored vintage travel posters from the 1920's. Each student came up with a travel poster advertising the country or culture that they explored through fiction.

Our representation of Virginia Hamilton's Zeely. 

 Johannesburg, South Africa was explored in Journey to Jo'Burg by Beverley Naidoo.

Italy was represented by a report on Kathryn Lasky's Hope in My Heart.

Giving thanks

Over the past week, the third and fourth graders have explored the holiday of Thanksgiving through several activities.  We read two versions of the story of Thanksgiving and used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two perspectives.  Each student came up with excellent theories on why there are different interpretations and we had meaningful discussions on why it is important to learn more holidays and history  from other perspectives.

Our Venn diagram comparing and contrasting The Story of the First Thanksgiving and  1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving

The third and fourth graders also practiced writing thank you notes to each staff member at Hillel, as well as our family members.  The girls listed specific examples on why they are thankful and once again worked through the somewhat arduous writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and at last working on a final copy).  I think all of the recipients will be appreciative of the hard work the girls have put forth in this task.

The students and collected canned goods

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. As always, thanks for the opportunity to work with each student; we are growing so much each day!

Cereal box reports!

Our class worked hard on their cereal box reports. Each student designed their own cereal box that described the book they read for their reports.  The students were expected to come up with a creative title or name for their cereal following the theme of their book. For example, Lily's cereal (for James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl) was "Crazy Peaches" and Nina named her cereal (ingredients were whole grain hay) based on Charlotte's Web, "Charlotte Mix".

Adding a creative component to the standard book report assignment seemed to spark their imaginations. Our younger friends in Miss Tita's and Mrs. Wilson's class enjoyed exploring the older girls' projects as they shared their interest in reading.  The students also worked on developing a longer essay detailing what they read.

Our next theme for our book reports is exploring different cultures through fiction.  Check back with us soon to see our hard work as we set up a world's fair!