And The Winner Is?

The year 2012 marks the 50^th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s revolutionary work, Silent Spring. In celebration of this momentous occasion, the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (Wells Reserve at Laudholm) and Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) are partnering to offer a statewide environmental essay contest for seventh grade students in Maine.

Seventh grade student essay contest applicants, please choose one of these three quotes from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and explain what it means to you:

• Quote 1: “By acquiescing in an act that can cause such suffering to a living creature, who among us is not diminished as a human being?”
• Quote 2: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
• Quote 3: “In nature, nothing exists alone.”

Requirements: Times New Roman 12 pt font, 400-600 words, double-spaced, with name and page number on each page. On the title page, please include your name, address, phone number, email, school name, and school phone number, in addition to your essay title. Please specify which quote you are responding to. Wells Reserve at Laudholm and Rachel Carson NWR reserve the right to publicize submissions on their websites and other outreach materials.

Scoring: Essays will be judged by the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Education Advisory Committee, using a point scale based on the following criteria: creativity, heart, style, punctuation/spelling, and clarity. Remember, your essay must consist of your own thoughts and words.
Prizes:

• Grand prize: iPad
• First place: Digital camera
• Second place: Binoculars
• Third place: Gift certificate to a local bookstore

All winning students will also receive a hard cover copy of Silent Spring. Prizes will be presented to the winners at their schools by the Wells Reserve at Laudholm and Rachel Carson NWR education staff members.
Deadline: December 1, 2012. Winners will be notified by December 14, 2012.


Pictured are Nick Prato, the Grand Prize winner, along with Mrs. Newick, his 7th grade Social Studies teacher. Nick chose Quote 3 for his essay. Congratulations Nick!

Farewell and Welcome

Linda Armstrong, HMS Nutrition Manager, is retiring after almost 26 years of service in the School Nutrition Program. Linda has seen and participated in many changes over the years!  She has worked at every school in Yarmouth, and has been at HMS since it was built in 1992. Linda was promoted to School Nutrition Manager in 1999.  Linda's leadership has been outstanding over the years; we will miss her wonderfully positive outlook, and her terrific sense of humor!  We're enormously grateful for all that Linda has done for Yarmouth, and for HMS. We wish Linda good health, happiness, fun and adventure in her retirement! Linda's last day at HMS will be Friday, 1/4/12. 

Kathy Latham and Linda Armstrong

                 

HMS is pleased to welcome Kathy Latham as our new School Nutrition Manager.  Kathy has been employed with the School Nutrition Program for the past 10 years, and has worn many hats within the department. Kathy has worked primarily at YHS. The School Nutrition Team is already proud of Kathy's accomplishments to date, and is very happy about her promotion. The HMS community is excited to have Kathy on board!

Witches, Britches, Rings, n Things

Kim Han Fuller

Sophia Noack and Ceanne Lyon

Congratulations to the cast, and crew of the 6th grade play, along with Deb Sevee, our director extraordinaire, for their outstanding work on Witches, Britches, Rings, n Things!

Our students brought this show to life with their entertaining portrayal of these funny, heart-warming characters. The audience was delighted by their performances, and by the wonderful sets. The work of the back stage crew transformed our cafe into fairy- tale perfection!

We thank our talented students for their perseverance during some challenging circumstances, and for their investment in supporting each other, and this show.

Endless gratitude to Deb, Pete, Avery, and John Sevee-none of this would be possible without you!

Thank you to Kathy Gardner for her on-going support (years worth!) of the HMS productions, and to all of our parent volunteers!

Finally, to our 6th grade students in the audience-you exhibited some of the best audience behavior we've seen-thank you so much for your support of your peers!

Tis The Season

(HHH - Help the Homeless for the Holidays)
The Student Leadership Team under the direction of Nini Emmons is collecting donations for Preble Street and Yarmouth Cares About Neighbors. Items needed:  travel sized toiletries, new hats and mittens and canned goods.  The drive will be between November 30th through December 14th. Drop off donations in the Harrison Middle School, 220 McCartney St.  Thank you for helping to give those in need a happier holiday season. 

 The K-12 Student Services Team (nurses, social workers, school counselors) and building staff are participating in Project Holiday.  This program has helped to brighten the holidays for Yarmouth families. 

The "HMS Giving Tree" is decorated with red and green ornaments, thanks to the creative skills of Kathy Gardner and Sue Granai, and each ornament has a number, a child's age and a wished for item.
The ornaments were hung on Monday; all spoken for by Tuesday!

Digital Citizenship: What Does It Look Like at HMS?

We’re focusing our Digital Citizenship work on the Yarmouth Core Values. We began this year looking at the core value of Responsibility. Responsible people know, understand, consider and accept the impact and consequences of their personal actions and decisions.

How do digital citizens behave responsibly? Teachers are embedding this work into the all content subjects:

5th Grade

Email

Posting appropriately to HMS Student and grade level mail lists

Uses email appropriately

Passwords

Create strong passwords

Never share passwords

Never use someone else's password

Research, Plagiarism and Citing Sources

    Paraphrase when taking notes

    Verify sources for accuracy and bias

    Give proper credit to sources used

    Make completed projects your own (they should not closely resemble other    

people’s work)

Internet Use

No Games without teacher permission (educational games only)

Access appropriate sites at school (only access sites appropriate to share with teachers and parents)

Report Inappropriate Behavior (cyberbullying, inappropriate language, ETC.)

6th Grade

Email

Posting appropriately to HMS Student and grade level mail lists

Uses email appropriately

Passwords

Create strong passwords

Never share passwords

Never use someone else’s password

Research, Plagiarism and Citing Sources

    Paraphrase when taking notes

    Verify sources for accuracy and bias

    Give proper credit to sources used

    Make completed projects your own (they should not closely resemble other    

people’s work)

Internet Use

No Games without teacher permission (educational games only)

Access appropriate sites at school (only access sites appropriate to share with teachers and parents)

Report Inappropriate Behavior (cyberbullying, inappropriate language, ETC.)

7th Grade

Email 

Posting appropriately to HMS Student and grade level mail lists

Uses email appropriately

Check daily as teachers communicate via email a lot

Passwords - Laptop rollout

Create strong passwords

Never share passwords (except with parents)

Never use someone else’s password

Research, Plagiarism and Citing Sources (Research Projects - Science?  Social Studies?)

Paraphrase when taking notes

    Verify sources for accuracy and bias

    Give proper credit to sources used

    Make completed projects your own (they should not closely resemble other    

people’s work)

Internet Use

No games without teacher permission (educational games only)

Accesses appropriate sites at home and at school (only access sites appropriate to share with teachers and parents)

Report inappropriate behavior (cyberbullying, inappropriate language, ETC.)

Laptop Expectations

Adhere to laptop expectations as outlined in HMS MacBook Expectations and Consequences.

Social Networking 

Use privacy settings to protect your information

Communicate and post appropriately (commenting skills)

8th Grade

Email

Post appropriately to HMS Student and grade level mail lists

Use email appropriately

Passwords

Create strong passwords

Never share passwords

Never use someone else’s password

Research, Plagiarism and Citing Sources

    Paraphrase when taking notes

    Verify sources for accuracy and bias

    Give proper credit to sources used

    Make completed projects your own (they should not closely resemble other    

people’s work)

Internet Use

No games without teacher permission (educational games only)

Access appropriate sites at home and at school (only access sites appropriate to share with teachers and parents)

Report inappropriate behavior (cyberbullying, inappropriate language, etc.)

Laptop Expectations

Adhere to laptop expectations as outlined in HMS MacBook Expectations and Consequences.

Social Networking

Use privacy settings to protect your information

                       Communicate and post appropriately

Technology Plus

The Yarmouth Technology Lead Learner teachers will be part of a K-12 technology visioning and implementation team, working closely with the three district Instructional Technology Integrators and building administrators. Selected teachers will meet monthly to discuss what is needed to keep moving forward with using technology for learning and differentiation. Team members will stay on the new team for two years, with new members being added each year.

8th grade Science and Social Studies teacher, Megan Rice, has been selected to represent HMS on this district-wide team. Her teaching and technology integration skills will make her a strong asset to this team.

Thankful Again

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Brenda Whitney and the HMS PTO! The HMS staff has yet one more reason to be thankful.

World Traveler Visits HMS

Our visitor was Bill Nichols.  He runs his own consulting company, providing marketing strategy services to financial organizations, most recently in several African countries where he also voluntereed his time & business expertise to assist non-profit organizations and NGOs.  He is an avid traveler and has visited nearly 100 countries.  In honor of Geography Awareness Week's theme this year around global interdependence, Bill prepared a fantastic presentation for the entire fifth grade entitled: "Your Rice Dinner Connects the World...in more ways than you can imagine."  Bill started with a picture of his dinner plate, filled with universal rice, spices, veggies and protein (fish in this case).  Then he traced his food to its origin, starting with the rice.  He showed the kids pictures of rice farming in several Asian and African countries he has visited as he explained the process of growing, harvesting and exporting rice. Then he used the spices, vegetables and fish from his meal to discuss the lives of the farmers who grow these crops and catch the fish, focusing on Africa.  He helped the students understand where their food comes from and how they are connected to people very different from themselves.  The students were engaged and asked thoughtful questions because there was so much to learn!

St. Bakhita Letter Exchange Continues

Last year students at HMS began a letter exchange program with the St. Bakhita Nursery and Primary School, which is located in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Bweyale, Uganda. Schools for Refugees (http://schoolsforrefugees.org/) was set up by Charlie and Susan Roscoe of Yarmouth, with the goal of supporting the education of these children. Several letters have been exchanged between the two schools.

Charlie Roscoe and Bill Morrill presented information on their recent trip to St Bakhita to HMS students on 11.13. They shared pictures of the children at St. Bakhita reading letters from our students, and using the tables and chairs built with the money that HMS students raised last spring. Bosco Oringa, a former student of the school, and a recent graduate of the University of New England, joined Charlie and Bill today as a surprise guest. Our students met Bosco last year when he presented with Charlie; they were excited to see him again. 

Our HMS community continues to be enriched by the special relationship between the two schools. Our thanks to Paula Vicenzi for bringing this opportunity to HMS, and to Charlie and Susan Roscoe, Bill Morrill, and Bosco Oringa for all of their support!

HMS Book Fair

Our annual HMS Book Fair began today, and the excitement in the building was palpable! Students flocked to the library to explore possible purchases, and set aside the books they've been waiting to take home. The Book Fair will run from Monday, November 5 through Thursday, November 8, from 8:00-3:00 daily.
 
We'll host a special Book Fair Family Event on the evening of Wednesday, November 7th, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in the HMS Library. Parents and children are welcome to munch on complimentary cookies and browse through this year's book fair selections. There will be a drawing for a $10 book fair gift certificate every half hour. Special items will also be available just for the evening event. We hope to see you there! 

Special thanks to all of our volunteers who help to run the fair.

Heather Shields and Jessie Alberding

All proceeds from the book fair go toward library materials and special library events.

Spooky presentation to science classes

Dr. Paolucci continued her Halloween tradition of presenting to the eighth grade science classes on the physical and chemical changes in matter. Her experiments gave our students the opportunity to witness some spooky effects, while learning about the specifics of this work.

Fond Farewell To Caroline Reinfelder

Caroline Reinfelder, valued member of our main office support staff, is beginning an exciting new venture. She'll start work at Planson International, in New Gloucester, on Monday, 11/5. Caroline's position at Planson will allow her to put her foreign language and research skills to good use, helping

the company source and supply everything from computers to bee hives for the U.N., and emerging nations in Africa and the Caribbean.

HMS students and staff wished Caroline well, and thanked her for all she has done for us over the years, during a day long celebration on Friday, 11/2 (one day was not nearly long enough to show our gratitude!). HMS and Yarmouth schools will miss Caroline so much; her new colleagues are in for a rare treat!

Then There Were Five (Really Six)

The Frank H. Harrison Middle School has been selected as an Apple Distinguished School for the 2012-2013 school year. We join 43 schools that Apple selected nationwide as exemplary learning environments and centers of innovation, leadership, and educational experience.

The selection notification says, "The administration and faculty at Frank H. Harrison Middle School have shown that they exhibit the five best practices of an Apple Distinguished School: visionary leadership, innovative learning and teaching, ongoing professional learning, compelling evidence of success, and a flexible learning environment."

"Apple has engaged with educators for over 30 years to explore and enhance the experience of teaching and learning. We believe in a world in which all learners are empowered to discover their own special genius. Our education mission is to provide a learning environment that supports the way students live and how they want to learn. We applaud schools such as Frank H. Harrison Middle School who are able to advance this mission, ensuring that all students are prepared for future success in work and life."

The fifth plaque is in the mail - Apple began awarding the plaques five years ago, a year after we were first selected as an Apple Distinguished School.

HMS Mock Election (Campaign 2012)

HMS students and staff voted on Wednesday in the HMS Mock Election (Campaign 2012). Voting booths were borrowed from the Town of Yarmouth and specimen ballots were used.

Mrs. Newick and the 7th grade teachers and students set up the mock election to help the students become more aware of the voting process. This activity directly related to the civic/government learning area outcome in social studies.


Students and staff at the voting booths.

Results:
President/Vice President:

•  Johnson/Gray (Libertarian) 4 votes
• Obama/Biden (Democrat) 313 votes
• Romney/Ryan (Republican) 100 votes
• Stein/Honkala (Green Independent) 4 votes

United States Senator:

• Dalton (Non-Party) 7 votes
• Dill (Democrat) 39 votes
• Dodge (Independent for Liberty) 4 votes
• King (Independent for Maine) 228 votes
• Summers (Republican) 28 votes
• Woods (Independent) 129 votes

Representative to Congress:

• Courtney (Republican) 93
• Pingree (Democrat)297 votes

State Senator:

• Tyll (Republican) 131 votes
• Woodbury (Independent) 266 votes

Representative to the Legislature:

• Cooper (Democrat) 292 votes
• Hough (Republican) 124 votes

Register of Probate:

• O'Brien (Democrat) 339 votes

Question 1: Citizen Initiative: Yes 382 to 84
Question 2: Bond Issue: Yes 264 to 159
Question 3: Bond Issue: Yes 317 to 103
Question 4: Bond Issue: Yes 285 to 161
Question 5: Bond Issue: Yes 338 to 108

Special Referendum Election:
Article 2: Yes  354 to 131
Article 3: Yes 264 to 164

Harvest Luncheon

The HMS PTO provided a Harvest Luncheon for staff on Wednesday, October 24.

It was truly appreciated by all and all eaten!

Thank you HMS PTO and all parents who supplied the food and beverage.

Visiting Poet Laureate

Martin Steingesser, Portland's first poet laureate,  gave a performance and workshop to the 7th grade on Wedsnesday in the library. He shared some of his poems and then lead the students in poetry writing. 

A collection of his poems, Brothers of Morning, is published by Deerbrook Editions (North Yarmouth, ME, July 2002). His poems have been cited in a number of national competitions, including the Northeastern States Poetry Contest, First Place, 1985; one conducted by Westminster College, in Salt Lake City, Second Place, 1989-90 (May Swenson, judge); The Margurette Cummins Quarterly Broadside Award, Amelia Magazine, First Place, 1997; 1999 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, Patterson Literary Review, Finalist; Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance 2000 Poetry Competition, Second Place; Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance 2003 Poetry Competition, Second Place.

He says, "Writing and presenting poems is a way I touch and make present a sense of grace I want in my life. I remember once being intrigued by Wallace Stevens saying poetry was a sacrament in his life. It has come to that. There are moments I love in poems I have made.when they are given, when windows, doors, walls blow off, and I am in a warm, boundless space with whoever is listening" 

 Martin working with the 7th grade teachers.

      Martin working with 7th grade students.
 

Teen Read Week comes to HMS!

 In honor of National Teen Read week (October 15th-October 19th) HMS is holding the seventh annual Literary Cafe in the HMS Library. The library is decorated for the occasion, and offers cozy, inviting, reading nooks for our seventh and eighth grade students to access as they spend some time engrossed in their favorites books. Enjoying a snack and some hot chocolate complete this special celebration. Thanks to all of you who have donated treats for this occasion!

Not Your Typical Physical (Education)

Imagine being blindfolded and having a classmate talk you through this course. If you bump an object, you must do a 360 and then continue. And, you must pick up certain objects from one place and put it down in another.

This is not the typical physical education class that you see in most schools - it is the program that we offer students.

This unit of study is Team Building. This particular activity is called Mission Impossible.

The Essential Learning for this unit is:

1. Students will demonstrate safe, respectful and responsible behavior as they cooperate  with their peers to complete a variety of team building initiatives.
2. Students will use respectful conflict resolution and communication skills as they work together in the team building process. 

To learn more about what's offered for students in Physical Education check out Brian Skilling's Teacher Page on the HMS HomePage.

HMS Civil Rights Team

Last year as a Civil Rights Team Program affiliate we had this focus:

• Creating a safer school environment for all students.
• Helping all students understand the terrible toll bullying can take on its victims.
• Encouraging students to stand up for their classmates who are being teased, bullied, or harassed.
• Being part of the solution and not the problem.
• Zero indifference.
• A school with a conscience.

This year we will be a "full-fledged" Civil Rights Team. 

• What is our focus? Bias and bias behaviors, especially those related to the protected civil rights categories.
• Where is our focus? In the school Community.
• What do we do? Address issues of bias in our school community through education, awareness, dialogue, and discussion.
• Who is on the Team? Any student may join the HMS CRT, participation is 100% voluntary.
• What do we call ourselves? The HMS Civil Rights Team - we will develop our slogan and/or logo.
• Meetings: We meet every Thursday from 2:30 to 3:00.

State expectations of our Civil Rights Team?

1. Create a Team Identity: This includes basic education at the beginning of the year. Students need to understand why they are on a civil rights team. They have to want to be there, and they need to believe in the core mission of the Civil Rights Team Project. After that they can come together as a team.
2. Increase the Team's Profile: We think it's important that your school knows about the civil rights team. Everyone should know that the school has a civil rights team; as much as they know that there is a basketball team. Not only should everyone know that the school has a team, but they should know what the civil rights team is for and about. Ideally, everyone know who is on the team and what they do.
3. Identify School Issues: The civil rights team shouldn't be operating under any assumptions. You need to know what's going on in the school. Each school is unique, and so it will take some work to identify the civil rights and climate issues most relevant to your school.
4. Address School Issues: This is the most important thing that civil rights teams do. They need to be active in addressing the important issues in the school. This should not be abstract or indirect; there should be clear activities and projects that take dead aim at civil rights and climate issues relevant to the school.
5. Respond When Thing Go Wrong: Teams should be ready to respond when something goes wrong in the school. Incidents deserve immediate attention. This might mean dropping whatever the team is working on to offer some sort of public and visible response.

This means that we will be focusing on behaviors motivated by bias. For example, was the name-calling motivated by race and color, ancestry and national origin, religion, physical and mental disability, gender, sexual orientation, personal appearance or family status.

Other behaviors that we will focus on are teasing/mockery, jokes, stereotypes and exclusion. Again, through the lens of bias.

Common Core State Standards

 You've probably heard or read about the Common Core State Standards. If you have wondered what it means for students and educators, please keep reading.

Teachers know that, in the 90s, state standards were developed to guide instruction. Each state had its own.  A few years ago, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers began work on national standards to increase consistency.  These new national standards are challenging.

According to the Common Core Web site, the "standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers."

The Common Core site also states that "these standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards:

• are aligned with college and work expectations;
• are clear, understandable and consistent;
• include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
• build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
• are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
• are evidence-based.

Where to Begin:
During our 2012-2013 HMS faculty meetings we will focus on Reading Informational Texts and Informational Writing as these two strands run through the curriculum.

Informational Texts

1. Reading Closely and Making Logical Inferences
2. Reading to Determine Central Ideas and Themes
3. Reading to Analyze How Individuals, Events, and Ideas Develop and Interact Over the Course of a Text
4. Reading to Interpret the Language Used in the Text
5. Reading to Analyze the Structure of a Text
6. Reading to Assess the Author's Point of View and How It Shapes the Text
7. Reading to Integrate Knowledge and Ideas and Think Across Informational Text

Informational Writing

1. It Is Especially Important That Information Writers Learn to Sort, Categorize, and Elaborate on Information
2. Writing About a Topic Extends Learning About It - and Therefore, Informational Writing Belongs In and Beyond the ELA Classroom

Seventh Grade Students Study Invasive Species

Seventh grade students at Harrison Middle School will be expanding their knowledge of local invasive species by connecting with Kyle Warren, Head Steward for the Royal River Conservation Trust.

On Thursday, September 27, Kyle and a fellow environmental educator will be guest lecturers in all seventh grade science classes. On the following Thursday, our students will travel across town to the Spear Farm Estuary Preserve to get a firsthand look at the multiple invasive plant species there. They will be charged with the task of identifying and even removing some of these species while “in the field”. Mr. McDonough and Mr. Cuthbert are also looking at the possibility of adding a service component to the project by organizing a student-involved trail maintenance outing in the coming weeks.

We'll keep you posted on this exciting project!

Hello HMS Library

Our fifth grade students say "hello" to the HMS library in a meaningful way during the first few weeks of school. During the first six weeks of school, fifth grade classes meet with Ms. Stuhr to become acquainted with their new library.  They are given opportunities to explore major sections (fiction, nonfiction, and biography), as well as hone their search skills using the library's web-based online catalog.   Pictured: Students pore over a sampling of books from the nonfiction section of the HMS Library.

How Did They Do That?

How Did They Do That?
This is a group project by Elaine Fletcher's 8th grade Art classes. Each student received a 2" square with a portion of the larger picture on it. Each student enlarged their square onto a 9" piece of white drawing paper, carefully observing the values within it and the location of the values. No one knew what the picture would be until it went up, and all the pieces came together to form the whole.

Each student had a responsibility to the group to do his/her best work, and every square was important in its own way.

Why Did They Do It?
This lesson reviewed the Value Studio (learned during the 7th grade Still Life Drawing Unit), and introduced the grid enlargement technique, which will be used by individual students later in the semester.

It also was a great way to begin discussing artistic vision, individual style, and the viewpoint many artists use. The viewer (those walking by, as well as, the student artists themselves) can note the difference between viewing this work up close and standing back from it. The Viewer's eye makes connections that our drawing doesn't quite make.

Student Pledges

In our continued efforts to create a safer school environment for all students, to help all students understand the terrible toll bullying can take on its victims, and to encourage students to help their classmates who are being teased, bullied, or harassed, we began the year asking students to "pledge to do my best to treat ALL my peers with respect and dignity in person and online."

Pictured above are the pledges from each Advisory Group. During the school year we will do activities in Advisory Groups that reinforce zero indifference to any unkind behavior. The theme of "zero indifference" - how do we help students not to be indifferent to these types of behavior, to be willing to say to those who are using these behaviors "not here, that's not us" - is the climate at HMS that we value and diligently work to preserve.

To address the online behaviors we also have a school-wide focus on Digital Citizenship with the Core Value of Responsibility the main focus. This "curriculum" will be shared in an upcoming blog.

Creating a safer school environment for all students.

Helping all students understand the terrible toll bullying can take on its victims.

Encouraging students to step in to assist the victim.

Encouraging students to stand up for their classmates who are being teased, bullied, or harassed.

Being part of the solution and not the problem.

Zero indifference.

A school with a conscience.

Black and White or Color

Whether it's the first day of school or the fourth day of school when you ask your child how school is going you might get a black and white monosyllabic reply - "fine", "great" etc. What you may not get is a lot of color (descriptive language) about their school day.

We would like to provide you with some HMS color:

• In a 5th grade classroom - students put three personal artifacts in a paper bag to share with their classmates -  classmates begin to know some interesting facts about each other
• In a 7th grade classroom - teacher and students establishing classroom rules, expectations and procedures; sitting together to determine how to work better together
• In a 5th grade classroom - visiting  the library to be introduced to all the new books
• In 7th and 8th grade classrooms - the smiles as 7th and 8th grade students are assigned or re-assigned the laptops and the next day students learning how to use technology to graph data with GraphIt.
• In an 8th grade classroom - drawing large-scale maps to represent the great state of Maine
• In the Physical Education classroom - boundless energy in "capture the chicken" and the same amount of energy for sportsmanship
• In STEAM - building and preparing rockets to fly
• In General Music - beginning guitar lessons, students putting together several notes that begin sounding like a song
• In Health Science - understanding what behaviors impact physical, emotional and social health
• In Art class - comparing how art and artists changed over time
• In an 8th grade classroom - students learning what's on the Teacher's Page and how to navigate to all the books in the classroom library
• In an 7th grade classroom - students learning how to write a constructed response with an introduction, supporting detail and a conclusion - knowing this is the expectation in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies
• In a 7th grade classroom - students understanding that communication and work will be shared for feedback with students and teacher using google docs
• In an 8th grade classroom - students mathematically solving how to package an object with in the most effective and efficient way
• In a 7th grade classroom - students learning about history through a grandmother's wedding dress - understanding that the dress represented a moment in time that has its very own history
• In a 5th grade classroom - students seeing how a novel is put together so that the reader is engaged - how the author crafts a story using specific techniques
• In a 5th grade classroom - students learning how to use the Student Planner to organize school and homework
• In the 7th grade - students participated in a variety of team building activities designed to help students get to know each other, and hone their collaboration skills. The students were totally engaged in field activities like "Stepping Stones" "Arena", and "The Pipeline", designed with a focus on working together effectively, creative problem solving, and higher order thinking skills.
• In the cafeteria - staff members supported our new 5th grade students during lunch by helping to familiarize them with the cafe and reminding them of their new pin numbers.
• The 5th grade students met their 8th grade buddies, and toured the building by participating in a Scavenger Hunt. 
• In 6th grade - students met the "Recess Queen" who provided them with a review of the rules to keep themselves and their peers safe on the playground.
• In the 7th grade - students received their laptops, along with a complete rundown on the rules governing computer use. They'll participate in a "Google" Seminar, facilitated by Mike Arsenault, to continue their learning next week.
• In the 8th grade - students played a staff trivia game to get to know the staff members in the building they can use as resources. 

And with 171 more days we can only imagine the kaleidoscope of colors that are coming and for this we thank our students and teachers.

Fall Sports Information

 On Tuesday evening at 6:00 students, parents and coaches met to kick off the fall sports season.
The sports offered are 6/7/8 Field Hockey, 6/7/8 Cross Country, 6/7/8 Tennis, 7/8 Boys' and Girls' Soccer. Approximately 155 student-athletes attended - this represents about 70% of the 7th and 8th grade students and a lesser number of 6th grade students.

"Numerous authors and organizations have cited the potential benefits of participation in sport and physical activity programs. A representative list of such benefits, developed by the World Health Organization includes the following:

• Improvement of motor skills and physical fitness;
• Enhancement of normal physical and social growth and maturation;
• Improvement of socialization, self-esteem, self-perception and psychological well-being;
• Establishment of a basis for a healthy lifestyle and lifelong commitment to physical activity.

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control lists the following benefits of physical activity, specifically for middle school students:

• Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints;
• Helps control weight, build lean muscle, and reduce fat;
• Prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure and helps reduce blood pressure on some adolescents with hypertension;
• Appears to reduce depression and anxiety, improve mood, and enhance the ability to perform daily tasks throughout the lifespan;
• May contribute to a physically active lifestyle and may continue into adulthood.

Schedule Star

Go to the HMS Webpage:Athletics:Upcoming Events:

 http://schedules.schedulestar.com/Yarmouth-Yarmouth-ME/season/07-30-2012/

1. Select Team(s) Be patient as you will need to slide directly across.
2. Level
3. Gender

New Student and Parent/Guardian Meet and Greet

HMS welcomed students and parents/guardians who are new to Yarmouth at a Meet and Greet on Monday, 8/27.

Laura Mike and HMS student volunteers grades 5-8 welcomed our new students and provided them with a fun, informative agenda. Our new students played games with the HMS student volunteers, went on student-led tours of the building, and learned about HMS as they enjoyed their lunch together. This experience will support our new students' transitions to HMS, and ensure that they feel more comfortable at the start of the school year.

The HMS PTO held a New Parent/Guardian Meet and Greet at the same time the new students were settling in; we had a great turnout for this event! PTO members along with other parent volunteers met with new parents/guardians to provide them with information about life at HMS, and answer questions. The new parents/guardians also went on a tour of the building, and received information about contact people, and resources they can access during the school year. 

Thanks to everyone who helped to welcome our new students, and their families!

Teachers Are Back

The HMS teachers returned to school on Tuesday, August 28, for three in-service days. The three-day focus included a reconnection activity, numerous updates of information, team meetings, and learning area meetings.

The teams worked on refining Units of Study with a focus on differentiation, inquiry, assessment data, and the Common Core State Standards (which outline what we want students to know or be able to do).

The Learning Areas of language arts, mathematics, science and social studies worked with the Common Core State Standards.

In addition, all teams learned more about our Digital Citizenship initiative.

Definitions for terms used above:

Unit of Study: Example: The 5th grade Science unit "Magnets and Motors" focuses on these essential learnings:

1. Understand how magnets push and pull.
2. Explain connections between electricity and magnets. 
3. Describe the properties of magnets. 
4. Understand that magnets have opposite poles that may be used to determine direction. 
5. Recognize that an electromagnet can be used to make motors and generate electricity. 
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the priority vocabulary for the Magnets and Motors Unit.

Students have common assessments that are scored by the teachers who share results, discuss what worked well, what needs improvement, and instructional strategies. 

Differentiation: Differentiation is the philosophy of teaching we use at HMS to understand, support and guide the wide range of learners in our school community.  We seek to gain insight about each student's interests, strengths, learning styles and needs in order to offer our students appropriate choices and engaging learning opportunities.  The ultimate goal is to empower students with this knowledge about themselves as learners and thinkers so they understand how to use their strengths, pursue their passions, and meet their needs as life-long learners.

Inquiry: In order to harness children's natural curiosity about the world around them, we design learning opportunities at HMS within the framework of the Inquiry Process.  This process follows the way we all learn new things that catch our interest: we jump right in to get a sense of the new experience and make connections to things we already know; we ask questions about what we see, hear and feel; we poke around for answers to our questions by trying things out, talking to people and digging for information; we make sense of the answers we find; we look for ways to apply and share our new learning with others; we think about new questions that have surfaced, and decide where we want to go next with our learning.  So you will see the key words of this process peppered throughout our school as a reminder of this natural framework of learning: CONNECT, WONDER, INVESTIGATE, CREATE MEANING, EXPRESS, REFLECT.  The focus of the Inquiry Process, like our philosophy of differentiation, is to turn over the power of learning to the students. This is what engages learners at HMS.

Assessment Data: HMS teachers look at student and grade level scores in reading, writing and Science that come from the Standardized Test students take during the school year. This information impacts instruction for individuals and classes. Teachers search for patterns that show success, as well as, challenges for students.

Common Core State Standards:
Teachers know that, in the 90s, state standards were developed to guide instruction.  Some teachers liked them; some hated them.  Each state, though, had its own.  A few years ago, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers began work on national standards to increase consistency.  These new national standards are challenging--and necessary.

According to the Common Core Web site, the "standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to support them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers."

Along with allowing for instructional consistency among states, the states help align instruction vertically so one grade's instruction leads to the next.

The Common Core site also states that "these standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards:

• are aligned with college and work expectations;
• are clear, understandable and consistent;
• include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
• build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
• are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
• are evidence-based.

Digital Citizenship: Digital Citizenship is a concept that helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology.