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.