Today, the scholars & poets (& artists) of the hive will be using their critical thinking skills to analyze poetic themes and then connect the poem to photographic images from National Geographic. Just another day in the lives of college-bound scholars....
Poem: Days Billy Collins Each one is a gift, no doubt, mysteriously placed in your waking hand or set upon your forehead moments before you open your eyes. Today begins cold and bright, the ground heavy with snow and the thick masonry of ice, the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds. Through the calm eye of the window everything is in its place but so precariously this day might be resting somehow on the one before it, all the days of the past stacked high like the impossible tower of dishes entertainers used to build on stage. No wonder you find yourself perched on the top of a tall ladder hoping to add one more. Just another Wednesday you whisper, then holding your breath, place this cup on yesterday’s saucer without the slightest clink. Photographs: *Official photo credits will later be added so that the titles won't influence scholars' decisions. Last year, Region 13 approached the Hive for a "Teaching Innovations" series and the footage is finally ready! They loved the Hive so much that they filmed not one but TWO videos. Check out the Class of 2021's epic class initiatives on film: It's finally time. Time for HIVExRADIO to take a giant leap further into the world of public radio! Today we're going to begin an in-depth study of the iconic show, This American Life, to help our brainstorming process. We'll be listening to an episode called Batman while we critically analyze and discuss the structure and content of the show. Stop at 22 minutes...but pause and talk a few times before, too! Today, we will be sifting through a variety of Civil Rights texts from different perspectives...all of which used persuasive tactics and language. Some of the texts have shocking perspectives on equal rights, but it's important to understand the severity of differences when looking at history. It's also important to think about how these perspectives have evolved over time when looking at social justice issues in today's society.
Time For Kids Article: Sitting Down to Take a Stand Time For Kids: Interactive Timeline Rise & Fall of Jim Crow: the KKK Today we are going to look at an amazing article written by 11-year-old Sophia Rothman. This piece is an in-depth perspective on a growing problem in America: Youth Homelessness. Read, discuss, and analyze using the below google doc. Between Ms. Smith's DC conference, a groundbreaking pop-up launch of HIVExRADIO, Winter Break, forever and not-so-forever goodbyes, book buddies, HIVEtalk preparation, and new sharpening gear, we haven't had an overabundance of time to sit down and blog (although we have been keeping up in the twiterverse). Here's the gritty rundown of what's been buzzin' in the HIVE: Ms. Smith traveled to Washington DC to learn more about being a language arts teacher AND she even presented herself. She ran into our good friend Jon Scieszka and spent a lot of quality time with Ms. Detra and Ms. Holmes. But here's the best part: Ms. Smith met the famous, award-winning author, Jacqueline Woodson....AND HAD LUNCH WITH HER. Apparently it was super cold there, too. We've been continuing to meet with our way awesome 1st grade reading buddies about important social topics...they're so smart it's crazy! Check them out on Twitter: @cobrakiddos We've also been preparing for our January 29th HIVEtalk lecture series. We've hosted many forums to discuss details and even designed some signage to advertise our event. Some of the Hive also did some social activism, too! Here are Ms. Smith, Imaan, and Imaan's little sister at the #blacklivesmatter rally in downtown Austin. It was truly electric! Mr. Howard--the most famous mathematician to ever walk the halls of Cunningham--retired. We loved his calm demeanor, his hiking boots, his keen eye for problems solving , his bottomless front pocket of pens, his casual-day wolf shirts, and his manly moustache. Come visit us if you're not too busy hunting, fishing, or building, Mr. Howard!!!! And please let Ms. Smith dress up as you again for the Fall Carnival. That was our favoritist costume. Our HIVExRADIO pop-up show at our school's Market Day was a ginormous success! We gained tons of new donors, and even raised close to $3,500 in cobra cash. We think our next Market Day will be even more of a hit now that all of our donor appreciation swag is coming in. We're also playing around with a few other podcast ideas, so stay tuned for those updates. Not everything in the Hive is always happiness and sunshine. Over winter break, Ms. Smith had to say goodbye to her best friend, partner-in-crime, prince of costumes, 13-year old Mitchasaurus. We loved him so much and the best days ever were when we would come to visit. Ms. Artigas even painted a beautiful portrait of the last moments between Mitch and his momma. We love you Ms. Smith, and we will forever miss you Mitch. So as not to end on a total downer, 2 things: 1) Former scholars of Ms. Smith--the Rico Twins--came by to say hello. They're in high school now, so they pretty much are the coolest & the tallest. 2) WE GOT A NEW SHARPENER! And it doesn't make dying goat noises when when it tries to sharpen our pencils. THE. END....for now.
Over the next few days, the Hive Society will be delving into history and learning about the Holocaust through a variety of different texts and resources. Today we will be analyzing primary artifacts, interviews, photographs, maps and timelines. Soon we will be exploring literary historical fiction and poetry. Through this extensive research, we hope to gain a stronger understanding of this horribly dark time in history. Below are a few of the digital resources that we will be using to spark our deeper understanding of the Holocaust:
Time Periods of the Holocaust The Michael Gruenbaum collection The Voyage of St. Louis Children's ID Cards Over what has now been almost a full semester, we have held casual conversations about the events in Ferguson. We all have feelings on this issue and it's time to sit down, become even more informed, and hold a forum on this topic and all surrounding topics. Here are some resources that we pulled together over the last few weeks as we venture into this sensitive, yet extremely important, discussion. We will be adding to this throughout the next few days in the comment section. IndyKids Blurb IndyKids Article Quartz Article ABCnews Article ChalkBeat Article HuffPost Statistics Psychology Article Today, scholars of the Hive will be continuing their exploration of the beautiful world of poetry. We'll take a closer look at two iconic poems: Oranges, by Gary Soto and The Red Wheel Barrow, by William Carlos Williams. And this....for fun. When we have finished analyzing Oranges (the poem, not the fruit), it's on to the Red Wheelbarrow...and then on to our OWN poetry. Feel free to check out our comment section where scholars will be giving sneak peeks into the topics of their poems. |
the Hive SocietyWe are the class of 2024 at Cunningham Elementary, and we. are. super. scholars. Archives
April 2016
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