The assignment was to research a type of star on the internet and to make a poster presenting at least five important facts about that type of star and an illustration of that star on a piece of printer paper.

"Amanda’s poster was selected because she went above and beyond what the expectations were for the assignment.  She made a full sized poster that was colorful, neatly organized and contained abundant, accurate information.  It is obvious that she took her time and did a tremendous job on this assignment."

Meghan is an Independent Study student.  Her semester project is based on images and photos from her summer trip to Europe with “People to People.”

"This is an excellent example of “composite Art” – where a central image is created from smaller, related images.  The “jester” is composed of architectural images from Europe.  The work is a highly refined skill level employing “stippling”, a drawing style which uses only dots."

The assignment that prompted this work was “The Battle of Cajamarca” which was a battle in which the Spanish conquistadors overthrew the Incan Empire and their ruler, Attualpa.

"Lauren’s work was selected because she went above and beyond.  We had discussed in class how we only have the Spanish account of that battle because the Incans did not have a writing system.  Lauren took it upon herself to give the Incan’s a voice, even though it was not an actual class assignment."

Students in sixth grade have been studying ecology and learning about biotic and abiotic factors, populations, community and habitats.  In an effort to experience this curriculum, the children explored Sessions Woods in Burlington.  While there, they observed and recorded various types of organisms and classified them as producers, consumers an decomposers.  They also completed a tree population study and tested water samples for pH and dissolved oxygen.

"Cally’s Sessions Woods Journal was diligently completed with detailed, accurate work.  She illustrated many of her observations rather than simply listing them.  Extra effort was put into writing her answers in complete sentences with supporting evidence."

Students studied the culture of the Kuna of Panamá. They created molas, reverse appliquéd art using construction paper. They then wrote a paragraph about the mola and presented both the paragraph and mola to the class. More information and photos of this project can be found on the 5th grade Spanish website.

"Hannah created a beautiful and detailed mola. She worked hard, managing her time wisely, to create a beautiful work of art. She used scraps of construction paper to create a mola in the traditional style. She understood the concept of what the Kuna consider an exceptional mola by using every bit of space to embellish with neatly cut pieces of paper. She fit the pieces tightly around her center figure, a fish, to create a beautiful mola. She wrote a paragraph to describe it in great detail, using extra vocabulary where appropriate. She also did a great job of presenting both her art and paragraph to the class as well as creating an audio recording of her writing."

The name of this lesson is:  “Symmetrical Color Wheel Art.”   The lesson begins with the students dividing a large circle into 12 sections. Next, the students begin to mix paint, and brush the primary and secondary colors on to their colorwheel, students also practice mixing tertiary or intermediate colors. The lesson progresses on to mixing tints, which the students will add to a repeating pattern.  The pattern is designed by each student and then cut into a stencil, which is strategically placed around the painted colorwheel.  Needless to say, the children are fascinated by the chemistry of color mixing. This lesson is also important for developing fine motor skills by painting with detail brushes.

"Madison Ruby is a wonderful student.  She is kind to her “table neighbors” and is very helpful during clean up. Her colorwheel is precise and neat. Madison took great care in mixing her colors and working diligently ensuring the work was exemplary.  I think that Madison is a fine artist and a great student! We are lucky to have her here at Har-Bur Middle School."

We have been working on adding elaborative details to our writing.  One of the techniques we learned was suspense.  Students were to apply the technique by writing a paragraph about a spooky character in a haunted house.

"Ryan did an excellent job using all the elements of suspense.  He also incorporated wonderful elaboration in describing his spooky character."

The students have been working on how to make their beginnings more entertaining.  They learned different techniques to do this.  They then wrote a Haunted House story pretending to be trapped and had to figure a way out!

"I selected Aaron’s writing because he has worked so hard on his writing.  I thought he had a great beginning that would make the reader want to read on!  Does he make it out alive?  Read on to find out…"

In math, we are discussing graphs and the different kinds of graphs.  We have talked about bar graphs, pie graphs, pictographs and line graphs.  In writing, we are working on writing paragraphs and using details.  So, we did a pictograph on how you eat an Oreo cookie.  After we got our information, the kids then connected that to writing and wrote a few paragraphs on how they eat an Oreo.  It was a great lesson, the students got to eat, do math and write.  We all eat an Oreo a certain way so it was great to see them put that into writing!

"Trevor’s work was picked because he really understood what he was trying to explain in his paragraph.  He used sound, thought and questions in his paragraphs and made the paragraph sound so awesome.  He used elaborative details and made everyone else want to eat an Oreo.  He understood what the lesson was and had all the components I was asking for."

With Halloween excitement in the air, students have been working hard on using their senses to tell a story about a Haunted House.   By “grabbing the readers attention” with a sound word at the beginning of their opening sentence, students learned how to write a great story starter.  Then they went on to write sentences that told a story about the haunted house using their senses – What did you hear, feel, see, taste and smell?  The students ended their story with a reflective thought about their haunted house.  I am proud of all my students for doing such a wonderful job on this project!

"I decided to select Nicholas’s writing piece because he had so much enthusiasm for this topic.  He would literally talk to me throughout the school day about how eager he was to write more of his story using the next sense.  His ideas were unique, creative, and well thought out.  He worked hard on his haunted house story and is extremely proud of his hard work.  Way to go Nicholas!"

The kindergarten classes have been learning about patterns in math.   As part of this unit the children made a Halloween based pattern wreath.  Their wreath consisted of ghosts, pumpkins and witch hats.

"Annabella’s work was chosen because she did a great job following directions, made an ABC pattern without any assistance and sat quietly after completing her work.  She also wrote ABC pattern on the back!"

This lesson focused on several concepts and regular painting, painting using the dry brush technique, horizon line, showing distance and creating a realistic seascape.

"Avery’s art is a wonderful example of all the concepts she learned.  Avery dry brushed the ocean.  Then she painted one boat, up close near the bottom of the paper, one in back by the horizon, and created a very realistic seascape."