2007-08 Newsletter - Thornton Creek Elementary School

Expeditions
ANCIENT EGYPT
A virtual Journey to a fascinating civilization
Room 11, Fourth and Fifth Grade
Steve Chavez
This year Steve’s class of
4 and 5th graders had a great
time studying Ancient Egypt!
We undertook an in-depth
study of King Tut, his incredible tomb, and the role archaeology played in bringing the
world so much information
about Ancient Egypt. Each student researched an artifact from
Tut’s tomb, wrote a report and
created a detailed painting. In book clubs, we read
and discussed many historical fiction novels about
Egypt, such as The Golden Goblet, Maia of Thebes, and
Casting the Gods Adrift.
During the winter trimester, we participated in
lots of cooperative projects. We created maps, made
oral presentations, studied hieroglyphics, played
Egyptian trivia games, and created Egyptian god/
goddess masks.
th
Thornton Creek School
One of our biggest projects this year was our play,
“The Mystery of the Golden Statue.” As a class, we
created the story and came up with a cast of characters. We had the pleasure of working with Kristina
Sutherland, a playwright and director who wrote the
script and lead us through the production.
We finished the year with Power Point research
projects on animals of Ancient Egypt. The students
discovered how prominent animals were in all aspects of ancient Egyptian culture and livelihood.
KEEPERS OF THE
EARTH
An Inquiry into becoming a responsible member of
the earth system
Room 14, Third
and Fourth Grade
Nora Scully
Big Idea: What
does it mean to be a
keeper of the earth?
Our study was
divided in to three
investigations: the
physical earth, the
organisms that live on it and our personal responsibility to the planet and each other.
Fall Investigation: What is the physical
earth?
We began our expedition with a geological study
of the earth. We studied how the continents were
formed. Students created a scale model of our state
and its formations. We learned how rocks are formed
and what minerals are. As part of our literacy component, we read folk tales and pourquoi describing
how some land formations were created. We were
lucky to see the Seattle Children’s Theatre production
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JOURNEY NORTH
A Global Study of Wildlife Migration and
Seasonal Change
Room 8, Third Grade, Liz McCormack
of “According to Coyote.” This brilliant performance
embedded an understanding of the spirit of the earth.
Winter investigation: How do the organisms on the earth depend on one another to survive?
We studied the concept of systems. By creating
land and water model environments, students observed how the parts of a system depend upon one
another. To apply this learning in our nearby community, we took two trips to the arboretum to study
wetland ecosystems and native plants and people.
After these investiga-tions, students wrote and produced a six act play about a cricket on a quest for a
healthy habitat.
Spring Investigation: What is my responsibility to the earth and those that live on it?
After learning of the delicate balance between
organisms on the earth we learned of some of the impact of our actions. We studied reducing, reusing and
recycling. A sweep of our playfield one morning produced over 400 pieces of trash indicating that number
of actions of littering. We then studied the concept of
longevity of garbage. This helped us to understand
how our decisions as consumers can impact the earth.
Throughout the year we learned about recognizing and reducing the impact our lives as humans
have on our earth. With much help from classroom
parents, we were able to apply this learning practically. All of our class bazaar projects were made of
reclaimed cloth and recycled items. We built and
decorated a beautiful worm bin for the school auction.
All of our sets and props for our class play were made
of reclaimed objects.
A culminating event of our spring investigation
was the practice of compassion. Like the plants and
animals of an ecosystem depending upon each other,
humans depend upon each other for compassion and
caring. We were all lucky to participate in the citywide celebration of compassion with the visit of the
Dalai Lama. Of all the investigations our students
conducted, compassion is the foundation of becoming
a Keeper of the Earth.
What causes the seasons to change?
How does the sun influence living
systems?
These two questions guided our exploration of
animal migration and seasonal change. Every week
throughout the year, we calculated and graphed our
daylight hours. We noticed how our daylight hours
grew shorter as we moved from summer into fall and
winter, and then increased as we moved from winter
into spring. Over the course of the year, we learned
about the sun’s influence on living systems through
various projects.
Tulip Garden We planted Red Emperor tulip
bulbs in the fall, along with many other classes across
the country as well as internationally. We tracked
spring’s journey north as the tulips began to emerge
and then bloom in these different classrooms.
Migration We launched our study of animal
migration by learning about the rufous hummingbird.
We tracked their migration from Mexico and we were
very excited when we saw them arrive in Seattle! The
students studied a migratory animal of their choosing
and created mobiles to display their work. Through
art and writing, each student’s work communicated
information about the animal’s life and migratory
patterns.
Mystery Class The Mystery Class investigation is an 11-week hunt in which the students try to
find 10 secret “Mystery Classes” hiding around the
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Thornton Creek School
globe. The changing
amount of sunlight at
each site is the central
clue that helps students
determine the approximate latitude and hemisphere of their Mystery
Class. On the spring
equinox, the students
received a longitude clue
which helped identify
the continent on which
their class is located. The
interdisciplinary clues
that followed enabled
the students to confirm
the exact country and then the town or city. It was a
lot of work but we found all ten mystery classes!
Migration News from Room 8
Students
• Every year the arctic tern goes on an amazing migration all the way from the North Pole to the
South Pole and back. This is 25,000 miles!
• The spiny lobster migrates in large numbers
for food. In late fall and early winter, they travel in
single file lines called queues. They use a magnetic
compass to find their way
• Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to
Hawaii to give birth. Calves learn the migration
path from their mother then when they grow up they
know the path by heart.
• The gazelle migrate in large groups toward the
rain, because they know that where there is rain, there
will also be grass to eat.
• All zebras migrate to more wet locations. Zebras
migrate with elephants, wildebeests and other hoofed
animals.
• The great white shark migrates because its food
migrates. They can sense the magnetic field of the
earth. Scientists think that great white sharks have a
little piece of magnetite in their heads so they know
which way they’re going.
• Some peregrine falcons migrate really far.
They can go 15,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina.
They fly inside thermals to use less energy. However, the falcons that live in air vents do not migrate.
I think they don’t know the difference between air
vents on high buildings and openings in high cliffs.
Because they are warm, they don’t migrate.
• Red Bats migrate because it gets too cold for
them. They use echolocation to navigate where to
migrate.
• The African elephant migrates for food and
water. Almost 2 million Wildebeests migrate to-
Thornton Creek School
gether, along with zebras,
elephants, and other hoofed
mammals that follow a
similar route. They have
an internal-biological clock
that tells them when to go
on their migration. They
follow the changing seasons
and rain every year.
• The eel migrates from
salt water to fresh water
and back. In spring female
eels lay their eggs in a seaweed area in the Sargasso
Sea or Europe.
• Gray wolves migrate
in search of food. They know when to migrate because of the shrinking food supply.
• Fur seals migrate and their predators migrate to
hunt them. The females and the pups mainly migrate
to breed, males stay behind to guard.
• There is an internal biological clock inside of polar bears that tells them when to migrate. Polar bears
do not stay in one place all the time. In spring males
and females fatten up on seals and mate. In summer,
when Arctic ice melts, they move in land and eat
whatever they can find.
INTO THE WOODS
OUR LIVES IN THE NATURAL WORLD
Room 1, Kindergarten, Todd Bohannon
Guiding questions
• What is nature?
• What is a naturalist?
• What is ecology?
• What is a rainforest?
• Why are rainforests so important?
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• What’s so great
about being outside, anyway?
• What does any of
this have to do with me?
FALL: In the fall,
we studied spiders and
focused on how to be
“scientists.” Through our
spider activities the class
acquired the skills and
background knowledge
they would need as we
begin our journey into
the rain-forests. Every
year, I teach about spiders and we always find our
way to the largest spiders in the world, many of
which live in tropical rainforests. These large spiders,
most notably the goliath bird-eating tarantula, are
found in the Amazon. This provided a springboard
for us to begin our study of tropical rainforests.
FIELD WORK
• Camp Long: Spider Workshop
• Tropical Rainforest Exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo
• Easton, WA: Snow Tubing
• Seattle Science Center: Tree Exhibit
• Olympic National Park: Sol Duc Hot Springs
• Camp Sealth
WINTER: Throughout the winter, Room 1
students studied tropical rainforest ecology.
Each child became an
expert on the Amazon.
We looked at the incredible variety of flora and
fauna that make the
Amazon their home.
Students learned about
the relationships that
exist between the plants
and animals by exploring various food chains.
We also looked closely at
the different layers of the
rainforest: the forest floor, the understory, the
canopy, and the emergent layer.
SPRING: Towards the end of winter we
switched gears and began looking at the Hoh
Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula. Through
this study, the class has been identifying the
similarities and differences between tropical and
temperate rainforests. Currently, each student is
creating a field guide to Northwest native trees,
many of which can be found here at Thornton
Creek. We are also focusing on how to become
stewards of the forests and how to enjoy everything they have to offer respectfully and sustainably.
HOW AN EXPEDITION IDEA WAS FORMED…
Todd Bohannan, Room 1
The inspiration for this year’s expedition came from several directions, the most important being my
students. Several years ago, I asked my class if anyone had ever been camping. To my surprise, very few
raised their hands. Since then, I have taken students to Camp Sealth for two days each spring. The impact this experience has on students consistently amazes me. Their faces light up as if some previously
unused part of their brains suddenly switches on, burning brightly. I’ve caught a glimmer of how these
experiences can spark students’ appetites for learning.
Last year, I was granted a “Fund for Teachers” fellowship through Expeditionary Learning that enabled me to spend two weeks in the Peruvian Amazon this past July. I learned about tropical rainforest
ecology and sustainable development of the rainforest’s natural resources. I spent my time in the Amazon with a group of students and again observed the profound impact experiences in the natural world
have on young people. Each one of those students, including myself, left Peru deeply impacted.
After returning from my trip, I began working on this year’s expedition. Our focus would be on
rainforest ecology, both tropical and temperate. Through our study of the rainforest, my intention is that
students will start to discover the wonder and beauty of the forests and begin to foster a lifelong relationship with the natural world.
Over the summer, I also read the book, Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. In the book, Louv
passionately details why it is so important for children (and people in general) to develop and maintain
a lasting relationship with the natural world. This book validated much of what I have observed in my
work with children; primarily, that personal, hands-on experiences with the natural world are vital for
children’s healthy development, emotionally, academically, and physically. Fostering such experiences
will be a primary motivating factor this year in Room 1.
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Thornton Creek School
PUGET SOUND
NEAR AND FAR
STUDYING THE RESIDENTS OF OUR SALT WATER
BACKYARD
Room 9, First and Second Grade
Julie Clayton
Room 9
studied orcas
and tide pools
this year, with
orcas as our
focus. We began
by familiarizing
ourselves with
orca anatomy.
As we studied
echolocation,
we learned how
orcas breathe
and communicate with one another. We found out
why orcas engage in tail lobbing, spy hopping, and
breaching.
We integrated the study of orcas into nearly every
subject. In math, the children learned how many
students it takes to equal the weight of an orca family. They used their own bodies as units of measurement to find the lengths of adult and baby orcas. In
writing and art, the students wrote many papers and
poems about orcas, found orca vocabulary words in
word searches, and created clay and stuffed orcas and
orca paintings. A NOAA whale scientist and a story
Thornton Creek School
teller (Killer Whale Tales) enriched our understanding
of orcas. Finally, we put our expertise to work on a
whale watching trip out of Anacortes.
In addition to orcas, we studied the tide pool
creatures of Puget Sound. We went tide pooling
twice, completed research reports about different tide
pool critters, and wrote expedition haikus. Room 9
has definitely become experts of Puget Sound near
and far!
RESOURCE ROOM
ESSENTIAL SUPPORT FOR STUDENT LEARNING
Room 12, Special Education
Marsha Schoene
A student receives support in my classroom as
part of an Individualized Education Plan that provides
for specialized instruction in reading, writing or math.
Though I do not do an expedition independent of
classrooms, I support my students with their classroom expedition work. This takes several forms, most
frequently:
• supporting students who may need help to read
expedition-related texts
• helping students complete report-related research or writing.
In order to most effectively support students, I
may talk with teachers before projects begin in order
to understand what will be expected of students.
Sometimes, I may adjust the format of a project to
accommodate a student’s learning style or needs. A
student may need more accessible reading or research material to learn about a topic; I can locate and
provide these resources. My goal is to enable my students to successfully complete projects comparable
to those of their peers.
Expeditions 2007-08
BEES, PLANTS &
HUMANS:
INTERACTIONS
LEARNING ABOUT THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN SPECIES
Room 13, First and Second Grade
Rebecca Rutzick
do bees face?
Our expedition began with building background
knowledge about bees. We read various non-fiction
texts, newspaper and magazine articles. We observed bees in our courtyard. In addition, we took a
fieldtrips to Jubilee Farms and Tilth to learn about the
roles that bees play in growing fruits and vegetables.
Finally, we had a bee keeper visit us to talk about bee
keeping, and answer our many questions about bees
and bee keeping.
Students worked collaboratively to write and illustrate a non-fiction text about bees. They drew and
created clay bees that included all of the various bee
body parts. Finally, students assisted in developing a
script for a play that incorporated much of the information that they learned about bees. Students helped
write their lines, made sets, and performed the bee
play for their families and peers.
OUR BACKYARD
OBSERVATIONS CLOSE TO HOME
Room 4, Kindergarten, Crystal Okada
This year our primary expedition was on bees.
We looked at how bees and flowers are interconnected and impact each other, and how bees and
humans are interconnected and impact each other. In
addition, we learned about the different body parts
of a bee, the lifecycle, different types of bees, bee
communication, life
in the hive, and bee
enemies.
Our guiding
questions included:
What makes a bee a
bee? What do bees
do for humans?
What do humans do
for bees? What do
bees do for plants?
What do plants do for
bees? How do bees
family systems operate? What dangers
This year in room 4, we studied backyards,
focusing on worms and dirt. Our guiding questions
were: What is in my backyard? What is dirt? What do
worms eat? What do worm bins do?
We began the year by studying what lives in a
backyard. Room 4 has a family living nearby with an
amazing backyard. On our first visit to this backyard
in the fall, students explored and chose one spot to
draw an observation. We also saw a compost bin and
the kids put worms and food scraps into the bin.
Before we began our worm investigation, students shared with the class what they knew about
worms and dirt.
We posted this
information in
the room, making additions as
we continued our
investigation. The
children learned
about worm body
parts, their functions, and their
life cycle. They
also learned about
how worms help
the earth. After we
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Thornton Creek School
finished our worm
investiga-tion, we
went over what the
kids believed they
knew at the beginning of our study
and revised it. This
information will be
included in our class
expedition book.
Seattle Tilth
came to Thornton
Creek to teach Room
4 about worm bins.
We learned what
does and doesn’t
belong in a worm
bin and how worm
castings help plants.
Room 4 later visited Seattle Tilth, where they explored
the children’s garden and saw several worm bins.
Room 4 is lucky to have a parent who is a volunteer at
Seattle Tilth. The parent taught us more about worm
bins and helped us make the worm bin bedding. As
part of this field work, we visited a family member’s
backyard to see what a beginning and end compost
cycle looks like. We returned to school with fixings
for our worm bin, as well as regular and worm casting enriched soil.
With the soil, the kids planted bush beans. Each
student grew two plants: one with regular soil and
one with worm castings. Each child wrote predictions
about which soil would help the bean grow best. As
our beans developed, we drew plant observations.
We are ending the year doing an investigation
on insects. The kids learned about the butterfly’s life
cycle. We were able to observe actual butterflies because Laura, our room 7 teacher, had butterflies in her
classroom. She kept their chrysalis, so students were
able to see the latter part of a butterfly’s life cycle.
Thornton Creek School
Special Education
Classrooms
Rooms 3, 7 and 10, Kindergarten through
Fifth Grade, Katie Zisserman, Teresa Swanson
and Laura Reed
SCAFFOLDING LEARNING
THROUGH THEMES
Our school has three self-contained special education
classrooms serving children in grades K-1, 2-3 and
4-5. These classrooms use themes to tie together the
intensive, highly individualized instruction offered to
their students. Following is one example from Katie
Zisserman’s K-1 class in Room 3.
Room 3 Themes 2007-2008
This year in room 3 we explored a variety of
monthly themes. We used literature, art, music to
expand our vocabulary and knowledge about these
topics.
September-Back to School In September we celebrated coming back to school. We went
on tours of the school and met all of the staff. We
learned the rules of the school and the rules on the
bus.
October-Spiders Spiders are everywhere in
the fall so we went outside and looked for spiders and
their webs. We read a variety of non-fiction books
and looked at pictures of all different kinds of spiders
and the webs that they build.
November- Alphabet We used the book
“Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom” as a fun way to learn
the letters of the alphabet. We learned the letter
names and some of the letter sounds and started
putting letters together to make words. We sang the
alphabet song and the ABC Rock.
December-Gingerbread There are many
wonderful variations of the story of the Gingerbread
Man. There is a story about a gingerbread girl, a
gingerbread cowboy and gingerbread boys. We read
many of these books and compared the setting and
characters as well as the outcome. At the end of the
month we wrote our own gingerbread man story.
January-Winter Winter is a very broad
theme so there were several sub-themes within the
broader theme. We learned about the clothing that
you wear in the winter vs. the clothing that you wear
in warmer weather. We dressed up in a variety of
winter clothing and read “The Jacket I Wear in the
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Snow” and “Froggy Gets Dressed.” The rest of the
month focused on activities that are fun in the snowy
weather; including, building snowmen, sledding and
skiing. We created snowmen and snowflakes using
paper and paint.
February-Music In our music unit we listened to many different kinds of music, swing, jazz,
rock and classical. We learned about different composers and musicians. We also had an opportunity to
dance and play instruments.
March-Pirates This theme was just for fun.
We did lots of dramatic play using pirate costumes
and even learned to talk like pirates. We played a pirate themed board games including, “Pop up Pirate”
and “Captain Bones Gold”.
April-Pond In our pond unit we learned
MY BIG BACKYARD
LOTS OF LEARNING RIGHT IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
Room 5 , First Grade, Mari Brockhaus
During this
expedition we’ve
looked at our
backyards and
what is happening there.
Equipped with
their own backyard tool kits,
children established one square
yard of backyard
space for digging.
In this square, they’ve examined the soil and the
creatures that live there. This informa-tion, as well as
other observations and activities, have been recorded
in our “My Big Backyard Field Notebooks.” We’ve
recorded evidence of spring; picked a single plant
to measure over time; and dug deep enough to see
the soil layers, which we later documented in “Dirt
Dance” during our work with Whistlestop Dance
Company. Who will ever forget our soil chant?
Parent material, parent material
Subsoil, subsoil
Topsoil, topsoil
Huuuummmmuuuusss.
We’ve observed new blooms and weeds and have
helped our families with yard work. The first grade
Weather and Organisms science kits complemented
this study, as we related the impact of weather and
about the animals that live in and around ponds. We
sang 5 Green and Speckled Frogs and Little White
Duck and made ducks, frogs, turtles and dragonflies
to decorate our bulletin board.
May-Space We explored the solar system, learning about each of the planets, stars and space travel.
We read “My Place in Space” and used the internet to
look at pictures from NASA. We made rockets and
astronaut puppets.
June-Travel and Vacation In preparation for summer we are going to learn about vacation
destinations and landmarks around the world. Some
of our destinations will be the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and Mount Rushmore.
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Thornton Creek School
the basic needs of organisms to our backyards. Our
study was further enhanced by field trips to the Arboretum, Pacific Science Center, and Seattle Tilth, as
well as a soils class here at school with Seattle Tilth
educator Lisa Taylor.
Our culminating project involved enhancing the
small courtyard space between our library and Room
17. We planned a walking path to connect opposite
doors, added a table (for book groups, lunch), and
planted more native plants. To accomplish this, we
were ably assisted by landscape designer and Room 5
parent, Cindy Hazard. With her guidance, we drew a
base map of the site, and then collaborated in groups
of three to create designs that incorporated the path,
table, and native plants. We merged the best of these
design ideas into one final design, which was installed at year end.
Through our study of backyards, children developed their skills in observation, recording and scientific illustration; built knowledge of native plants and
design elements; and learned more about what happens in the mini-ecosystem that is their backyard.
Thornton Creek School
EARTH KEEPERS
THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON CULTURE
AND THE INFLUENCE OF PEOPLE ON THE EARTH
Room 6, Grades 3 and 4
Sandra Brettler and Jo Vos
Our Earth Keepers’ expedition this year asked the
questions, “How are people and cultures influenced
by the earth and the environment?” and “How do we
as people impact our earth?”
To answer these questions, students explored the
history and culture of the Northwest First Peoples.
They closely examined how the people used materials from the environment in ways that were reverent
and sustainable. Students studied historical photos,
closely observed objects and sur-roundings, framed
questions, and researched their hypotheses. Reports
on research were integrated with learning specific
expository writing skills. The class also learned about
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Native interactions with the
earth through
two anchor
texts, “Ghost
Canoe” and
“Daughter of
Suqua.” To
complement
this study, students became
storytellers and
each chose a
Northwest story
to memorize
and retell.
In parallel, students studied the life cycle of plants
and the broader context of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems using the Plant Growth and Ecosystems Seattle Public School Science Kits. By growing their own
plants from seed to the repro-duction of the next generation of seed, students became experts at all stages
of plant life. Students used controlled experiments to
understand the impact of modern day pollutants and
erosion on the health and viability of plants in our native ecosystem. Students then deepened their knowledge of Northwest Native Plants and their uses, both
current and historic, by individually studying and
identifying the plants in this field guide.
The expedition included the arts through learning
the craft of detailed scientific illustrations. Students
also studied Northwest Coast Native art forms, which
they used to collaboratively paint traditional designs
on a wooden table that was sold as a school fundraiser and on individual cedar boards for lasting personal
mementos. The students also promoted people using
sustainable resources to become effective Earth Keepers.
The learning and explorations were done in the
10
classroom and in the field. Students visited the UW
Arboretum (wetlands and native plant tours), the
Seattle Art Museum (Northwest coast exhibit), and
other local sites.
MAKING HISTORY
HUMANITIES LEARNING THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION OF SIMULATED SOCIETIES
Room 17, Grades 4 and 5, Rick Lemberg
“Making History” is a classroom simulation humanities project wherein students undertake the challenge of building a rich culture or civilization from
scratch. Each simulated society begins with relatively
few technological skills, similar to the way early humans lived tens of thousands of years ago. During the
duration of the project, the simulation traverses thousands of years of cultural complexity. The challenge
of the simulation is to cooperate as a team to create
and develop a rich culture; to work with specific and
limited natural resources; to trade and interact with
other societies; and to research, invent, and document
the whole development in journals.
The Making History Expedition attempts to simulate the origins, formation, and progressive evolution
of culture. It is played as an elaborate game that integrates the disciplines of history, anthropology, economics, language arts, art, mathematics, engineering,
geography, and critical thinking in an atmosphere
of creativity and research. Developing a culture is a
cooperative effort; every student is expected to contribute her/his part as the process unfolds.
Each culture-group of four to five students develops and maintains its society within a defined land
area with limited natural resources represented on a
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Thornton Creek School
world map. Although the map represents a group of
fictitious continents, the regions on the map roughly
correspond to regions on Earth. Likewise, the natural
resources available for use in the game also reflect the
natural resources available on the actual continents,
landscapes, and biomes of the Earth.
As the simulation progresses, each culture-group
chooses which traditions and technologies they want
their society’s culture to acquire and enhance. Inevitably, the cultures grow in different directions. For that
reason, the simulation attempts to accommodate any
reasonable development that the students can dream
up. Those dreams, however, do not become actual
parts of their culture unless they are recorded in the
students’ culture journals. The efforts of each student
will join with the efforts of the other students in his
culture-group to define and develop his society’s
culture. Because the society each group nurtures will
share and trade its discoveries and inventions to other
societies, the efforts of each student will ultimately
enrich every culture in the simulation and educate
every student in the class.
The scope of this simulation goes as far as the
imagination, critical thinking, and research of the
students. By design, the rules of the game impose as
little as possible. It is the students’ job to convince the
teacher in their writings and illustrations that their
society’s developments and inventions will work.
Developments manifest and inventions succeed if
the students can explain them convincingly in their
journals.
THE UKULELE:
THE SOUND OF
PARADISE
EXPLORING A CULTURE THROUGH ITS MUSIC
Room 2, Second Grade, Lori Fujimoto
Arriving in Hawaii in August, 1879, a Portuguese
immigrant brought an instrument called the braguinha to the islands. Legend has it that he started
playing this four-stringed instrument in gratitude for
a safe journey. The Hawaiians fell in love with the
instrument, naming it the ukulele and adopting it as a
cultural symbol.
This year, the focus of our expedition was on the
physics of sound and the Hawaiian ukulele. Students
Thornton Creek School
first worked on
understanding the physics
of sound. We
learned about
how sound vibrates through
a variety of
materials,
causing low to
high pitches.
We varied the
length and
thickness of
these materials to explore
how it altered
sound.
Through the use of drama, video documentaries,
“read alouds” and photographs, students studied the
first people to settle in Hawaii, their hardships and
the flora and fauna imported to the islands. Then we
learned how to play the ukulele and its significance in
Hawaiian history and culture. Each student brought
a ukulele to class, where we learned basic chords,
strumming a variety of rhythms, picking and accompanying our singing. We learned some traditional
Hawaiian songs and other more contemporary ones
that were performed for our families. Many of us fell
in love with the instrument and will continue playing for years to
come.
Literacy
was integrated
into the expedition through
reading Hawaiian folktales or
“menehune”
(mythical little
person) stories. Students
used drama
ala “Book-it”
theater style
to learn about
the elements of
these folktales. Finally, they each wrote menehune
stories using a rubric to drive revision and editing.
They published these stories with illustrations and created a book cover imitating a Hawaiian “kapa” or bark
cloth. A highlight was recording each story and a
group song, “The Hukilau,” at Jack Straw Productions.
Expeditions 2007-08
11
12
Expeditions 2007-08
Thornton Creek School
Thornton Creek School
Expeditions 2007-08
13