The Specialists Newsletter - November 30, 2007

PE AND HEALTH - BETSY TRANQUILLI

Aloha! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and filling Thanksgiving. We had an absolute blast in PE in our softball unit. It appears that the future of HPA varsity softball is secure after seeing how many sluggers there are at the Lower School! Basketball is the final full unit we’ll cover this semester, with some time set aside for the kids to enjoy competitive teamworkcentered games like Capture the Flag.

Speaking of Capture the Flag, we had a chance in PE to play a little Capture the Turkey/Reindeer before Thanksgiving break. This is an activity the kids consistently rank among their favorite. As a PE teacher, it’s one of my favorites, too. It incorporates tons of physical activity with a huge emphasis on teamwork and strategy. It’s a game anyone of any athletic level can successfully participate in. That being said, I’ve discovered that this great game often brings out the worst in our little competitors - like teasing, taunting, cheating, crying and complaining, to name a few of the things I’ve witnessed. I’ve seized many opportunities to address sportsmanship issues in class and I’d like to encourage you to continue the conversation at home. Here’s a good web site for parents to help foster sportsmanship in our young athletes:

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/fitness/general/sportsmanship.html

I’m thankful for the central role competitive athletics played in my life. Growing up, my parents shuttled me back and forth to soccer, figure skating, softball, basketball, volleyball, golf and swimming. They bought all the equipment and sprung for private lessons. They attended every game and made sure I attended every practice, because as my father reminded me, my team relied on me being there. In high school, when the local press began noticing my abilities on the softball field, it was my mother who taught me to give always give credit to the team, not myself. These are the lessons my parents focused on, and the ones I remember the most today. The emphasis was never on coming out on top, or being a “winner” at all cost. It was simply about being there, being part a team, having fun, challenging myself, respecting others and always giving my best. With your help, these are the lessons I’d like our students to remember someday, too.

VISUAL ARTS - CINDY YARAWAMAI

As we move into the holiday season the Kindergarten and First graders have been busy painting and putting together their clay pieces, printing and coloring wrapping paper, and making the most delightful and fun turkeys I have yet to see. Next they will begin a color mixing and exploration unit.

The Second graders developed their glazing skills and started a unit learning about the Mexican craftspeople of the Oaxcan valley. They will be creating colorful and decorative plaster, mythical animal, sculptures.

Emphasis this month with the Fourth graders has been on their Hawaiian myth and Palauan storyboard printing unit. The students’ designs evolved from their own myth writings and reflected that of the wood carvings popular through out the Pacific, especially Palau. Their work has been exciting to see colorful, imaginative, and complex.

In the Fifth grade we are wrapping up our Japanese Buddhist unit. The students’ haiku poems were sensitive and well done, while their paintings reflected the new techniques they had learned with brush and ink, with skill and well-developed compositions. We will finish the unit at the upper school with our raku firing.

Wishing all of your families a very joyous holiday and special times together.

MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS - GEORGIA POLÁKOVÁ

Music supports the chapel program, morning assembly, and the Thanksgiving Feast. The student council members did an excellent job leading the entire Lower School in the singing of the Hawaiian Unity Song in the first Lower School Chapel of the year. The beautiful words spoke of the unity of mankind, that we are all flowers of one garden. The students enthusiastically sang their favorite Thanksgiving song Over The River and Through the Woods for the morning assembly and reverently sang the Hawaiian blessing for the Thanksgiving imu ceremony.

Learning how to properly use mallets and play the Orff xylophones has been the focus of study for the kindergartners and first graders. Playing the xylophones for accompaniment while they are singing Halloween and Thanksgiving songs has been challenging and fun. They have discovered that following the directions is the key to their success in playing the xylophones!

Do you know your parts of speech, correct punctuation, and when to capitalize your letters? Well, the second and third graders have had a grand time discovering the difference between a synonym and an antonym, that there are different kinds of sentences, that verbs and subjects need to agree, and you must “supersize” the first letter of a sentence. Oh, and watch out for those punctuation pirates, they’ll steal all your punctuation and you won’t be able to make a contraction. I hope you were all able to enjoy their fabulous performance of Pirates from Grammar Island. The students exceeded all my expectations in their focus during rehearsal, ability to learn and dramatize their parts, and contribute to the choreography, costumes, and props. We all learned so much in the process of preparing the musical, and are quite certain that good grammar is like gold! The fourth graders have taken the opportunity after completing their musical to study the composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. They all experienced great success when taking their test on his life and music. They have become experts on his Nutcracker Suite, even being able to diagram the musical form of the Russian dance, Trepak. They are now learning about George Fredrick Handel and his oratorio, The Messiah. Learning to read and play rhythms is also part of their studies, which includes an introduction to playing the handbells.

The fifth graders have been doing an outstanding job, and I mean outstanding, in learning how to play handbells. Each child has been excelling in their teamwork and handbell skills, and we are looking forward to performing for you at the upcoming family chapel.

LIBRARY MEDIA - SUSAN HAMMER

This month, children in grades K – 5 studied holiday celebrations and they were celebrated amongst different cultures through read alouds. We are also piloting a new website called Tumble Books. This website allows children to choose a book which is read to them with pictures. We use the smart board and Mac computers on a bi-weekly basis to reinforce lessons and to pilot Tumble books with kids.

In kindergarten, first, second and third grades, we have been reading books by Mo Willems such as “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” and “I am Invited to a Party”. Mo Willems is a highly recognized new children’s book author and creator of popular children’s programming associated with Sesame Street. Children of all ages can truly enjoy his witty writings. We also read “ Please Play Safe!” and discussed the importance of playground safety. All classes read and recited a collection of poems by famous authors. Every other week, we have a new poem. (Ask your child which ones we are reading together!)

In the second and third grades, we have been reviewing how to find books in the library using alphabetization skills through the Dewey decimal system. We have also been talking about magazines can now be checked out from the library. In the fourth and fifth grades, we have read select passages from “Stories from Kauai: Teller of Tales” and “Short Stories” by Graham Salisbury as an on going study of Hawaiian fiction and nonfiction books. Graham Salisbury is a HPA alum and accomplished writer. Students examined Picture books, Biography book, Nonfiction and Pacifica Picture Books. They identified the Title, Author, Call Number, and how each section is arranged.

Birthday Books – Students with birthdays in November through December are able to choose their birthday books from a new order of books.

Parent volunteers – I am currently looking for parent volunteers for a lot of fun in the library! If you are interested in volunteering for any amount of time in the library, please contact me at shammer@hpa.edu.

Website tip of the month – Would you like your child to read more even though they use the computer often? Check out www.tumblebooks.com. This is an awesome website which offers audiovisual books, quizzes, interactive book reports, and a chance to study another language! Free trials last 30 days.