It has been a busy October at HCA! This month, the fifth grade has enjoyed visitors, exciting announcements, and school celebrations. See below for some snapshots looking back on the month.
Last Thursday, fifth grade visited with Lt. Lanni as part of our partnership with the Upper Darby Police Department.
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HCA students enjoyed a picnic lunch outside on Monday sponsored by Student Council.
Making the most of beautiful fall weather!
Enjoying the sun while it lasted this week.
Chris and Sam enjoy dining al fresco in the shade.
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Fifth and sixth graders visited the Book Fair on Tuesday.
Izzy and Gabby searching for the perfect book!
A successful visit!
A HUGE THANK YOU to the Danifo and Swain families for their donations to our classroom. The students will enjoy new nonfiction and fiction books in our library.
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Sixth graders have finished composing their original myths. On Wednesday, they printed them out and used a dying process with tea bags to turn them into ancient scrolls. They will be displayed in our hallway to showcase our mythology unit. To read a digital copy of their myths, please visit the slides below!
Grant uses a tea bag to dye his myth.
Garrett and Sean use tea bags to "age" their myths.
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A few snapshots of collaborative learning in our classroom:
Fifth graders participate in a Vocabulary Word Talk in reading.
Busy at work with their partners discussing and answering vocabulary in context questions.
Partner work and frequent movement in Stand-Up, Hand-Up, Pair-Up allows our students to socialize while constructively discussing learned concepts with all of their classmates.
Izzy and Joslyn looking for text evidence to support their discussion question.
Patrick, Aidan, and Arrington collaborate on another discussion question.
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Moments before this year's musical was announced: Frozen, Jr.!
What a week we had in middle school! From health education to outstanding performances by our students, it was full of excitement. First, the entire class would like to give a big THANK YOU to our hardworking parents and family members who were able to join us for Grandparent's Day and Parent Visitation. It meant so much to them to have you visit them at school and take part in their daily routines. We know that your time is valuable, and it is so appreciated that you chose to spend it with us these past two mornings! On Wednesday, fourth through sixth graders visited Lankenau Medical Center for health education classes. Fourth and fifth graders learned about the importance of "Safety First," where they reviewed the best choices to make to lead a safe life. They went over everything from how to correctly wear a bicycle helmet to administering the Heimlich maneuver on others in crisis. As always, it was a lively lesson full of demonstrations and hands-on learning. ...
Fifth graders celebrated Fat Tuesday for Mardi Gras with a King Cake in Religion class! On Monday, the entire school took part in a Black History Month celebration. Here, Ms. Brown leads the middle school in a round of "Finish the Lyric," where they completed song lyrics by Whitney Houston, the Jackson 5, Bob Marley, Beyonce, and more! At another station, they were given iconic images in black history to recreate through illustration. The best work from each division will be chosen to be posted around the school! At their last station, middle schoolers answered trivia questions about famous figures in Black History. This weekend is the annual auction! We hope you can join us this Saturday evening, February 29 for "A Night in Philly" at the Springfield Country Club. The re-enrollment deadline is next Friday, March 6 ! Please remember to send your registration in by next week.
The fifth graders enjoyed a visit today from Lt. Lanni, who brought with him a surprise guest speaker, Brent Celek. The former Eagles tight end shared stories of his experiences in school, and the challenges he overcame as a student and athlete to get where he is today. His advice for our students? Respect others, work hard, and dream big. A big THANK YOU to Lt. Lanni for this exciting surprise! Mr. Celek's visit coincided perfectly with a STEAM lesson today, called "Passion to Purpose," where the class had to work together to identify a way to apply their passions in a way that would inspire real change. Their ideas are displayed in the slides below; they hope to expand on this project as they continue their work in the lab. There is no school tomorrow or Monday, Feb. 17. Tuesday will be a Day 1, which means that fifth graders will need to wear their gym uniforms to school. Thank you, and Happy Valentine's Day!
