Black History Month

The month of February is packed full of special occasions and holidays to feature in the classroom. Keep in mind that on February 15, in conjunction with Student-Led Conferences your students' Black History Month projects will be displayed in the classroom.

The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery
Scholastic features a a unique online experience that encourages students to
follow a network of routes, hiding places and the people who helped enslaved
African Americans escape to freedom. Here, you can access a helpful Teacher Activity Guide , lesson plans and printable work pages, primary sources and more.

BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. also have dozens of videos and activities available to celebrate Black History Month with your students. After viewing a short video about George Washington Carver, make your own peanut, sweet potato, or soybean cookbook! To access the activities, click on the activity link under each video. To see how BrainPOP can be integrated into your classroom, contact me at sbarracl@access.k12.wv.us.

Teacher Vision also has countless resources for Black History Month. You can access many of these activities and resources without subscribing to Teacher Vision, such as the Dreams Poetry Unit.

Celebrate Black History Month with your students by sharing the hard work, struggles and successes of African Americans throughout history with resources from Thinkfinity. Check out ArtsEdge Blues Journey, a video series that explores the Blues.

Christmas Around the World

Christmas Around the World

View more presentations from sbarracl.

During the month of December, students across Cabell County's Title I schools participated in a collaborative videoconferencing project titled, Christmas Around the World. Fifth graders at Spring Hill Elementary had been studying the European countries of Italy, Greece, and France earlier in October. To enrich this study, teachers redesigned the techSteps lesson, Talk to a Topic. After researching the holiday customs of these unique cultures, students used the Keynote Application on the iPad to create presentation slides. During the videoconference, students shared their slides with the partner class and reported on their findings in a one-minute speech. Check out some of their work in the slideshow above!

12 Days of Christmas: A Video Scavenger Hunt

The 12 Days of Christmas from Sara Barraclough on Vimeo.

OoPs! We forgot to add this group's video!

Group SHE 9 from Sara Barraclough on Vimeo.

The staff of Spring Hill Elementary School made their way to The Resort at Glade Springs for a weekend of Retreat and Team Building exercises. This video demonstrates one of these activities; our 12 Days of Christmas video scaventure. Thanks to the staff and guests of Glade Springs for participating in our shenanigans!

The Naked Turkey

"I am NOT a Turkey!"

Just before Thanksgiving break, second and third grade students at Spring Hill Elementary participated in The Naked Turkey video conference project; partnering with classrooms across the US. After sharing The Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman, students worked at home with their parents to camouflage their turkey so that it would not be on the table for Thanksgiving dinner. The students did a fantastic job creatively disguising the turkeys and writing convincing arguments to share with the partner classes.

The First Thanksgiving

During the month of November, students at Spring Hill Elementary will be studying Pilgrims, Native Americans, and The First Thanksgiving.  Scholastic.com has many resources designed for your classroom, and among these are The First Thanksgiving Student Activities.  Here, you can take your students on a virtual Voyage on the Mayflower and Tour the Ship, take a virtual field trip through the Plimouth Plantation, explore the menu from The Thanksgiving Feast, download printables, and much more!

Deadline:  November 17  Sign up to participate in the live video Webcast from Plimoth Plantation and to receive classroom letters from a Pilgrim girl on the Mayflower* and a Native American boy*. Give your class a glimpse of history.  For more information or for project support, contact sbarracl@access.k12.wv.us.

Other Native American/ First Thanksgiving Resources

BrainPop Spotlight:  American Indians
National Geographic Kids:  First Thanksgiving
The Earliest Americans:  Grade 4 (MS PowerPoint)
America's First Nations:  Long Houses (Grades 4-5 Video)
The History Channel:  Thanksgiving (Video Series)
Investigating the First Thanksgiving:  A WebQuest

Spring Hill Goes Green!

Even though the leaves on the trees are turning shades of red, orange, and yellow, at Spring Hill Elementary we have been doing things a little greener.  At a recent principal's meeting, SHE received kudos from Cabell County's Energy Manager for making significant energy-saving growth.  Please continue to properly shutdown computers and projection equipment and turn off lights when leaving a classroom.  Below are some other ways that Spring Hill Elementary can help to make the world a little greener.

Paper Recycling

Be sure to place all of your discarded paper products in the large blue containers located throughout the school.  Goodwill Paper Recycling helps to keep discarded office paper out of the waste stream.  Did you know that every ton of office paper recycled is the equivalent of 24 trees?  You may wish to keep a box in your room labeled PAPER ONLY to collect your paper between visits to the blue recycling bins.  Ask your student helpers to participate in the action!

Printing

If you replace your print cartridge, be sure to send the discarded cartridge to the Parent Room for recycling!  Office Depot and Ink in a Blink have been very generous to Spring Hill Elementary in support of our ink cartridge recycling program!

Think before you print!  Sometimes, it is too easy for us to press the Print button on our computers and copy machines.  Much paper is wasted by printing out single line papers or unnecessary copies of documents.  According to a recent article released by the World Wildlife Federation, the golden rule for saving paper is:

Think twice if you really need to print-- 

if it is necessary to print make sure you print on both sides.

Check your Email daily!  As more staff begin to effectively communicate electronically, we will be able to further reduce our paper consumption at SHE.  

Student Resources for Going Green

Green Planet for Kids  There's an app for that!

Act Green:  Scholastic

Classroom Paper Lesson Plan for Grades 3-5
BrainPOP Resources for Going Green

BrainPOP & BrainPOP Jr.

BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.  provide a library of videos that are an excellent resource for enriching your classroom curriculum!  Did you know that today is World Habitat Day?  Celebrate with a quick video titled, Freshwater Habitats for K-3 or Ecosystems for 3-5.  Other videos during the month of October feature Hispanic Heritage Month, Columbus Day, John Adams, Halloween, and many more! 

BrainPOP also provides activities for building vocabulary, utilizing graphic organizers, and games like Food Chain and Hibernation which allow students to sequence events in a series.  Search for lesson plans in BrainPOP Educators.  By joining this community (FREE), you can subscribe to the monthly newsletter and will have access to 800+ resources!

Consider integrating BrainPOP in your current classroom curriculum as whole-group activities or in the computer lab for enrichment.  If you have any questions or would like to request a demonstration in your classroom, please contact sbarracl@access.k12.wv.us.  For login information, please revisit your Email.