Enrichment Support

Field Trip Information

October 30, 2015

5th Grade Enrichment Support students from HM and IKE will take part in a poetry master class presented by Tim Toy on Friday, November 13, 2015.

We are thrilled to share this Creative Writing experience with our students!

Accomplished poet, Tim Toy, will teach a poetry master class at Horace Mann on November 13, 2015 for Enrichment Support 5th Graders.  

Mr. Toy’s poetry has been published in the Atlantic Monthly, Yale Medical Journal, and the Literary Review at Penn.  He was invited to guest speak at poetry classes at Penn, Harvard, and Yale.  

We will meet from 10:00-1:20.  Students can pack tree nut free lunches or order from the cafeteria the day of the Field Trip.  

Students will be reading, discussing, and writing poetry during this master class.

Thank you for your support of the Enrichment Support program!

-Mrs. Sorce and Mrs. Woods

The Great Kaaba

By Mohammad

On January 24, 2009, my family decided to take a trip to Makkah from Riyadh. I was not even three years old then.  At first, my family went to a hotel to stay the night, we woke up and went to the Kaaba.  The steady air passed as the warm air took its place in.  The beautiful scene attracted animals and people.  The humid weather trapped the sensible smell.  There was delectable lickable food at the exclusive restaurant, Al-Baik, mmm!  They had the best fried chicken!

Secondly, we went and found a spot to rest and pray the daily salat.  I remember that
I did not like the rough sound of people talking. It made me a little annoyed and sweat made my nose crumble.  However, I enjoyed the amazing view of the high chained black mountains and doves flying around. I played with the free birds and ran back and forth. It was the best part!

Soon, my family went around the Ka’aba and the two mountains Safa and Marua seven times. This ritual is performed to remember, commemorate, and live the experience of the prophet Abraham’s family when they first arrived at this place. Our feet tangled together and were sore after more than an hour of walking, running, and hiking the mountains. Yet, the exciting view we got when we reached the top point of the mountains encouraged us to keep going.

Finally, after we were done, we drank a lot of Makkah’s special water, Zamzam. It is so special that it exploded from the ground right next to the Ka’aba. That was when the angel Gabriel hit the ground with his wing for Ismael (Ishmael) to drink after his mother’s desperate attempts hiking the two mountains up and down looking for water to give to her baby. Zamzam water does not taste like regular water because it comprised of a different formula of minerals than regular water. It tasted interesting. It is also used for healing purposes. I felt good when I drank it, so I liked the way I ended my journey.

 

5th Grade English/Language Arts 

Research Writing

Canine Research Report

Mrs. Stitt and Mrs. Woods

5th Graders in Mrs. Stitt's ELA classes used the Google Classroom and Google Docs to research the canine breed of their choice.  Students researched and wrote about what makes the dog breed they selected unique: it's characteristics, appearance, origins, special uses, and other interesting information.
Students researched using books and online articles.  They created a bibliography and cited their sources. 
Students also drew a picture of the breed they research. 
Their excellent work is on display in the 5th grade hallway at Horace Mann!

A few weeks ago, Caiden expressed an interest in learning about crop circles.

         Earlier this week,  Mrs. Woods found an article about crop circles and shared it with Caiden, Kate, and Andrew.  In addition, to sharing information about crop circles the article contained opportunities to practice editing.  Once the students had made the corrections to the grammar and punctuation in the article, they discussed the information presented by the author in depth.  

The students concluded that some crop circles are the creation of humans who wish to advertise a product or gain notoriety, however some crop circles seem to have more mysterious origins.   

.
Caiden attributed his mandala like crop circle to "The Aliens!"

Next, Caiden, Kate, and Andrew researched images of crop circles and noted their unique features and characteristics.  

Finally, Mrs. Woods then invited them to design and create their own crop circles.  

Andrew's crop circle contains concentric circles centered within horizontal rows. 

Kate's crop circle radiates out from the center and references the sun and an eye. 

The Indiana County Humane Society Interview

By Kate

I was interested in learning more about dogs in local animal shelters.  I wrote five questions and shared them with a Humane Society employee.  I will share the interview and responses now.

The first question I had was, “How long do dogs live?”  The Humane Society employee responded, “How long a dog lives depends on the breed.  Typically, small dogs can live to 15 to 18 years.  While, larger dogs live a shorter time 8-10 years.  This of course is just an estimate, some live longer.”

My next question was, “What is their life cycle?” The Humane Society employee responded,“First, a dog is a puppy until it is one year old.  Then the dog is considered an adult.  After six years dogs are considered seniors.”

Then I asked them, “How big  do some dogs get?”  The Humane Society employee responded, “Some mastiff breeds get to be 250-275 pounds.”

After that I asked, “How do you find the animals that are at the shelter?  How do you get them there?”  They responded, “People bring the dogs in if they can no longer keep them or if someone finds them the dog warden brings them to us.  Or our humane officer picks up the dogs if they are injured or not being taken care of and the owner no longer wants them.”

Last I asked, “Can you adopt a animal from the humane society?  How do you process it?” They said,  “Yes,  you can adopt.  We have an application that gets filled out and approved or denied.  New adopters must provide a good place for the pet to live.  The application asks a lot of questions to help us decide this.”

In conclusion, my interview taught me that the Humane Society cares for many different animals that they get them from different places.  I also learned about the life cycle of a dog and that some dogs can be 275 pounds!

My Interview With Commissioner Ruddock

Written By Andrew

I went with my dad to an Indiana planning meeting where I met Commissioner Ruddock.  Since then, I have been interested in him and learning more about what he does.  I decided to interview him so that I could learn more about him.  I asked Commissioner Ruddock five questions. Here are the questions I asked and his responses:

First, I asked Commissioner Ruddock, “What does a Commissioner do?”   He answered me by saying, “There are three Indiana County Commissioners and we are elected to provide support and protective services to all of the citizens of Indiana County….over 89,000 including yourself.   We act a little bit like your Principal…to make sure that you are able to learn and enjoy school in a safe building.  Our primary function is to serve our County Court and make sure our three Judges are able to do their job.”

  Then, I asked Commissioner Ruddock, “Why are commissioners important?”  He answered me by saying,  “Commissioners are important since we are responsible for all that happens in the County.  We have many employees who have different skills and responsibilities.  They work with the Commissioners to make sure the citizens of the County are supported in meeting family needs.   Sometimes it involves storing and keeping track of important records,  or making sure our parks and trails are clean and safe.  On occasion, we also must take care of criminals who break the law and must spend time in our County Jail.”

Third, I asked commissioner Ruddock, “What would the world look like if there were no Commissioners?”  He answered me by saying, “Having no Commissioners would remove the leadership which helps get things done.   The Governor of Pennsylvania requires that each of the 67 Counties of Pennsylvania have elected leadership in place.   What would your school be like without your Principal? All organizations need to have good leaders.”

Fourth,  I asked commissioner Ruddock, “How do you get to be a commissioner?”  He answered me by saying, “You must make known to the citizens of the County of our willingness to lead and serve.   Then you must run for the office and be elected by the citizens…much like student council officers are elected in your school.  You have to declare with the public your plans to make Indiana county a better place to live.  Should they believe in your plans, then they can cast a vote in your favor and, if elected, serve a term of four years.”

The last thing I asked Commissioner Ruddock, “What are the most important qualities of a commissioner?”  He answered me by saying, “I believe that to be an effective leader you must be trustworthy, honest, respectful and committed to do what is right for all the citizens of the County.  You must be an open listener and lead by example.”

From my interview with Commissioner Ruddock I learned what a Commissioner does.  I didn’t know and now I do.  A Commissioner’s main job is to help the judges do their job.  I also went to Commissioner Ruddock’s debate.  I was interested to see how the audience reacted to him and learned that sometimes Commissioners have to make hard choices, like raising taxes, and not everybody might like their choices, but they have to make hard choices so that they take care of the most people.  Commissioner Ruddock is my favorite.    

My Space Interview with Dr. Coles

Written by Caiden

I interviewed Dr. Ken Coles, an IUP professor, and asked him five questions about space. Here are the questions I asked him about space and his responses:

First I asked Dr. Coles, “What is the red spot on Jupiter?”  He shared this response with me, “Usually scientists give a short answer and call it a storm in the atmosphere of Jupiter.  We know from the rotation that it is actually an "anti-storm," or a part of the atmosphere where air is sinking, like one of our cold, clear winter air masses from Canada.  A hurricane or other storm involves air that is rising.  Whether rising or sinking, such "weather" also typically rotates whether it is on Earth or Jupiter.  The Great Red Spot (which is actually rather pale in recent years) is fascinating because it is several times larger than the entire Earth and because it has been active and visible for 250 years!  I'm not aware of a real explanation for how it works - it is one of the mysteries of the largest planet.

The next question I asked Dr. Coles was, “What is the farthest anyone has ever explored in space?”  He responded, “The farthest humans have gone is in orbit around the Moon, which was done by 9 Apollo missions between 1968 and 1972.  Of course, we have explored further using robotic spacecraft.  Voyager 1 and 2 are far beyond Neptune and Pluto and are still sending radio signals, which take many hours to reach Earth.  If studying the heavens with telescopes counts as exploration (I think it does), then humans have looked back to the very early Universe, using light that has taken over 13 billion years to reach us.”

Then I asked Dr. Coles, “Are there planets in other galaxies and if yes, have they been named yet?”  Dr. Coles replied, “We know of nearly 2000 planets orbiting other stars in our own galaxy.  Other galaxies are much too far away for us to be able to detect planets with our current instruments and technology.  We strongly suspect they are there, as stars in other galaxies are like stars in our own, so planet formation is probably as common elsewhere as in the Milky Way.”

After that I asked, “What is inside of black holes?”  Dr. Coles told me, “We can't say!  Science does not yet have a description of what Nature is doing inside of a black hole.  We can see the effects outside the black hole, which suggest a huge mass is in there creating strong gravity.  Many smart people are trying to figure it out.”

The last question I asked Dr. Coles was, “Is there any life on other planets, in other galaxies, or in the Universe other than humans on Earth?”  He replied, “Aha, that is the biggest question of all.  We don't know.  We can say the temperature, or chemicals, or supply of water is right in other places to allow life as we know it.  But no one can say with certainty whether life is common, or rare, or unique to Earth.  This question may take a very long time to resolve, but it will be an interesting search.”

I learned many things from this interview.  Some of the most interesting things I learned are that they are still trying to see what is inside of black holes, there are nearly 2,000 planets in our own galaxy, and the farthest any human traveled was in orbit around the moon.  There are many planets and I am interested in learning their names.  I want to know all there is to know about space.

This is the WeVideo mini-documentary of Horace Mann's 5th graders participation in The O.R.E.O. Project/Challenge.

This is also the first WeVideo that I have ever directly uploaded to YouTube!

Lots of firsts here to celebrate!

Horace Mann's 5th Graders participated in 

THE O.R.E.O. PROJECT!!!!!!

https://www.wevideo.com/view/486807694

Click the link above and watch the WeVideo that documents the day's events!

http://theoppbj.weebly.com/

Click on the link above to learn more about The O.R.E.O. Project!

Here is another example of an essay written by one of Mrs. Higbee's 3rd Grade students during our Enrichment Support collaboration.  We used Google Translate to translate this text into French because the author, Marcus, speaks English and French.  Using Google Translate allows students to present their work in two languages and for their peers to begin to understand what it means to be bilingual. 

IUP Computer Lab

By Marcus

At, first my dad has to put in the password.  I know that the password starts with a two.  I  peeked a little with my sister.  My dad almost forgot the password because my mom was talking on the phone too loudly.  My brother was just sitting there.  I was really excited!  I would know the password because my dad told only me.

Second,  we had to get in the room.  It took surprisingly long. When we  got in the lab we all jumped on a computer.  It was fun day in the lab!

After, that my dad had to give me a  piece of paper and we had to pass it on.  It had the password on it.  My brother has problems seeing it because he says it’s too small and its length is two inches long.  I hate when we have to help my brother type. I don’t  really use the piece of paper because I know the password.  It's really fun at the computer lab.

Finally, we can do our stuff on the computer.  Me and my brother go in private spot to do our stuff.  My mom and my sister just goof around.  My dad just get all serious. I think you should go to IUP computer lab!

Lab IUP informatique

Par Marcus

A, d'abord mon père a mettre dans le mot de passe. Je sais que le mot de passe commence par un deux. Je jetai un œil un peu avec ma sœur. Mon père avait presque oublié le mot de passe parce que ma mère parlait au téléphone trop fort. Mon frère était juste assis là. Je suis vraiment excité! Je voudrais connaître le mot de passe parce que mon père dit que moi.

Deuxièmement, nous avons dû prendre dans la chambre. Il a fallu étonnamment longue. Quand nous sommes arrivés dans le laboratoire nous avons tous sauté sur un ordinateur. Il était journée de plaisir dans le laboratoire!

Après, que mon père a dû me donner un morceau de papier et nous avons eu à le transmettre. Il avait le mot de passe sur elle. Mon frère a des problèmes de vision parce qu'il dit qu'il est trop petite et sa longueur est de deux pouces de long. Je déteste quand nous devons aider mon type de frère. Je n'utilise pas vraiment le morceau de papier parce que je sais que le mot de passe. Il est vraiment amusant au laboratoire informatique.

Enfin, nous pouvons faire notre truc sur l'ordinateur. Mon frère et moi aller dans endroit privé de faire notre truc. Ma mère et ma sœur Goof juste autour. Mon père juste obtenir tout sérieux. Je pense que vous devriez aller à l'IUP laboratoire d'informatique!

3rd Grade Enrichment Support Collaboration: Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Higbee

One of the greatest things about this year is that I get to collaborate with general education classroom teachers to enrich the education of many students.  
Third graders at East Pike are benefiting from this collaboration: growing as authors, gaining experience using Google Apps, and strengthening their communication skills!    

The following is a narrative that was written by Mrs. Higbee's student Abdul.  Abdul's narrative essay was translated into Arabic using Google translate. 

My Trip to Saudi Arabia

By Abdul

At first, my family went to the airport.   My mom, my brother, my two sisters and I were traveling to Saudi Arabia to visit our family and our father.  Our airplane came.  Before we got onto our plane we had to have our passport scanned.  Our first flight took 57 minutes.  When we landed, we had to wait four hours before getting onto our next flight.  

Then I went onto the next airplane.  I had to get my seat belt very tight.  A few hours later, I had to eat because I didn’t want to be hungry.  The food was very yummy on the plane.  After I ate, I brushed my teeth and I went to the bathroom.  When I was finished, I got a blanket and a pillow.  I slept for five hours.  After that, I watched lots of movies with headphones.  If I didn’t wear headphones, I would not have been able to hear the movies and television shows.

As I was flying, I looked down and saw Africa, a city, and a very long river.  After more hours in the air, I was in Saudi Arabia.  We landed and got out of the airplane.  After that, we got onto a bus.  It took us to a place that had our bags.  We had to use our credit card to get everything we needed.

Once we had our bags, we finally got to go to our family's very big house.  When we arrived I got to see my dad.  We got to go to a place that is very very important.  We went to the city of Mecca.  We had a very good time in Mecca and we also ate ice cream.  Mecca is so important because that is God’s home and it has the Kaaba there.  This trip was so exciting and made me feel so good.  

رحلتي إلى المملكة العربية السعودية

عبد

في البداية، ذهبت عائلتي إلى المطار. أمي، أخي، يا شقيقتين، وكانوا مسافرين إلى المملكة العربية السعودية لزيارة عائلتنا وأبينا. جاء لدينا طائرة. قبل أن نصل إلى طائرتنا كان علينا أن يكون لدينا جواز سفر فحصها. أخذت لدينا أول رحلة 57 دقيقة. عندما هبطنا، كان علينا أن ننتظر قبل الحصول على لدينا رحلة القادمة أربع ساعات.

ثم ذهبت إلى الطائرة القادمة. كان لي للحصول على بلدي حزام الأمان ضيق جدا. وبعد بضع ساعات، وكان لي لتناول الطعام، لأنني لا أريد أن أكون جائعا. كان الطعام لذيذ جدا على متن الطائرة. بعد أكلت، ونحى أسناني وذهبت إلى الحمام. عندما انتهى، وأنا حصلت على بطانية وسادة. كنت أنام لمدة خمس ساعات. بعد ذلك، شاهدت الكثير من الأفلام مع سماعات الرأس. إذا لم أكن ارتداء سماعات الرأس، وأنا لا يمكن أن يكون قادرا على سماع الأفلام والبرامج التلفزيونية.

وأنا كانت تحلق، نظرت إلى أسفل ورأيت أفريقيا، المدينة، ونهر طويل جدا. بعد أكثر من ساعة في الهواء، وكنت في المملكة العربية السعودية. هبطنا وخرج من الطائرة. بعد ذلك، حصلنا على حافلة. استغرق الأمر بنا إلى المكان الذي كان حقائبنا. كان علينا أن استخدام بطاقة الائتمان لدينا للحصول على كل ما نحتاجه.

مرة واحدة كان لدينا حقائبنا، وصلنا أخيرا أن يذهب إلى منزل عائلتنا كبيرة جدا. عندما وصلنا حصلت على رؤية والدي. وصلنا للذهاب إلى المكان الذي هو جدا مهم جدا. ذهبنا إلى مدينة مكة المكرمة. كان لدينا وقت جيد جدا في مكة المكرمة، ونحن أيضا أكل الآيس كريم. مكة المكرمة هي في غاية الأهمية لأن هذا هو منزل الله وأنه يحتوي على الكعبة المشرفة هناك. وكانت هذه الرحلة مثيرة جدا وجعلني أشعر أنني بحالة جيدة جدا.

Google Humor:

The naysayers always said, 

"Get your head out of the clouds!"  

Well, jokes on them, because now, 

I live in the cloud most of the time!  

Black Holes

By Mohammad

Black holes, black holes,

oh so amazing to think something so small can become

ten thousand times bigger than our sun.

Black holes, black holes,

oh so amazing to think

something  so large can suck up so many things

bigger than their actual size!

Not even light can escape the pull of the black holes.  

Black holes, black holes,

oh so amazing to think they are found

many light years away and that they are still

coming towards us.

Black holes, black holes,

oh so amazing to think

black holes don’t have to always be black.

Am I right?

Black holes, black holes,

oh so amazing to think of these great mysteries

in the Universe’s history show Allah’s majesty,

Allah who created all that we know

and all that we don’t.

الثقوب السوداء

بواسطة محمد

الثقوب السوداء، والثقوب السوداء،

يا مدهش جدا التفكير في شيء صغير جدا يمكن أن تصبح

عشرة آلاف مرة أكبر من شمسنا.

الثقوب السوداء، والثقوب السوداء،

يا مدهش جدا للتفكير

شيء كبير جدا يمكن أن تمتص تصل أشياء كثيرة

أكبر من حجمها الفعلي!

ولا حتى الضوء يمكن الهروب من جاذبية الثقوب السوداء.

الثقوب السوداء، والثقوب السوداء،

يا مدهش جدا للتفكير وجدوا

العديد من سنوات ضوئية، وأنها لا تزال

قادمة نحونا.

الثقوب السوداء، والثقوب السوداء،

يا مدهش جدا للتفكير

الثقوب السوداء لا يجب أن يكون دائما الأسود.

 هل انا على حق؟

الثقوب السوداء، والثقوب السوداء،

يا مدهش جدا أن نفكر في هذه أسرار كبيرة

في تاريخ الكون وتظهر عظمة الله،

الله الذي خلق كل ما نعرفه

وكل ما لم نفعل ذلك.

White Holes

By Mohammad

In deepest space I see a face

exploding,

aggressively

like a bomb,

but millions and trillions

times brighter,

brighter even than

the sun’s flames.

In deepest space I see a face

giving birth to new galaxies,

expanding the Universe,

transforming into black,

engraving itself with the word~

Dead!

Although speculations,

white holes

indeed exist.

Most very unlikely, the other side of black holes,

or in the middle of a wormhole

shaping shortcuts

in deepest space.

I see a face.

ثقوب بيضاء

بواسطة محمد

في أعمق مساحة أرى وجها

انفجار،

بقوة

مثل قنبلة،

ولكن الملايين والمليارات

مرات أكثر إشراقا،

أكثر إشراقا حتى من

لهيب الشمس.

في أعمق مساحة أرى وجها

ولادة المجرات الجديدة،

توسيع الكون،

تحويل إلى الأسود،

النقش نفسه مع كلمة ~

ميت!

على الرغم من التكهنات،

الثقوب البيضاء

في الواقع موجودة.

أكثر من المستبعد جدا، والجانب الآخر من الثقوب السوداء،

أو في وسط الثقب

تشكيل اختصارات

في أعمق الفضاء.

أرى وجها.