Mr. Tomas & His Clarinet — Photos & Music Video

Last Wednesday, May 19th, Tomas Ramos from the US Navy Band introduced 2G to the clarinet.

While 2G loved the music — including a little 12 bar blues from a clarinet + guitar ensemble — we think they might have enjoyed the contents of Mr. Tomas’s backpack even more.

• “Is that toothpaste?”

• “Yes it is.”

• “Why do you have that?”

• “Well, if I eat pizza right before I have to play, I don’t want to be spitting pepperoni into my expensive instrument!”

• “EEEEEWWWWW!!!”

• “What’s that?”

At Christmas, children sometimes prefer the box a present came in over the present itself!

• “Hi. I’m Tomas. I am double vaccinated, play clarinet in the US Navy band, and get tested for COVID every other day!”

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Pop-Up Science: Trees & Run-Off — Photos & Video (4 min)

TREES

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RUN-OFF: CONCRETE VS. DIRT VS. VEGETATION

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• Video: 4 min

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White Tern Update: Ibuki & Ms. Erin's Terns

ANGELS ABOVE OUR HEADS

The skies above HNS have been full of angels!

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A RAIN STORM FOR IBUKI

Ibuki got drenched in a downpour and retreated to her perch above the lower-playground sandbox where she called pitifully for her mummy and daddy.

• “Phew. Made it to safety.”

• “Dad?”

• “Mummy!”

• “What are you looking at?”

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MS. ERIN’S TERNS

Ms. Erin’s noticed a pair of terns looking at possible nesting sites in the lower-playground kukui-nut trees. Ever since then, they’ve been “Ms. Erin’s terns”!

Recently, they hovered like hummingbirds around the kukui-nut tree closest to Kalanianaʻole Highway.

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WHITE TERN ABLUTIONS

White terns work hard to maintain that spotless, angelic appearance!

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IS THAT IBUKI?

We noticed what we assumed to be Ibuki back at the branch she hatched on.

Upon closer observation and consideration — “There are two birds, not one!” — we decided Ms. Erin’s terns were giving Ibuki’s birth branch a good looking over for their own egg/chick!

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Stay tuned for more EXCITING white-tern adventures!

Ketchup Blog Entry!

05.18.21 - 05.20.20

6+ Panes & Count the Fish Tails!

Today, 2G dived into another “graphic” story and… saw Ibuki’s mum (or dad) patiently waiting with 4 clearly identifiable fish in her (or his) beak!

STORY STRUCTURE

In our digital age, we all see and hear a vast number of stories. One might conclude, reasonably perhaps, that telling stories is easy, a piece of cake, a walk in the park.

Not so.

Serious writers — professional writers — work hard learning how to tell stories well. A Robert McKee seminar is not cheap! Story structure is key.

2G has been learning a structure based on the Hero/ine’s Cycle:

• We meet our main character in an identifiable setting

• We see our character on a normal day

• Then… something BIG changes everything! (And the story starts)

• Off our protagonist goes on a journey, overcoming challenges

• And our story ends, perhaps with treasure, or a feast, or a grand celebration!

On our first story-structure outing we had such fun — and learned so much — that a repeat performance was in the cards from the first few minutes!

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As before, 2G dived into their storytelling, consulted their homework notes, shared ideas with classmates, added (or subtracted) from their original stories and generally — hee hee hee — discussed story structure.

• “Who’s your character?”

• “What happened?!? Wow.”

• “Yeah, my guy/gal had a big fight too!”

This time, instead of at least 4 panes, students were required to produce at least 6 panes!

During our Story Structure #1 outing, we noticed students who had completed their stories enjoyed helping others “finish up.”

This afternoon, when it came time to finishing up (after P.E.), the Order of the Day was, “No one can begin Free Time / Imaginative Play until everyone has finished all 6 story panes."

Not only did 2G students enjoy helping one another finish up, but they thoroughly enjoyed learning about the stories their classmates were telling.

Lots and lots of story-structure talk!

In 2G we… don’t permit acres of white space in drawings. (Boring!) Students are asked to develop background or, failing that, to shade the background.

• “I can’t think of anything to put in the background.”

• “Well, where does your story take place?”

• “Hun?”

• “What’s the setting?”

• “Oh, in a forest full of hungry beasts and demons.”

• “So, perhaps, put some trees in the background? Maybe a beast or two peering out from behind the trees, ready to pounce?”

• “Oh, yeah…”

Another remarkable day of story structure and 2G story telling!

Bravo!

COUNT THE FISH TAILS!

We count… 4 fish tails!

And… no juvenile white tern — a.k.a. Ibuki — in sight!

An Experientially RICH Day in 2G

2G can get some marvelously rich days. Today was one of them!

• Morning Circle: Science

• Morning Circle: Geography + World Tale

• 3-Station Rotation: Science

• Ibuki ate… how many fish?!?

• The Odyssey — Redux (middle-school presentation)

• Mo’ Science: Endangered Species (thanks 5G!)

• Too much happiness around

WHITE BOARD SCRIBBLES

It’s not often our large white boards are available for general use. So great fun to find a yet-to-be-used board before school starts!

MORNING CIRCLE: SCIENCE

The 2G day often starts with a review of current topics, usually phonics or math. Today: Science!

A board with questions about digestion is missing from the photos above.

MORNING CIRCLE: GEOGRAPHY + WORLD TALE

Every morning 2G reviews the 7 continents, and occasionally distinguishes a continent from a consonant!

Every morning 2G gets a world tale — and, at its conclusion, every student must recall a detail — and today’s story was about a very clever fox who avoided getting eaten by a hungry tiger. Katelyn and Ray joined us by Zoom.

Time: 8:30 am.

3-STATION ROTATION: SCIENCE

2G loves their science! Two students have completed the entire 2G Science curriculum and have plowed on into 3G Science. A great many of their classmates are hot on their tails!

2G Science Talk is rich with students working similar sections working together, and students who’ve completed a section helping those currently scratching their heads over the demands of a new section.

Science requires careful reading, precise comprehension, clear thinking and not a bit of daring — did I understand the question? have I really though through which answer option(s) fit the question (when they all seem to state something true)?

IBUKI EATS… HOW MANY FISH?!?

Ibuki is still hanging out in the trees of the lower playground.

Erin and I were discussing Ms. Bridgewater’s comment that, just perhaps, Ibuki was a “failure to launch” case and also considering the possibility that Ibuki was not entirely well…

… when who should arrive but mum (or dad, who knows!) with… how many fish?

• So, how many fish do you see?

• There’s Fish #1 in Ibuki’s beak.

• Fish #2…

• … successfully transferred

• Fish #3! (Where did it come from?)

• Fish #4!

• #4 is bigger than we thought!

• Ibuki’s got to be STUFFED!

It was like a magic trick. Mum (or dad) kept producing another fish!

THE ODYSSEY — REDUX

2G enjoyed many of the episodes from The Odyssey when we were studying Greek myths.

Today — after P.E. (yes, we had Physical Education today, too!) — the middle-school students presented their version of The Odyssey in our makeshift theater-in-the-round.

Some of the tales were familiar. Some were new! Thanks MS presenters!

MO’ SCIENCE: ENDANGERED SPECIES

As 2G loaned many of its stuffed animals to a group of 5G girls for their science video, 2G got to watch their final production! Thanks sister-of-Tayler & her partners in crime!

TOO MUCH HAPPINESS AROUND

As we’re now in the fourth quarter, we regret to make public the blatantly-apparent inability of 2G to fully incorporate our #1 Rule:

No laughing
Smiling
Giggling
Smirking
Jumping with joy
Or ANY other signs of merriment!

We’ll do our best to rectify this situation by the end of May.

Of Myth & Math

HINDU MYTHOLOGY — COMPLETE!

2G enjoyed their Hindu mythology !

They learned about the Brahman, the Tiger and the Jackal…

2G enjoyed drawing Hindu gods and goddesses…

PIXAR artist Sanjay Patel also wrote the version of Ramayana we read. 2G now knows — and knows well for 7 and 8 year olds — a classic of Indian literature.

The Ramayana is a hard act to follow, but the Amma, Tell Me books add wonderfully to the stock of great stories from the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the further adventures of Hanuman!

Then moving onto Krishna’s battles with all sorts of serpents and bad guys!

And— how did Ganesha get his elephant’s head?

We finish up with Sanjay Patel’s delightful PIXAR short — 7-minute animation film — Sanjay’s Super Team. (Available on Apple TV for sure, elsewhere no doubt.)

Next up: Hawaiian myths.

MATH, MATH & MO’ MATH

Today we learned that the “standard” 10 question “Math Quiz” is no longer sufficiently challenging for 2G working in pairs! So many pairs fished well within the time frame that, next time, we’ll be going to 15 questions!

• Warm up

Amazing, eh?

Of course, after Round 1 of Three-Station Rotation, a Math Quiz and Round 2, Round 3 can be a tough, tough mental slog with lots of Slush Brain beginning to pop up in every station!

But, how better to build mental/academic stamina? : )

For Teacher Appreciation Day, "Thank You!"

Our Teacher Appreciation Day surprises were wonderful!

Mahalo nui loa!

• “So when is Students Appreciation Day? We want to see Dr. Cat and Ms. Erin’s drawings!”

On-Campus Ornithology

HNS KOLEA NOW IN ALASKA!

Our Kolea (Pacific Plover) flew to Alaska in April. We’ll see them again — and their chicks — when winter comes.

• Female Kolea stay brown

• Male Kolea develop tuxedos!

• I’ll be home for Christmas…

WHILE IBUKI SLEEPS, ANOTHER WHITE TERN “NEST”?

If we see Ibuki these days, she’s usually having a rest over the lower-playground sandbox.

“Headless” Ibuki — head tucked back in wings for sleeping — is quite shocking to some students!

Meanwhile…

A pair of terns — “Not Ibuki’s mum and dad” — are seriously considering one of the kukui-nut trees near the front gate as a “nesting” spot. (White terns don’t make nests, they look for puka.)

One morning, we witnessed a thorough self-cleaning!

A BOLD FLOCK OF LITTLE WAXBILLS

Meanwhile…

They’re easy to miss: they’re small and they nestle down into the grass on the green, blending in to the point of invisibility. They’re very skittish too, often chirping off at the slightest movement.

But the HNS Waxbill Flock is a bold lot!

On-campus ornithology is alive and well!

Anatomy of Daily Dictation

10:00 - 10:30 am: MATH QUIZ OR DAILY DICTATION

In 2G, the 10:00 - 10:30 am time slot is devoted to whole- or split-class instruction. The “quizzes” alternate: Math (see earlier blog post) and Daily Dictation (today).

If 2G is running a little “hot” they may get two Daily Dictations in a row, the easier to bring everyone back to the Just Right for Learning brain gear!

These “quizzes” are really… shhhh!… targeted instruction in disguise!

NOT YOUR OLD FRENCH TEACHER'S DICTATION

As a lad in an English boarding school, I was required to take French. And French dictation exercises were akin to having one’s fingernails pulled.

In 2G, all fingernails remain firmly attached.

• Divide and… Instruct!

Ms. Erin and I each dictate daily. Our groups are always random, chosen by our trusty Bucket of Randomness. Random big/small groups and random pairs adds a charge that promotes attention and engagement.

If I’m always with my BFF I might get a bit lazy and goofy, but if I’m with, “Him!” or “Her!” the brain turns over a little faster.

• Sentences

Our go-to sentences for dictation are those from our Explode the Code phonics series.

(I once had a parent who thought Explode the Code was a computer-coding series. He was THRILLED that his 7-year-old was learning to code! Alas, the “code” is the English-language code, and this book series helps children quickly and efficiently decode English words!)

(Perhaps the series should have been titled, Explode De Code.)

Recently, I’ve added sentences from the Magic Tree House series. When words like “dragon” or “ninja” are in sentences students are KEEN to write!

In my 1/2-class Daily Dictation group today, sentences came from Afternoon in the Amazon.

• Essential Processes

Essential processes are easy for adults because… they’ve done them so many times it’s now second nature. But essential processes need CONSTANT reinforcement in 2G:

• Ensure holes AND red line need to be on the LEFT

• Spell “Daily Dictation” correctly (daily)

• Write name in TOP RIGHT corner

• Know the date

• Write the date in the TOP LEFT corner

• Only write the number 1 to the LEFT of the red line: if we have a long sentence, writing may go into your pre-written #2

• “She was peeking out of the treehouse window.”

After students write a sentence, I stop and we review spelling. Nothing like striking when the did-I-spell-it-right? iron is hot and language-arts interest at a feverish peak!

(When students spell words right right they often cheer, raise their arms and shout, “I KNEW it!" — even when they didn’t write what they knew!)

• How doe you spell she? Capitalized?

• Peek or peak? What’s another common way to get the long e sound?

• In peeking, what is the root word? what’s the ending?

• How do you spell out? Can you spell about? How about spout?

• How do you spell house? Can you now spell mouse? louse? spouse?

• How many syllables in window? How do you get the long o sound at the end of window?

• “He pulled out the rainforest book.”

• How do you spell pull? How about full?

• What about “full” at the end of a word like care-ful?

• In English, how do you usually get the /d/ sound at the end of a word like pulled?

• Review: How do you usually get the /r/ sound at the end of a word like center? batter? better?

• Long a sound in rain? What are the other two ways? Do we find -ay in the middle of words (e.g., rayn)?

• Forest: one R or two?

• How do you spell book? look? took? rook? cook?

• “They ran past the hanging vines and mosses.”

• Pass or past? What’s the difference in sound and meaning?

• Can you spell fast? last? blast?

• Hanging: root word? ending?

• Review: What’s the FLOSS RULE? — loss, toss, stuff, fluff, pull, full — two consonants follow short vowel

• So how to spell moss? mosses?

• Always: first letter capitalized? punctuation at end?

• “She pointed to a big log rocking at the edge of the river.”

I takes a while to build up to longish sentences, but 2G is there now!

• You can all read point, but can you spell it? Use your eyes!

• How might you spell joint?

• You can all read edge, use your eyes to spell

• In English, the /ej/ sound is sometimes -edge as in edge and ledge

• The /uj/ sound is sometimes –udge as in budge, budget, judge and fudge

• Daily Dictation can be fun… and competitive

2G enjoys Daily Dictation, and the time flies.

Afterwards, when the randomly split-class groups mingle, we hear…

• How many sentences did you do?

• We did nine!

• Our sentences were longer than yours!

• We got bonus points in our group!

• We don’t didn’t do bonus points, it takes up too much time!

HOW DO YOU SPELL TIGGER (WINNIE-THE-POOH)?

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40335855

The deeper question: How well do you know your Winnie-the-Pooh?

• Ray’s sharing today

As Wikipedia attests:

Tigger never refers to himself as a tiger, but as a "Tigger".

When Tigger introduces himself, he often says the proper way to spell his name and that is "T-I-double-Guh-Er", which spells "Tigger".

Some Days Are Pretty Good Days!

MORNING CHAPEL

Ms. Bridgewater knew 2G so enjoyed live chapel last week that she invited them to another chapel today. This time it was not in Monteiro Chapel, but in the Nave!

A WONDERFUL 3-STATION ROTATION ROUND 1

Currently: Reading, Phonics and… SCIENCE!

MATH QUIZ!

2G enjoys working in pairs.

It’s hard to capture video of these quizzes, as you’ll see!

A NEW GAME IN P.E.

Lei Day 2G P.E.

2G loved their Lei Day P.E.!

As photo galleries seem to display better on their own page — i.e., not part of the blog page — just click below to take a look at all the smiles.

Enjoy!

"I Excel!" — An Excellent, Excelling 2G Class!

EVERY STUDENT WORKS HER/HIS LEARNING EDGE

To expect every student in 2G to lock-step march, shoulder-to-shoulder through an etched-in-stone curriculum is unrealistic — and far from fair to students, especially younger students.

The completely-normal Normal Distribution Curve of 7-and-8-year-old competencies is WIDE! In some Scandinavian countries, reading isn’t formally started until age 7!

The answer?

In jargonese: Differentiation.

In plain English: Working each student’s current learning edge.

• If a student’s reading/writing brain module is developing at a higher pace that peers, challenge that student with reading/writing activities that match her/his current brain-module state.

• If a student’s module is coming together COMPLETELY NORMALLY FOR 7 or 8 but a little more slowly than her/his peers, challenge that student with activities that match her/his current state.

• Current (not “forever”) math competencies are the same.

• Current (not “forever”) science knowledge — really “background knowledge” at this age — are the same too.

To support differentiation in math, language arts and science, we make frequent use of IXL. We like IXL for many reasons, but primarily:

• It is based on state and core-competency curricula

• One problem at a time is presented to students, thus not overwhelming students with “a whole page of problems” — intimidating to many

• No dancing dinosaurs or “video game” rewards for progress, just an animal square to fit in your grid! Then back to work!

Most important: it allows us to differentiate effectively.

• A student who has mastered a skill (adding/subtracting with regrouping) can practice that skill to proficiency, largely by her/himself

• The student who is still sorting through the various steps of adding/subtracting with regrouping can work one-on-one with the teacher, focused on a problem matching her/his current math skill set

• Students with rich science background and a keen interest in science can explore to their heart’s content — one student has all finished all of the 2nd grade science curricula — in but a few weeks!

• All students who are new to a domain can work one-on-one or in small groups with a teacher

• More fun — and freeing teachers to work one-on-one with students (of all current competencies) who need it — is students working with each other

The result is a rich, on-going, ever-changing conversation involving teachers and students.

• A student currently learning about magnets overhears a peer’s question about “metamorphosis” and eagerly shares her/his knowledge about frogs and butterflies

• A student who’s learned how to sort data into “A Only,” “A and B,” and “B Only” explains this to a friend, with a couple of onlookers who know they’ll need to know this soon enough

• Meanwhile, the teacher can help a child who doesn’t yet know about magnets experience the pull and repulsion with real magnets, or help a student with tough vocabulary or comprehension challenges

For whole-group learning, be that at Morning Circle, during out whole-class periods, or before sharing, it’s easy to pick up on common math, language-arts or science issues to clarify, reinforce, or “test.”

More—

• When students travel or Zoom in, they have ready access to much of what we’re doing.

• Those student who want to “keep learning” — always true for budding mathematicians, true for many keen 2G scientists too — there’s no reason not to “keep going,” during breaks and over the summer.

• And— it’s easy for parents to support their student’s learning at home: “everything”
  is right there (especially the wonderful “explanation” pages should parents forget the difference between cardinal and ordinal numbers, or the precise definition of “pollination,” or the most common ways a long vowel is represented in English) tied right to the problem at hand.

2G 2020-2021 has made enthusiastic use of this resource — and learned a ton!

They’ve had fun doing so too!

2G Photo Gallery — Class & Playground

Links for low- and high-resolution photos at end of post.

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• Every wondered what your student will be like in high school and college? Wonder no more.

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Low-resolution copies (suitable for emailing, posting) are available here:

High-resolution copies (suitable for printing) are available here:

Graphic Novels VIDEO

2G TEAMWORK

One of the most remarkable aspects of yesterday’s “Graphic Novels” project was the teamwork students showed.

Students who finished early on would help those hoping to complete colorization before the final timer buzzed.

‘Twas a joy to behold! You’ll see some of this on the video if you look carefully!

Graphic Novels & Art Room Hindu God/desses

2G ARTISTS ROCK!

Enjoy today’s art-heavy BE KIND blog post.

We have illustrated stories to share.

And remarkable silver-foil-based art projects!

STORY STRUCTURE

Story structure isn’t obvious. For children, story telling often starts with “one thing happening after another.”

Later, some teacher wants STRUCTURE!

In 2G we’ve started with a simplified version of the Hero/ine Cycle:

• Character — who is your main character?

• Setting — where does your story take place?

• Ordinary day — what is your character doing “before it all begins?”

• BIG EVENT! — what happens that starts your story?

• Journey / challenges — what happens after the BIG EVENT? A journey? Challenges?

• Successful end — we’ve added “successful” since some students like to end stories with “everyone died”! : )

Earlier in the week, 2G roughed out a story based on this structure.

Today (Friday) they told their story in graphic form.

We think 2G outdid themselves!

ART PROJECT HINDU GOD/DESSES

Ms. Kim introduced a wonderful new technique to 2G: color-Sharpie painting on silver foil — and a clever way of getting drawings from paper to foil.

Just wait ‘til your eyes actually fall on these masterpieces!

Coming up soon…

• Ibuki update

• 2G photos and videos

Our Whiteboards Say It All!

Morning Circle, our 10 am whole-group instruction, before sharing and in quick as-needed mini-lessons are when we tackle widespread challenges and/or concepts that need to be touched on again and again.

And our portable whiteboards… say it all!

You can see—

• Geography

• Math

• Phonics

• Emotional awareness

2G always enjoys locating countries on our always-out map of the world, and on our spinning (spinning, spinning, spinning) globe.

They are also enjoying… tables and chairs!

“3G here we come!”

And— academic life goes on!

And on!

• “This student shows remarkable creative thought as he improvises his own iPad stand. Watch out world, here he comes.” — Dr. Cetacean

In 2G, No One Can Hear You Scream

• WARNING: These are professionals. Please do not try this at home.

2G Playground & Green — Photo Gallery

Playground/Green photos from April 6th, 2021 posted in gallery below:

High-resolution copies available at:

To download single high-resolution photos, look for the download icon, bottom right.

BEWARE the similarly looking download icon top right: clicking this will initiate a download of ALL the photos in the gallery.

Enjoy!

“Incoming!” More Ibuki 息吹 Adventures!

IBUKI GETS (TOO MUCH) FISH

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• SCENE 1 — FISH DELIVERY #1

• Mum: “Darling Ibuki, I bring fish! 2 fish!”

• Mum: “Hungry?”

• Ibuki 息吹: “One down!”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Whoa, nice catch mum.”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Ugh— this one’s pretty big, mum.”

• Ibuki 息吹: “I’m… gonna be digesting for a while…”

• Mum: “You’ll be hungry again soon!”

• Mum: “Be back with mo’ fish!”

• Ibuki 息吹: “More?”

• Ibuki 息吹: “I’m feeling… stuffed…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Perhaps a little nap will help.”

• Dad: “She’s a growing girl. More fish!”

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• SCENE 2 — FISH DELIVERY #2

• 2G: “incoming!”

• Mum: “Darling Ibuki, I’ve brought you some nice fish.”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Mum… I know you worked hard fishing… but…”

• Dad (far right): “Oh, boy.”

• Ibuki 息吹: “OK, I’ll try…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “I’m really not…”

• “… hungry…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Sorry mum.”

• Mum: “I caught your favorite.”

• Dad: “Ibuki, some chicks don’t have a mother who loves them as much…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Remember that BIG fish you brought me… a little while ago?”

• Mum: “Just try…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “All—right—”

• Mum: “Not AGAIN!” • Dad: “You know, I’m a little peckish…”

• Dad: “Hey Ibuki, you HATCHED…”

• “… right here!”

• Mum: “That’s it Ibuki!”

• Dad: “Darling, this is a mighty fine fish! I appreciate you!”

Mum: “Seconds?”

• Dad: “Del— i— cious—!”

• Mum: “Say, I know this nice view down Hanauma Bay way…”

• Ibuki 息吹: “Thank goodness THAT’S over!”

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CHECKING OUT THE LOWER PLAYGROUND

At the end of the day, a “new” pair of terns was giving the tree over the big sandbox a good look.

(It’s actually not a good tree for chicks. The many kukui nut trees are far better.)

• A: “Hey, lookie over here!”

• A: “This looks like a nice place to raise a chick, neh?”

• A: “Oooo— it just makes me feel all FLUFFY all over!”

• B: “If you’re done fluffing, yes… lots of children running around screaming… a good sign…”

• A: “Darling I see…”

• B: “… a bug? Thanks darling.”

• A: “A little nap?” • B: “Why… <Zzzzzzzzzzz>…”

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