Mrs. Hydock's 4th Grade Class

Overview: A Global Problem
The 4th grade has embarked this year on topics that reflect global issues. Students spent time learning about world hunger problems and solutions. According to Dana Goodyear, columnist for The New Yorker, "Demographers have projected that by 2050 the world's population will have increased to nine billion, and the demand for meat will grow with it, particularly in dense, industrializing countries like China and India. Last year-a year in which, according to the United Nations, nearly a billion people suffered from chronic hunger-the journal Science published a special issue on "food security," and included a piece on entomophagy, the unappealing name by which insect-eating properly goes. Acknowledging that the notion might be "unappetizing to many," the editors wrote: "The quest for food security may require us all to reconsider our eating habits, particularly in view of the energy consumption and environmental costs that sustain those habits."

About Entomophagy
Entomophagy (éntomon, "insect", and phagein, "to eat") is the human consumption of insects as food. Our class examined the idea of insects as a viable solution to this problem. They compared statistics on the nutritional value of insects. We compared traditional proteins with insect proteins. Students were astounded by the economic and ecological impact that the meat industry has on the planet. As the year progressed, student completed an MEA, Modeling Elicit Activity, called "BUGS...Food of the Future?"  related to our math standards. We revisited the data about insect nutrition. They wrote letters to an insect farming company to give their recommendations for choosing insects to sell using student criteria. The students learned about incomplete and complete metamorphosis and the impact of these life cycles on the farming process.

Scientific Facts
Here is some of their findings about the topic of Insect Consumption. Azra writes, "Eating crickets is healthier than eating beef. An adult cricket has 8 to 25 grams of protein."  Zack noted, "Bugs are more nutritious than any other meat animals like cows, sheep, and chickens. Crickets will give you calcium and protein."  Brian found that, "Insects don't use that much land and release less methane. When compared to cows, they use 20m2 of land, but cows use about 250 m2." Rianna determined that, "Bugs can help with greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases the can cut through the Earth's atmosphere. Then the Greenhouse gas makes it get hotter. When it gets hotter, plants will die and there will be droughts." "These animals (livestock) have some parts that are not edible so it lowers the edible percent. But most bugs are almost fully edible like the cricket which is 80%," says a shocked Ehmani. "With millions of people starving in the world, adding bugs to people's diets can make sure that people are getting enough food," Coralie commented.

Fourth Graders Not Afraid to Try!
As we addressed the idea of insect cuisine, the logical question finally come up, "Can we try some?" After some careful inquiries, Mrs. De Preist was able to find an educational company that could provide our students "hungry" for answers. So the teachers got together and ordered up a tantalizing tasting menu for our students. The box arrived with crickets with a variety of flavors and chocolate covered crickets and mealworms. Students consulted with parents to gain permission for this gastronomic adventure.

Not Too Bad!!
Finally the day arrived. Crickets were served up to anxious 4th graders (below). Before you knew it, they were all crunching and munching on wings and drumsticks. Surprisingly, they all seemed to like these edible insects. In the end, the 4th graders completed their own metamorphosis on an interesting topic. As Xayla stated you may be one day saying, "Hey kids, guess what! Bugs for dinner!" Now that's just buggy!

Mrs. Tassone's class learned how to write a friendly letter and decided to write letters to our President, Mr. Barack Obama. The students were delighted to be returned a letter, pictures and some information about the White House. Way to go second graders!

Please know that your child's success is our priority. We go through a lengthy process of creating class lists. We understand that your child is unique and you are vested in the educational success of your child. Please be sure to base your request on sound, educational factors unique to your child's needs, and these will certainly be considered as we make our final decisions.

Reasons for your request may include:

• Traits and characteristics of your child that most affect his/her learning.
• Traits and characteristics of a teacher that will facilitate your child's learning.
• The type of educational setting you feel will best meet your child's needs.  

Please do keep in mind that when creating class lists, individual student needs are discussed. Your child's current classroom teacher provides input which is also taken into consideration for class placement for the upcoming school year. During this process we must ensure that we achieve class balance such as gender equity and group size.  

Within your request, please provide an overview of your child's needs and how they relate to various teacher styles while refraining from adding the name of a specific teacher. Please rest assured that decisions are made very carefully by considering the best learning situation for all of our children. All requests must be received no later than Friday, June 24, 2016. 

Please click on the FLDOE link below to see all 2016 FSA exam results for all schools across Florida:

www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/results/2016

For the months of May and June, students were chosen as positively representing the character traits of Perseverance and Trustworthy. Each class selected one winner for either award. Please see the list of students below who were chosen by grade level and class.

Grade	Teacher	Perseverance	Trustworthy
1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2n2 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 5th 5th 5th 5th 5th 5th 5th 5th Kgtn Kgtn Kgtn Kgtn Kgtn Kgtn Kgtn	Boston Canterbury Clements Dubois Feliciano Kaminski Kirchner Muldoon Smith Baez Castillo Childers Lay Perez Pina Rohlf Tassone Villaverde Cannoe Casillo Lopez Ortiz Pokorny Prehay Roberts Taylor Aviles Cocks DePriest Hydock Jaworski Lynch McDaniel Daniel Karavanich Lemon Maldonado Powell Reilly Rivera Whaling Berros Brunner Galleguillos Geiger Hale Richoux Trenary	Isabella Arana Victoria Madrid Gianni Chavannes Caden Workman  Ethan Jones Kaiya Batter Anthony David Julian Rosado Franciso Mendez Joshua Driskill Celiamny Pijuan Ehab Shalaby Layan Amin Elliott Veon Lara Asia Nyla Geiger Roland Luik Barbara Marquez Mimi Chapman Miguel Mastandrea Luis Ecarri Andrea Rivera Harvey Maynard Emily Comeau Santiago Graterol Valeria Nunez Brandon Conklin Alexander Lanza Kjell Yu Coralie Knudson Saif Talaat Ivan Soto Jayden Ayala Reina Fernandez Rafael Blanco Vitor Limas Schein David Zerpa Barbanti Kevin Mironchuk Divya Dhanwani Adiaris Anguita Geizy Aponte Londynn Vasquez Khloe Ayala   Constanza Alonzo Thompson Rodrigo Gonzalez Christopher Santander Victor Arana Matheus Mendes	Fabian Perez Anabel Gomez Jarin Tasnim Allison Smith Bella Miranda Daniella De Olivera Laken Narine Evronia Gerges Sofia Gomez Nohara Rodriguez Christian Willis Isabella Ward Pietra Ribeiro De Paula Ana Carenzio Mathias Rojas Guilherme Prado Natalie Ruiz Jarah Abedin Camilo Chavez Mariana Torralvo Christopher Fagan Nicholas Wilder Brooklyn Vasqeuz Om Patel Ivanis Lopez Eliana Cordero Valentina Nuñez Logan Kucukbutros Alisia Rivera Brianna Dass Justin Rivera Alexis Lowe Alexandra Goldstein Nathan Donis Carlos Jordan Kayla Morales Jessika Medina Zachariah Mahdi Matthew Curbelo Jarisacha Rodriguez Gianna Grosso Gabriel Vargas Julianna Acevedo Nickolas Candamo Sarah Anil Alejandro Espinoza Aydin Diaz Nicolle de Martino

Thank you to students and families for raising more than $18,000.00 for our Walk-A-Thon. As promised, Mrs. Urdaneta, Mrs. Gordon, Mrs. Jaworski and Mr. Campbell got slimed as a result. This was a great event for all to see. Students even had the opportunity to learn what slime was made of as a result. Thanks again families for helping us meet our fundraising goal.

Mrs. Hydock's class motivated and formed a "Clean Team" to benefit all of HCES . . .

The past few weeks our class has been learning about how humans impact their environment. They learned about the bee population decline, fracking, plastic in the ocean, climate change, and ocean noise pollution. To spread the word about human impact, the students also wrote essays to inform the public about concerns they have with the environment and posted it at our recent Multicultural Fair. They chose to make some of their projects out of recycled materials too.

In effort to show that they can make a difference to their world, the students in Mrs. Hydock's class wrote a request to Mrs. Urdaneta to allow them to form a "Clean Team" so that they can clean up their school. Kennedy and Abbey Grace spearheaded the campaign. They made a schedule, organized the students, and explained that they would offer their services during their valuable recess times in order to get the job done. Students were recruited from other fourth grade classes so they could join our mission. It made us all proud seeing them take action!

Way to go fourth graders!

Congratulations to Allyson Carrier, Madeline Thielmann and Victoria Soto Arrieta (below) for reading all 15 Sunshine State Books this school year. The titles of each of the books are attached here.
In previous editions the summer reading list was attached. We have re-attached those for your reference. Please encourage students to read at least 20 minutes each day over the summer to avoid the summer slide.

The Dual Language Enrichment Program Celebrates 10 years!

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we began a new tradition! The Dual Language Enrichment program at HCES hosted its first very DLE Showcase. Students presented a variety of skills acquire through our program and demonstrated their multicultural awareness.

Kindergarteners presented songs from their school year in Spanish and English. First graders presented a folktale from Cuba. Second graders recited an original poem about Dual Language. Third graders participated in a Hispanic Heritage parade. Fourth graders delivered a play of a scene from Don Quixote. Our graduating fifth graders all wrote essays about of the Dual Language program as impacted their life. It was an amazing night that was accomplished because of the hard work of our parents, students and teachers.

Thank you! Gracias!

Our annual Heritage Night was a huge success! We had foods from all around the world in the cafeteria. Parents had the chance to walk around the world and see the amazing art work displayed at the multicultural fair exhibit. We all enjoyed watch the talented people that came out to share their culture through songs, dance, music and more. We also had PTA host their used book fair so our students could have books for the summer.

We would like to thank our Multilingual Parent Leadership Council and PTA for helping us plan this amazing event!

Five years ago Melissa Gordon, Assistant Principal of Hunter's Creek Elementary, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It became her mission to find a cure. Melissa, along with family and friends, decided to participate in the Bike MS: The Citrus Tour 2016; a two day, 100-mile bike ride, to raise funds to find a cure for MS. This has become a tradition. 

This May, Melissa and seven additional OCPS employees participated in this 100-mile bike feat. Four employees were from Hunter's Creek Elementary, one from Wetherbee Elementary and one from Lake Nona High School. Our team also had the privilege of including three Timber Creek High School seniors.

This year the OCPS family raised more than $11,000! In total, Melissa's Stampede, the bike team's name, has raised over $58,000 in the past five years for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Funds from the ride provide resources to support those afflicted, research for new treatments and raising awareness in hope a cure. We hope to see Melissa's Stampede and our fundraising effort continue to grow.  Interested riders can contact Melissa Gordon at melissa.gordon@ocps.net for more information about the ride.