Technology @ Hebron

Honors Geometry students spent the the first part of the spring term working through a unit on Similarity. As an extension of this unit, they recently worked through a project on 2-dimensional scaled floor plans and 3-dimensional models. In groups, students were assigned to find the actual measures of one of the sections of the Science or School Building. Each student was then charged with drawing a to-scale floor plan of the area, complete with accurate measures. To conclude the unit, we moved to the computer lab and built 3-D models using SketchUp to be printed with the 3-D printer.

Ms. Gerrits-Leyden, Math Teacher

A collaborative writing project the Freshmen recently completed last semester in their English and Humanities classes was the creation of an Ancient Greek newspaper. The students were split into groups and each was responsible for one section of the newspaper, from local news to sports and opinions – complete with professional design and a range of article content.

When crafting their section the groups had to follow these design rules:

• Use color only in pictures (can use greyscale shapes)
• Limit font use in your section (can use bold/italic)
• Maximum of four columns per page
• Need to include your section heading on first page
• Local News section needs to include the masthead (name, date, price) and index information
• Each article needs a headline, lede and byline
• All photos must have a caption
• Can use appropriate newspaper-style graphics, e.g. barcode, weather icon

All initial writing was completed and collaboratively edited in a shared Google Doc and then, after the group had decided on template design for their section, each student had to use the layout options in Pages to create section pages for their own writing. This meant that students all had to contribute content for the newspaper as well as learn hands-on design skills on the iPad.

Below are a few shots of the students working on their iPads and MacBooks as well as examples of the different page layouts:

And the finished newspaper, with all the sections stitched together to create one complete document, is published below via ISSUU:

Grade 7 Math students spent the past two weeks working on a survey project, with each student picking a topic of interest, creating a survey based around this topic, collecting data from the school community and then analyzing and reporting their results.

They worked through the following steps, using a range of different apps in the process:

1. Define research question (Google Docs)
2. Create survey (Google Forms)
3. Distribute survey (Gmail)
4. Data collection (Google Sheets)
5. Data manipulation (Google Sheets)
6. Data analysis (Google Sheets)
7. Report findings (Google Docs)

Creating Google Forms and working with data in a spreadsheet were brand new skills for most of the students, which we took even further by creating custom templates when designing the surveys and manipulating the data collected using calculations and formula. The students also created several different types of charts and presented their findings to their classmates.

Here are some screenshots of their surveys and photos of the students working hard on their Chromebooks:

And a selection of their finished reports are embedded below (click the square icon in the middle to view the documents full screen):

French Advanced students have been learning about traditional French towns called bastides, which were typically designed with a surrounding wall, a central church and marketplace.

With the aim of getting the students to really study the design and layout of these types of towns they had to recreate a complete real town in 3D using Tinkercad. They used geometric shapes and holes to draw the individual wall sections and buildings, complete with cutout window and door detailing.

Each student chose a different town to recreate and the finished models were then printed on the 3D printer. A selection of photographs from the project can be seen below, including some shots of the finished printed models:

French Novice students have recently been learning vocabulary for different animals, items of clothing and colors. Based around these sets of words they each created a digital children’s storybook in which an animal visits a famous place and then puts on ten different colored items of clothing. They then came up with a punchline for their story, as well as an eye-catching book cover.

The book was designed and created using Google Slides (either using their iPads or Chromebooks), making use of the software’s simple drawing and shapes options, and the students spent a lot of time searching Google Images for pictures of clothing with transparent backgrounds. They also tried to create layouts and chose fonts that would appeal to a younger audience.

A selection of their completed ebooks are embedded below:

Additionally, the students were asked to read aloud and record their ebooks to provide an audiobook edition of their content (as well as practice their pronunciation). The students used either the AudioCopy app on their iPads or the Voice Memos app on their iPhones.

Again, a selection of the recordings are embedded below as a SoundCloud playlist:

Salvete, amici!

The 7^th grade Latin class is putting to rest, once and for all, the incorrect statement that “Latin is a dead language”. This year, in addition to grammar and history study, the students have been listening to the classic young adult novel, The Eagle of the Ninth. This story tells the tale of a young centurion, Marcus Flavius Aquila, who must leave the legions after he is seriously injured in the heroic rescue of his fort. Alone in the strange and wild world of Roman-Briton, Marcus must build a new life for himself. He finds peace and purpose in the quest to regain his family’s honor by finding the lost eagle of Ninth Legion. Marcus goes on his quest nearly 2,000 years ago; with the help of Mr. Crofton, the 7^th graders have prepared their own quests for the modern day.

The students researched five towns in the British countryside that have Roman ruins. In addition to the Roman features, they found other interesting sites in the towns as well. Using Scribble Maps for planning and taking notes and then Google My Maps, the students made annotated maps of their selected cities. Their maps are peppered with “push pins” explaining the particular sites and featuring pictures of the features. Next, they added driving directions to their maps resulting in an easy-to-follow perfect itinerary for a family trip.

As a young teen, I read The Eagle of the Ninth and its sequels, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. When I graduated from college, my parents gave me a trip to England. Where did I go? To Calleva and Colchester, to visit the world of Marcus Aquila. I hope that these Latin students will someday walk in the footsteps of this centurion as well.

Ms. Reedy, Latin Teacher

A selection of students maps are embedded below – click on the larger map icon in the top right hand corner for more details of each tour:

Many years ago, my husband and I read Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth before we traveled to England. That book gave us an excellent background on gothic architecture and it helped us gain a better understanding and appreciation of these man-made marvels. When I traveled to France for the first time in 1988, my visit to Chartres Cathedral was the high point of the trip.

When I began teaching French in the 1990’s, I decided to teach my students about gothic architecture so that when they one day visit France, they, too, will look knowledgeably at these miraculous skyscrapers of long ago. They will recognize the cruciform floor plan where the north-south nave is crossed by the east-west transept. They will appreciate the flying buttresses giving support to the vaulted ceiling. They will admire the pointed gothic arches surmounting the tracery of the stained glass windows, including the magnificent rose windows.

And it worked! I received this e-mail last summer from a previous student of mine:

“I am in Malta on vacation and doing sightseeing. I’ve visited three different neo-gothic cathedrals and the knowledge from our project helped alot and it was great.”

While the French students were reading an excerpt of Les Misérables,“The Bishop’s Candlesticks”, in class, they each researched a gothic cathedral. They were required to draw and define a number of architectural terms, research the history of their own cathedral, and do an oral presentation, partially en français, to their classmates.

This year, with the help of Mr. Crofton, we added something new and exciting to the project! The students used Tinkercad and the 3D printer to make models of their cathedrals. To do this, each student had to look carefully at the cathedral – Where do the flying buttresses intersect with the roof? – Are both of the towers exactly the same? – How does the interior floor plan compare to the exterior design? By the end of the design phase, the students really knew their cathedrals. I so hope that someday these students will visit these cathedrals!

Mrs. Reedy, French Teacher