December/January

We've continued our dive into geography and students have explored what geography is and why it is important. They became experts with their Geographical jargon and demonstrated their understanding of how different words in geography are connected with their Hexagonal Thinking. Next, they dove into the world of maps, learning how to find absolute locations using cardinal and intercardinal directions as well as latitude and longitude. Students put their skills to the test through exciting Breakout EDU challenges, navigating their way to success! Later this month our 5th graders will explore different kinds of maps, while creating their own map of the United States and will start to design their own team website.

We are so proud of our 5th graders for their resilience, creativity, and teamwork. They are diving into every challenge with curiosity and enthusiasm, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish next!

November 20, 2025

🌍 Geography came alive in 5th Grade Horizon today!  Our young explorers enjoyed interviewing our guest geographers...including a special visit from Dr. Carpenter! ✨

Students asked thoughtful questions and learned from an impressive panel that included a Senior GIS Analyst, an Honorary Research Professor, a GIS Specialist, and an Urban/City Planner.  They took their note-taking seriously, working hard to capture all the important details about each career.

HUGE thanks to our wonderful volunteers (staff and parents) for making the learning experience so fun and engaging.  Students loved getting a glimpse into the work real geographers do every day! 🌎

November 13, 2025

Students presented their Arkansas River Challenge plan.  Camped near Little Rock in May, they could use only five items from their backpacks to research local plants and animals, understand the climate, and plan a meal for their group.  Teams mapped their location and explained exactly how they would find and prepare food.  Accuracy, planning, and creativity were key!

This week, fifth graders explored the fascinating world of geography and discovered just how important geographers are!  It was a fun and engaging lesson that showed how geographers use maps, language, and critical thinking to solve real-world problems (and sometimes imaginary ones, too)!

October 30, 2025

Fifth Grade focused on creativity and critical thinking today! They completed the characters dressed as characters challenge by selecting one character that would dress up as a second character based on their similarities. They applied FEFO and created a drawing and justification for the characters they selected. Next, they transitioned to critical thinking and completed the Arkansas Survival Challenge! We focused on applying geography skills and that Scholars are curious, persevere and can do hard things!

September 25, 2025

This week fifth graders finished The Tournament of Resiliency! After nominating the elite 8 individuals who have shown resiliency, these individuals were placed on a bracket and students had to defend the individuals through each round.  They did a fabulous job with their knowledge and debate skills. In the end the Resiliency Tournament winners in our two Horizon groups were Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi!

They also collaborated and used their creativity to solve a Lunar Challenge in deciding what supplies were essential, helpful or not helpful for surviving on the moon!! It was great seeing them think creatively, because you don't always have to use a resource for what it was originally designed for!! 

September 18, 2025

This week groups nominated individuals to place in our resiliency tournament brackets. They began their research, gathering evidence, and prepared their own arguments for why an individual should "win" their resiliency bracket over another individual. They were very persuasive and sometimes could convince others to change their mind on who they were originally going to vote for! We are so close to having our Tournament of Resiliency winners!

They also collaborated to breakout of the puzzle, Space Station Split!

September 11, 2025

Today we applied perseverance  with a very challenging paper logic puzzle (see below)! I'm so proud that they didn't give up, and they were very determined to figure it out!

We also continued with our goal setting from last week and students created a personal goal and a collaborative goal based on Scholarly Behaviors. We will continue to check in on their goals throughout the year to reflect on their progress and encourage additional steps they can take to achieve their goals! 

Students discovered the definition of resiliency, first with rubber bands and then applied it to the growth mindset of historical or fictional figures that have shown resiliency. They collaborated and brainstormed a list of individuals who have shown extreme resiliency. Next week we will continue with the Tournament of Resiliency! 

September 4, 2025

We have had a great start to 5th grade Horizon! This week students used the 4C's (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication) to solve a Breakout puzzle and they learned more about themselves through a personality quiz . Students were able to see their similarities and differences with their peers and discussed how knowing about these multiple perspectives can help with collaborative work and understanding themselves better. We also discussed the importance of teamwork!

We will continue reflecting on the personality quiz next week, to set individual and collaborative goals that we will refer to throughout the year.