explor-III August 2013 | Page 10

10 months of by In February 2013, alikeReadinghard workwith students and sta? came to fruition their “Around the World” Night. Hawk AROUND THE WORLD AND ACROSS THE CONTENT had key components of literacy such as reading and writing while covering subjects such as geography and science. The “Around the World” Reading Fun Night engaged families throughout the evening with a biome scavenger hunt. Hawk Point Principal Matt Busekrus believes the project, which originally started in the late fall of 2012, gave the students an idea of the research process outlined by CAS. “We found the biomes topic was easily cross-curricular and the students took away a deeper understanding of the content. We were all extremely pleased with the outcome.” In fact, Busekrus believes the school may have had 100% participation at their Around the World Reading Fun Night. Point Elementary led the way in cross-content literacy by transforming the typical reading fun night into a massive school wide research project for all students K-5. Each grade was assigned a biome such as the ocean, rainforests or the desert. Using the Common Academic Standards (CAS), Hawk Point faculty challenged the students to conduct research about their biome. Research projects surrounding each biome IF CH