English with Jill Sugg
Grades seven through nine celebrated Black History Month with Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun." English 10,11,12 read F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic jazz age novel The Great Gatsby and watched the film with Robert Redford starring as the "old sport" himself. Advanced Placement Literature students wrote about poetry and read Nabokov's Lolita.
Math with Annie Tally
Math classes have been quite busy this week with the mid-semester looming and many students striving to complete half of their minimum requirements for the semester. On Tuesday March 11th, the MathCounts club went on a field trip to the computing group of the Environmental Protection Agency to see how math is used to analyze the spread and control of pollution.
Upper School Sciences with Lori Hilliard
Chemistry
The Chemistry class students have completed their study of water and its properties. Students actively engaged in many laboratory experiments that were both fun and informative.
Biology
The Biology class completed their microbiology unit. Students successfully cultured and stained bacteria from around the school. Aseptic technique, simple staining and gram stain procedures were mastered by all on a lab practical administered at the end of the unit. We also enjoyed a discussion with Dr. Walter Hill, regarding the safety of our food supply and bacterial contamination.
The Anatomy class students have completed the major laboratory assignment for this course. Students spent approximately 4 weeks dissecting a fetal pig and learning about all of the major organ systems. Students were wonderful laboratory practitioners and handled the investigation with much maturity.
Environmental Science
The Environmental Science students have completed their study of soil formation, erosion and deposition. Students conducted labs to investigate the effects of freezing on roadways and what types of soil are the most permeable.
Physical Science with Dan Hill
Module 8 saw us looking at the generalized properties of matter, and its end coincided with the end of our study of heat transfer, phase changes, and gas behavior. With Module 9 we will be diving into the structure of the atom.
Social Studies with Matt Wilhelm
World History class has examined World War I and its aftermath. US History students, meanwhile, have been examining the Second World War. Psychology class has learned about various states of consciousness including sleeping, dreaming, hypnosis, and drug-induced states. Current Events class has looked at history as a process of active interpretation and tackled topics associated with the War on Terror. Civics class has moved into public policy studies, beginning with an introduction to the logic of argumentation and the evaluation of information sources. Specifically, we have been looking at the health care debate.
Spanish with Celia Battle
Spanish I - Students in Spanish I finished their study of leisure activities. We have started a new chapter about sports and celebrations and are learning more irregular verbs in the present tense. We are stressing classroom conversation and memorization of new vocabulary. Students are reminded to review the material nightly.
Spanish II - Students in Spanish II finished their study of driving and directions. We are studying the imperfect tense. This chapter incorporates new vocabulary related to their childhood and memories of family celebrations when they were younger. Students are reminded to review the material nightly.
Spanish III - Students in Spanish III studied affirmative and negative commands. They are writing summaries of cultural readings and have begun to study the subjunctive tense. We continue to stress oral communication and class discussions in Spanish. Students are reminded to review the material nightly.
Physical Education with Paige Passavant
We have started our student-led classes. Each student has the opportunity to teach a lesson to their peers. They are not only teachers, they are equipment managers, umpires, classroom managers, etc. It's a wonderful opportunity for the students to get a look at life on the other side of the desk.
Jazz with Glenn Mehrbach
We have continued to add to our repertoire of songs and styles, and refined the songs we have already learned. We began work on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba," our first Latin tune. We regularly do an exercise with "call and response," where the students improvise a phrase with a pre-determined set of notes, and the others imitate that phrase, each on their own instrument.
Each student continues to improve in important areas. Channing (piano) is learning how to use her left hand for chording and her right for improvising melodies, and also how to voice chords with both hands. Edwin (bass) is learning to refine his "walking bass" technique, and to adapt his playing by listening to the others in the group. Cami (flute) is becoming more courageous in her improvisations, as well as more defined and colorful with her articulations. David (drum-set and percussion) is learning to play "in the pocket," with a steady beat, and to improvise fills on both drums and conga with fewer notes and more precise rhythm. Rita (vocals, drum-set and percussion) is becoming more creative with both her phrasing with the songs and her improvisational "scat singing." And her repertoire of drum fills continues to expand.
We also took time out to have a "Listening Day," where we listened to recordings of songs we were learning performed by various artists, including Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Astrud Gilberto. At least one day each week we spend some time on music theory, especially as it applies to jazz. Topics included "the circle of fifths," "the harmonic series," and "common jazz chord progressions."
Art (7th & 8th grades) with Heather Cramer
We worked on "graffiti names." Using colored pencils, we practiced some shading techniques. Then we outlined our names on black or white paper using large overlapping letters, and filled those letters with shaded colors and various images. With these skills now in hand, we looked at images of mandalas that were done using colored pencil on black paper. Our last class was to create a mandala image on black (or white) paper. The students worked in complete silence while listening to music. The mandalas that were produced were quite astounding. Wonderful variety of images and techniques. I believe they also discovered another level of their creative spirits by working in silence and being totally focused on their work.
Drama with Susie Kless
All of the groups have made their final selections of material. One group is doing an original piece. We have a one act called Overtones, a scene from, 'Of Mice and Men' (which they read in English class) and the Abbott & Costello classic, 'Who's On First?' We have some children who prefer to work on the production end. They will be working with all of the classes, taking care of props, scenery, back stage help, and program/poster design.
Guidance Update from Thelma Glynn
As seniors continue to gain acceptances and win scholarships, juniors have started the process by registering to take the ACT in April and the SAT in May. They have also begun work on their autobiographies which are due on April 8 (the day we return from Spring Break).
Students of all ages have been busy signing up for summer programs. Several times a week I call attention to the newest information that has come in the mail. Information about all of these opportunities can be found in the folder on the Summer Opportunities crate in the Upstairs Hall.
