Mathematics with Jenny Feaster
Students spent the first couple of weeks in several hands-on math reviews. The reviews were designed to be challenging and fun. Each student has been pretested on basic math skills. As a result of pretesting, each student has been assigned a course level and has started working in his/her course of study.
English with Jill Sugg
Students discussed summer reading selections and pretested in the categories of vocabulary, literary devices, grammar, reading speed and comprehension, and writing. All classes discussed The Last Shot and took an AR-type test on it. English 7/8/9 discussed I am the Cheese and Jacob Have I Loved; they have begun reading "The Crucible". English 8/9 Advanced has discussed The Cradle Will Fall and A Confederacy of Dunces; they have begun a short fiction unit. Advanced Placement Literature students have discussed A Confederacy of Dunces and are now discussing "Death of a Salesman": their outside reading is Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. It's been a terrific start to the new year!
English and Social Studies with Matt Willhelm
The World History class has been examining the beginnings of human civilization in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. American History has looked at the first interactions between Europeans and indigenous Americans. Current events has focused on the health care debate, while also looking a bit at the concept of media bias. Civics has started looking at the ideas of John Locke and how they influenced the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. English, meanwhile, has completed extensive pretesting and has started reading George Orwell's 1984.
Science with Lori Hilliard
The Upper School science classes have spent Module 1 reviewing, pretesting and being introduced to the various course disciplines. Students completed a series of laboratory activities designed to review concepts covered in previous courses as well as to re-energize them from the summer slump. All classes were also introduced to the science topics to be covered this year and students were presented with course syllabi.
Physics with Dan Hill
The Physics class began Module 1 by reviewing a few science topics and skills, and then dove into pretesting. We've already taken a quick look at the Scientific Method, designed and performed our first experiment, and dipped our toes in the study of motion. In Module 2 we will wade much more deeply into our look at motion in one, two, and eventually three dimensions.
Spanish with Celia Battle
Introduction to Spanish students have been assessed to determine retention of material already learned. They have learned about infinitives, likes and dislikes, time, calendar skills, seasons and weather conditions. Destinos 2 students have been tested on the summer packet as well as the episodes studied last year. They are learning about Spanish countries in Central America and the Caribbean and have begun the second year of Destinos episodes. Intermediate students have been tested on readings, grammar and vocabulary from the summer workbook. They have begun to write stories in small groups and present them orally in class and have begun to study the subjunctive tense. Advanced students have discussed the summer reading and/or workbook and have been tested for retention of grammar and vocabulary from last year. They are reading short stories and studying Spanish refrains as well as having class discussions of various topics to assess their oral communication skills. The primary goal of all Spanish classes is to use and own the Spanish language. Spanish will be the only language spoken in the Intermediate and Advanced classes.
Physical Education with Krista Moll
I've been very pleased with the energy and motivation students bring to each class. In Module One, all classes did fitness testing. I evaluate the students' physical fitness by looking at their endurance, strength, balance, flexibility, agility, and other fitness components. More specifically, they have completed the President's Challenge involving V-sit reach, shuttle run, 1 mile run, curl-ups, and push-ups. If you would like to learn more about the President's Challenge, you can go to www.presidentschallenge.org.
Music with Daniel Raimi
Upper school students are divided into two sections, and each section has had a different focus in the first weeks.
7th–9th grade students have only had two class sessions, and the first was devoted to discussing what we all wanted to get out of the class. The two main things that students are excited about are learning how to read music, and applying that knowledge to using the software program Garage Band, installed on all the Macs in the music room. In the next few weeks, we'll focus on becoming strong readers of traditional music notation, and we'll then apply that to the computers, creating our own simple songs on Garage Band. After that, we'll take things in a more individualized direction, with each student being able to create his or her own pieces of music.
Essential to the process of writing music is understanding how some have done it in the past, so we took a close look at the Bob Dylan song "Blowing in the Wind." We spent almost an entire class period on discussing the themes, metaphors, history, and imagery of the song. Each student had their own interpretation, and I was very happy to see how eagerly everyone engaged in the discussion. The most interesting question is at the heart of the song, centered around "the wind." What is the wind? Two very nuanced interpretations came out of our class session. First was the thought that the wind was a "wind of change," and that Dylan was hopeful about the changing times. A second thought was that the songwriter had a more pessimistic outlook, and that perhaps the wind was a "nuclear wind," where very little would change for the better. We used our understanding of the song to write a couple new verses to the song, with topics ranging from smells emanating from Camelot's downstairs bathroom, to relationships, to God. It was an excellent first couple of weeks.
In 10th–12th grades, students have gotten off to a quick start with reading and applying musical notation to Garage Band. We first broke down a series of complex rhythms, which students performed vocally. Second, we wrote simple melodies and entered them into the computers for Garage Band to play back to us. This week, I gave the students a series of short musical phrases to enter into the computer, which was very successful. Once we got that accomplished, the task turned to manipulating the software instruments on the computer, so that our melodies could be played by piano, synthesizer, orchestral strings, or tuba. This was a lot of fun, and soon we'll begin the process of writing our own pieces, recording them, and hopefully posting them online for all to hear!
Drama with Roni Peterson
Upper School students were asked to have a folder for handouts they will receive throughout the year. They have already been given a few that will be helpful to refer to as we do more advanced acting skills. The Art of Pantomime was introduced and situations were given to the students to act out. Improvisational work was also covered and will continue during Module 2, as well as the introduction of the use of props.
Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach
Although we just had our first Music Performance class, lots has been going on in preparation. School-wide auditions were held, class make-up and meeting times were debated, and we've decided to create two groups again, each with a different focus and style.
What we called the "A Band" last year will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday before Morning Meeting, and will have more of a traditional band structure. Class members are Olivia Arges (vocals), Viola Samadi (vocals), Grace Kirkpatrick, who will be joining us in January after her semester in New York (vocals), Lennon Klinger-Mehrbach (guitar and vocals), Sarah Chetty (keyboards), Josh Stallings (keyboards and vocals), and Elisabeth Parker (drums and percussion). At our first session on Wednesday we had a successful try at the old standard "Fever," trading solos, vocal parts and drum styles throughout, and really making the song our own. I really like the mix of people in the group, and the way they sound together.
What we called the "B Band" last year will begin sessions on Tuesday, September 29, most likely meeting on Tuesday and Thursday before Morning Meeting. This class looks to be heavily vocals-based, which opens up a lot of possibilities for repertoire and style. The group make-up lends itself to styles like doo-wop and Motown, as well as reworking songs by harmony groups like the Beach Boys, the Jackson 5, the Beatles, Queen, and looking at more contemporary groups like Take 6 and 'N Sync. I am very excited about the possibilities, and eager to get started. After having heard the students sing at the auditions, I am confident that they will sound great together. Class members at this time are Kriea Giffin-Dean (vocals), Sophie Reiter (vocals), Lance Wilkes (vocals), Brianna Oleson (vocals and piano), Rachel Roush (vocals and piano) and Alec Porter (guitar).
Overall emphasis for both classes will be similar. This year I will have a threefold approach. First, repertoire, in which we will learn songs from a wide variety of popular music styles, from the 1930's up to today. Second, improvisation, where we will use jazz standards and other appropriate music to improve our creativity and spontaneity. And third, composition, where I will ask each of the students to contribute to writing songs for the class, whether it be music, lyrics or arrangement ideas. Within the context of all these pursuits, valuable lessons will be learned about harmony, music theory and song structure.
