Mathematics with Jenny Feaster
Each and every student has been working diligently on keeping pace in mathematics. With the start of second semester students will review any areas that showed up as weaknesses on their exams before moving on to new material.
English with Jill Sugg
English 7/8/9 read The First Part Last by Coretta Scott King award winning adolescent author Angela Johnson. The book dealt with the harsh realities of being a teen parent.
Advanced English 8/9 and Advanced Placement Literature read J. D. Salinger's classic novel The Catcher in The Rye. I was fortunate enough to be in New York City at the time and sent the ADV 8/9 students emails regarding my travels to some famous Holden Caulfield spots including the duck pond in Central Park South and the carousel which Phoebe rides in the book's most famous scene.
English and Social Studies with Matt Wilhelm
American History: We have examined the concept of Jacksonian democracy, looked at policies regarding Indian removal and relocation, and discussed the debate over slavery in the decades preceding the Civil War.
Civics: We have followed up on two topics covered earlier in the year, namely the economy and how it is recovering, and the status of the health care legislation currently before Congress.
Current Events: We have continued to look at the economy while also reviewing for semester exams.
English 10/11/12: Students finished reading A Clockwork Orange and revised written work completed over the course of the semester.
World History: We have examined the Middle Ages, with an emphasis on the contrast between Europe and the Middle East during these years.
Science with Lori Hilliard
Environmental Science: The class spent the end of the semester working on a cumulative housing project. Their goal was to build a "green" house within an allotted budget. Students then had to relate the project to the semester objectives. I am very proud of their efforts and can't wait for them to actually build these homes someday.
Human Biology: The Human Biology class finished their muscle unit this module and worked diligently on clinical diagnosis. I am quite impressed by their problem solving skills and look forward to challenging them more in the future.
Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics was the theme for the last module in this class. Students also concluded the semester study by making some candy via stoichiometric calculations.
Biology: Genetics, Genomics and the human condition have been very motivating to this class. Students have completed several laboratory assignments and activities in the module, from protein synthesis to the structure of DNA, hands on has been the name of the game.
Physics with Dan Hill
The physics class spent Module 5 talking about momentum and banging things together. With the new semester comes a new concept (and, ultimately, what it's all about): finally, we are looking at energy.
Spanish with Celia Battle
Introduction to Spanish—Students completed the study of Episodes 5 and 6 of Destinos and learned new vocabulary, irregular verbs in the present tense and cultural information about Sevilla, Spain and Madrid.
Spanish 2—Students completed several grammar packets to reinforce newly learned concepts, studied present tense structures and irregular verbs and thematic vocabulary. They continued studying Episodes 36 and 37 of the Destinos series. Daily classroom conversations focus on the unraveling of intriguing sub-plots in this family mystery.
Intermediate Spanish—Students read a short comparison/contrast novel, Hermanas, and had daily classroom discussions (in Spanish, of course!) about the characters and the plot. We studied literary devices and focused on character development during our conversations.
Advanced Spanish - Students continued to review advanced grammar concepts, paying particular attention to passive voice, perfect tenses, and uses of indicative vs. subjunctive mood. They wrote compositions and had daily classroom presentations and discussions about current events.
Physical Education with Krista Moll
Before I give my module update, I would like to state the obvious and bring up how cold it has been outside! Personally, I am always up for anything if it has to do with being outside, but sometimes my students don't share the same enthusiasm. However, it may help them to cope if there were gentle reminders to have them dress appropriately for physical education class. In addition to an increased heart rate, hats, coats, mittens, gloves, tennis shoes, and long socks will help keep them warm!
Our class routine has been the same, with a fitness class and a game day each week. The only difference is, I've decided to turn up the dial a little and have implemented a semester project full of meaningful, applicable, educational experiences and revelations. In other words, yes, they will be doing some research and writing. That's right, there can be work outside of being physically active in physical education class! Who knew? I realize most of the students aren't used to the idea of having homework in a physical education class, but I have great faith in their success as well as your support. I have promised the students the project will not be too stressful, and, to be honest, if they do what they are supposed to do when it is supposed to be done, the project should be a breeze.
I'll try not to overburden you with all the details, but just to be sure your children are giving you accurate updates of the project, I'll give you a brief overview. I consider this project to be a lifestyle analysis project. I feel the true value of education is not necessarily how much you learn, but how much you apply what you learn to your day-to-day life. This especially holds true for health and physical education. My intention is to help the students evaluate their own routines and decisions related to diet and exercise, teach them what it means to eat healthily and exercise regularly, and to guide them in making the best decisions they can about their health.
We'll be taking a look at:
- Nutrients
- Daily recommended intake
- Caloric intake
- What effects what we eat
- Obstacles to eating healthy and ways to overcome those obstacles
- Benefits to eating healthy and exercising regularly
- Energy balance (positive, neutral, negative)
- Exercise (duration, frequency, intensity, type)
- Heart rate
- Obstacles to maintaining regular physical activity and ways to overcome those obstacles
The way I have this project set up is to do a little here and there in class on rainy days. However, the students will have some work they need to finish outside of class. At this point the students should have already completed a diet and activity log. This log is to help come up with an accurate reading on how much energy they are expending and how many calories they are generally consuming. Their energy balance will be determined from this log as well as the evaluation of many of the items listed above. The final step in the project involves writing a short paper.
I am really excited to see some light bulbs go off with the completion of this project! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to send me an email.
Art with Brittain Peck
Module 5 has involved the students in an in-depth exploration of a form that is currently working to redefine the artist's and viewer's roles in the art-making process. We have familiarized ourselves with the work of a group of artists, primarily the work of Lee Walton, whom many see as the leading innovator in what many are referring to as "Experimentalism." Some of the primary concepts that the students have been challenged with implementing are the ability of art and aesthetically-based thinking to integrate directly into the fabric of everyday life and experience. We began our exploration with a rather simple lesson in which the students were given a single sheet of white 8.5-by-11-inch typing paper. The students were then charged to find some way to use this paper as a medium to record some aspect of their life during our time together in art class. Some examples of what the students did included making tally-marks to monitor a student's heart rates, using the paper as a barrier between the student's hand and the door knob of the school's front door as the student repeatedly opened and walked through the door, dribbling a basketball on the paper for the duration of the class, and marking marks on the paper that mimic the movement of a guitar student's hands as he strums and plays the guitar. As our study of this subject progressed, the students were encouraged to integrate their own interests in dance, music, math, sports, family, leisure, and email communication into their work. The students also employed a variety of visual media including video, paint, pencil, paper-cutting, and photography, but were encouraged to involve such varied media based upon the medium's ability to serve the student's overall goals in their work. In doing so, we emphasized the concept that art-making originates from a need to communicate, and that the tools and media we use in creating art must be chosen because of and used for their communicative properties. As an instructor, the students' work during this module has been some of the most rewarding for me to observe, as I have seen the students engage with the concepts and assignments in ways that are directed by the students' own interests and perspectives of themselves and the world around them.
Music with Daniel Raimi
Upper Grades students have focused throughout Module 5 on preparing and presenting original projects that focus on songs that have specific political and social histories and narratives. Students selected any song they chose, and prepared a 5–10 minute presentation on the social and political context of the piece of music. Some of these pieces led to fascinating discussions, and we turned several of the traditional meanings of classic songs on their heads, analyzing pieces like "Born in the USA," "The Times They Are A' Changin'," and "Sunday Bloody Sunday." We got into great discussions about several of these pieces, leading to extended arguments about the modern role of technology, religious conflicts, and American politics. It was a lot of fun!
Drama with Roni Peterson
The students continued doing many different types of improvisation exercises. I worked with them on the five "W's" of acting—who, what, where, why, and when. The 5 "W's" are the basis for all acting exercises. They have been given a phrase or a situation, and then two students work together on the improvisation. One of the exercises that the students really enjoy is called "Freeze Tag." Two students are given a prompt, a word or situation, and they start a scene. I then say "freeze," and the two "actors" must freeze in position. I choose a student to take the place of one of the two, and then when I say "action" a new scene is started by the new "actor." It must be a completely new story line based on the positions of the actors when they were frozen.
In the 10th–12th grades, we finished watching the movie Doubt and discussed it. The 9th grade class will get to finish watching the movie during Module 6. We will begin working with comic strips and using them as prompts for original scripted scenes that two or more students will write and act together during class time.
Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach
CLUB BAND
This module was mostly concerned with preparing repertoire for our performance at Southpoint Mall on December 16. There was good concentration by all, and we learned a tremendous amount of music in a very short amount of time. We tried to give everyone a solo, and let those who chose to explore another instrument. Rachel Roush did extremely well playing the drums on "Little Drummer" Boy" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Kriea Giffin-Dean helped out by playing sleigh bells on a couple of songs as well. Lance Wilkes really excelled in showmanship, singing with gusto and showing a lot of personality at all times. After a tentative start on "Jingle Bell Rock," Alec Porter played his guitar parts with good attack and style. Bri Olesen was the definition of a 'trooper,' showing up to sing despite having been sick with a fever most of the day. Thanks for your commitment to the group, Bri! And Sophie Reiter did a solid job on all of her parts, accomplishing the often difficult and tricky alto parts well.
At our last class before Winter Break we spent the time going over our Southpoint performance and looking ahead to the new semester and year. The students gave their input as to which songs they'd like to do and what they'd like to accomplish in the class. This input was very helpful to me, and will be useful as I plan the second semester music. After just getting to know each other, and then all of the deadlines in the first semester (Academic Fair performance, Southpoint performance), it's always good in the second semester to be able to not be in such a hurry. We can take more time to work on style, arranging, composing, music theory, and allowing students to stretch themselves with other instruments, or with vocal styles they may not be as comfortable with. I look forward to the next few months.
Lastly, please put these dates in your books. They are the 2 likely performances for the Club Band in the coming year:
- May 7—Evening of the Arts
- May 20—Broad Street Cafe
CREDIT BAND
As with the Club Band, we spent most of this module preparing for the Southpoint performance. We dug up some old favorites from last year and added a few new ones. I felt the performance turned out quite well. We were able to give each one of the class members a time to shine. Viola Samadi showed great stage presence and excellent vocal style in her rendition of "Santa Baby." All the instrumentalists in the group did a good job on the "Linus and Lucy Theme," the transition to and from the swing middle section was just right. Lennon Klinger-Mehrbach and Olivia Arges had a lot of fun with "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Lennon and Josh did an excellent job sharing the lead vocal on "How Do You Spell Channukkahh?", and Elizabeth "Lissy" Parker really came through on the very difficult drum part. I know she worked hard the previous week to get it right, and the effort really showed. Thanks for your dedication, Lissy! Sarah Chetty reprised her rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman," with nearly flawless accompaniment by the rest of the group. And we ended up the performance with a solid version of "White Christmas," with everyone playing together with real confidence and style.
