Middle Grades Moves

2010-2011 Module 3

2010-11-15T03:22:00.001-08:00

Language Arts and Social Studies with Michelle Banal

Students are moving forward at such an accelerated rate that it seems like the day is done before it has even begun. Sometimes it feels as if I am coming out of a whirlwind from one class and going into another. Students in the Black Dot (BD) section are working on their expository piece for Academic Fair, and students in the Not Black Dot (NBD) section are working on their third poetry piece following their haiku poems that they just completed. These poems will be displayed at this year's Academic Fair. In January these presentations will be switched and each group will present a shortened research assignment or poems they authored at our annual pie supper at Duke Gardens.

We have navigated our way from Europe to the new world through the travels of Cabral, Dias, Columbus, Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Cortes, Narvaez, Esteban, de Soto, Verrazano, Cartier, Hudson, etc. Our readings of European conquests and settlement have stirred mixed feelings in your student toward these explorers. It was a sobering chapter for many of them who have an innate sense of fairness and justice. We explored issues of colonization and forced submission which made for interesting discussion.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

Most math students are settling into a routine, and Math class has been flowing more smoothly. The students should all be reminded that they need two notebooks and at least a zillion pencils.

In Science we have completed our unit on the physical appearance of our surroundings and world. We looked at, among other things, maps and map projections, landforms, and the Moon's changing appearance. Now, the rest of this course aims to answer the question, "So, like, how'd all this stuff get to be like this, anyway?" Before we can go all the way back to the beginning, though, we have to learn a few things about light, and before we can really understand light, we have to learn a thing or two about sound.

MG Spanish with Alejandro Moreiras

Hola Middle Grades community! In Spanish during Module 3 we completed all the basic aspects one needs to introduce a language. Now its time for the meat and potatoes part of the semester. We have mastered the use of articles, we know how to modify our adjectives, and we have learned the translations of about 100 nouns. As we transition to Module 4 we are being introduced to verbs in the command form. We are practicing and familiarizing ourselves with important concepts such as Person, Gender, and Tense, in the hope that the verb conjugations that are soon to come in Module 4 will swiftly become easy to us. We have had two quizzes which most performed brilliantly on. I'm very proud! In the next weeks keep an ear out for a whooper of a test we will have on everything we have learned so far. I will be helping your student by teaching ways to study, as well as the material itself. Its been a great start of the year, lets keep it up!

Physical Education with Krista Moll

We had a lot of fun getting a little muddy while playing kickball this module! Hopefully, students didn't come to your car during pick up super muddy. I'm sorry if that was the case. For some reason, it always rained the morning of or the day before a Middle Grades class. Therefore, the field we went to (Lyon Park baseball field) always had puddles. We tried our best to work around them. Anyhow, most students already know how to play kickball, but we still went over the rules briefly, talked about certain strategies, and I've been trying to get them to work on ball location when they kick the ball. Our biggest challenge throughout this unit was teamwork. With classes being as small as they are, students have to rely on their teammates to step it up and take on multiple responsibilities throughout a game. We typically only have the bases covered and one outfielder. This means that students have to communicate more to each other. For some, this is no problem. For others, let's just say we have some work to do! I had a good time being the all time pitcher. I feel like they also had a great time and most importantly, they were moving the whole class.

Music with Glenn Mehrbach

Each week during this module we looked at a different aspect of music. The first week we went over the musical theory that I taught earlier in the semester, and I gave the students resources and homework pertaining to this. This turned out to be very perplexing for a large majority of the students, and I realized that either I had not explained the subject very well, or had explained it too quickly. Since I didn't get much feedback from the classes while explaining the theory, I thought everyone was understanding. I was very wrong. So the homework ended up being more of a gauge for myself on how much each of the students knew about music theory. The next week we became what I called a "Human Garage Band," as I asked each class to create a song together. Depending on their abilities, students played keyboards, drums, other percussion, sang, or played xylophone. We made up lyrics, a melody, found things for each student to play or sing, and completed a new song by the end of class. The next week I brought in folk songs from around the world, and we sang as many of them as we could. Songs ranged from "On Top of Old Smoky" to "Hava Nagila" to "Frére Jacques. It was a lot of fun.

Computer Instruction with Paige Passavant

During Module 3, students continued in their Word unit learning to create/save a document, and starting to create graphics. The students also worked on their keyboarding skills making entry's in their journal. Please reinforce proper hand/finger placement at home.

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

We have been doing memory enhancing exercises. These included the Mirror Exercise where one student faces another and uses hands, arms, head, legs, and body movements that the other student must mirror, as though being the reflection. This exercise helps actors with concentration, and observations needed while performing. The Camera Exercise has one student in front of the class, all students change their seats. The student in front examines the new seating of the students and concentrates on where each student is now sitting. When he/she is ready, he/she takes an imaginary picture with an imaginary camera and leaves the room. The students then move once again to another seat. The student returns to the room and using his/her memory (picture), puts the students back into the seat they were in when the "picture" was taken. The more advanced exercise is two students face each other and one will strike a pose. A "picture" will be taken and the student who is to remember the pose will turn back to other student and then the pose will be changed. It can change by the movement of one finger, a glance, a smile into a frown. The other student is then asked to put the pose back to the original.

The concept of Method Acting was discussed and the definition of Sensory Memory was taught. I did this as a lecture, giving students examples of exercises they could do at home. This is an advanced course in acting and I will not be going into it further in class as it can get extremely personal and I find it inappropriate for this age group. We will begin learning long form improvisation. I will also introduce the use of props in the improvisations.

Art with Paul Kartcheske

For Module 3 we studied Picasso. We discussed his quote "I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them." To mimic this we drew a dog rotating the paper at intervals throughout the drawing. After each main component was drawn, the paper was turned 90 degrees. After the paper was turned a total of four times, the rest of the dog was drawn using straight and curved lines.

We also did an exercise from artist Carla Sonheim called Random Picture Drawing. This time we numbered 1 through 20 and listed items to draw. I generated a list of the numbers in random order. As I called a number the students drew the item they listed for that number incorporating each new item into the ones already drawn until all 20 items were drawn. The final step was to use colored pencils, pens, and markers to complete the final artwork.

These exercises help promote the use of their imaginations and help them become comfortable with stepping outside of the box. They show the students art does not have to be structured or restrictive.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

VOCAL ENSEMBLE CLUB
The vocal ensemble continued to make wonderful progress this module. We narrowed down our work to three songs: "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel, "No Mirror's in My Nana's House" by Ysaye Barnwell of "Sweet Honey in the Rock," and "Jump" by Van Halen (the "Glee" version). We also took a look at "Proud Mary," by John Fogerty (also based on the "Glee" version). All the students are becoming more comfortable with singing harmonies, more assured of their own voice, and more comfortable with singing together as a group. It is very exciting to watch, and I look forward to showing everyone their progress at the Academic Fair. Bri Oleson is our resident soprano, carrying the high notes with assurance and style. Amy Hillsman has carried herself well in whatever role she is given, and sings a strong lead vocal on both "No Mirror's" and parts of "The Longest Time." Sophie Reiter has been adapting well to harmony singing, and is beginning to increase her vocal volume with each rehearsal. Ryn Wilkes is making good progress toward constant pitch recognition, and once she finds the correct pitch to sing, she really gets "in the groove" and sings with gusto. Lance Wilkes is the volume measure by which we measure ourselves. If we could all sing as loudly and clearly as Lance, we would have no need for microphones! I want to thank Lance for making the effort to be prepared for class. Whatever he's doing to prepare for the early morning classes is really working. And finally, last but not least, is our new-found bass vocalist, Alec Porter. Alec's rich and vibrant baritone really holds up the low end on certain of the songs, and his solo vocal style is also evident at times. I am really enjoying watching Alec develop his range and vocal style.

2010-2011 Module 2

2010-10-24T11:58:00.001-07:00

Module 2 Middle Grades

Language Arts and Social Studies with Michelle Banal

Now that conferences are finished we are ready to plow forward with greater speed and efficiency in all of our subjects. The conferences have allowed us to set reasonable expectations for your child that will stretch his or her learning. I am looking forward to reading new novels with your child and listening to his or her thoughts as he or she reflects on the contents of each new story that we read together. Students will soon be coming home with vocabulary workbooks and notebooks that will be filled with notes from discussions we will be having in class. Please be mindful of this in the coming weeks. Thank you for coming out to your student's conference; your efforts to ensure your child's success are helping me pave a way for your student to succeed here at Camelot.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

The Mathematics students are falling into their routine; some of them have been making quite a bit of progress—I hope this keeps up! Please encourage your students to show their work thoroughly and neatly in their notebooks. I'm not so much interested in the correct answers as I am in the method used to find those answers. While neat handwriting is important for clear communication, math notebooks are not supposed to resemble illuminated manuscripts! In Science we have been looking at the Scientific Method, and both classes have designed their own experiments to perform in order to experience it properly.

MG Spanish with Alejandro Moreiras

We are rolling right along in MG Spanish. In addition to our basic grammar from last module we now possess the power of plurals.

We have added to our army of words and now know about furniture and we have learned how to distinguish each member of the family in Spanish. We are heavy into translating now and have succeeded in translating an entire paragraph from Spanish into English in narrative form. Very good job, Middle Grades!

Physical Education with Krista Moll

I only saw middle graders twice this module. It was mile make-up day for the first class and it was raining during the second class. Therefore, we played silent ball with a twist. Every time the ball (a die that had twenty different edges and was numbered 1 through 20) landed on the ground, whatever number it landed on was the number or times they had to do a particular exercise. For example, if it landed on 10 and I called out push-ups, they had 10 push-ups to do. I think adding this twist to the game made it more exciting and kept them on their feet!

Music with Glenn Mehrbach

After breaking down the elements of music in our first class, and analyzing students song choices to get an idea of what kind of music they like and listen to, we began to learn about music theory. The first element as explored was rhythm, which finished up Module 1. We started Module 2 talking about harmony, and explaining about notes, intervals and chords. We diagrammed what makes up a scale, in terms of whole steps and half steps, and how that knowledge can help us identify the 4 major chords. I tested the students on hearing types of chords by ear alone. I also brought in some "boomwhackers," which are long colored tubes that, when struck on something hard, produce a specific musical tone. We used these to demonstrate melody and harmony. It was also a good chance for the students to practice working as a group, since each person generally had one tube. Different classes had varied success with the boomwhackers, and we played tunes like "Louie, Louie," "Heart and Soul," "Happy Birthday" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Just before the break I began bringing in 17th century rounds (like "Frere Jacques") to teach about how melodies work, and sometimes intertwine to create harmony. We had a lot of very shy singers, but also made found some very resonant and musical voices during the exercises.

Computer Instruction with Paige Passavant

During Module 2, students began a multiple-module unit on the Word Program. This module was spent learning to create, compose, and save a document. We also dedicated one class period to keyboarding skills. With keyboarding being a major emphasis this year, the students began their practice journals. This electronic journal will allow the students to track their keyboarding skill progress.

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

Both classes continued to work on their original scripts based on their summer vacation highlights. The students worked together and individually on the scripts. The next step to the lesson was to do what is called a "table read", where they sat in their seats and read their lines to get familiar with the script before performing it. Performances were done in class.

We started working with exercises that emphasized working to enhance memory function, which consisted of the phase "I went to a party and I brought something that started with the letter "A", the next student would say the same beginning phrase, and think of something that started with the letter "B", then had to repeat the object that started with the letter "A" that the previous student had said, and so on for the entire alphabet. Another exercise was to have two students face each other and look at what they were wearing. Then turn away from each other and have to describe in great detail what they had remembered that the other student wore. We also did improvisations using one word prompts.

Art with Paul Kartcheske

We started back at the beginning with cave or ancestral art. We discussed the three forms:

Naturalistic—drawings that depict "real" things as they are.
Stylized—drawings that depict objects with a grounding in reality (mythical creatures, X-ray views)
Abstract—depicting objects with no grounding in reality

We looked at the Mayan culture, Native North American cultures, and prehistoric man. Examples of the items we discussed were the symbolizing of people, animals, hunts, and weather.

Next, we moved into using our imaginations. We created complex machines out of everyday random items. For example, and umbrella that could walk along side you instead of having to be carried.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

VOCAL ENSEMBLE CLUB
Great progress was made by all the students in the Vocal Ensemble in Module 2. We took our time for the first few sessions, practicing various warm-ups, working on vocal projection and tone, and learning how to sing together and in tune. We used parts of the songs "One Love" and "Lean On Me" for these purposes. They may not even be songs we perform as a group, but it really worked on them hearing each others voices, seeing how they fit into the harmony, and trying to sing and listen at the same time. I gave solos throughout as well, to see how well the students could show their own individual personality. Their pitch recognition, projection and rhythm improved markedly in the few classes we worked this way. In the next few classes we started working on full songs, beginning with "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel, and "No Mirror's In My Nana's House" by Ysaye Barnwell, the leader of the a cappella women's group "Sweet Honey in the Rock." I also purchased copies of "Jump," originally by Van Halen but made famous again in the TV show "Glee." As I told them in the first class, each student has particular challenges to overcome, and we will be keeping these in mind as we begin to work more seriously on the songs I've chosen. I look forward to continuing our rapid progress in the coming weeks.

2010-2011 Module 1

2010-10-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Language Arts and Social Studies with Michelle Banal

Pretests are completed, and now the academic school year for your student can begin. I am looking forward to conferencing with you and your child in October. Progress Plans will be presented to you so that we continue working in tandem to see that your child succeeds. As a reminder, please make sure that your child is using his or her planner each night to complete all assignments. Following up on your child's progress each night will ensure that the next school day will run smoothly. Also, please help your student refresh his or her supplies of pencils and erasers. As we open up the doors to new learning, let us together set your student up for success and see him or her achieve it.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

After a quick review of some common bugbear topics, the Math students settled in to a grueling series of pretests. They survived, though, and have now been thoroughly measured; I see lots of homework and flash cards bearing down upon us. Math work now begins in earnest; please make sure your child has all of his or her required materials at school. The Science students also did a couple of dust-the-cobwebs-off-the-cerebrum exercises and took a series of pretests, and are likewise ready to start the year by looking at the motivations and methods behind Science.

MG Spanish with Alejandro Moreiras

We are rolling right along in MG Spanish. In addition to our basic grammar from last module we now possess the power of plurals.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

I'm excited the school year has begun! Although this first module was solely for fitness testing, I am eager to finish the testing up and move on to some more exciting activities! The fitness testing is based on the Presidential Fitness Testing and looks at endurance, flexibility, strength, and speed.

Music with Glenn Mehrbach

For the first music class, we talked a lot about music. I asked the students to tell me all of the places they might hear music throughout their day, what purposes music might have in different situations, and about what turns a set of sounds into actual music. Then I explained about the six building blocks of music. I also played them some orchestral music, and asked them to point out the different instruments that they heard. There was a chart of musical instruments on the wall the helped students match the sounds they heard to the pictures of the instruments. Lastly, I gave them an assignment, which was to pick 3 of their favorite songs and tell me, in quantitative terms, why they liked them. I asked them to send me YouTube or other links for me to listen to the songs as well, and gave them my email address to send the results. Some of the students have still not completed the assignment.

In the second class we talked about the first building block of music: rhythm. I gave them each a percussion instrument, and we played various rhythms that I wrote on the board. We learned 4 different rhythms, and then played them all at the same time, with varying success. We learned about percussion notation, about how to describe volume and time changes, and the meaning of time signatures. After that we learned about "call and response," with the students improvising percussion patterns that the rest of the class was asked to imitate. In some of the classes we also sang a little.

In the third class I played one selection that I had chosen from each of the student's homework assignments. I asked the students to read what they had written, listen to the song, and then talk about it. I kept the conversation focused on musical terms: instrumentation, dynamics, structure, vocal quality, quality and variety of the melodic line. The student's had varied and interesting choices, and it was a learning experience for me as well.

I intend to continue this pattern throughout the semester, with one class being more theoretical, and the next experiential.

Computer Instruction with Paige Passavant

We spent our first module reviewing laptop computer rules, laptop classroom routines and basic laptop computer operations. Students were able to demonstrate their entry-level computer skills based on their ability to navigate several pretests using a web browser and Microsoft Word.

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

In all of the classes a handout was given which contained materials that each student is responsible to bring to each Drama Class.

We spent some time during one class period going over a handout about "How to be a grown-up", which was about ways of taking responsibility for one's own actions. Since socialization and self-esteem are such an integral part of this class, I felt this information useful as reference material to be available to each of my students.

In all of the Dramatic Arts classes we started the semester with getting back into the practice of public speaking by sharing with the class some highlights of our summer. The assignment for the end of the first module and for Module 2, is to use the "summer highlight" as a prompt for writing a short skit. Each student will act as the writer, director, and performer of their skit using other members of the class as actors. Each student must perform in his/her skit but not necessarily as themselves. I am excited to see what these talented students produce.

A handout was given to aid the students with their skit writing. It was emphasized that this be a "short" skit, performance time no more than a minute or two. Due to the size of the classes, students may be asked to perform in more than one skit, and I did not want them to have to learn too many lines which could overwhelm them. This exercise will be a starting point for more scriptwriting assignments and character studies that we will be doing during this semester.

Art with Paul Kartcheske

We started out the year with review for most. We went over the basics—how to hold the pencil—tripod grip, extended tripod grip, over- and underhand grips. The main point of emphasis was to keep a relaxed grip on the pencil. In other words, fi at any time someone would pull on the pencil, it should slip right out of his or her grip.

We talked about how many famous artists kept a sketchbook—Picasso produced over 178. Each student was issued a sketchbook that they will work from throughout the year. We started with just simple scribbles to get comfortable with the technicques of drawing: loops, zigzag, light to dark, shading, and hash marks to name a few.

This year we plan to cover topics such as animation/comics, history, scenic artistry, theatre, outer space, graffiti art, and animals. We will also work on hands, faces, feet, noses, and ears to name a few.

Drawing is to be fun, and I encourage the students not to erase because there are no mistakes—just opportunities.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

VOCAL ENSEMBLE CLUB
I've only had one chance to meet with the Vocal Performance Club, but it was a very productive session. We learned about what everyone expected from the class, talked about any songs or types of music they might be interested in performing, and I told them what I would like to explore for each of them in the coming year. Then I gave them some exercises to help find out everyone's vocal range. We ended the class by learning and practicing the harmonies to Bob Marley's "One Love." After a few tries they began to have a wonderful blend. We also sang a little bit of "Twist and Shout" which allowed each of them to show off the solo vocal skills. It is my hope for the class to explore both of these aspects of vocal performance, harmony group singing and solo stylistic singing, as well as learn how to add movement to our singing arrangements. I was impressed with the overall talent of the students, and am looking forward to the months ahead.

2009-2010 Module 9

2010-04-29T08:28:00.001-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

It has been a busy three weeks preparing your student for the ERBs. We are anticipating that your student will successfully complete these tests that are administered yearly.

Students in English class are learning about verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. This will be the last grammar lesson in this class before we move to diagramming sentences.

Language arts students continue to work on prepositional phrases. Students in this class are learning that prepositional phrases can function as adjectives or adverbs. Students are now able to delineate prepositional phrases skillfully. They are also able to contrast them to appositives.

One-half of the class completed this year's course expectations for social studies; they are now delving into articles from the widely popular and circulated magazine The New Yorker. Articles we've covered thus far are "The Hunted," "Timing the Recovery," and "The Ice Balloon."

The other half of the class is finishing up Chapter 23. We will have completed our study of the Eastern Hemisphere by the end of Module 9.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

The mathematics students have taken a few days in the past module to prepare for standardized testing. We have gone over some basic vocabulary and concepts and taken part of a practice exam.

The morning science class is drawing its unit on work, energy, and simple machines to a close. We have discussed levers, ramps, and gears (and various related machines), and the concepts of efficiency and mechanical advantage. We also analyzed our bicycles. The afternoon science class has just completed a unit on basic classes of matter: elements, compounds, mixtures, and the phases of matter, as well as the ideas of chemical and physical change. This is in preparation for a look a the structure of the atom, the periodic table, and chemical bonding.

Introduction to Spanish with Celia Battle

Students continued to compare the use of regular and irregular verbs in the preterit tense and the imperfect tense. They have started to write sentences to describe past actions as they learn to tell a story in Spanish. These verb tenses are challenging and require daily review and practice in order to master memorization of the conjugations.

MG Spanish (B & C) with Brittain Peck

As the students concluded their work on developing their ability to put together a contextual understanding of the lyrics of the song of their choice, we transitioned into another exercise to challenge the students to put together meaning through context, process of elimination, and their growing understanding of the Spanish language. The students were presented with a map to an imaginary city. The map included both pictures and names of key landmarks, places, and buildings and required the students' engagement to fully understand the new vocabulary being presented to them. The students were then asked to add and name new buildings and places of interest throughout the city map to make the city more reflective of their individual interests. The students were then introduced to vocabulary and phrases related to giving directions to navigate their way around the city map. Once the students displayed an understanding of the new vocabulary, they were asked to create a scenario and narrative that would in some way change the city or their experience in the city. The students used their original scenarios to generate a new set of directions in Spanish to guide each other through the city on whatever sort of adventure their imagined scenario took them.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

During the last few weeks we have completed our tennis unit! Students learned how to hold the racket, what it means to follow through, forehand and backhand technique, foot and body position in relationship to hitting accuracy, what it means to be a server and receiver, scoring, and the use of the tennis court. Some days we played at the tennis courts at Forest Hills Park, and other days we played here at Camelot. Students had a chance to play both singles and doubles throughout the unit.

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades classes have been up to a variety of activities. We spent a couple weeks watching a great video by the conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein describing the musical form called a Sonata. We talked for a while about exactly what makes this musical structure so abiding over time, and found many examples of what a Sonata is. The last week has been devoted to working out what we're going to be performing at Evening of the Arts. Middle Grades class 1 will be performing their own arrangement of a classic Jackson 5 hit, and Middle Grades class 2 will be performing a completely original song, written to the tune of one of our original Garage Band projects. We're excited to share these projects with you!

Drama with Roni Peterson

During Module 9 the students performed scripted short scenes. The scripts were usually for two actors. The students were given the script and then given about ten minutes to study their parts. They then acted it out using the script in front of the class. I gave them some direction and had them perform the skit during another class. The last class of the module the students were given visors with animals on them and separated into groups to come up with a short skit using the characters of the animals that they were wearing. They were given about fifteen minutes to work together to develop the skit. We will be working with props during Module 10.

Art with Brittain Peck

As we have continued our work with ink drawings, we have begun to transition our understanding of design and illustration fundamentals using one black and white medium into a new application with yet another black and white medium: relief printmaking. The students have developed greater facility and proficiency in ink drawing using brushes and sticks as drawing instruments and have begun to focus their efforts on designs that will be used in the creation and printing of woodblocks. Given set dimensions for the size of their blocks, each student has worked to create an ink drawing that we will begin to transfer to a woodblock and carve in our upcoming module.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS
We made good progress on a lot of songs this module, short as it was. We started out most of our sessions with a vocal warm-up, focusing on harmonizing, and applied that to our songs. Our blending and note retention is much improved on "One Love," "Imagine," and "I Get Around." We started learning two new songs: "Accidentally In Love," by Counting Crowes, with Rachel Roush on lead vocal, and Queen's "Somebody To Love," with Lance Wilkes handling the famous Freddy Mercury part. Alec Porter was unable to attend a couple of classes because of a back injury, but returned showing improvement in his guitar playing on all the songs, and more vocal confidence on John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." Kriea Giffin-Dean, with the help of a drum set I lent her, is becoming more assured with her drumming, and I am hoping she will be able to integrate the hi-hat and ride cymbal with the rest of the kit by our Broad Street Cafe performance. Brianna Oleson sings with much style on "One Love," and adds pure and agile soprano harmonies to the other songs in our repertoire. Rachel continues to be our jill-of-all-trades, singing soprano and alto vocals, playing drums, tambourine, and piano. Sophie Reiter continues to improve on her vocal volume, harmony retention, and stage presence on her solo song, "The Way I Am."

Remember our upcoming performances for the "Evening of the Arts" on Friday, May 7 at 7pm, at "Artsplosure" in Raleigh on Sunday, May 16, at 2pm, and at the Broad Street Cafe on Thursday, May 20, at 5pm. We will be performing for 10 minutes on May 7, and doing our entire repertoire on May 20, both along with the Credit Band.

2009-2010 Module 8

2010-04-14T11:56:00.001-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

It has been quite a busy module with the students being eager for spring and the outdoors. Weather permitting we have been taking advantage of the warm sunny days to get out more often and soak up the sun's tantalizing rays. I hope you are doing the same.

We are finishing up our unit on the history and culture of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. After this unit we will focus our attention on current events. It will be interesting to hear you student's opinion on the passage of the new law on health care.

In English we are working very hard to finish the vocabulary workbook which is a great help to students before they sit the ERBs (standardized tests). We will be taking some time from our regular routine to prepare for these tests.

Students who are in my early morning language arts class will be reading A Wicked History: Attila the Hun, Leader of the Barbarian Hordes by Sean Stewart Price. This fits perfectly with our study of the Eastern Hemisphere. Students who are in the later morning English class will soon be finishing up Our Choice by Al Gore.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

For some of the math students, it's time for math pace crunch, for others, it's flash cards or bust! In other news, there are several students teetering on the ends of their current books. We also took a day off during this module to look at geometric constructions. Some of the more enthusiastic drawers in the class thought this was just about the coolest thing ever. (They are correct.)

The afternoon science class has started talking about the structure and properties of matter. We've used the dissecting scope to look up close at and compare different substances, and we've begun talking about atoms and molecules and all that jazz.

The morning Science class is about to put their painstakingly acquired fluency with the concepts of work and energy transfer to... well... work—understanding the action of simple machines.

Spanish with Celia Battle—Introduction to Spanish / (MG & US)—Students are working very hard to learn regular and irregular preterits of reflexive verbs. They are progressing in their study of Destinos Episodes 7 & 8 and are uncovering new information leading to the search of the mystery character. This is a very energetic and enthusiastic class and everyone is enjoying the verb and vocabulary challenges.

MG Spanish (B) with Brittain Peck—We have moved closer to completing our research projects with both in-class and at-home opportunities to research and write. We have also begun a smaller scale, in-class study of a variety of styles of music common throughout the Spanish speaking world. Students have listened to a sample of various styles, identifying instruments and stylistic differences, and also chosen a favorite band and song with Spanish lyrics. The students have been charged with learning the words of the song as a gateway into gaining a greater understanding of phrases and vocabulary usage.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck—The students have been working through Chapter 3 in our class text book, focusing on vocabulary, phrases, and conversations centering around food, meals, and preferences. We have covered both -er and -ir verb base conjugations.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

Now that we have finished our jump roping unit, we have moved on to another "unit," team building. I realized during the process of the students coming up with a jump rope routine that some students struggled with how to work with other classmates. This is something, at some point in time, that we all struggle with - how to work with people we don't necessarily understand or get along with. Listening to each others' ideas, making decisions, compromising, keeping an open frame of mind, being resilient, coping with stress, dealing with frustration and confusion are all things that I feel would be beneficial for the class to learn how to do. Of course, these are life skills that take years to learn, but I figured there's no better time than now to start working on the difficulties of communication, socialization, and individual growth within a given set of personalities in the classroom. Therefore, I have given them several team building tasks over the past week or two. Some tasks were easier than others, but overall, I feel that the students have learned to work a little better with their classmates. There is still a lot to learn, but the they are definitely headed in the right direction!

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades has spent the past few weeks devising, editing, and performing original pieces using the computer software Garage Band. Students were given a specific drum beat and bass line to program into the computers. Once they completed this task, students were given a specific set of scales and chords (from the key of C minor) to create their own melodies and textures, adding to the previously entered bass and drum parts. I was really impressed to hear what they came up with! We had a range of approaches, some of which sounded like outer-space techno music, and some of which sounded downright baroque! After each student completed their project, we played them for the class, and several were deemed instant classics.

The final step in this process is to "export" the audio to iTunes and send the music home with students to play on their computers, in their CD players, or anywhere else they want to listen!

Drama with Roni Peterson

The students were given index cards and told to write the description of a character of their choice. This character could be any age, or gender they chose. They then put the cards upside down on my desk and were asked to pick a card. I then formed small groups and the students had to make up a short skit using the character that they had chosen. We ended the module with story telling. The students were given prompts by me, "So tell me what happened when ....." Some of the prompts were, "when you went hunting in Africa", or "when you fell into a shark infested swimming pool." The students were to keep talking and the story would keep evolving until I said "scene". This exercise really helps in developing creativity and the ability to speak in front of the class and self esteem.

Art with Brittain Peck

Having completed our study of the Japanese Hiragana alphabet, we have begun a practice of ink drawings based in an understanding of the construction of alphabet and letter characters. We began our use of the ink and brushes by recreating the newly learned Japanese alphabet in efforts to further perfect and understand the formation of the characters. We spent a small amount of time discussing the use of syllable based characters in the Japanese language and how this affected translation and the visual presentation of auditory information. Understanding the fundamental differences between characters made with brushes as opposed to those made with pencils, pens, or styluses, the students also were invited to begin to experiment with the ink brushes in creating varieties of lines, shapes, and forms that they may not have been accustomed to creating with materials other than ink and brushes. As a way to move the students even further away from familiar tools and media, we ventured outside to find twigs and sticks and returned to use these as drawing tools dipped in ink. The students were encouraged to find ways that drawing with a stick was different from drawing with a pen, pencil, or ink brush, and to create drawings that were influenced by these fundamental differences. I am extremely impressed with the innovative and attentive spirit with which the students approached these tasks.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS

During this module we firmed up our song list for the rest of the year, and continued to refine the material we've already chosen. We now have a solo or solo song for each member of the group. Lance will sing the Freddy Mercury part on Queen's "Somebody To Love," Bri will sing lead on Bob Marley's "One Love," Sophie is doing a wonderful job with Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am," Rachel is just getting started with the Counting Crows song "Accidentally in Love," Alec is making good progress with his singing and guitar playing on John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change," and Kriea has solo parts in "Imagine," "Lean On Me," and is spending a lot of time improving her technique on the drum set.

As far as group songs, the group is really starting to gel on "I Get Around," with lots of added percussion and hand claps, and much more confident harmonies from Sophie, Kriea and Lance. "Imagine" has a wonderful feeling about it as well, with both solos and harmonies sounding more assured and beautiful each time we rehearse it. "Lean On Me" still needs the most work, but it is the most complex song as well. I am hoping that one is ready for the end of year performances.

2009-2010 Module 7

2010-03-10T18:14:00.001-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

It has been a busy three weeks. One of the English classes finished Al Gore's Our Choice. They will work on planning a home and improving their community using the information they gained from reading this book. The other English class has just started this book after finishing Macbeth. The class that read Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest will be watching a production of this witty comedy on stage at UNC.

We just finished our lessons on the history of Asia. Our lessons took us on a journey of China, Korea, and Japan's history. We studied Indochina and Southeast Asia's maritime section. After Southeast Asia we moved on to Asia's subcontinent. We learned of Mohandas Gandhi's peaceful protest of British occupation on the subcontinent. Your student learned why Pakistan became its own country apart from India, and why the region of Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan. Students came away with a lot of information about this region of the world that they did not know previously.

We are looking forward to more time outdoors as this long winter comes to an end.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

We took a break from math class recently (and will take a couple more in the future) to make some creative mathy decorations for my classroom. In addition to my three-dimensional Sierpinski's Gasket, I now have a colorful Pascal's Triangle, a picture of Mr. Dan being sliced up in order to teach fractions, lists of perfect squares, a couple of cartoons, and several other nice pieces. More to come!

This module's Mad Minute results show that some students are making good progress with their facts, but there are still plenty who need to keep hammering their heads against those flash cards—they know who they are!

Please remember that each student should have two math notebooks at all times, so that he or she can be working in one of them while the other has been turned in for grading. Your student should also have a protractor, ruler, compass, and enough pencils to build a raft for a cat.

The afternoon science class is about to finish its unit on simple machines, while the morning class has them on the horizon—they are almost done looking at vectors, forces, and friction.

Spanish with Celia Battle

MG Introduction to Spanish (A)—Students are on a roll learning verb tenses and conjugations! We have had classroom verb competitions and races which have energized everyone. Students are mastering the use of reflexive and stem-changing verbs in the present tense as well as continuing studying Episodes 7 and 8 in Destinos.

MG Spanish (B) with Brittain Peck —The students have done a wonderful job continuing with their research subjects by finding sources and writing rough drafts. In our class work we have continued our mastery of phrases to convey preference and like and dislike.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck—The students have moved into a lesson of study involving Spanish foods, menus, and meals. Grammatically, we have begun a more in depth look into the conjugation and use of "-er" and "-ir" verbs.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

Middle Grades continued to work on their group jump rope routines. I am glad to say they will finally perform their routines within the next week regardless of weather! Some groups have got it all together and are ready to go. Other groups are having a little bit of a hard time cooperating with one another and making some final decisions. Either way, I have faith every group will have a dynamite routine by the time they perform!

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades have begun a new project where they'll be creating their own musical compositions. After being provided with a drum beat and bass line by Mr. Dan, students were asked to come up with at least two accompanying parts to the music using a particular scale and set of chords (we're in the key of C minor, if anyone's keeping score at home!). The project will be finished next week sometime, and we'll be sharing that music with the rest of the class and probably be posting some of the compositions online for anyone to check out. All of the composing is happening in Garage Band, and students have been using the program to gain a deeper understanding of using traditional musical notation and theory. It's a wonderful tool when it's structured the right way, and students really enjoy it.

Drama with Roni Peterson

Module 7 began with the continuation of scene study. We then moved on to work on getting in touch with the senses. During one period, I had the students close their eyes and I verbally led them on an imaginary trip. They were to imagine their own "special place", go there and get in touch with their senses. What does the "special place" look like? Smell like? Feel like? They were to really "see" the "special place"—were there cracks in the ceiling—if there was a ceiling—in their special place? Then I told them that they were going to go on an imaginary trip. They were to pick a place to travel to. They were to imagine how they got to this place—walk, drive, fly? They used all of their senses to experience the imaginary trip. Then the actual arrival. You get the idea. I then had each student describe his or her "special place", and his or her trip in detail. Very interesting lesson. During the end of this module we began to explore emotions. Each student was given a card with an emotion written on it and then given a nursery rhyme to read in that emotion. We will continue to work with acting and emotions during the next module.

Art with Brittain Peck

The students have maintained an attentive and consistent focus throughout our study of the Japanese Hiragana alphabet. Although we will not be continuing further with a study of the Japanese language, we will use our understanding of the alphabet to move into a study of brush and ink calligraphy and ink drawings.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS
This module in the Club Class was mainly spent refining and augmenting songs that we started earlier in the year. Substantial progress was made on all fronts. Rachel is sounding terrific on the drums on "I Get Around," and the vocalists are feeling more and more comfortable with the deceptively difficult harmonies. Alec continues to improve as a guitarist and vocalist on "Waiting on the World to Change," and Kriea (with a little help from Sophie on cymbals) is beginning to own the challenging drum part. "Lean On Me" shows significant improvement, both vocally and instrumentally, including terrific solo parts by Lance and Bri, and good concentration on the difficult contrapuntal parts on the bridge section of the song. Multi-instrumentalist Rachel is really finding her way with the piano part. Refinements continue as well on "The Way I Am," with Sophie on lead vocals.

One new song we began this module was John Lennon's "Imagine." We created our own arrangement of this during class, which I later wrote out just for us. There are various class members sharing the lead vocals, singing back-ups, duets, and playing the instrumental parts during the song, and the progress has been quick and solid. I think it will become one of our best numbers.

Lastly, we used some class time for general vocal warm-ups, exploring ways to improve our breathing, posture, vowel formation and harmony singing. I continue to reinforce all these ideas within the context of the songs we are practicing.

2009-2010 Module 6

2010-02-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Both classes finished their novels. Students who were assigned Macbeth enjoyed reading this tragedy and exploring the motives that cause one to be overly ambitious and deceptive. It was interesting to hear each student's thoughts about the main characters of this very popular novel.

We finally finished reading The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and every student that took the AR test for this module and did very well. We had conversations that explored feelings of betrayal and disappointments. Your students also enjoyed watching how events in this complicated story turned around to the advantage of the protagonist. It's a classic story of good triumphing over evil. I applaud this class for plowing through this monster novel.

Our grammar classes are moving along. We just finished our lessons on degrees of comparisons of adjectives. Students mastered the rules of when to add "-er" or "-est" to an adjective versus using "more" or "most" before an adjective.

In social studies we covered Chapters 20 and 21. Both of these chapters explore the geography and history of South Asia, South East Asia, and the Far East. After these chapters we will move on to Australia and New Zealand.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

In math class this module we continued to focus on preparedness and progress. To help with this, please make sure that your child has TWO math notebooks and enough pencils at all times. I am pleased to say that several students are poised to take the culminating tests for their math books and begin new books!

The morning science class has finished its unit on graphing, and is now turning to look at forces, starting with an introduction to the concept of vectors. The afternoon class has finished up with its segment on forces and Newton's Laws, and is now using that knowledge of force to examine the behavior of simple machines: levers, wedges, etc.

Spanish with Celia Battle

MG Introduction to Spanish (A)—Students have learned about Seville, Spain, as they follow the travels of the main character in Destinos. They have studied the Moorish influence in southern Spain and have increased their vocabulary and use of verbs in these episodes.

MG Spanish (B) with Brittain Peck—Module 6 has been my first experience working with this class, and I am more than happy with the students' demeanor, classroom behavior, and enthusiasm in studying Spanish. Along with classroom object vocabulary, we have covered the conjugation of the verb "estar" and placement phrases to be able to describe the placement and orientation of various objects in spatial relation to each other throughout the room.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck—Module 6 began in a new direction as we continued to advance our study of the Spanish language by working with Spanish textbooks. While much of the opening chapters provided presented material the students had already encountered, such as the Spanish alphabet and Spanish numbers, we also began to learn phrases to help our study of the language such as, "How do you say ___?" and "What does ___ mean?" We also began our first extensive culture and history lesson by studying the Mayan Calendar and discussing Aztec lifestyle in Tenochtitlan. The students showed a strong interest in the subject and are eager to explore their curiosity in individual research projects.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

The students have been working extremely hard these last few weeks with their jumping rope routines. I can't wait to see their performances! In addition to jumping rope, I have allowed for the incorporation of dance, hula-hooping, and ring tossing into their routines, which should make it even more interesting! The weather has gotten in the way of them being able to practice together, but I'm hoping within the next few weeks, we'll be able to complete this unit and move on to another.

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades had a lot of fun this module. We focused on writing and understanding traditional musical notation. After a couple more weeks of Garage Band, students were given worksheets and asked to identify and write specific patterns of notes and rhythms. We studied notes ranging from the "A" below "middle C" up to an "A" above the treble clef staff, and rhythms ranging from whole notes to sixteenth notes, including quarter note and eighth note rests. After going through the worksheets, students were asked to write a short piece of music, which I then performed on guitar! We had a slight challenge, which was that if any student could write a piece of music that I was unable to play, they would win a cookie. After some revisions and plenty of huffing and puffing, we had a few cookie-winners, and I had a blast playing the students' pieces.

Drama with Roni Peterson

In Drama Class, we continued with scene study. The students were given short written scripts that they acted out with other students who were characters in the script. I gave them the script and then they had about 15 minutes to go over it, learning their particular parts, using the basics of acting—the 5 "W's"—to help them in creating their characters' personalities. They were told to make certain that they understood when their characters were to speak and what their characters said. They were allowed to read from the script as this is considered a "cold read." We will begin using comic strips as prompts for simple script writing in Module 7.

Art with Brittain Peck

Module 6 began with a lesson on t-shirt and logo design to introduce the students to the language of bold, iconic imagery while also continuing our creative goals of incorporating humor and individual insight into our work. We continued to explore the design of iconic imagery through the use of paper collage to encourage the students to conceptualize and execute the design of imagery using color and shape rather than line. Following this lesson, we moved into an exploration of Japanese calligraphy by learning the characters of the Hiragana alphabet.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS
Between a late start to the year because of the ski trip, snow days, and regular school holidays, Module 6 meant a little less than 3 weeks of sessions this year. But we got a lot accomplished in that short amount of time. We polished up some old songs, and began learning a whole batch of new ones. Before winter break I asked the students their preferences about songs to sing, and how to sing them. They said they'd like to have individual solos as well as group singing songs. So we began by featuring Sophie Reiter on "The Way I Am." Sophie surprised us all with the quality and volume of her singing, and I hope that confidence extends to everything she sings with the group. We also started working on "Waitin' On The World To Change," featuring guitarist Alec Porter, who only recently expressed an interest in singing for the class. After finding a good key for him, he is really finding his way with the song. Bri Oleson and Lance Wilkes began sharing the lead vocals on "Lean On Me" based on the arrangement by the cast of the TV show Glee. We also continued work on "I Get Around" with the verses sung with gusto by Lance.

Another wonderful development in the class is the willingness of students to try playing different instruments. Rachel Roush, who already has experience with lots of musical instruments, will be featured on piano, percussion, and drum set. Kriea Giffin-Dean is showing herself quite adept at the conga, and is finding her way around the drum set as well. Alec Porter, as I already mentioned, is becoming quite the vocalist as well as our guitarist, not only singing lead, but helping sing back-ups on other songs as well. And Bri has agreed to play key-bass on at least 2 of the songs, which really helps the sound of the group. I hope to hand more of the instrumental chores off to group members in the second semester, and take myself out of mix as a piano player.

I look forward to continuing work on these songs in the next module, and finding more songs for the individual members to shine on. Their willingness to work together, support each other in trying new things, and always try to do their best no matter how large or small their part in a particular song is very inspiring and gratifying.

2009-2010 Module 5

2010-01-21T03:49:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Many students in the Middle Grades took final exams for the first time. It was a learning experience for everyone. We will continue to help your student learn to master and retain material they will learn this semester so that their experience of taking final exams will not be unpleasant. I am actually very pleased with the results.

Students who watched The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby enjoyed the experience. It was nice to see our students show enthusiasm and interest in this fantastic performance put out by Playmakers. Our next trip to Chapel Hill will be to watch The Importance of Being Ernest.

We completed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass. Many students either took an interest in learning how to play chess or renewed their interest in it. We are hoping to view an upcoming movie that will come out in March. Of course, I will preview it privately before we watch it as a class.

Our second semester is packed with a lot of activities and lessons. We will be writing more this second semester as well as reading more. Students will be learning the art of not only how to reflect critically in conversation, but how to narrate reflective thoughts in detail on paper. Please take advantage of this time to talk to your student about his or her thoughts and ideas when we cover each lesson in social studies and literature. I am looking forward to this new semester with you and your student.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

Much of Module 5 was taken up with preparation for and execution of final exams, which was a first time for many students, and, I hope, a learning experience for everyone.

This second semester I am hopeful that we can ramp up a bit in math: the pace, the performance, the preparedness. Everyone understands the routine and knows what is expected by now, so every day should be a productive one. Increased productivity will allow for more frequent extracurricular explorations during class and more frequent breaks from the routine. Those students looking to go to Upper School next year should be making sure they demonstrate satisfactory mastery of their "basic facts"; if not: flash cards, flash cards, flash cards.

In science, going in to Module 6, the Morning Class is taking an intensive foray into graphing, with the goal of eventually looking at speed and velocity from yet another angle. The Afternoon Class is exploring the concept of forces and what they do, and looking at a couple of Newton's Laws.

Spanish with Celia Battle

MG Introduction to Spanish (A) —Students studied Episodes 3 and 4 of "Destinos" and learned new vocabulary, present tense verb conjugations, and sentence structure. They continue to follow the protagonist to Sevilla, Spain in her search for the mysterious character to solve the family mystery. We reviewed all the episodes, vocabulary, and grammar for the oral and written final semester exams.

MG Spanish (B) —Students learned conversations using familiar action phrases and descriptions as well as new verbs. We reviewed all vocabulary, grammar and conversational phrases for the oral and written final semester exams.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck—Building on our mastery of Spanish numbers, we moved into learning basic phrases and expressions dealing with telling time and reviewing our lesson on calendars and dates. We then moved into working with Spanish verbs by learning a list of action-based vocabulary. In particular we focused on the reflexive use of "gustar" to discuss things and activities that we like. We continued to work on our familiarity with Spanish verbs through recognition games and an introduction to verb usage and conjugation.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

The students continued with their normal routine of some fantastic fitness exercises in addition to some games played on their game day. I've introduced a noodle game I feel the students really adhered to. It involves the use of pool noodles that are cut in half. Each student has one noodle and is paired up with another student. The objective of the game is to tag your opponent's foot with your noodle before they tag yours. One point is awarded each time they tag their opponent's foot. It's a game for all ages, but I feel the middle grades really made the most of it! They had fun and got their heart rates up!

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades dove headlong into the world of Garage Band during Module 5. After promising access to the computers as a reward for good behavior and creative use of music, I finally decided that we'd reached the point where students were ready and able to focus enough to get this trickier work done. Students were given multiple handouts with traditional music notation that they had to translate into Garage Band MIDI information (computer programming language to create assorted musical sounds). I was surprised and impressed to see how well the students took to this task, and soon we'll be jumping into brand new and more creative programming options.

Drama with Roni Peterson

The students continued during this module doing many different types of improvisation exercises. I continue working 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.

During the last two weeks of the module the students were given short written scripts that they acted out with partners. I gave them the scripts, and then they had about 15 minutes to go over them with their partners. They were allowed to read from their scripts, as this is considered in acting as a "cold read." We will be continuing to do improvisation exercises as well as scripted scenes in Module 6.

Art with Brittain Peck

Throughout Module 5 the Middle Grades have undertaken an in depth exploration of comic strips and cartoons. Lessons have covered topics such as stylistic differences between various artists and genres, the use of different formats such as single panel vs. comic strips, and also basic drawing techniques specific to cartooning such as pencil drawing for basic character forms and inking to finalize and darken lines. I have been more than impressed with the students' original cartoons and comic strips and have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the students discuss their motivations and intent in creating their cartoons. The students continue to move towards a more sophisticated understanding of communication, tact, humor, and mastery of the movement and pacing of the reader's attention within the cartoons. Soon we will begin to publish the students' work on our Camelot Academy Art Department website.

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

2009-2010 Module 4

2009-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Students worked hard to pull all the elements of their Academic Fair research together to produce an expository paper, a visual presentation, and an oral presentation. So many interesting topics were explored by our class that it made our last days in school before Fall Break feel like week-long sessions of mini-seminars. Many students came away from this project with a better understanding of the research process.

In social studies students are traveling south of the Sahara. We have visited Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. We are learning about each country's geography. In Module 5 we will continue exploring other countries in this region.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

We had an odd math schedule this module in order to accommodate Academic Fair work. Module 5 will return us to our regular routine, and students should be setting their sights on the completion of that fourth chapter by Winter Break. I would like to take this opportunity to ask each parent to remind your student that he or she should have two math notebooks at all times, not because he or she needs a spare, but because his or her work needs to be graded during the day. If you think your child might be filling one up, please, get another. There shouldn't even be any hint of an excuse for not showing as much work as possible.

In science, one class has been studying unit conversions and problem solving using the Unit Analysis technique. The other class has started to take a look at speed, and is performing a laboratory activity that quantitatively compares students' long distance speeds with their short distance speeds.

The last week before Thanksgiving Break also saw the Seventh Graders visit the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, where they delivered about a hundred pounds of food collected by the student body, and stuffed a couple dozen backpacks for their Backpack Buddies program. This program sends food home on the weekends with local students who otherwise wouldn't have any regular meals between Friday and Monday.

Spanish with Celia Battle

MG Introduction to Spanish (A)—Students have studied Episodes 3 and 4 of Destinos and are following the protagonist as she travels to Sevilla, Spain in search of answers to solve the mystery. They have learned the vocabulary for these episodes as well as the present tense conjugation of -ar verbs.

MG Spanish (B)—Students have learned many infinitives and are able to describe their favorite activities as well as their likes and dislikes. We are using conversation and an auditory comprehension program to increase their communication skills.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck—Module 4 began with a review of Spanish numbers and vowels in playing A-E-I-O-U Bingo as well as a review of the Spanish alphabet. We then began our study of the calendar by learning to spell and write a list of calendar-relevant vocabulary including days of the week and months of the year. Student also began to gain a working knowledge of past and present verbs in discussing the order and numbers of the days.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

As usual, Middle Grades has continued to work hard with their fitness classes. I've incorporated a variety of exercises and modifications to keep the students engaged as well as challenged. Shark Tag and kickball are two popular games they have been choosing to play on their game day. This last class of kickball went very well. I was impressed with the leadership and teamwork they displayed throughout the game.

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades did a lot of songwriting during this module, culminating in our performance for Academic Fair. We took the 2 weeks leading up to the performance to decide on a song, write our original version, and work on the performance. One group chose to write "Big Ol' Quarantine" (to the tune of "Yellow Submarine") and the other chose "The 12 Days of Camelot" ("12 Days of Christmas") and I was impressed by their creativity and imagination in coming up with lyrics to each of these pieces. I suggested an idea here or there, but for the most part, the students put together the songs without too much interference by me. The songs ended up being funny, occasionally silly, but most of all, they displayed a real sense of musicality. Each group found a way to fit the narrative into the song structure while keeping the themes and melodies consistent throughout. Very nicely done.

Drama with Roni Peterson

During Module 4 we worked on monologues and how to take direction. The students performed their monologue and I gave them specific directions on how I wanted them to portray the character based on the five "W's" of acting—who, what, where,when, and why. The 5 "W's" are the basis for all acting exercises. By learning and applying the "W's", the presentations improved greatly.

We have started an exercise that teaches how to have a beginning, a middle and an end when doing an improvisation. One student starts by making a statement like, "It's a lovely day." The next student will then say, "What you are saying is that it's a lovely day, so I will... " and then they add something that would logically come next like, "So I will, go for a walk." The next student will then say, "What you are saying is that you will take a walk, so I will" and so forth. Each statement must move the story along logically and come to an end. We will continue using this exercise during Module 5.

Another exercise we have started is picking a word out of a bag and then having two students use their word in an improvisation. They must say the word sometime during the scene and I emphasize that the improvisation should have a logical beginning, middle and end.

I will be handing out various comic strips cut out of the newspaper, and we'll use those as prompts for the students to take the characters and create a short scene.

Art with Brittain Peck

Module 4 has given each student the opportunity to re-address the concept of "school photos", however this time it has been in the manner of their choosing. Working as each others' photographers and models, each student was able to plan, compose, and shoot his or her photo in a manner that he or she felt best reflected their relationship to his or her school and concept of self. We began by reviewing the basics of lighting, composition, point-of-view, and cropping as these concepts relate to photography. Once the students had each had an opportunity to shoot each others' photos, we began to work with the photos in a digital format. The computer provided the students the ability to edit their own photos for the purposes of their choosing, while also re-establishing their understanding of basic visual concepts of light contrast, saturation, and color relationships. Throughout the entire photographic process of capturing and editing their photos, the students have been encouraged to consider the intended presentation and audience for their photos, whether it be as a poster, music album cover art, or for publication in the Camelot Academy yearbook. I have been both pleased and impressed with the level of attention and interest that each student has shown over the duration of this module.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS

This module was primarily concerned with preparing for the Academic Fair performance. We decided on the two songs to perform, worked hard on hearing the correct harmonies as well as our presentation, and did what I felt was a terrific performance at the fair. I look forward to working on some holiday music when we return from fall break, and then finishing up on the other songs we've been working on, as well as starting some new material suggested by the students.

2009-2010 Module 3

2009-11-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Whew! We are flying! Students are realizing that it is in their best interest to be organized or learn to be organized quickly. We are dishing out new lessons and assignments madly and we expect students to keep up. Please continue to strongly encourage your student to mind his or her work at school and to bring it home every night. Sixth and seventh graders are expected to spend at least 45 minutes to an hour every night on homework. If your schedule on some days does not allow for this, please help your student find time in the week to make it up.

In English your student is either reading Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll. The former is a mammoth work, but your student is plowing through. Students who are reading Nicholas Nickleby will be treated to two performances by UNC's PlayMakers Repertory Company before our Winter Break (http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3010/66/). We will have finished the book by then. Students who are reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will also be treated to a performance in early March. Every six or seven chapters expect your child to come home with a short comprehension assignment.

Our grammar lessons have been very challenging. Direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of the preposition have been tackled head on. We are now looking at coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and how they help construct compound and complex sentences. From here, we will move into modifiers. Your student will continue to bring home worksheets that help to reinforce the lessons we are studying in class. We expect students to commit to memory the definitions of the parts of speech, parts of a sentence, phrases, and clauses. Committing the fundamental elements of grammar to memory will be of great value to your student now and in the future when there are increased demands on writing and communication skills.

In social studies we are traveling the Middle East and North Africa. We parked our class in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan first, then we moved on to Israel and Turkey. It was not difficult for the class to soak in the information about these countries as they are always in the news. Your student might have found it a bit more challenging learning about the less familiar Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Kuwait, and other Middle Eastern and North African countries. We spent a significant amount of time learning about the culture, politics, and economics of countries in this region of the world. Your student was assigned a reading packet on one of these countries taken from Encyclopedia Britannica. After reading the assigned packet, your student presented his or her findings to the class. It was an informative time for the children to group together and share their research about a culture that is very foreign to them and to compare that culture to others. It was a rich experience for all.

Your student's expository writing piece will be presented at the Academic Fair. By now, you should have read your student's second draft. Thank you for helping out with the presentation part of this assignment.

Thank you for making our trip to Monticello possible. We had a grand time exploring President Jefferson and President Monroe's homes. Your students danced, dined, and learned about life in the early 1800s.

I would like to remind parents that final exams for Middle Grades will be taken before we break for our winter holiday. It will seem hectic and rushed because most of our lives are that way during that season so please help your child plan ahead. We will send out a schedule of final exams for this semester when we return from our Fall Break.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

Many of the math students are settling into an excellent daily routine, and I am very proud of them! There has been consistent homework completion almost across the board, and a lot of people are making a lot of progress. I am pleased with the general level of dedication I am seeing. Please remember to be hitting those facts, if necessary.

Both of the science classes have looked at some of the fundamental properties of matter and its phases. They have also briefly discussed energy, and are now looking specifically at the type of energy known as heat.

Spanish with Celia Battle

MG Introduction to Spanish (A)—Students studied episodes 1 and 2 of "Destinos" and have learned vocabulary and the uses of the verbs 'ser' and 'estar.' They are using a Spanish grammar website to practice what they have learned in class. I expect MG students to do the practice exercises at least twice a week with a minimum of 80% accuracy.

MG Spanish (B)—This new group of middle graders has been reviewing the names of countries and capitals of the Spanish-speaking world, greetings, numbers from 0-100 and classroom commands. We have started to use audio CD's to increase their auditory comprehension in Spanish and have played games to strengthen their comprehension and use of their newly acquired vocabulary.

MG Spanish (C) with Brittain Peck

Middle Grades Spanish began as we will begin each day, encouraging the students to express themselves in the new language which they are just beginning to learn. As the students are currently working with a limited vocabulary, we reviewed 6 basic emotions for the students to use in describing their feelings. Our first lesson focused on numbers, and soon we were counting up to 100! The students engaged directly with these numbers through games like "Pesca!", or "Go Fish" and through sharing and trading money. We continued on to learn the Spanish vowels, which serve as the building blocks of Spanish pronunciation. After the vowels, we felt more than ready to learn the entire alphabet. Perhaps you can ask your student to sing the alphabet song for you! The students displayed a great attitude towards learning Spanish and seemed to enjoy using what they learn.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

We have continued with our fitness classes, rotating between upper body, lower body, and jogging and conditioning. Recently, one of my Upper School classes bumped into Lyon Park's indoor track and was able to run there instead of Orchard Park. Since it went so well, I plan on having Middle Grades next jogging and conditioning class there too. As for their sports/game day, we have played a few games of kickball and a few games of shark tag.

Music with Daniel Raimi

Middle Grades have been focusing on learning songs and songwriting. For the past couple of weeks we've focused on the song "Should I Stay or Should I Go," by the Clash. After singing through a couple times, listening to the original version, and doing a brief history of the punk rock movement, we began to write our own verses to the song. I was really happy with the creativity shown throughout the class, as every student was able to complete and perform at least one verse. Some of the performances we had in class showed a lot of bravery on the part of students who may not always be comfortable standing up in front of a group of people and singing. In the future, we're going to continue writing songs, and will also soon be diving more deeply into understanding musical notation.

Drama with Roni Peterson

We have continued to work with the phone conversation lessons using "open scene" scripted conversations. These were one sided conversation scripts that the student read as if speaking to another person. They needed to use the scripted words to prompt or lead them to imagine what the person on the other end of the conversation would be saying. The next task for them was to use the scripted conversation, and then write the other side of the conversation in script form. I then had them pick a partner to read the scripted part while they read the one that they had created. Monologues were introduced and will continue to be covered during Module 4.

Many warm-up acting exercises for voice, diction, pronunciation and emotions were introduced and will continue to be utilized as an important part of an actor's abilities to perform any given task.

Art with Brittain Peck

We began by exploring both the visual and narrative dimensions of character design. All drawing levels found ground upon which to create original characters as we focused on the relationship between basic design concepts, such as shape and color, and their narrative purposes. We continued these design principles in relation to the geometric properties of rotational symmetry as the students were challenged to create imagery that was then rotated and repeated in symmetrical compositions. In each of these lessons, the students were encouraged to develop personal relationships to their work, whether they were creating characters of their own imagination or designing a figure or scene to be symmetrically rotated. As we were thankful to receive beautiful whether, we also worked outside on large paper to create oil pastel drawings using our observed surroundings as inspiration. We concluded the module by turning our attention closer to observation as we began to develop our ability to recognize and record relationships between light and shadow in our drawings. Using each other as models, the students were challenged to identify a basic sense of light, middle, and dark values ("values" referring to various degrees of light and darkness) in both the subjects they were observing and transcribing this into their drawings.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

CLUB CLASS

As with the credit class, the different strains of flu going around visited members of this class as well, presenting the same rehearsal challenges.

After a few exploratory sessions, I feel that the Club class has really found it's feet, and look forward to each session We continued to refine "I Met Him On A Sunday" and "I Get Around," which we started in the first module, and added "Don't Stop Believin'," by Journey, based on the arrangement on the TV show "Glee," and the old chestnut "Twist and Shout." Although most of the group members are primarily singers, they are all eager to explore playing instruments as well, and I am happy to oblige. So we gave just about everyone a turn at the drum set, with varying results, and some may help out on keyboards and maybe even guitar. Alec, our dedicated guitarist, was not able to be persuaded to sing, though.

Kriea Giffin-Dean continues to improve in both confidence and delivery with her singing, and is starting to make progress on the drum set, which she is quite keen on trying. Bri Oleson is turning out to have a talented and dynamic soprano voice, and adds a lot to our harmonies. Sophie Reiter is a very dedicated student, and is very responsive to any direction she is given concerning her vocal technique and projection. She continues to develop her ear for harmonies. She may also play some drums or percussion as time goes on. The times that Rachel Roush has been in class and well have shown her to be a wonderful vocalist, keyboard player and drummer. I don't think there's an instrument made that she doesn't have some proficiency on! I look forward to exploiting her many talents throughout the year. Lance Wilkes, our only male vocalist, has used that to his advantage, taking the solo parts on "I Get Around," and being the focus of the girls' attention on "I Met Him On A Sunday." He also shares the lead vocal with Bri on "Twist and Shout," and is growing in vocal personality each session. Alec Porter's improvement on guitar is impressive. He knows his way around the instrument a lot better this year, both in executing chords and in playing solo parts with rhythm and style. We are even giving him a solo on "Twist and Shout," and I look forward to the results of that.

2009-2010 Module 2

2009-10-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

We are now moving at a quicker pace in all of our academic subjects. Your student now understands that expectations are set for the year and it is time to work toward fulfilling those expectations.

First, we will address your student's organization. It is important that we continue to harp on staying organized. Not only is this going to help your student stay focused, but it will keep all who are involved in your student's education sane! For some students staying organized comes naturally, but for others it is the bane of their existence. This is the time for your child to discover what organizational methods will work for him or her. Suggest ways to stay organized, but allow your student to explore different avenues of staying organized for himself or herself.

Second, homework will increase in the next few weeks. Students are to keep their plan book with them at all times. Students should be constantly referring back to this to plan their week of nightly assignments. As mentioned at conference, we work hard to assign meaningful homework. We do not believe in busy work so it is important that students see their assignments as meaningful and reflective exercises that will benefit them.

Third, we understand that the backpack is heavier than it was at the beginning of the school year. We don't really have an answer to this other than perhaps you ordering a second set of textbooks to keep at home for your student. We are also becoming increasingly aware that some students are bringing everything home because they are either afraid that they will need an item and not have it, or they simply do not want to deal with the responsibility of organizing their materials that will be needed for the tasks that evening. Although bringing everything home is safer, it is important that students understand that they need to be skillful in organizing their materials. This will be a year-long goal for many. Let's encourage our students to develop the habit of using their plan book to help them plan their evenings. This is the best time to develop organizational skills. We should consistently support any attempt your child makes at becoming more organized. Let's help them discover what system of organization works for them and assist them with it.

In English, we finished reading a short biography of Thomas Jefferson. Accompanying the readings were a few comprehension sheets. Our discussions were lively, and my impression from the students was that the novel was informative and interesting. Visiting Charlottesville will be a wonderful learning experience for your student.This is probably one of my favorite school trips to plan.

We continue to practice identifying linking verbs and action verbs and corresponding subject complements or direct objects. Our grammar lessons will be focused this module on indirect objects and verb tenses. We will also practice identifying and using modifiers to improve descriptive pieces of writing. Your student will be writing in a journal more this module. Your student will also be working on writing an expository paper the next two modules which will become his or her Academic Fair project to be presented to the school and public in November. This is one of the highlights of the year for all of our students.

In social studies we covered the history of the Islam faith. Next, we will be studying the influence of this faith today. We will explore the effects of this faith on government, world politics, and the global economy. We will also focus our current events topics around the Middle East and North Africa and what the U.S. policy was and is toward this region of the world.

Again, thank you so much for meeting with us to discuss your child's education here at Camelot. We appreciate the time you take off to do this, and also the time you put in to allow us to meet with other families the four days school was out. We hope you gained a better understanding of your child's world here at school. We shall conference again in the spring, until then feel free to contact us about any concern you might have regarding your student.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

In math class, everyone is buckled down and making progress. Please remind your children of two important organizational points: 1) Homework should be turned in at the beginning of the day, with name, book, and assignment written at the top of each page. 2) Your student needs to bring his or her math book, math notebook, planbook, and enough pencils to last through the class every day. I will start sending home notices for students who come to class unprepared! Furthermore, if math facts were mentioned in conferences, it's never too soon to start drilling.

In science, one class has had its test on the Scientific Method, and will be moving on in the next module to begin looking at matter and basic physical properties. The other class is working on measurement, uncertainty, and significant figures, and will continue to do so into this next module, before it begins its look at basic physical properties.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Students in the M/T/W class studied Chapter 1A of the Realidades 1 Spanish textbook. This chapter covered definite/indefinite articles, descriptions/adjectives, singular/plural, and likes/dislikes. On Th/F students had writing lab, where they did their workbook exercises and practiced what they learned in the chapter.

Students in the Th/F class began studying their textbook Spanish is Fun. They surveyed the geography of the Hispanic world, began to study home vocabulary and played card games using Spanish questions and commands.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

As I explained in Back to School Night, I'm approaching Middle Grades and Upper School a little differently this year. Classes will consist of a fitness day and a sports/game day each week. If they do well with the fitness day, they are allowed to choose the sport/game they would like to play and learn about for that week. Typically, there will be three kinds of fitness days: upper body/abs, lower body/abs, and jogging and conditioning. Each week, we alternate which fitness class we will be doing. Some of the exercises include planks, squats, sit-ups, lunges, six inches, "dots", push-ups, jump rope, and other exercises. For their sports/game day, the kids chose Capture the Flag as their activity. I don't think they ever get sick of that game! However, the new rule is they cannot choose the same activity twice in a row.

Music with Daniel Raimi

In the past few weeks, Middle Grades students have been diving into three main areas of music. First, we've been learning how to read music and perform it on the marimbas in class. Working in pairs, students received handouts with musical notation of specific melodies to perform with each other. We had a few friendly contests, and ended up with some excellent performances of some difficult melodies. Students will continue performing melodies in this way, and we'll continue to add new elements of musical notation to the mix, including more eighth notes, rests, and if we're feeling really wild, a few triplets!

A second area of music has been listening to classic songs, singing them, and writing our own verses using the existing format of the song. We did this with Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and will soon explore a few other classic songs that can serve as a springboard into our own songwriting projects.

Drama with Roni Peterson

During Module 2, I introduced props which were used in short scenes improvised by two students. A telephone prop was used in an improvisation exercise using prompt lines such as "I'm sorry," or " Let's not fight anymore," etc. Students could either make or receive the phone call but they had to use the prompt line at some time during the improvised conversation. This is an advanced exercise and the class did extremely well. I also gave them scripted one-sided conversations and based on the written words, they had to create the tone. Giving different children the same script, I asked that they change the tone so that they could learn that the interpretation of the words is the actor's choice. I also asked that they try to write their own phone scripts that we will act out. We will continue with this exercise in Module 3.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

For this year, I have decided to rename the "A" Band and "B" Band the "Credit Class" (for the M-W-F group) and the "Club Class" (for the Tu/Th group) to better reflect their purpose and meaning. The entire program is called "Music Performance."

CREDIT CLASS

In Module 2 we explored 3 songs from varied genres. "In My Life" by John Lennon and the Beatles, "One Note Samba" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and "Fever" by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, popularized by Peggy Lee. The first two songs allowed vocalists Olivia Arges and Viola Samadi to learn how to harmonize with each other, and the 3rd allowed them to trade verses and work on vocal improvisation. Sarah Chetty is working hard on the harpsichord solo for "In My Life" (which on the original recording is a sped up piano solo, recorded slowly because George Martin didn't have the technical facility to play it at tempo; Sarah does!), and Josh is doing well with some difficult bass patterns on "One Note Samba." Josh also contributes a beautiful third harmony part on "In My Life." Lennon Klinger-Mehrbach really burns the place up with his solos on "Fever," and plays a rhythmic pattern of his own devising for "One Note Samba" that fits extremely well with the song. Elisabeth Parker does a terrific job for herself on both "In My Life," which has a completely written out drum part, and "Fever," on which I asked her to improvise and try different beats. She is often being very courageous in her playing, because I know she prefers to just "play the page."

As well as learning these songs, we also talked a lot about song structure, and completed an assignment where the students were asked to analyze 5 songs of their choosing. Their results showed a good working knowledge of how songs are put together. This analysis will lead to composing our own songs, which they all still seem somewhat timid about. They're all such terrific musicians, though, that I know whatever songs the class ends up writing will be wonderful.

Lastly, we spent a good amount of time creating our own arrangement of "Fever," to which each student contributed. It was a very creative time for all, and allowed us to "think outside the box," or, in this case "the paper."

CLUB CLASS

I only had 2 chances to meet with this class in Module 2, but we already made good progress on 2 songs: "I Met Him On A Sunday," as sung by Laura Nyro and LaBelle, and "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys. Both make extensive use of vocal harmony, while allowing multiple students to sing solos as well. I also collected some other song ideas from the students, and gave them all a CD of possible upcoming songs. The group sounds great together, and I look forward to really exploring their musical gifts in Module 3.

2009-2010 Module 1

2009-09-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Much has been done these past weeks to place your student in groupings that reflect the ability, interest, and learning style of your child. We have worked very hard to design individualized Progress Plans for each student in our school. This unique long-standing approach of Camelot allows us to provide the proper resources for your student to succeed academically and socially. It is our hope that together we can open avenues for your student to thrive in an environment of learning and cooperation.

In language arts, you have probably noticed that your child is bringing home a workbook already. For those who are new to Middle Grades this workbook is their vocabulary book. Early on I pretested your student and I was able to match the correct workbook to your student. Please make sure that your student is not only completing the pages, but is also studying the words. The workbook is designed so that your student can master the week's list of vocabulary words without difficulty. The key is daily drill. Vocabulary is a very important part of your student's literacy. Without it, your student's writing and verbal communication can be hampered.

We will continue studying verbs in Module 2. Please monitor your child's homework assignments that involve grammar exercises. These grammar skills that we insist children learn are challenging but effective. Students will become better communicators both in writing and oratory when they consistently work on lessons in grammar, usage, and mechanics. These lessons are meant to be rigorous so that your student will be prepared for the many writing assignments that are ahead.

Your student received quite a bit of background information about Animal Farm this module. For most students, this was an interesting and engaging book. Many students connected with the animals' triumphs, pain, and sorrow. Many students shared their own thoughts about this fable and why their hearts stirred for the animals being used and maltreated. Some students felt that the novel was mirroring a political uprising. We looked at each character, read a plot summary together, and then we discussed some connections to the Russian Revolution. We will continue to refer to Orwell's novella as we study this world-changing revolution and the formation of the USSR under Vladimir Lenin and later Joseph Stalin. Socialism from the perspective of the poor, the working class, and the privileged in Russia at the time of the revolution will be explored. How the world reacted to these radical ideals, particularly in the United States, will also be explored. It will be interesting to watch your student find parallels between the characters in Animal Farm and the leaders of the revolution.

In Module 2 we will be reading Thomas Jefferson and the American Idea by Russell Shorto. This is a short biography of our third president. This will help prepare your student for our trip to Charlottesville. We are very fortunate to land these dates. Charlottesville is quite picturesque during this time of the year.

In current events, we read quite a number of articles. We discussed the housing market and looked closely at appraisers and their role in the buying or selling of a home. Students talked about the controversy surrounding the president's address to the nation's students. Currently, we are discussing health care reform. Please feel free to initiate conversations with your student about current issues. Use this opportunity to discover their thoughts. As conversations evolve both at school and at home, let your child reflect and process what he or she thinks can be done to reform health care in America.

Please send your child to school with the materials he or she will need to have a successful day. By this time, students should be in a routine of sleeping at least eight hours a day. I cannot stress the difference it makes in a student's overall performance. A child that is well-rested finds it less difficult to face challenges that are set up to bring out the best in him or her. We are committed to your child's education and future. We appreciate all that you do to help us.

Mathematics and Science with Dan Hill

In mathematics, Module 1 began with some generalized review to brush the cobwebs from the cerebra, and then some more specialized review of traditionally hairy topics (long division! fractions!). Once our radiators had been flushed, our oils changed, and our tanks gassed up, we commenced with comprehensive pretesting. Each child has now been issued not only a textbook, but their first couple of homework assignments as well. I am sure they are all thoroughly excited. As Module 2 begins, we will be start making real progress.

Your student should now be coming home with a math assignment just about every day. Please check your child's planbook each night to make sure he or she has done what is required.

If your student has come home with anything written in his or her planbook regarding work with flash cards or the memorization of "math facts", he or she should be spending 10–15 minutes a day actively acquiring said info. I cannot stress enough how much easier and less frustrating elementary mathematics becomes once a student has fluency with his or her facts. But don't overdo it. More than 15 minutes at a time can be more arduous than helpful.

In science class both sections have (in addition to pretesting, of course) performed their first experiment! As Module 2 begins, we will be continuing our discussion of the meaning of science and the scientific method.

Spanish with Celia Battle

During Module 1 Middle Graders have been tested on the material learned last year. New Middle Graders have been introduced to basic Spanish vocabulary and have been assessed to determine academic readiness for participation in a foreign language class.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

I've been very pleased with the amount of energy and motivation the 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. 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

The Middle Grades classes have gotten off to a quick start with singing and songwriting. We learned the song "Stand by Me," discussed its meaning and implications, and then set about the trickier task of writing our own verses to the song. The first step is breaking down the number of syllables in each part of the song. Secondly, we looked at the last word in each line to determine the rhyme scheme. Once we had those elements nailed down, we began to write our own version of the song.

In coming weeks, the classes will write their own versions of songs such as "Stand by Me," and also Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind." At home, when students and parents listen to music, try to see if your child can identify specific themes in the lyrics of the song. You can ask questions like "what does John Lennon mean when he says: 'Imagine there's no countries,'" or any similar songs with tricky or subtle lyrics. This will be a great way to develop your student's understanding of metaphors and symbolic language in songs.

We've also taken up the task of learning to read music and performing it on marimbas. This has been a lot of fun, as students were challenged by some fairly tricky melodies and rhythms that Mr. Dan placed on the board. In the coming weeks, we'll go deeper into reading traditional notation, and if all goes according to plan, we'll also begin to write and record our own music on Garage Band, a software program installed on each Mac in the music room.

Drama with Roni Peterson

In the Middle Grades we reviewed some of what was covered last year by doing some memory games and improvisational work. The students were asked to have a folder where they can keep the handouts they receive. They have already received several that we will refer to throughout the year. The Art of Pantomime was introduced and the students were given situations to perform without words. They did a great job! Improvisational work, as well as the introduction to props, will be covered in the next module.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

Although we just yesterday 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.

2008-09 Module 7

2009-03-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report Michelle Banal

We closed this module finishing two novels, The Cay and Johnny Tremain. The latter will serve as a backdrop to our unit about the Revolutionary War. We will be covering this period in depth. Your student will be reading primary source materials in addition to standard history texts.

In English we finished our unit on direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. We will be focusing our attention on pronouns and modifiers in Module 8. We will continue working on grammar mechanics and usage through DOL (Daily Oral Language) and DPE (Daily Paragraph Editing). Your student will soon start writing a short story in this module and will be expected to complete it by the end of Module 9.

We will be setting aside a few minutes of class time each morning to prepare for standardized testing in April. We will help students get accustomed to testing under timed conditions and to acquaint them with test taking strategies that may enhance their performance.

Math and Science with Daniel Hill

The science students have finished looking at the formation of the universe, the study of celestial bodies in general and our solar system in particular. They are now coming down to Earth (literally), and looking at how its makeup affects its geology.

In mathematics we are going to be setting aside some time to prepare for standardized testing. It won't be anything drastic or boot campy, just a review of some concepts, some problem-solving strategies, and practice taking tests in a timed environment.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Graders have learned to use numbers in Spanish: cardinal and ordinal numbers, telling time, dates, in mathematical operations and playing card games. They have mastered these skills and are enjoying saying large numbers in Spanish, especially into the millions!

Art with Heather Cramer

Our Prehistoric Art experience is coming to an end with an exploration of ancient sites such as Stonehenge and various ancient temple sites on the island of Malta. We did perspective drawings of Stonehenge as it was, using ellipses to place this mysterious circle as a two-dimensional image. After several class sessions with both groups working hard to recreate all of the original standing stones (Styrofoam - glued on colored sand) we are ready to construct our scale model of Stonehenge, fully appreciating that we don't have to drag (or raft) blocks of stone weighing several tons 250 miles from Wales, and then stand them and raise the cross pieces! It is interesting that Mr. Dan had the students recreate the planetary system around the meeting hall room as we now add this ancient structure that tracked the movements of the sun and moon. If stones could talk! We'll take down our cave paintings and assemble our books with these drawings and photos we've taken during our time in the caves... then fast forward to Egyptian Art!

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

The students were asked to write an original commercial. Many surprised me with their creativity. We have been working on improvisational material with the emphasis on acting basics. I gave monologues to each student and we will continue to work on these.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

"A for Awesome" CLASS
We continued working on "Clocks" by Coldplay, refining the vocal harmonies and drum parts, in particular. We also started working on "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston, which features Sarah Chetty on the complex organ solo at the beginning, and Lennon Klinger-Mehrbach on the guitar solos in the body of the song. Both are learning and performing their parts with increased skill. In the pipeline as well are Elton John's "Burn Down The Mission," which will feature Aaron Daniels-Freeman on piano, and REM's "Stand," with Rita Glynn playing the drums. My goal is to have some music to showcase each member of the band by the Evening of the Arts, which is now only 7 weeks away. I am very pleased with the concentrated work that the whole class is doing, and look forward to sharing the fruits of our labors.

"B for Best" CLASS
We continued working on "Twist and Shout" and "I Want You Back," which turned out to be more difficult to put together than students imagined. To get the right accents and style on "Twist and Shout," as well as the unusual ending, was difficult but rewarding. Finding the right balance for, "I Want You Back," with it's complex vocal harmonies, syncopated bass, piano riffs, and varied drum and guitar patterns, proved challenging. But we are really getting the hang of it now. We just started "Pinball Wizard," which is based on the Elton John version of the song by "The Who." I hope to have Brian Powell play acoustic guitar on this one, Grace Kirkpatrick on synthesizer, and Elaine Parker on drums and vocals. It looks to be a promising stretch for everyone. Also in the pipeline are "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which will feature Grace on some flaming hot country fiddle, and "Grade 9" by the Barenaked Ladies, which should be a lot of fun, with lots of shared vocals and a bridge section that steals from the "Linus and Lucy" theme. Please make sure that the students bring their binders to every class, and take some time to practice their parts at home. If we are to accomplish everything I want to before the Evening of the Arts, it will take a little extra concentration for the next few weeks.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

We have started one of my favorite sports to teach, basketball! Some of the fundamentals we have begun to cover and will practice in depth include:

passing (chest pass, overhead pass, bounce pass)
dribbling (left hand, right hand, stutter, cross-over)
shooting (free throws, jump shots, lay-ups)
defense (zone and man-to-man)

I've been impressed with our students' dedication. It appears we have a lot of students who enjoy playing basketball. I hope to bring another basketball goal to campus sometime this year, but meanwhile, we have been going to Lyon Park for the unit.

2008-09 Module 6

2009-02-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report Michelle Banal

Thank you for your input and thoughts during your student's conference. It was nice to sit with you and reflect on your child's work and progress. I hope this was helpful to you.

We just finished covering the Middle Colonies, and soon we will be jumping into a study of the Southern Colonies in both social studies classes. This will be followed by several lessons on the American Revolution.

Besides learning about our past history we are also spending quite a bit of time on current history. We will be focusing on President Obama's first 100 days in office. We will also continue to follow national and world events, particularly in the Middle East.

In language arts your student will be spending quite a bit of time on object nouns and pronouns. We will also start work on short expository pieces as well as creative pieces of writing.

Math and Science with Daniel Hill

The new year has seen several students graduate to new books! It is exciting and satisfying to see students making such good progress. I would like to take this opportunity to remind those students who need it to drill with their basic facts. You know who you are!

In Science we have taken a look at the origin of the Universe, the formation of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies, and the composition of our own solar system. Next module we will look more closely at the makeup and history of our own planet.

Art with Heather Cramer

We continued our journey back to prehistoric art, and Mr. Dan's "cave" room was perfect! We had a globe light that looked like a fire and we gathered around that on the floor on a big furry blanket as we finished our amulet bags and then made little totem animals and symbols to place inside for protection and to honor mother earth. We scratched into discs of bone or antler (plaster) as the ancients did, and painted over those with our "bison blood." Our final project in the cave times was to recreate "fossils." We embedded shells, rock, and natural objects into sand, then poured plaster over those. The class then unearthed their fossils and carefully brushed away the sand just as archaeologists do.

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

During Module 6, the Middle Grades worked on improvisational exercises. Using one word, a noun or verb that was given to them, they created a short scene, which challenged their abilities and imaginations. They did individual performances as well as breaking up into small groups to work together creating the skit. I was truly impressed with how they handled the exercise.

The class was then given an assignment to create a one minute commercial which could be a satire on an existing one or a completely original one. I do believe that many of the ad agencies could take a lesson or two from our students in originality and content! In Module 7 we will be starting individual dramatic and comedic monologues.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

"A for Awesome" CLASS
After putting aside our other music to prepare for the Northgate Christmas performance, it was good to be able to spend some time working up new material, without the immediate deadline. With that in mind, we began working on something old and something new. Something old was a very simple arrangement of "Fever," which tested the students' improvisation skills, and forced everyone to think about texture, musical build, and how to make something special out of a very repetitive piece of music. It was a good exercise, which we will continue through the rest of the year. We also started working on "Clocks," by Coldplay. This is also a very texture-oriented song, with simple parts, and a repetitive arrangement. It is really teaching us the beauty of simplicity in some types of music, and forcing us to listen to each other, and to consider how each part fits into the whole. Lennon is the lead singer on this song, with Rita backing him up with harmonies, and singing the bridge.

The other event in this module for the "A" class was to go into a professional studio and record tracks for a demo. It was a very enlightening experience for all, I think. We recorded 3 songs, "Carry On My Wayward Son," "Moondance" and "All My Love." With the help of our wonderful engineer, Jason Merritt, we were able to create rough mixes of all the songs, as well as save the individual tracks for each song. We overdubbed vocal harmonies, did multiple versions of certain solos, played one song to a click track, and learned how to play together when in very separate physical spaces, connected only by the sound in the headphones. With the tracks that Jason created for us, each student, with the help of GarageBand or some other audio editing application, can work on their own mix of what we recorded, seeing the nuts and bolts of multitrack recording. Each student received a CD with the rough mixes as well as the individual tracks.

"B for Best" CLASS
After putting aside our other music to prepare for the Northgate Christmas performance, it was good to be able to spend some time working up new material, without the immediate deadline. Before long, we were able to play "Rock Lobster" through from start to finish, and begin work on the Jackson 5 song "I Want You Back." Although this seems like a nice, bouncy little pop song, it is actually fairly complex musically, and it took us a while to get it into our bones. While most of the class were away on the Costa Rica trip. I was able to work with Amy and Kriea and the complex vocal parts, which include harmonies and some counterpoint. This made things much easier when the rest of the class returned. We will continue to work on this piece, which also has some rhythmically difficult "R&B" violin parts for Grace. We will also give "Tulsa Time," by Eric Clapton, a try, which will showcase Max on piano. We will also return to "Twist and Shout," and work more in group improvisational skills.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

We have just finished our badminton unit with Middle Grades. It was a little difficult at times because of the wind, but the students definitely adapted well and did the best they could. I was very pleased with their flexibility, patience, and progress.

2008-09 Module 5

2009-01-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

We cut Fall Break short to visit Bogue Banks for the Sea to Sound field trip. The children learned about turtles, squid, pond ecology, ort, and much more on this wonderful and very informative trip to the Outer Banks. Thank you to Mary Powell, Denise Sadler, Sally Fessler, Julie Smith, Holly Franklin, Rob Reid, and Larry Barnes for helping make this trip a success.

Upon returning, we finished our lessons for the module and moved into final exam mode. For most students in the class, this was their first time sitting final exams. All exams are available for viewing in crates located in your student's classroom.

We will read two novels this module: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and The Essential 55 by Ron Clark. The latter was recommended to me by Sally Fessler. I look forward to your student's comments on this reading.

I am throwing a new short assignment, Daily Paragraph Editing (DPE), into your student's homework pool. We started it the first week of school back from Winter Break. Your student should not have any difficulty completing it independently at home.

Our trip across the Atlantic in social studies will reference not only Europe, but Africa. We will study the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the enduring effects this heinous system had on families, governments, and the moral values of its practitioners.

For current events, our follow up on the auto industry bailout has come to a close. We are now following Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment and what this means for Roland Burris and the future of Illinois' vacant senate seat. We will also be following Israel's conflict with Hamas and what President Barack Obama and his cabinet's response will be during his first days in office.

Math and Science with Dan Hill

In science, we finished up our look at aspects of light and sound that are necessary for the course and then we reviewed and took exams. In the time after the break, as the Upper School finished up their first semester, we have been looking at some aspects of sound that aren't necessary for the rest of the course. If your child tries to engage you in a discussion of the finer distinctions between the words "tick" and "tock," it's my fault.

In math class, I have had the students review, explain, and correct the mistakes from their final exams. Assuredly, it was a more involved task for some than for others, but I am fairly satisfied that everyone has seen, as it were, the error of his or her ways.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Celia provided instruction up until the Winter Break. Due to a family emergency she was unable to provide a write up of the content covered this module.

Art with Heather Cramer

Middle Grades are now studying Art History ... becoming the artists of different historical times. We began by making portfolio books to hold our creations. Then we crawled into the cave and made cave paintings which are now on display in the Big Hall. We sat on the floor around our fire and drew with charcoals and ocher type chalks - and even added a touch of "bison blood!" Now we have returned from the hunt and are making leather amulet pouches that will hold our little stone symbols for protection. These students are embracing this experience fully and we are having a wonderful time going back in time to be with the ancient ones!

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

During Module 5 we continued working on the monologues for the class project. Each student was given specific direction for their individual characters. The students participated in improvisational exercises. I continue to be impressed with their creativity and wonderful imaginations. During Module 6, we will continue improvisational exercises as well as doing short original skits thought up by the students. I will be video taping many of the performances and playing them back for the students to see.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

Because of preparations for the performance at Northgate Mall, we put aside the long range songs we had been working on and put all of our concentration on holiday music. Between sickness, absences due to family matters, doctor's appointments and other unavoidable problems, the fact that we did as well as we did in our Northgate performance is a testament to the hard work and concentration of the members of both bands. I was very proud of them. After the holidays we resumed work where we had left off, and more new songs are on their way.

"A for Awesome" CLASS
Out of all the holiday song arrangements, I felt especially good about "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," which Sarah brought to our attention, and I arranged for the whole band. It was a very different style for us, with lots of dynamic changes and unusual rhythmic elements, but everyone took to it extremely well. I tried to give everyone a chance to shine in our performance. Lennon did his best "Chuck Berry" imitation on "Run Rudolph Run," Sarah ran up and down the keys on "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," Edwin and Rita traded lines on "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Josh and Sarah clogged to "Sleigh Ride." David and Aaron played well throughout, and everyone got another chance to improvise on "Moondance." Currently, we just completed a 'first draft' of "Carry On My Wayward Son," and ventured back into the jazz idiom with Peggy Lee's "Fever."

"B for Best" CLASS
This class had a lot of fun putting together their holiday songs, and I think it showed in the performances. Brian has become quite adept at the keyboard bass, and really drove the rhythm on "Feliz Navidad" and "White Christmas." Amy and Kriea worked out their harmonies in a very short amount of time, and really brought a lot of life to "Jingle Bell Rock" and "White Christmas." Alec learned the classic intro to "Jingle Bell Rock," and kept a solid rhythm on the other songs as well. Elaine gets better and better at laying down a steady rhythm for the band, all the while adding interesting dynamics and fills. Although Grace wasn't able to play in the performance, she really brought a lot of vitality to her vocal parts in rehearsal. As with the "A" band, we just completed a full run-through of "Rock Lobster," and will begin work on the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." I am trying to get the students to feel more comfortable with improvisation, but for most of them it's a bit like pulling teeth! Once they get over their self-consciousness, as the vocalists did in the spoken parts of "Rock Lobster," then the ideas and melodies really begin to flow. Thanks to those who gave it a try. I hope to have everyone more involved by the end of the year.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

Middle Grades began the module with a unit on handball, learning the basic rules and tactics of the game. Midway through the unit, however, we began our semester fitness testing and finished before Winter Break. Looking through the tests, it appears most students have improved since the beginning of the year. I am very excited to see this progress and I hope it continues throughout the rest of the year!

Also, if you could remind your child/children to please wear tennis shoes/sneakers the days they have PE, it would help tremendously. Those without proper footwear increase their risk of injury.

2008-09 Module 4

2008-11-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Whew! Our time researching topics for Academic Fair is done. Most students have turned in their final draft. A few will need more time to respond to the edits made on their paper. When classes resume after Fall Break and the Sound to Sea field trip, students will be given a week to turn in their final paper. All papers will be completed at school. Your student did a wonderful job piecing research together into a coherent paper that found expression on the poster board. Thank you for your support and patience. We hope that expository writing becomes an enduring endeavor for your student.

The first week of our return will be spent at Trinity's Sound to Sea Program. You may view the program and its staff at http://www.trinityctr.com/soundtosea/.

In social studies we have been studying the Age of Exploration. We will spend the first part of Module 5 studying the Native Americans. We will also study their interactions with European explorers. Depending on our pace we may touch on permanent European settlement and colonization before the end of the semester.

Math and Science with Dan Hill

The Middle Grades science students have had an entertaining time looking at the nature of and similarities between sound and light. We talked about traveling disturbances, vibrations, electromagnetic fields, how "pitch" and "color" are analogous, and the Doppler Effect. We had a fun time playing with Slinkies, diffraction gratings, and my car's horn, among other things.

Math class has been going well, with students often working together. "Oh, I've done that page; can I help her?" is becoming a pleasant refrain around here. On "fun" days we have been playing Equate (sort of like an arithmetic version of Scrabble) and have also elevated Group Hangman to an art form. I would just like to remind everyone that students need their math books, planners, notebooks, and enough pencils to make it through class EVERY DAY. Ahem. Thank you.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Graders have learned vocabulary related to feelings and emotions. They are working with numbers and practicing their pronunciation by playing card games, Bingo and Jeopardy in Spanish.

Art with Heather Cramer

Middle Grades put the finishing touches on their "Good Masters, Sweet Ladies" panels and a team of four made the title panel. Next we made our contribution to the table decorations for the Academic Fair dinner... the trees with lovely melted wax leaves.

We will be embarking on a study of Art History following fall break. I introduced this to them and we began making our art history portfolio/books. More to come!

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

During Module 4, the class continued to work on their monologues for their class project with Michelle. I worked with each student individually on character development, and gave them direction in bringing their character to life. Improvisational games and situations were also done each week, stretching their imaginations and creativity.

During Module 5, I will be introducing the concept of "given circumstances," using the "open scene" method. I will then be giving out short scenes for the students to perform.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

Most of Module 4 was spent perfecting 3 songs for each class to perform at the Academic Fair and Thanksgiving Feast, and it has been a productive time. Along with learning the parts, we have talked about which sounds for each keyboardist to play, listening to one another, balancing the sound, and what to play when another musician is playing an improvised solo. Having an upcoming performance really tends to focus energy, and help in learning parts. As far as the Academic Fair performance, I was very pleased and proud of both classes. I felt the songs were well-executed, yet also showed the spirit and passion of the music. Despite the obvious and unavoidable sound system problems, I hope the audience enjoyed it as well. Each class performed two "written" songs, and one that included a lot of improvisation.

Giving credit where it's due, I wanted to apologize for not including Grace Kirkpatrick in my introductions for the "B for Best" band. She somehow managed to stay out of my visual range, and I am sorry to have missed her. Grace is a real asset to the group, doing double duty as violinist and vocalist. I also wanted to credit Kriea Giffin-Dean with writing the lyrics to the "12 Bar Blues." I think Amy Hillsman may have helped as well. Great job!

The new start time of 8:15am to set-up and 8:20am to begin playing has been very helpful, and allowed us to become much more productive in our sessions. Thanks to everyone for making the extra effort to get everyone there a bit earlier.

"A for Awesome" CLASS
Along with cleaning up "Fixing A Hole" and "All My Love," we quickly learned Van Morrison's "Moondance" to have something for the group to improvise on for the Fair. The band picked up on the feeling and texture of this song immediately, and made the sometimes difficult rhythmic elements of the song sound easy and natural. We also began work in earnest on "Carry On My Wayward Son."

"B for Best" CLASS
Along with cleaning up "You Won't See Me" and "Birthday," and reinventing "12 Bar Blues" as a vehicle for group improvisation, we began learning the B-52's "Rock Lobster," which has some really great keyboard and keyboard bass parts, and a very rocking drum groove. I am certain that perfecting that tune will keep us busy for a while.

We have been asked by Northgate Mall to provide entertainment for Christmas shoppers on Saturday, December 20th from 2-3pm. I am hoping that a lot of the kids can join us for that event. Depending on everyone's availability, we may have both bands play, or a hybrid group with members of the "A" and "B" groups. If it works out, we will spend much of the December class time learning some really rocking Christmas and Hanukah songs. I have some great ideas, and look forward to any input you may have as well.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

As most of you probably saw your kids digging through the garage or bugging you to find some rackets, you may have concluded, "Yes, they must be in their tennis unit." I've been very thankful that Mike has been able to drive us out to Forest Hills Park where there are four tennis courts to play on. We were able to cover basic fundamentals of hitting and keeping the score, but I believe what they enjoyed most was the singles and doubles tournament they all participated in. I feel that tennis is something they don't get to do very often, but something they enjoy doing. It was a very successful unit, so I'm thinking I may have another tennis unit next semester. We will see!

2008-09 Module 3

2008-11-12T05:01:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Module 3 is often known as the Academic Fair Module. Our class made two trips to the library and with the assistance of Ms. Sally Fessler and Ms. Julie Smith, everyone was able to start their research. Much of the initial preparation is reading. Students were encouraged to take notes as they read. Students wrote a few paragraphs introducing their topics as part of their first draft. An outline followed. The outline will help your student organize the information so that his/her report is engaging and logically sequenced. Older students may find it easier to put an outline together first, as they have acquired the capacity to order their thoughts. However, students who are writing their papers for the first time often find it easier to pour out their thoughts first and then go back and write an outline. Writing an outline for them, is making sense of their thoughts. Their second draft should be a clear reflection of their outline. Please continue to talk to your student about their Academic Fair project.

We will soon conclude our novel studies of The House of Dies Drear and The Grey King. One group is reading a second book by Gary Paulsen, Hatchet. The students are responding to prompts in their Reader's Notebook. I would like your student to be reflective and thoughtful in his/her answers. I've given them a week to complete the assignment. The Reader's Notebook is not designed to be a collection of book reports, rather it is meant to be an outlet for the reader's feelings as they consider these characters and the circumstances they find themselves in.

Students will take their first comprehensive test in English in this module. The topics covered in this test are: simple subjects and simple predicates, linking verbs, helping verbs, action verbs, nouns, pronouns, direct objects, indirect objects, prepositional phrases, coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, kinds of sentences and their corresponding punctuation, articles and proper nouns. It may seem like a lot, but your student is quite able to identify these parts of speech and how they function in simple, compound or complex sentences.

In social studies, we are moving into The Age of Exploration. We will look at the time period between 1400 and 1600. We will travel the Silk Road and follow the exploits of adventurers searching for an all-water route to the Orient. This unit will also take us to the New World. It should be a fascinating journey!

Math and Science with Dan Hill

The Middle Grades math students are in full stride now, churning through their books. Remember: pencil, planbook, math book, math notebook. Every day!

As for Science class, we have completed a rudimentary survey of our planet's features. We shall now begin to find out the very involved answer to the question: How'd all that happen? Before we can get to that, however, we have to understand some things about light, and before we can get to THAT, we have to understand some things about sound.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Graders are learning classroom vocabulary as well as cognates. They have made flash cards to memorize vocabulary and have enjoyed playing Jeopardy and other games to learn the spelling and pronunciation of these new words. They are full of energy and enthusiasm!

Art with Heather Cramer

We have continued our work on the scenery for Good Masters, Sweet Ladies. All students have now finished their individual panels, while the title panel is being done by a team of four. This was quite an undertaking due to the size of the panels and the students became quite adept at setting up tarps on the floor and getting right to work at each class session. All have done an outstanding job of portraying the background for their monologue's character! Watch for a preview at Academic Fair of the amazing production that is coming!

Our trip to the Nasher Museum to see the El Greco and Velazquez exhibit was fantastic. Our students were very engaged and interested... What an amazing experience for them to see masterpieces that were done 400 years ago. Many thanks to Ms. Celia for making this happen!

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

We have been working on the monologues for the Class Project. Most of the students have memorized them, so it is now easier to help them with their presentations. I will continue to work with them on Mondays, leaving the Friday class for other Dramatic Art projects. The class has been doing improvisational exercises individually as well as in groups. I hope to be able to find age-appropriate short plays and break the class into groups for this activity.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

We are settling in with new keyboards, a new mic, and really sounding good on the songs we've been working on. We actually have three keyboards now, which accommodates all the players in the "A" class.

"A" CLASS
The "A" class has just about mastered "You Won't See Me" and "Fixing A Hole," and they have been working on Led Zeppelin's "All My Love." Josh is playing the virtuosic synth-trumpet solo, and was sight-reading it almost up to speed. Great job, Josh! We will begin work on "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas on Monday. We all agree that this will be a big challenge for everyone, but I know we can make the song sound great. Lennon is creating some very melodic and passionate fills on "All My Love" as well. David and Edwin are starting to gel as a rock rhythm section. Aaron and Sarah have been very consistent in learning and performing their parts, and the band as a whole is sounding terrific. We have been concentrating less on improvising these past few weeks, and more on playing together as a band.

With the approval of the class, I have decided to move up the start time to 8:20am. Everyone should arrive at 8:15am, so that we have time to set up and tune before the start of class. We just didn't have enough time to accomplish what we needed in each session, especially with Wednesdays gone because of Academic Fair. I am confident that we can accomplish much more with this extra time. So please do what you can to have your child there at this earlier time.

I am also looking into a performance opportunity at a local mall or shopping center during the Holiday season. If anyone has any contacts or ideas about places to play, please let me know.

"B" CLASS
The "B" class is doing well on their two main songs, "You Won't See Me" and "Bilrthday." We also started "Twist and Shout" this week, and are having a lot of fun with it. Grace has become quite the rock'n'roller, singing and playing her violin on "Birthday" with great style and passion. Kriea and Amy sing with Grace on "You Won't See Me," trading melody and harmony parts throughout the song, and are learning how to sing directly into the mics and sing with style. They sound great.

Alec is beginning to master his parts, especially the offbeat chords on "You Won't See Me." I am encouraging him to use more 'bar chords' in the songs, as they are more what is used by most rock guitarists. I gave him a chord chart to help him learn the different positions of the chords on the neck. Although we lack a bass player, Brian has done well with his left hand bass lines, joining Elisabeth in giving the band a solid rhythmic underpinning. He has discovered the "split keyboard" function on one of the donated synths, and uses it well, especially on "Birthday."

Max is playing a more integral part in the group with each session and Elisabeth, our drummer, continues to surprise me with her learning ability, creativity and brute strength! She is starting to lay down strong, consistent beats, and really seems to understand how the drums fit in with the texture of the whole sound. The band as a whole, in fact, seems to be listening more and more to each other, and it shows.

I would like to move the start time of the class to 8:20am. If everyone arrives at 8:15am, we will have time to set up and tune before we start. I've decided that 30-35 minutes just isn't enough time, especially with Wednesdays gone because of Academic Fair. Please talk with your student about this change, and do what you can to have him/her there at this earlier time.

I am looking into a performance opportunity at a local mall or shopping center during the Holiday season. If anyone has any contacts or ideas about places to play, please let me know.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

I've been pleased to see how engaged students are by our Ultimate Frisbee unit. We were able to play at Forest Hills Park and the kids loved it. Ultimate is an easy sport to pick up. We went over the basic skills of the game (specific grips, basic forehand and backhand throws, ways of catching) and the rules relatively quickly, so we were able to get right into a game.

The Fit for Life program has been going well. If you have time, be sure to check out the rising thermometer! I'm so proud of all the students and their enthusiasm. I've heard students talk about their parents working out with them and getting sore as well. Excellent!

Reminder: Please make sure your log has the total amount of physical activity calculated in minutes at the bottom of the sheet where it says "total." It becomes very time consuming if I have to do all the totaling. Thanks!

Also, thanks to everyone who has donated equipment. It's a big help!

2008-09 Module 2

2008-10-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

With Fall Conferences behind us it is now time to put in motion all that we planned to do together to ensure your student's success. Each conference was unique and revealing. The notes taken and the follow-ups that were promised are now being processed through the school's office. Please take a moment to review your student's Progress Plan when you receive it in the mail. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact us so that we can arrange a meeting.

Students sat their first chapter test in social studies. It was certainly a time of understanding and seeing on paper what the expectations are when taking a chapter test in this subject. Please remind your student that reading the lessons for each chapter at home is an important part of their study of the topics covered. Reading each lesson is only the first step. Students are expected to participate in discussions and responsibly take notes during class. When test dates are announced, your student should make time to study. All chapter tests will be announced a week in advance giving your student enough time to review and prepare.

Depending on which grouping your child is in, the books we read this module are The Cay by Theodore Taylor and The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois. Students will be given a prompt to respond to in their Reader's Notebook. Your student's response should be thoughtful and reflective. In Module 3, we will read The Grey King (from The Dark is Rising Sequence) by Susan Cooper and The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton.

Students should turn in workbook assignments on time. As a reminder, Fridays are generally when students take both spelling and vocabulary tests. They also know that the next unit for each subject is assigned immediately, allowing several days to complete the assignments and turn each in promptly. Vocabulary workbooks are collected on Wednesdays, the spelling workbooks, along with two journal entries in their "red" notebooks, are due on Thursdays.

We will be starting our short DOL (Daily Oral Language) lessons this module. These are sentences we edit together in class each day. Students are expected to study these edited sentences each night. It should only take a few minutes to review. DOL tests will be on Mondays. This allows ample time to review before each test.

In English, we studied main verbs and helping verbs. Students also learned to associate the direct object with the main verb and the indirect object with both the main verb and the direct object. In this module we will tackle coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and their role in forming compound and complex sentences. We will also tackle the different verb tenses.

Lastly, I would like to give you our Academic Fair (AF) five-week timetable.

Oct. 13-16 - Brainstorming and narrowing down topics; assign adviser
Oct. 17-20 - Locate sources
Oct. 21-24 - Take notes
Oct. 25-27 - Write an outline
Oct. 28-31 - Write the first draft
Nov. 3 - Review edits to first draft
Nov. 4-6 - Make corrections and turn in final paper
Nov. 7 - Design presentation board
Nov. 8-17 - Work on presentation board at home
Nov. 18 - Presentation board completed and brought to school
Nov. 19-20 - Students practice presenting to an audience
Nov. 21 - Academic Fair

Please take advantage of this timetable to discuss with your student what he or she is investigating. Your input is important and I am sure your student will appreciate the feedback.

Math and Science with Dan Hill

We are well into our regular math routine, making excellent progress churning through our chapters. Students know what they need to bring to class every day now: their books, their math notebooks, planners, and pencils. Notices will start going home, and recesses will start being forfeited for unpreparedness!

In Science, we have looked at what goes into an experiment and how the results should be reported. We are now beginning look at the world around us and asking: "How'd all this get to be this way?"

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Grades Spanish classes are going strong. Students have learned greetings and short introductory conversations as well as basic pronunciation of sounds in Spanish. We have played vocabulary games and both classes are enthusiastically engaged in learning.

Art with Heather Cramer

Half of the students have completed their scenery painting for Good Masters, Sweet Ladies. The other half, who have been working with Paul Kartcheske, will begin next week. We are all grateful to Paul for teaching art twice a week, which will give all students a class with me and a class with Paul every week when we have finished this special project.

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

We continued to work on individual monologues which are part of a class project students are doing with Michelle. I have been seeing students one-on-one to suggest ways to improve their characterizations and delivery of said monologues.

We have begun to discuss the concept of "given circumstances," and have started utilizing that concept in improvisational exercises.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

Musical and improvisational skills are improving, risks are being taken, beautiful harmony is being achieved, and a clearer path is emerging for the content for the rest of the semester.

I purchased a new book, Beatles: The Complete Scores, which has every song they recorded, written out, part by part, like an orchestral score. Both classes began work on an arrangement of "You Won't See Me." This shows students how it was done by The Beatles, while allowing them to add their own personal style. In the "B" class, Grace put down her violin and joined Kriea and Amy for some wonderful harmonies on "You Won't See Me," as well as "Birthday." In the "A" class, Edwin and Lennon tried those falsetto-style harmonies. We also initiated "jam sessions" on riffs in Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and "Kashmir" (in "A" class only), and Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." As I mentioned at the Parent's Night, my goal is to help the more classically-trained kids feel comfortable with improvisation, while showing the more ear-taught kids how to read notes and chords from the page.

On the equipment front, we received 2 keyboards from Dan Lanphear and the Hillsman family. Now the keyboard players in both classes will not have to share a keyboard, or have to "wait their turn" to play. We are very grateful for the generosity of these families.

I took advantage of the Upper School Conference break to create more arrangements specific to the class, test out the new keyboards, and continue to work on making our shared space as comfortable as possible.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

In P.E. class we started with a volleyball unit. We covered volleyball history, rules, how to play, and fundamental techniques (like bumping and setting). There was a pretest in the beginning of the unit and this week they will take a written post test as well as a skills test. I've been very impressed with the improvement I've seen so far. The goal of these units is not to create performance "stars," but to help students become familiar with the basics so that they can comfortably participate in each sport outside of school.

As most of you are aware, our Fit for Life program started September 29th. Every Monday, homeroom teachers will distribute a new activity log after collecting a signed activity log from the previous week. Anyone who has a completed activity log to hand in can do so any Monday. The Fit for Life thermometer is now hanging up in the Big Hall and will be updated every week or so. Thank you all for helping make this program work.

2008-09 Module 1

2008-09-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report with Michelle Banal

Welcome to Middle Grades! This is the first of ten letters you will be receiving from our team of Middle Grade teachers. I hope you find them informative.

Most of Module One was taken up with review time and pretesting. We use the results of these pretests to place students in a setting that will maximize their learning by addressing learning styles and proper class groupings. I am pleased with the results so far and look forward to meeting with you at our October conference to discuss the results of each pretest.

The class has been actively engaged in learning about their classmates. This is a wonderful time for your student to socialize and get together with classmates outside of school.

From now until December expect your student to work at least one hour each night. You will find that each teacher assigns homework differently. I like to give a week's worth of homework with a specific due date so that your student has the flexibility to schedule her time over the course of a week. You'll learn more about this as we plunge into Module 2.

Each student is working on his monologue script. Our drama teacher, Ms. Roni, is using time in her class to help your student act out the assigned monologue. The backdrop for your student's upcoming performance is being done in art with Ms. Heather and Mr. Paul. It should be quite a show when we pull all these elements together. Expect an invitation to this performance soon.

The focus of Module Two will be nailing down class routine and understanding teacher expectations. Another assignment we will be tackling is Academic Fair. You'll hear more about this in the coming weeks.

I anticipate a wonderful year and look forward to working with you. Together we can help your child explore her possibilities and develop her potential (or his!)

Math and Science with Daniel Hill

We started math this year by reviewing basic skills, playing some games, and getting the juices flowing before diving headlong into our pretesting. Emerging from the other side, we know everyone's starting place, and have begun wading into our daily routine. Over the course of Module Two we will spend more time adjusting to the dynamics of a highly differentiated math classroom. Expect to start seeing math homework every night!

The science classes began with some whole-class activities and a discussion of the nature of science in general. We have finished pretesting, and have grouped students accordingly

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Graders are very enthusiastic in Spanish class. We have been pretesting and reviewing previous information, learning the names of Hispanic capitals and identifying Spanish speaking countries on the world map. Students have shown good retention of vocabulary learned last year.

Art with Heather Cramer

We have been very busy developing our backdrops for the students' monologue presentations. Each student examined their own monologue for imagery that would enhance their tale and worked up sketches. These were transferred to the 2' X 7' tall panels and half of the class is now busy painting them. The other half will follow with theirs. Some delightful scenery is emerging!

Dramatic Arts with Roni Peterson

Getting to know each other through improvisational games and exercises
Specific exercises to improve memory
Specific exercises used to explore emotions
Specific exercises to challenge creativity and imagination

Students have been very receptive and eager to perform in all tasks. We will be working with the monologues given to each student by their primary teacher as part of the class project.

Music Performance with Glenn Mehrbach

There has been a lot of interest in the Band Class (or Music Performance) this year. We have decided to split the class into two groups, meeting on alternate days. I sent a schedule home with the students last week. It's a bit confusing, since each group meets M-W-F of one week, and then Tu-Th of the next, but it is the best way to give each class the attention they need.

In the first couple of weeks we have been getting to know each other, finding out what kinds of music the students like, what skills they would like to improve, and how well they can play with a group. We have also shifted a few students from one group to another, to better balance the abilities and needs of the students, and to create a good mix of instruments and voices in each class. I feel that we have a good balance in each of the classes for the time being.

Class A consists of:

Rita Glynn (vocals, percussion)
Eva Sutton (vocals, percussion)
Josh Stallings (piano)
Sarah Chetty (piano)
Aaron Daniels (piano)
Lennon Klinger-Mehrbach (guitar, vocals)
Edwin Leskin (bass)
David Achin (drumset)

We have been working on a "12 Bar Blues in C," to familiarize them with this basic building block of popular music, and see how well they can play together, as well as "Fever" and a favorite from last year's class, "Hallelujah, I Love Her So." In the coming weeks I will be arranging a few of the songs that the students have suggested, and continue to expand our repertoire.

Class B consists of:

Amy Hillsman (vocals)
Kriea Giffin-Dean (vocals)
Grace Kirkpatrick (violin, vocals)
Brian Powell (piano)
Max Fried (piano)
Alec Porter (guitar)
Elaine Parker (drumset)

We have also been playing "12 Bar Blues in C," along with the old Beatles favorite, "Birthday." As with the other class, I will introduce class picks and other, more elaborate, songs as they become more comfortable with playing together.

Physical Education with Krista Moll

I've been very pleased with the amount of energy and motivation the students bring to each class. It makes working them hard easy to do! In Module One, all classes did fitness testing. Collectively, 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. Next week, they should be bringing home their physical fitness file with that information in addition to their height, weight, and BMI (body mass index). If you would like to learn more about the President's Challenge, you can go to www.presidentschallenge.org.

When it rained, I taught a health lesson on the benefits of physical activity and the obstacles people face when trying to lead a healthy life. So, yes, PE does require note-taking sometimes!

Module 10

2008-05-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal

Our trip to Williamsburg was a wonderful! It enlivens learning when we can pursue it beyond the four walls of our classroom Pictures of the trip are already posted on our web site. If you have more pictures to share please contact Dan or Scott. Thank-you to all those who chaperoned. I appreciate you making time to be with us.

I would also like to thank Whitney Barnes for furnishing my room with desks, tables, chairs, and an assortment of office supplies through Duke University. Our class is grateful for all of these items.

Thank you to Sally Fessler for adding over a dozen books to our burgeoning library. Mr. Mike will be adding another shelf to our classroom to help keep our collection neatly available to students throughout the year.

We finished our lesson on modifiers and have moved on to diagramming sentences. Students are also enjoying two unique board games: Scattergories and Apples to Apples. The former is a game of identifying nouns and occasionally embellishing nouns with modifiers; the latter is a game that uses modifiers to identify or "win" nouns. Both games are very popular with the students right now. If you have never played these games, you should check them out. They are great family activities.

Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill

In Mathematics class, the students are zeroing in on their final chapters. Everyone has done very well, and each is deserving of a pat on the back for completing their pace goals.

In Science we have finished looking at plants, exclusively. We are now examining the ways in which organisms interact and some of the common relationships within a community, such as: producers and consumers, predator and prey, and so forth. Soon it will be time to start studying for the final exam!

Spanish with Celia Battle

Students finished their study of food with a FIESTA. They cooked typical dishes from different Spanish-speaking countries, brought them to class and gave a brief explanation of each. We had a wonderful meal!

Physical Education with Paige Passavant

The students are finishing their Student-Led unit. Each student got to teach twice and was required to have a Plan A (outside game) and a Plan B (inside game). They did a great job!

Computer Technology with Paige Passavant

The students are continuing to work on their PowerPoint presentations about WWI and/or WWII. They are having a great time researching their topic and have come up with imaginative ways to present their information.

Art with Heather Cramer

We finished our paper mosaics, then had a break with the class trip. Then we did sand painting out on the porch - a group mural depicting the different elements and beings of the earth. We look forward to sharing this in the display at "Evening of the Arts."

Drama with Susie Kless

The students spent the module preparing for the Evening of the Arts. They were excited to be able to use their costumes and props.

Module 9

2008-04-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal

We spent a good deal of this module preparing for the ERBs. Students were taught how to navigate in the arena of standardized testing. Your student sat through each test patiently answering questions to the best of his or her ability. It was a demanding three days, but students seemed to manage it well.

We also viewed the classic movie The Sound of Music. Many conversations that take place in this film subtly refer to the aggression of Nazi Germany. It is a wonderful film that portrays the innocence of many citizens in Austria before it was occupied by the Germans. Students were asked to connect snippets of this film with their readings of World Wars I & II.

Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill

Much of this module's mathematics class time was spent preparing for the ERBs. We went over both key test-taking strategies and reviewed some of the basic knowledge areas upon which the students were likely to be tested. The students were also given some practice completing math questions while under a time limit.

In Science class we looked at plant function, specifically photosynthesis/respiration and reproduction. The students revisited an activity done at the beginning of the semester involving the classification of plants in Camelot's immediate environment. The point was that, armed with a more thorough understanding of plant physiology, the students saw Camelot's surroundings in a much different light.

Spanish with Celia Battle

The M-T class continues to study vocabulary and phrases related to food and meals. They have eagerly researched ethnic recipes from different countries and planned a "food fiesta" for featuring typical dishes from Hispanic countries.

The W-Th class has started to learn vocabulary and phrases related to food and meals. They are enthusiastically involved in this unit.

Physical Education with Paige Passavant

The Middle Grades class has been enjoying our unit "Student-Led Teaching". This unit puts your child in the role of teacher, equipment manager and referee. When it is their "turn" they plan their lesson, gather and set up the equipment, organize teams and explain rules, handle classroom behavior and fairly referee games. The process aids me in their final evaluation of skills/techniques learned throughout the school year. It is amazing to watch the seriousness with which they take their teaching responsibilities. We will continue this unit next module then conclude our year with post-testing. This is my favorite unit as each student "shines" in his or her own way. To witness this yourself, have your child "teach" a game to you and your family...

Computer Technology with Paige Passavant

We continue our journey in the PowerPoint program. With our knowledge of the Word program, the students have transitioned into slide creations. Our main focus this past module was organizing their Internet research. The students' final project will be a presentation regarding the history of "World War I and World War II". Their assignment is to research an "outlying" topic, answering the question "How did _____ change due to WWI or WWII". Some of their topics include: sports/games, weapons, fashion, literature, women's roles and music. This is a great way for the students to add to their classroom learning and make connections to cultural changes due to war.

Art with Heather Cramer

We finished our abstract face paintings, and moved on to paper mosaics. After looking at some delightful, colorful mosaics in a book, the students drew a simple image on black paper and then proceeded to "tile" their image with colored paper pieces.

Drama with Susie Kless

Your children are ready for Evening of the Arts! We are running their show and making all of the necessary changes to improve it. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Module 8

2008-03-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal

Writing skillfully means not only organizing one's thoughts but knowing the intention behind them - and choosing the form most suitable to their expression. By the end of this semester your student will have a portfolio that illustrates several types of writing. We just finished writing a short descriptive piece that will soon be returned for editing. In this module we will begin work on a persuasive essay. In Module 9 we will look into the art of expository writing, exploring both the compare-contrast approach and the opinion essay.

We are almost done listening to The Hobbit. It has been fun sharing this audio experience and then summarizing and analyzing each chapter with the class. We may start Lord of the Rings in Module 9. We will not finish it by the end of this semester, but it may tantalize your student enough to want to finish reading it on his or her own over summer break.

We just finished our lesson on the unification of Germany and Italy in the late 19th century. We will be discussing events that led to World Wars I & II in Module 9. This will be quite interesting since many students have shared with me that a relative of theirs was a part of one or both of these wars. This will be an intense unit. Please make time to discuss with your student the effects of these wars on mankind.

We ended this module with a fantastic trip to Raleigh's Marble Museum and the Natural Science Museum. Both were rich experiences for your student.

Students who are transitioning out of Middle Grades will be scheduled for a day visit with Upper School. You will be notified in advance of your student's scheduled visit.

Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill

This module in mathematics we are taking some time out of class to prepare for the upcoming standardized testing. We are discussing general problem-solving strategies (like estimation and the elimination of unreasonable answers) as well as practicing taking tests in a timed environment.

In Life Science we finished our overview of different kinds of plants, and now we are taking a brief look at plant functions. At the end of the module we took a field trip to the Marble Museum's Imax Theater and the Natural Science Museum, where students got to learn a bit more about a wide variety of organisms, both that we have studied and that we will study. After plants, we will take a brief look at ecology before wading into the wide world of animal critters.

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle graders in the Monday-Tuesday class are learning vocabulary and phrases about food and meals. We are focusing on oral communication. Middle graders in the Wednesday-Thursday class have been learning dates and seasons, both orally and in writing.

Physical Education with Paige Passavant

During Module 8 students in PE enjoyed learning about rhythm and dance. As part of a dance project originating in the Upper School dance class, students in the Lower School have had (and will continue to have) the opportunity to create a cooperative dance montage for presentation at "Evening of the Arts." We are trying to be "hush-hush" about what we are doing as we want our presentation to be a loving (surprise) gift to the parents and other students.

Computer Technology with Paige Passavant

The students have been quite excited about PowerPoint. They have impressed me with their enthusiasm for learning this program and sharing their new knowledge with classmates.

Art with Heather Cramer

We finished our Creative Spirit hands and added those to the school display. Our next lesson was "graffiti names." Each student outlined the letters of his or her name in big overlapped letters and filled those with colors and images using colored pencils. Our last class was drawing and painting abstract faces. We looked at images of faces done by master painters from Da Vinci's Mona Lisa to the very abstract work of Paul Klee. After placing the basic features proportionately on a face, they were invited to add creative shapes using oil crayons. Then we filled in the various spaces created with watercolors. A beautiful gallery of work was the result!

Drama with Susie Kless

The children have done a wonderful job putting all their bits and pieces together. We have a great variety of skits that will keep us laughing to the very end. We have read through most of the show and will begin "getting it on its feet."

Module 7

2008-02-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal

Thank you for coming out to your student's conference. It was time well spent. Hopefully, the short presentation your student made gave you a glimpse of what he or she is doing in class.

We are are finishing up our lessons on nouns and pronouns. This unit is taking us a little longer to get through than what I had planned. Please look over your student's shoulder as he or she prepares for the unit test.

We are moving along in social studies. We just finished Chapter 6 which was about the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. We are now reading about revolutions and world wars. Chapters 7 & 8 will take us into Eastern Europe and Asia.

Thank you for keeping up with your child's studies. Many students are anticipating our trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Details of the trip will be sent home soon.

Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill

Students are, overall, making great progress in math. Several students completed books this module; congratulations to them! We are currently putting more emphasis on student work habits: responsibly assessing one's own tasks and reducing the amount of visiting and talking out that goes on in the classroom.

In Life Science we continue our study of plants. We conducted an experiment in which we compared several features of corn seeds grown with and without light, such as etiolation and gravitropism. I continue to be impressed by the students' organism reports; they seem to enjoy them as well!

Spanish with Celia Battle

Middle Grades have made a long list of cognates, words in English that resemble words in Spanish, both in spelling and in meaning. All students did very well in the body vocabulary test and are enthusiastically practicing our body song!

Physical Education with Paige Passavant

We spent Module 7 finishing our unit in Gymnastics. After taping our routines, the students watched and evaluated their performances. This process enables the students to see what they did/didn't do and how they will modify their performance next time.

Computer Technology with Paige Passavant

We began our journey in the PowerPoint program. Students discovered that their experiences with Word will help them in the process of slide show creation.

Art with Heather Cramer

My first two weeks at Camelot as the new art teacher were delightful. We are spending these first weeks getting to know each other with several projects. Our first was "Freeing Our Creative Spirit." We talked about all of the different ways we absorb our life experiences - eyes, ears, touch - and then to our hearts. In our hearts, we create our own response - and this "flows" out our arms to our hands which become our tools to create an image expressing this experience. We drew around our hands to make an image on paper, then tissue-collaged them for a burst of color. In our next class, we will paint black around the background to make the colors pop! These will be added to the display with the other grades.

Drama with Susie Kless

I am very excited about the drama program we have started. The children have many wonderful ideas. Our main focus is going to be a News and Entertainment program. This will allow the children to perform many different styles of acting. We have also worked on theatre games to help us get more comfortable in a stage setting.

Module 6

2008-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal We hit the ground running in this first module of the second semester. The students are now expected to be more responsible and diligent about their school assignments and their preparation for tests. Also, we are expecting students to be more mindful of their belongings. Please make sure your student has a constant supply of sharpened pencils. It would serve your student best if his or her pencils were sharpened before coming to school. School supplies are being left in random places in the classroom and on the porch. Items not spoken for at the end of the day will either be discarded or given away. Please impress on your student that enough time in the schedule is given for organization. Students should make use of this time wisely. We are continuing our lessons on nouns and pronouns. Many students are finding themselves stuck on subject complements (predicate adjectives and predicate nouns). When sentences are longer and more complex, the subject complements can be a bit difficult to identify. Please make sure your student covers this carefully when he or she starts preparing for the English test at the end of our unit on nouns and pronouns. Our class is listening to an audio of The Hobbit. We summarize each chapter and end it with a chapter analysis. As a reminder, Module 7 is an AR module so make sure your student chooses a book from the AR list on our website. We finished Chapter 5 of our social studies book. A lot of time was spent on the geography of Western Europe. Your child is now ready to embark on a "Grand Tour" of his or her own. The chapter was very engaging and hands on. It is imperative that your student have access to a map or atlas at home. This will help your student when we start our study of Europe's history. Lastly, we are finished with our first lesson in Latin. The students showed great enthusiasm and enjoyed learning how to pronounce vowels in yet another language. The class time spent on Latin is for exposure and will not figure into semester grades. I hope this exposure to Latin will deepen your student's interest in language as he or she moves to the Upper School. Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill Having looked at the single celled and fungal kingdoms last semester, the middle graders have begun studying the vast kingdom of plants. Because of their diversity, visibility, and immediacy, this semester we will be looking at the plant and animal kingdoms in a more in-depth fashion than we looked at the other kingdoms last semester. Some math students began the semester with a review of areas in which they performed poorly on the First Semester Final Exam, other students picked up where they left off. Echoing Ms. Michelle's remarks about responsibility and diligence, I would like to stress that there are going to be higher expectations this semester regarding students' preparation for class. By this point in the year, students should be able to bring the appropriate materials to class each day. Spanish with Celia Battle Middle Grades Spanish started very energetically after the holidays. We are using singular and plural articles, learning the names of parts of the body and practicing our body song in Spanish. Physical Education with Paige Passavant This module our students practiced their gymnastic skills as we delved into our unit on Educational Gymnastics. This year we have incorporated (the Camelot version of) the balance beam. This new addition will add some flair to their routines. Taping of their routines will start within the next week. Computer Technology with Paige Passavant We have begun our unit in PowerPoint. This unit allows students to create a unique method of displaying information. We will continue this unit over the next few modules culminating in a PowerPoint presentation for the parents. Specials with....??? Module 6 was spent selecting our "Specials" teachers for the Second Semester. We look forward to welcoming Miss Susie for drama instruction and Miss Heather Cramer for art instruction in addition to our continued art studies with Paul Karcheske.

Module 5

2007-12-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

Classroom Report from Michelle Banal I would like to commend all of you for hanging in there with your student through the end of the module and semester. For most of the class this was their first time taking final exams. Next semester finals should be easier to prepare for now that new students to the Middle Grades have wet their feet. Keeping tests in a safe place like their pigeonhole will help your student put his or her review together when preparing for second semester finals. In language arts we finished our lesson on verbs. This was quite a long lesson. We will be working on nouns next module. We also started our lesson on writing biographies. We will finish writing these biographies next module. We left Greece and made our way through Rome. Our visit to ancient cities along the Indus River was interesting because the history of these cities did not make it into H.G. Wells book, An Outline of History. We learned about the founders of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Unit 2 will take us on a journey of Western Europe. We enjoyed a field trip to the Museum of Art in Raleigh. Next semester we are going to impress upon your student the need to be more conscientious of the items needed for class. Classwork Notices will be issued to help remind students that ample time is given to prepare for each class and that this time should be used for such. Class changes have become a time of too much socializing and this is distracting some students from coming to class prepared. Mathematics and Life Science with Dan Hill The math students finished their final chapters of the semester and reviewed for the semester-end assessment to demonstrate retention of what they've learned. In Science, we just finished our look at Kingdom Fungi (and some of its members, up-closely and personally, in all their icky glory). We found that, from death caps to athlete's foot to fine cuisine to brewer's yeast to penicillin (not to mention slime molds, ugh), fungi can actually be more interesting than just watching mold grow. I would also like to ask all parents to impress upon their students that they should come prepared to every class! This means math books and math notebooks for math class, and their science notebooks (or folders) and any completed homework for science class, and, for every class, plan books and pencils, pencils, pencils! This semester I will begin giving out Classwork Notices to students who are unprepared for class. Spanish with Celia Battle Middle Grades have had great fun practicing correct Spanish pronunciation and increasing their vocabulary and beginning grammar. We have used lots of gestures, facial expressions and drawings to help us to effectively communicate with each other. The students are beginning to use simple sentences to communicate in the classroom and are eager for more, much more! Everyone did very well on their first oral exams of the year and I am very pleased with their progress. Performing Arts with Matthew Etherington The Middle Grades students performed wonderfully at Academic Fair! We were lucky enough to watch a parent video of the event, this module, which gave the students some well-deserved positive feedback. The students were able to thoughtfully critique their performance and this was a valuable lesson. Please check out the Middle Grade Chorus on the "Student Work" section of our website. Since then, the group has wrapped up our studies of Jazz History with the interactive curriculum Jazz For Young People, and done a mini-research project on a Jazz musician of their choice. Sharing some basic facts with the group reinforced prior learning and allowed for more depth of learning. Physical Education with Paige Passavant We moved to a new area of our "Wellness" curriculum with the unit on Health Education and Practice. We studied the five dimensions of what it means to be "well." We touched on various ways to maintain our physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual health. Computer Technology with Paige Passavant We concluded our unit in Microsoft Word by editing our Academic Fair brochures, creating a second brochure ("All About Me") and using our expertise to assist in the whole school challenge: to create holiday cards for the hundreds of residents of the Murdoch Center. Students are excited about beginning PowerPoint when we return from break.