Monthly Class Updates

January 2020

Instrumental Music 6 (Introductory and Advanced):  The sixth grade instrumental ensembles will work on refining their sense of time/pulse through the use of subdivision. They will use egg shakers during the playing exercises to maintain the pulse and give tactile feedback about their sense of time. The class periods will also have a different seating arrangement each day to accommodate a growing sense of ensemble, and to encourage the students to collaborate with musicians outside of their sections.

Acting 6:  The 6th grade acting students are starting out the month looking at how individual character choices impact the story, exploring that concept via improvisation and the construction of very short stories. We will also be in contact with the Lower School to see what books the K-2nd grade students are using so we can use that material as we start to formulate those stories to be presented toward the end of January.

Vocal Music 6:  Ms. Phelps is excited to be back from maternity leave and working with amazing students! In December we will use traditional holiday and winter songs to explore melody, harmony, and rhythmic patterns. We are also putting these skills to use in learning a song that we will perform at St. Nick’s Chapel on the last day before winter break. In January we will begin a set of more formal concert-level music and focus on the fundamentals of theory and sight reading music. 

Art 6:  Students just finished sculpting their clay heads, and have now moved onto Egyptian Comics. Looking at character, narrative, written language, and scene, students will create their own comic strips by looking at Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and contemporary comic artists. 

PE 6:  In the month of December, the 6th graders will be playing the sport of Speedminton. It is a fast-paced racket sport that is a combination of squash, tennis and badminton. The students will also be given their written semester project. The students will get to pick a sport or activity in which they are interested so they can do research and then write a paper on it. The month of January will start off with our unit on basketball. We will cover the rules and strategies of the game and also the different skills necessary to be successful at the sport. We will play a variety of basketball type games that will improve their skills and be lots of fun. The second round of fitness testing will also be done in January.

Health and Wellness 6:  This month in Health and Wellness we will be exploring the power of words. We’ll begin this unit by establishing a shared understanding of vocabulary related to diversity, equity and inclusion. We will then discuss demeaning language that can impact the dignity of others and will offer students tools to understand and navigate hurtful language. Laura Todis will present details of the material in this unit to parents at Parent Partnership from 8:00–9:00 a.m. on December 3 or 7:00–8:00 p.m. on December 11, in the Middle School Library.

Science 6:  In December students are focusing on learning foundational skills in science. Students will learn how to discern between independent and dependent variables. Students are also beginning to consider constants and will be introduced to the idea of a control group. Students are learning these skills in order to prepare for science research coming up after the New Year. Students will also test the nets they built in as part of an engineering and design project in EC3 last month in order to remove some of the mosquito fern bloom that has taken hold in the wetlands on campus. Lastly, we will be releasing the 180 salmon we have been caring for in our classroom, as they will soon become fry and need to be released into the Willamette River to live out the rest of their lives. 

French 6:  Students will learn to express how much they like and don’t like different activities. They will consider the questions, “Do people in the francophone world do the same activities we do?” and “What sports are popular in the francophone world? They will learn about major sites in Paris, the French origins of the Olympic Games and the Tour de France. We will study subject pronouns and will head into the exciting world of verb conjugation, starting with -er verbs, which is a key foundational concept this year and beyond. One structural goal will be to understand the difference between an infinitive and a conjugated verb, and when to use them correctly. Students will also begin to memorize the poem Chanson by Prévert, which they will recite mid-January. On their Google Classroom site, they can find all links to vocabulary flashcards and games with Quizlet. Fridays, we continue our tradition of watching episodes of Tintin. 

Chinese 6:  In Chinese 6 class, students will learn to identify terms for family members and their relationships and know how to exchange information about families with others. Students will inquire about and provide location and address in Chinese and express where you or others live. For grammar, we are going to learn about using possessive word 有, 的 and conjunction word 和. Also, we will know how to use the adverb of location: 在. Students will make a traditional-style Chinese book: Accordion Binding. Students will use what they learned to introduce their name, age, nationality, family members, school and the place they live. For the culture piece, students will learn about the story of Chinese Lunar New Year and celebrate it by doing paper cutting, writing calligraphy on couplets, decorating classrooms, etc.

Spanish 6:  This December we are continuing to work with the tricky verbs ser and estar. We now have the basics of our grammar foundation on which to build. This month will have us more extensively creating our own questions in Spanish. Our focus for vocabulary and cultural learning is the family. We will discuss how different cultures view and interact with family. Also, we will make our own family tree, real or imagined, and then present them in class!  Supporting all this will be a new song, “Hoy es domingo.”

Technology 6:  The 6th grade technology students have just finished up their introduction to coding with the Micro:bits. They will now begin to pull all of the pieces together: finishing up the prototyping process, incorporating the hardware and coding elements, and then beginning to move towards completion of their design. Throughout this process the students will document their process and share out their code.

Pre-Algebra 6:  Ms. von’s class: Students are wrapping up their lessons on algebraic expressions and properties and will delve into Chapter 5 and explore ratios, rates, and percents next. December will culminate with a percent project. In January, the students will begin Chapter 7 and explore using inverse operations to solve algebraic equations and inequalities. Having finished a review of fractions we have moved into work on all decimal operations. Ms. Seder’s class: We have been looking at why the rules for decimal operations work as well as practicing the related computation. We’ll finish up this unit and have several days to work on a less traditional math problem before break. If students like this type of problem, the optional problems of the week that I post on “classroom” are a good way to get more exposure to them. 

Humanities 6:  Gloria Whelan’s Homeless Bird anchors our work in 6th grade Humanities for the month of December. Students have already begun to explore the role arranged marriage plays in Indian society through the lens of the book. Close reading skills include identifying cultural clues and elements of literature as well as writing open-ended questions for in-class discussions. Students are encouraged to become leaders in the classroom through close reading and practice. Upon finishing the book, each will imagine the protagonist’s future in a short piece of writing based on their understanding of character, plot, and culture. There will also be opportunities to express their idea(s) visually using Indian artistic styles referred to throughout the book. 

January 2020

Instrumental Music 7:  The 7th grade ensemble is preparing for the final performance before break, which will be a combined ensemble piece for St. Nick’s Chapel. The students will be developing a stronger sense of time/pulse by subdividing with egg shakers during rests and at assigned places within the music. We will also be working on producing good tone by increasing the speed of our air going into the instrument through the use of breathing exercises as a class. Each class period will have a different seating arrangement to accommodate the large ensemble performance.

Acting 7:  The seventh grade acting students have just started their juggling unit. I include a unit on juggling to help the students get their heads around the challenge of multitasking during performance. When you're juggling, there are many things going on that constantly force you to make adjustments, similar to the challenges that actors face while they are in performance. In the middle of December, we will add a couple of more improv exercises to our repertoire and then we will begin to choose the exercises that we want to use in our performance. Throughout January, the students will begin preparing for their improvisational performance which will take place in early February. We are narrowing down the exercises that we will be sharing, creating the performance teams, and practicing at performance-level energy and focus. We are also working to master “Best Practices” for rehearsal and performance environments.

Vocal Music 7:  Ms. Phelps is excited to be back from maternity leave and to work with the amazing students! In December, we will use traditional holiday and winter songs to explore melody, harmony, and rhythmic patterns. We are also putting these skills to use in learning a song that we will perform at St. Nick’s chapel on the last day before winter break. In January, we will begin learning a set of more formal concert-level music and start a unit on aural skills including recognizing intervals by sight. We will also dive more fully into vocal development and expanding range. 

Art 7:  Students just finished their Modern Icon Watercolors and have started creating Clay Houses. Focusing on architectural elements,  template making, clay slab construction, and portraying idea through visual cues, students will make a miniature home that visually shows the persona of the person they imagine living inside. Students will also learn about three dimensional form and creating textural design in clay.

History 7:  December brings the beginning of Unit 3: Age of Exploration and Colonialism in the New World. Students will grapple with the essential questions that frame this unit: Why do people explore? What happens when people meet? What happens when civilizations conflict? What does it mean to be advanced? They will conduct research on different explorers of the time, the history of maps and map making, new innovations/technologies related to exploration, and more, and present what they learned to the class. The unit will culminate in an inquiry-based research project, where the final product will have students recording a podcast related to the topics discussed during this unit. They can work with a partner or alone. The main skills we focus on in this unit include research, writing, identifying primary sources, using citations, and collaboration.

PE 7:  Students are presenting their first lessons. So far, we have had an array of topics such as soccer, volleyball and tennis. One group presented a yoga lesson. We will continue to have different groups present as the last weeks of the year wrap up. When they are not teaching, classes will be in their volleyball unit. E block will be doing speedminton. In January, E block will start up their basketball unit as the other three blocks will do speedminton. We also will start the second round of fitness testing.

Health and Wellness 7:  Students will explore how media and identity. We will begin by students reflecting on their own experiences with social media. Students will analyze what is often presented in “selfies,” what is left out, and why. Students will consider both positive and potentially negative aspects of social media. We will also look at stereotypes in the media, particularly gender stereotypes and discuss mindful consumption of media. 

Science 7:  This month we will continue our hydrosphere unit. Students will demonstrate their learning of content and skills through designing and engineering a working hydrologic cycle model. Then they will use the Design Thinking process to create a product to solve a problem facing the world’s water. They will work through the different phases of the design process which include research, empathizing with their audience, defining the problem, and ideating (brainstorming without constraints). Next, they will head to EC3 to begin their favorite phase of the process which is prototyping and testing. 

French 7:  What is the nature of relationships in different cultures? What values are most important to French families?  We finished up November with the French animated film, Une vie de chat (“A Cat in Paris”). Students continue to memorize the poem, Le Corbeau et le Renard, that will be recited in class mid-January. Ask your child to recite what they know so far! Students will learn to describe their family members and discuss who they resemble. They will also learn measurements in the metric system and will learn about different aspects of life in Martinique. Before the break, they will begin to be able to use possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her, etc.). On their Google Classroom site, they can find all links to vocabulary flashcards and games with Quizlet.

Chinese 7:  At the beginning of the month, we will start a new unit called Professions & Hobbies. Students will learn name different occupations, inquire and answer questions about someone's profession and ask and express one’s interests and aspirations. For grammar, we are going to cover expressing similarity with 相同—--一样, 才 for emphasis, either...or...questions 是...还是…, expressing already with 已经 using 一直 to express constantly or always. For the class project, students will independently to make Chinese Traditional Thread Sewing Book. Students will use the book as a presentation tool to introduce their family members, jobs, and their dream jobs. For the culture piece, students will have opportunities to learn about the story of Chinese Lunar New Year and celebrate it by doing paper cutting, writing calligraphy on couplets, decorating classrooms, etc.

Spanish 7:  We recently finished our shoe verbs unit to great success! I particularly enjoyed their skits, which showed a lot of creativity! We began work on our gerundios unit this past week, also referred to as the present progressive or gerunds in English. Thus we have begun working on creating “–ing” verbs. Great practice for this unit is on Quizlet.com where I have put games already created to help students out with the memorization.

In the next few weeks, we will play a rousing game of Navidad Bingo in which students will learn brand-new vocabulary (such as the Spanish word for "wreath" and "turrón," a type of chocolatey almond sweet eaten at Christmas in Spain) without dictionaries or any help whatsoever except their current knowledge of Spanish. For example, the only help they will receive with “turrón” is a sentence in Spanish explaining what it is (i.e., "a white sweet from Spain made with almonds"). Using the photos on their Bingo cards and the explanation, students will have to figure out what each one is. It is always great fun and a fantastic way to learn some new vocabulary!

Pre-Algebra 7:  The class is revisiting inverse operations to solve algebraic equations, but are now incorporating negative integers, fractions, and decimals. The equations will now be multi-step equations. Following Chapter 13 they will begin Chapter 14 and explore ratios, rates, and proportions, as well as slope and direct variation. After the semester break, the class will begin Algebra 1 in a new book, and they will have online access to it. The first chapter reviews solving multi-step equations.

Algebra 7:  This month, we will learn a third different method for solving systems of linear equations. We will have a fun, Jeopardy-style review for the first time this year. Using our flipped classroom model, we will then explore how to solve a system of linear inequalities and learn how to apply these techniques to real-world applications. 

English 7:  In December, seventh grade English classes continue reading and discussing The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. For this unit, students complete a series of “mini-projects”—visual art, creative writing, found poetry, and more—in their copies of the textbook to create an “artifact” of their learning. They also do some reflective writing and formal analysis writing pieces. Another focus of the unit is learning a list literary terms used to describe and analyze literature. With grammar, the focus continues to be on analyzing sentences and sentence patterns with an eye toward punctuation rules.

Technology 7:  Students who were in Religion 7 for the first quarter will now be in Technology 7 second quarter. This term we will program with the Micro:bit to develop a more in-depth understanding of algorithms, variables, and conditionals as used in computer science. This month we introduce the new BBC Micro:bit Challenge: do your :bit to combine creativity and technology in solutions for two of Unicef’s Global Goals: Life Below Water and Life on Land. 

Religion 7: In December, our seventh grade religion class begins exploring why sacred stories play such an important role in many faith traditions. Students learn about creation myths from various faith traditions and examine the similarities and differences among them. Our dive into creation stories will culminate with students creating their own unique myth of how the world came to be. Lastly, we’ll start to focus on important characters and plot lines that appear in early stories within the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths.

January 2020

Eighth Grade Inquiry:  Last month in 8th Grade Inquiry. students started doing preliminary research on their topics with the understanding they will need to know something about their topics before they can begin to refine the topic into a guiding question. This month, students will be diving into a half day of research to further deepen their knowledge of their topic. From this research, students are writing questions that arise from what they learn about their topic. Students will then hone the questions they are developing based off their research to the point they should end the month with a guiding question to carry them into and through the next phase. 

Instrumental Music 8:  The 8th grade ensemble is preparing for the final performance before break, which will be a combined ensemble piece for St. Nick’s Chapel. The students will be developing a stronger sense of time/pulse by subdividing with egg shakers during rests and at assigned places within the music. We will also be working on producing good tone by increasing the speed of our air going into the instrument through the use of breathing exercises as a class. Each class period will have a different seating arrangement to accommodate the large ensemble performance.

Acting 8:  The 8th grade acting students are going through the selection process for the scenes and monologues that they will be performing in late January. Through the early part of this process, we will be looking at sketch and sitcom scripts and performances to explore how the actors constructed the scenes based on script-derived character. Through the rest of the month and into January the students will be blocking scenes, working on characterization and the interrelationship of characters, talking about comic timing, and putting all the pieces together for their “Workshop” style performance. Workshopping means we will be using very limited set pieces and no costumes to speak of, just props to support the work that we are doing on stage. We are focusing almost exclusively on the art of acting as it relates to the process of performance.

Vocal Music 8:  The 8th grade vocal music students just had a fabulous performance at the Advent Service. We will sing again on Friday, December 6 at MS chapel (11:20 a.m.). For the most part, the students were engaged, poised, and sang most excellently. In class during the remainder of December and January, we will start learning some new music focused on social justice and community engagement. We will also continue to hone our rhythm reading skills in preparation for the sight-reading quiz that happens at the end of the semester.

Art 8:  Students just finished their large scale projects for the Drawing Unit. We have begun the Painting Unit with a color theory project. Students have created abstract compositions through layered blind contour drawings. They will use the layered shapes to divide up their paper canvas into color themed sections. Focusing on layering paint and using tint, shade, and complementary colors, students will experiment with acrylic paint. Through this process they will learn how to make color hues and values, and demonstrate how color changes when mixing pigments. 

History 8:  Students will be learning about China and Japan in our next unit. We will be discussing growing issues of imperialism in Asia as well as looking at China, Japan, and Korea today. Students will choose topics of their own interest to create a project of their own choosing. That’s right—it’s a Choose Your Own Adventure project to end this unit. Students can express their learning through the creation of art, movies, slides, essays, etc. We will also take some time to work on revisions of the editorials from our last unit to make sure that the students are continuing to hone their writing skills. 

PE 8:  We will finish up the giant swing and move on to volleyball. Students will revisit skills and rules of the sport.  

Health and Wellness 8:  As we wrap up our studies of bias and the mind, we’ll move into further study of the human brain. We’ll be exploring the role of emotions, including how they influence decision-making and function as a kind of navigational aid. We’ll also play with the role of memory related to identity work. The unique characteristics of the adolescent brain will provide a springboard into discussions around risk-taking, addiction, and depression and the ways in which we can inoculate ourselves against these challenges.

Science 8:  December is a short month in school, and there's plenty to do in science class. Students will finish our Microgreens Lab reports and then present what we learned in class. Then we'll make a quick dive into the murky waters of bioethics. Some sample thoughts: What makes genetic engineering “unnatural” to some people? Do the benefits outweigh the risks for growing genetically modified foods? What obligation do scientists have to do “good?” I hope you get to have some interesting conversations over winter break. This project will also help us explore biases as we read and write articles, which range from evidence-based to opinion-based.

French 8:  Students will present their Dream House projects to the class at the start of the month. We begin Unit 8 this month and will approach the question, “How do major world cities tell their stories?” Students will learn about Port-au-Prince and delve into major sites and monuments in Paris. They will learn the important irregular verb, faire, and with it will broaden their vocabulary to talk about many new and different activities. They will be able to describe the weather, seasons, and temperature, and may begin to study the passé composé (past tense) before the break. On their Google Classroom site, they can find all links to vocabulary flashcards and games with Quizlet.

Chinese 8:  This month, we will start the new lesson which is about Chinese Festivals. Students will learn how to express an imprecisely described date, recognize a variety of traditional Chinese holidays and their key characteristics, greet someone appropriately on Chinese new year, discuss differences and similarities in holiday traditions and describe how you celebrate a holiday. For grammar, students will know how to use 有…, 也有… to take examples. For lesson project, students will work on a voiceover for the story of chinese spring festival. It includes the story, backgrounds and traditions of the festival. Students will voiceover the video and also put chinese Chinese subtitles on. For the culture piece, students will have opportunities to learn about the story of Chinese Lunar New Year and celebrate it by doing paper cutting, writing calligraphy on couplets, decorating classrooms, etc.

Spanish 8:  Over the past month and a half, we have been working on the pretérito (the preterite), one of the two past tenses used in Spanish. These students have worked hard memorizing all the endings by singing the song we learned in class to memorize the irregular endings (to the tune of “La cucaracha”). We will begin looking at the second past tense, el imperfecto (the imperfect), shortly. It will be a welcome relief as there are only three irregular conjugations!

As nearly all Spanish speaking countries are primarily Catholic and thus celebrate the Christmas season with gusto, we have started singing some of the Christmas carols (villancicos) in class. On the day or two before Winter Break, we will carol around the middle school and also stop in to a few of our support offices to spread Spanish cheer. I'll be sure to take some videos and send them to you! We will also take a brief look at some of the holiday traditions in Spain that differ from traditions practiced here in the States. For example, Spanish children leave shoes (not stockings) out on the sixth of January (not 25 December) for the Three Wise Men (not Santa Claus) to fill. Perhaps Los Reyes Magos will leave something in my students’ shoes on January 6th…?

Geometry 8:  In Geometry we just finished our study of parallel lines and have just started exploring triangles.  Our beginning emphasis will be on types of triangles and their basic triangle properties (e.g., the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees), what it means for shapes to be congruent and then ways to prove triangles congruent.  This unit is an excellent reinforcement for the proof work we have been doing.

Algebra 8:  This month, we jump into exploring how to graph a linear inequality and then solve a system of linear inequalities. Students will be working together to apply these techniques to real-world applications and stretch their recently acquired skills to come up with the best solutions to these more complex scenarios. Students are also embracing a growth mindset by reviewing and retaking specific skills from our previous unit on systems of equations. 

English 8:  In class we will continue our detailed look at symbolism in Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine, culminating in the students’ next analytical piece. Building on Otsuka’s writing style, we will move into another creative writing opportunity that is tied to a meaningful person or object. Students will have their first comma quiz and have a chance for a re-quiz if needed. Once that is complete, we will move further into reviewing proper punctuation of introductory elements. 

Technology 8:  Welcome to your new rotation class: Technology. This course is an open-ended course that will help you develop a novel technology project by the end of the quarter. Each group of students will choose a topic of their choice and then set up and test out their own project relating to something they're currently doing in another course here at OES. Code a calculator on Scratch. Design and print a 3D replica of a Japanese temple. Program a Micro:Bit to play your favorite tune. Design a stage prop, explore Photoshop, or carpentry. Or maybe groups will find something else they are more interested in, and each of us will hone our skills along the way.

Religion 8: In December, our eighth grade religion class will begin designing and leading our weekly Middle School Chapel. To accomplish this, students will spend time reflecting on what their experience of chapel has been and what they hope to see chapel become. Students will also explore how best to incorporate music, story, and student voice into our weekly chapels, with a particular focus on creating an inclusive and welcoming space. After setting some initial goals for our services, we’ll examine how different faith traditions gather and what different worship styles may teach us about our own chapel gathering. Lastly, students will explore the meaning behind the Christian season of Advent, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and other religious festivals that focus on light during this time of the year while envisioning how we might honor those traditions in our own chapel.