In our continued efforts to keep families informed and updated about the curriculum at Blake, each month we will be 'highlighting' updates from the different departments. We hope this will help facilitate conversations at home and maintain a bridge between home and school. Below please find the updates for the month of December, 2015.
Art
6th Grade: Sixth grade artists are putting the finishing touches on their slab constructions. They created sculptural houses from clay, which had to incorporate shape, line, and texture. Each house has a personality that has to be communicated through how they combine these artistic elements. They will also do a glazing of their tiles, which was an exploratory assignment to get them re-acquainted with the medium of clay.
7th Grade: Students used Visual Thinking Strategies when they examined the work of Auguste Rodin. He is most well known for creating The Thinker figurative sculpture, but the students looked at his expressive work, The Burghers of Calais, and discussed how the making of work creates meaning. Students are creating clay portraits that have emotion and expression.
8th Grade: How can we create with clay coils? Using coil construction methods, students must consider all points of view of their clay sculptures. They looked at the Mexican goddess Coatlique, who is the goddess of birth and death. She is covered with various lines, textures, and shapes, so that there is visual texture throughout her form. How can I make my work stand out as unique? The intent is that students will be inspired to create something one-of-a-kind when all students are working primarily with coils.
English
Grades 6 spent the last month learning how strong leads, sensory details and evocative endings can create a memorable imprint on readers. On December 23, students will complete the final version of their “smaller moment” within a memory personal narratives.
Grade 7 students completed reading A Christmas Carol this week and will be attending the play at the North Shore Music Theater on Wednesday, December 23. Grade 7 students also recently completed their review of the eight parts of speech and demonstrated their skill growth through a post-test. Many students saw measurable improvement in their grammar skills. As soon as school reopens in 2016, students will begin reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Grade 8 students, who use this year in English to begin what will be a long apprenticeship in analytical writing, completed their Crucible papers, each with an original theme and textual evidence in support of that theme,
Guidance
All of the Group Guidance classes are in the second rotation. In 6th grade Group Guidance, we are practicing the art of getting to know each other and having face-to-face conversations. One of the 7th grade Group Guidance class is working on a presentation for Mr. Vaughn on how they feel Blake should structure retakes and test corrections for all classes. We started discussing failure and second chances and had a great discussion on the topic and decided to create a plan to share with Mr. Vaughn. The other two 7th grade Group Guidances classes have moved onto discussing gossip. The 8th grade Group Guidance is going over the transition back from school breaks and previewing a bit of the high school course selection process. Embracing Diversity is also just starting it's second rotation and will meet once a week for the entire second term.
Library
The first round of the eight week related rotation recently ended. The sixth grade Library/Media classes finished their South American country research reports and the coding class wrapped up as well. The seventh grade Inv/Tech class completed and presented their final Power Point project on the pros and cons of computer technology along with their individual philosophies on how they will maximize the benefits and minimize the downsides in their own lives.
Mr. Gagne’s English Writing Lab students are nearing the completion of their long-term fiction project. Students have been researching various locations – either geographically or in a different time period, or both. With their setting and information in mind, they create a fictional story in the genre – science fiction, fantasy, mystery or historical fiction – of their choosing. It’s a great exercise, both beefing up research skills while also creating an original story.
Many homerooms in all grade levels have been taking advantage of the Makerspace area during Advisory time – a complete update will follow next month!
Mathematics
6th grade students will have an enrichment opportunity in math classes after the first of the year. We believe the ability to estimate is a cornerstone skill to numerical literacy. Estimation 180 by Andrew Stadel provides opportunities for students to build number sense ‘one day at a time.’ Teachers will provide access to this optional program through their websites. All learners are encouraged to participate at their own pace. Susan Bycoff will moderate this online learning experience. Please reach out to her with questions at [email protected].
The holiday season brings shoppers to malls and restaurants as we celebrate our traditions. Wherever you go, math is all around us. How much should we tip on that meal? If we divide the bill by six, how much should each person pay? What is the discounted price of that gift? How many driveways do I need to shovel to buy that hoverboard? 7th grade students are immersed in percents and calculations with money. Pass the holdiay budget over to them. They just may be the ones that finally balance it!
8th grade mathematicians will take their first midyear examination in math in mid-January. This will be an opportunity for students to be assessed on all the material they have learned to date in Algebra. There will be a strong focus on preparation and organization of materials in class and for homework after the first of the year. For now, the homework for holiday break involves lots of R&R, time with family and friends and plenty of cookies:-)
Music
The Sixth Grade Band, Seventh and Eighth Grade Band and BMS Jazz Ensemble had their Winter Concert on December 7. All of the groups gave outstanding performances. We are looking forward to getting started on our repertoire for what will be a busy spring performance schedule!
The Blake Choruses are eagerly anticipating their Winter Concerts! The 7th and 8th grade Choruses will perform this Thursday, December 10th at 7pm in the HS Auditorium, and the 4-6th grade Choruses will perform in January on the 12th at 7pm. We hope everyone can make it to support our talented singers!
Other singing opportunities at Blake include the "Joy to the World" Caroling Contest held this past week, and the "Sing-Off" which will be held on February 4th, more info to follow.
Ms. Nothnagel's General Music classes are learning about Elvis Presley, and doing projects on other figures in music history. Guitar classes are learning a series of chords, and 8th graders are learning about "West Side Story" and other Broadway musicals.
We hope to see you at our future concerts!
Science
6th grade continued to demonstrate their understanding of the Scientific Method through the completion of their long-term experiment on plants in early December. The experiment introduced the idea of the Greenhouse Effect and provided students an opportunity to write authentic conclusions. Students are now applying their conclusion writing skills to a study of matter and it’s properties. They experimented with Mass and will move on to studying other properties such as weight, volume, and density in the next few weeks. We are looking forward to our “Journey through the Universe” where students investigate how mass and weight are affected by location in our universe.
December is a very egg-citing month in 7th Grade Science! The students are working on the study of Cells in Action. We have begun looking at movement across the cell membrane with a diffusion lab. The egg lab provided students an opportunity to observe how different solutions move in and out of our shell-less egg "cell" models. Students are engaged in a variety of hands-on activities supported by informational text and science vocabulary. This unit will culminate with a project where the students will create a cartoon, demonstrating their knowledge of active and passive transport with characters such as Captain Osmosis, a superhero with a very passive personality. In addition, we continue to reinforce graphing skills and have worked on fish respiration rates and graphing data during a controlled experiment.
Many changes occur in the 8th grade as we approach the winter solstice and our shortest day of the year approaches. In Tech class students will be transitioning into the West Point Bridge competition where they will be using a CAD like design program to compete against other schools in the state and country. They will also be creating model truss bridges out of fettuccine and testing their strength to weight ratio. In Science class students are diving deeper into Chemistry and exploring Physical and Chemical changes. We will be piloting a new project that brings both Science and Art together to look at the Periodic Table of Elements. Students will create their own artistic visual representation of an element based on the properties they have researched. Lastly, our new codeable drones have arrived and we look forward to experimenting with these new devices purchased from a grant by the MCPE.
Social Studies
6th grade World Geography students continue to hone their memory mapping skills. They are wrapping up the mountain unit and will soon be studying rivers. The students will look at how rivers are formed, how they are related to the creation of mountains and contribute to the earth as an important physical feature.
After finishing the Egypt unit, 7th grade Ancient Civilizations students learned about the Indus River Valley which provided some challenges because their ancient language has never been translated. Students viewed images of visuals including pottery, city plans, archaeological ruins, weights and toys to determine how they lived. They learned about their advanced urban planning and sewer systems. The 7th graders have begun their study of the Ancient Hebrews and the birth of monotheism.
8th grade World History II students are finishing up their unit on Islam and are now moving on to the Middle Ages. This is a very interesting unit that will offer many project and research opportunities. Students will explore how traditions and culture shifted after the fall of Rome, and how these changes led to national identity.
Wellness
Health:
Grade 8 students have finished their unit on Accessing Information and completed their tri-fold brochure projects on either a mental illness or eating disorder topic. Their work is displayed in the back of the classroom in our health resource center, where other students have access to those brochures as an informational resource. Starting next week and after winter break, we will begin our new units on Decision Making and Analyzing Influences. Students will learn how to take time to work through the decision making process and relate it to healthy relationships.
Physical Education grades 6-8:
All students have been introduced to Blake’s brand new fitness center. Students are excited to use the new space and the new equipment. Our focus is on proper technique and execution of each exercise as students are learning to use the equipment safely. We have opened up the gym for after school workouts for students who have been certified. The certification process includes an evaluation of all exercises and making sure students understand the progression for each exercise along with safe use of the space and equipment. For students interested in getting certified, sign-ups are on the PE office door. We wish everyone a happy and healthy winter break!
Consumer Science
Students in all three grades are learning how to use the stovetop and the oven safely. They have now begun to develop good independent routines relative to food preparation and clean up, and you should encourage them to plan, prepare and clean up with you at home! Enjoy the break from school this month ~ wishing you the very best in 2016 from our kitchens to yours!
World Language
Sixth grade:
In sixth grade Spanish, students are actively engaged in creating weather forecasts that cover many different parts of the Spanish speaking world. What they have learned in 6th grade Geography is having a wonderfully positive impact on their understanding of Latin America in Spanish class too!
Sixth grade French students have been sharing likes and dislikes with each other. We have made recordings of our conversations in the language lab, and then listened to them afterwards.
In sixth grade Mandarin, students are starting the Unit two-sub theme 1: I am an American.
Seventh grade:
In seventh grade Spanish, students are just beginning to study vocabulary to talk about what is found in a typical bedroom. Expressions such as "Oh! What a disaster!" or "All of my clothes are on the floor!" are highly used phrases so far! Teddy bear and beanbag chair are the most popular items to talk about!
The seventh grade French students are learning school supply vocabulary and colors. They will soon be able to discuss what they need for each class, all in the target language!
In seventh grade Mandarin, students just finished Unit five--sub theme 3: Occupations.
Eighth grade:
In eighth grade Spanish students are learning about lots of foods and how to describe their opinions of them. Many of the students are doing well expressing their passionate preferences for and dislikes of foods they eat at home!
Señora Manning's students are excited about creating their comida puppet shows as they begin the foods unit!
8th grade French students are creating a skit about inviting a guest to dine. They will incorporate a market scene to purchase ingredients and then use them to serve a French dinner.
In eighth grade Mandarin, students just finished Unit ten--sub theme 3: International food.