Take a look at some of the exciting things we've been up to in and out of the classroom!
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What's all the BUZZ about in the CEL?
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Amy Critz, executive assistant to the head of school, joined the Kindergarten class Wednesday morning as a guest presenter. Miss Critz engaged the young scholars immediately with her firsthand knowledge about the importance of — and roles played by — pollinators in nature, specifically
honeybees.
In her spare time, Miss Critz is a beekeeper. She displayed enlarged photos of her apiary and garden, as well as several beekeepers’ tools for the students to see, touch, and even smell. Miss Critz described the process from which honey is derived — from the bees' first taste of nectar to the extraction of honey from the hive — emphasizing along the way how important these special “pollinators” are to sustaining our food supply, in addition to creating (and then sharing with us humans) the naturally sweet treat many of us enjoy so much. Perhaps the most critical takeaway from Miss Critz’s presentation was, at least with regard to honeybees:
“let them be(e)!”
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Click the image above to view photo gallery!
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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!
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This week, 7
th
-Grade PE classes practiced teamwork and honed their communication skills during their Adventure Activities unit, in which cooperation and sportsmanship are the main focus points. Students worked in teams, with one student being blindfolded. That student had to rely solely on his or her teammates’ verbal cues to make it from one side of the gym to the other without stepping on any objects.
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Transitioning and Communicating Without Tears!
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The 4/5 Bridge is a two-year experience where the oldest students in the Lower School prepare for their transition to the Middle School. This "Bridge" to the Middle School allows fourth graders to begin their morning with their 4
th
Grade advisor and 4/5 math and science teacher, Jennifer Concepcion. In the afternoon, fourth graders transition to humanities with Maria Ricciardiello. Simultaneously,
fifth
graders begin their mornings with Ms. Ricciardiello, who is the 5
th
-Grade advisor and 4/5 humanities teacher, and then transition to math and science with Ms. Concepcion. The Bridge is a natural transition from students’ having essentially one classroom with one teacher for the day (in Pre-K through 3
rd
Grade) to the Middle School, in which there are different teachers for each subject.
Moving from handwriting to keyboarding marks another transition for 4/5 Bridge students. Lower School students in general work with the
Handwriting Without Tears
Program in Pre-K though 5th Grade. The program builds from straight and curved blocks (in Pre-K) to printing (in Pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd Grade) to cursive (in 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade) to keyboarding skills (in 4th and 5th Grade). As seen in some of the photos, Karen Brang teaches 4
th
and 5
th
Grade keyboarding classes to students using the related program
Keyboarding Without Tears.
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Click the image above to view photo gallery!
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Can Your 6th-Grader Create a New Colony?
History Teacher Jon Mangram '10 asked his 6th-Grade students to think critically about what natural resources would be required to sustain a civilization of 10,000 people in
10,000 BCE – 7,000 BCE (in between the Neolithic Revolution and the creation of Early River Valley Civilizations). S
tudents were given a topographical map highlighting water sources (fresh and salt water), forest, and waterfalls. The map also included a key for the students to scale the distance from one area to another. There were five locations within the map highlighted as potential areas where the student's colony could live. The students were asked to work in groups of two to determine which of the five areas they would choose to start their civilization. They presented their selection and the supporting rationale to the class, and their classmates were then encouraged to offer thoughts, critiques, and suggestions about their proposed area.
See the photo gallery on the right.
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Coaches Will O'Malley and Brian Wright are off to a great start with their Boys Modified Soccer Team! The 16 team members are 3-1 for the seaseon so far. Check out some photos of their last game on the right!
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On Tuesday, a dietician from Brock (the School’s dining services company) joined us in the Falcone Dining Hall during the various lunch blocks. Ms. Rebecca Herrmann told us that she visits once or twice a semester to cover health and wellness topics. On this particular visit she went table to table to introduce the Nutrislice app (for smart phones). The app lists the School’s dining hall menus up to four weeks in advance, and includes menu items’ nutritional information and ingredients. Students and faculty also have the ability to rate menu items through the app, and the information goes directly to Brock's Chef Christine so that she receives immediate feedback and can adjust her menu planning accordingly. Ms. Herrmann’s next visit will focus on educating MPH community members on salt and sodium.
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Click the image above to view photo gallery!
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