Grade 6:
The sixth grade eagerly picked up with new projects and curriculum in 2017. Last Wednesday, the sixth grade traveled to the MoMath Museum in NYC. The students participated in workshops about probability, and they had a chance to explore the exhibits. In math class, students are learning how to interpret speed as the rate of distance traveled per unit of time. They will read and write units of speed to help them understand average speed. They will solve word problems involving speed. In Advanced and Hyper math class, students are continuing to work on their problem sets. In science, the students are learning about Mendelian Genetics, DNA, and then they will be analyzing their traits in comparison to their families. In social studies, the students have started the DENN – D-E News Network — project. Students will be learning journalism terms, researching news stories, and reporting on an international news story in small groups. In English, the students are working on a final project about The Giver. Projects include writing a new ending, re-writing lyrics of a song about a theme in the movie, creating a trailer based on the book, and writing a review of the movie based on the book. Then, starting on January 17, the sixth grade will kick off our interdisciplinary unit about food and culture, culminating with our celebration on Thursday, February 9 at 9:00 AM. We hope to see you there!
Grade 7:
In social studies, students presented their conflict projects to their peers and teachers in Hajjar Auditorium. Students reflected on their projects in class, and used these reflections to present their projects. Projects designs were across the spectrum, including museum exhibits, video game proposals, newspapers, comic books, soundtracks, plays, and character art books. This was the culmination to an exciting project where students examined the question “why do we fight?” within the context of feudal Japan and the samurai. You can see photos from the students’ Hajjar Auditorium presentations above and here.
In English, the seventh graders have started reading Lord of the Flies. We are using the novel as a platform for thinking about the themes of leadership, civilization v. savagery, and good v. evil.
Grade 8:
The 8th grade has had an industrious start to 2017. They are currently working on our social justice project entitled the MaD project (they are researching topics that make them “mad” and thinking about ways to “Make a Difference.”) The goal for all the students is to create a website which informs the public about their issue and then write a speech that inspires people to action. The students are also feeling pretty good about themselves, having finished taking a two-period history test!
Currently in Math class students are studying geometry and how to calculate volume which is helping them understand mass and density in science class. Finally in English class, students have begun their reading of an American classic To Kill a Mockingbird.