Week of February 16, 2016

Purple Curriculum Updates

WINTER ELECTIVE UPDATES:

Board Game Elective:

The Monday board game elective group finished a massive game of Power Grid. The Wednesday group played a few games of Tokaido, and the Big Book of Madness.

Philosophy:

This trimester, the students heard dramatized short stories pulled from Homer's "The Odyssey." After individual sections, the children discussed some of the philosophy embedded in the classic story. For example, is it better to be a happy pig or a sad human (Circe's Island)? How should we determine who has authority (Bag of Winds)? Is lying permissible when it protects people (Scylla and Charybdis)?

Red Room Learning Buddies:

The Red Roomers have enjoyed having the learning buddies read theme-related stories to them and play with them in the their "center time." They get excited when they see these students on the playground and around the halls. It's great for them to spend this time with kind role modes and it makes quite an impression on them. 

Python Programming:

In the Python programming elective this fall, the students used book, “Python for Kids”, to guide us through the basics of Python programming.  The students learned about calculations, strings, lists, if-then-else statements, loops, functions, modules, and classes.  They used turtle graphics to practice these concepts and to create interesting graphics.

Children's Garden:

Students assisted children in making a cat and cow mask, worked on large floor puzzles and played dancing games with children, and played with children during outside recess. They taught children yoga poses and played dancing games with children.

Stop Motion Exploration:

Students experimented with various media (clay, paper cut outs, paint, string, building characters and structures, and photographing themselves) to create stop motion videos. They collaborated or worked individually, and sometimes both, to create a wide range of videos. They used Movie Maker to edit their videos, add text and/or music. 

Autobiographical Comics:

We continued to make comics in class and do fun exercises. We've put most of our work together in a comics magazine that we'll be sharing later this week. The students each have their own copy, and then each grade (6th through 8th) will each get 2 copies that can be passed around.

Cooking:

The class has been an exercise in both cooking and cleaning up after yourself. We baked a lot of cookies, oatmeal and chocolate chip. We worked with eggs (scrambled, omelets, sunny side up), made shortbread and french toast. We made pizza dough and pizza sauce and have been trying different pizza recipes. We baked treats for purple room birthdays. We spent an entire class period peeling and slicing apples for apple crisp and another peeling and shredding carrots for carrot cake. We made light and dark chocolate brownies. We learned that butter left in the microwave too long will explode so you should cover it with a plate. 

Greenhouse:
The greenhouse students have two lovely green plots at the YMCA Greenhouse on Maywood Street. We have grown lettuce, swiss chard, kale, radishes turnips, and had some volunteer tomato plants appear. We've really enjoyed sampling our sugar snap peas. Hopefully the aphids don't take over before we can share the harvest with the community in the lobby.

Pre-Algebra I with Bina:

This week we have studied the area of rectangles, triangles, parallelograms, and the circumference of a circle. Next week we will be learning about three-dimensional shapes, volume, and surface area. The chapter 9 test will be given the week before spring break.

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:

In Pre-Algebra II, this week we learned how to find the area of trapezoids and other irregular figures. We then looked at circles, finding both area and circumference. A lot of class has been spent working on how to show all of the steps for solving these problems (listing the formula, writing it again with numbers replacing variables, and then showing the answer with a proper unit). On Friday we took a quiz using the 5 equations the students learned, before we discussed square numbers and square roots.

Pre-Algebra III with Emily:

We had another short week at BNS this past week. In PA3, students started Chapter 7: Exponents and Powers. We started by doing the “Diagnosing Readiness” exercises, then I provided a preview of the chapter for the students. Next, students reviewed scientific notation (as opposed to standard form), and practiced multiplying powers with the same base, multiplying numbers in scientific notations, dividing powers with the same base, and using zero and negative exponents.

Algebra I with Molly:

This week students reviewed for and took the test on Chapter 7, which was focused on solving systems of equations and inequalities. On Friday we moved on to Chapter 8 with a focus on exponents. Students reviewed basic operations with exponents and learned how to simplify bases with negative exponents. We will continue learning more operations with exponents through next week.

Geometry with Holly:

We began the week by reviewing for and then taking the Chapter 8 Test.  Then on Friday, we began Chapter 9, Transformations, by studying Translations.  The material in this chapter should be familiar for the students, as much of it was introduced in previous math courses.

Language Arts with Jared:

Students turned in the final drafts of their Norse mythology short stories, and then we turned our attention to Greek mythology. Sixth graders read the myth of Persephone, and seventh and eighth graders are working through a summary of the Trojan war. In our grammar unit, students continued learning different verb tenses, and will be taking a quiz next week on them. And finally, students received a new list of vocabulary words.

World Studies with Emily:

I checked in with students on their progress with their NHD projects this past week and we discussed trying to finish up over the weekend (2/20-2/21) instead of leaving a lot of work for the three school nights before BNS History Night on the 25^th. In Ancient Civilizations, students worked diligently researching their chosen topics from ancient Greek - topics were focused on art, science, math, architecture, and philosophy – and making their posters for Friday’s presentations. I was pleased with students’ creativity, information, and presentation approaches. 

Life Science with Molly:

We only had two science classes this week, since we missed Monday and Tuesday. We dissected a boiled egg, which allowed us to see certain parts of the egg better than when we dissected the raw egg. We also dissected rather large earth worms. Students were able to identify many of the internal structures on the worms and the new preservation fluids don’t smell nearly as strong as the old style formaldehyde. Students also learned about cellular respiration and compared this with photosynthesis, as part of the oxygen cycle.

Spanish with Olga & Corinne:

Morning Spanish

Spanish B

On Wednesday we had a test and on Friday we started the new chapter, where we will be learning words to describe vacations and fun times with family and friends. This chapter also includes the past tense of verbs ending in -ER and -IR

Spanish C

We started a new chapter this week. We talked about cultural differences in the way people greet each other, the way people celebrate special times, and what is considered good manners. On Friday, the students presented their posters about how they were when they were younger.  The students did an excellent job of staying in Spanish while presenting. I will display the posters on the Spanish board in the main building sometimes next week. We also read the first few paragraphs of Harry Potter in Spanish. We looked at the verbs and talked about the choice of tenses.

Spanish D and D+

We revisited the present subjunctive and learned new uses. On Friday we had a short quiz on the uses of subjunctive in nominal clauses. We also read a few more pages of Harry Potter in Spanish.

Art with Patti:

This week students watched an analysis of the painting “Las Meninas” by Diego Vela´zquez. This is great information when thinking about how artists compose the elements they use in their artwork, and something that students can think about and use as they are making artistic decisions. Students then continued working on their artist inspired projects.

Computer Lab with Holly:

We began the Landmark Game in full force this week.  The students researched clues for the landmarks from their assigned schools and sent out email questions to help them narrow down their guesses.  They also responded to emails about the Landmark their class selected.

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:

Due to day off on Monday and Snow day on Tuesday, 7^th & 6^th grade Life Skills time was used for Computer Lab time for the Land Mark Games Challenge. 8^th grade students watched a short section from a Skills for Healthy Living video about Analyzing Media Influences and specifically how food is marketed to us. We discussed the media influence on what we crave and what we choose to eat. We will continue our focus on body image in the media in future classes.

Thank you from, The Purple Team