Art Enrichment

Ms. Jackie Dorr

This semester Lower Elementary students have been learning how to blend oil pastels while studying the anatomy of the earth. 

Both Lower and Upper Elementary students have been studying the artist Kimmy Cantrell. Kimmy Cantrell is a contemporary artist from Atlanta who makes beautiful, colorful works of art out of clay. His subject matter usually consists of faces. After studying his artwork, the students have created their own scratch art boards out of oil pastels and black paint and are so excited to etch their abstract faces so we can put them on display in February to honor black history month!

After studying the works of Ted Harrison, a Yukon-based artist, the Adolescents created their own abstract Winter landscape inspired by this artist. The students used line and shape to create the layered landscapes, working from the bottom to the top to enhance the sense of space. We also experimented with mixing tints to create a variety of values to paint in each of the landforms. The Adolescent Community also enjoyed a visit to the American Visionary Art Museum.

Physical Education

Ms. Bryana Huston

In Physical Education class, our Children’s House friends are learning about the values of sharing and using kind words like, ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ with one another when engaging in physical activities.

Our Elementary students are focusing on sportsmanship, offensive/defensive skills, and different sport elements as we dive into team sports such as basketball and scoop ball.

Our Adolescent community is focused on building different volleyball skills, such as volleying, serving, and improving aim using different volleyball techniques.

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Music Enrichment

Ms. Jackie Dorr

Here are some third-year Children’s House students who are excited about playing rhythms on the drum set during music class!  These young musicians are working on developing a sense of rhythm and pulse.

These Lower Elementary students are practicing their rhythmic foundation through a game of dominos.

The Upper Elementary music classes have been intensely listening to and studying the piece Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens. We’ve been discussing different ways that music can portray an animal without using any words. What’s the tempo of the music? How fast or slow does the animal move? What kind of sounds does the animal make? Are the pitches you are hearing in the higher or lower register and why? What kind of atmosphere is being set up by the music? After the lecture, the students were tasked with breaking into small groups to create their own musical compositions that portray a specific animal. At the end, the students will come together, perform for one another and guess which animal each piece is representing. (Stay tuned for the video!)

The Adolescents have intensely listened to and studied the piece Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens. We’ve been discussing different ways that music can portray anything without using any words. What’s the tempo of the music? How does the music make you feel? Are the pitches you are hearing in the higher or lower register and why? What kind of atmosphere is being set up by the music? After the lecture, the students were tasked with finding a piece of music that they really connect with and figuring out how they can portray that piece of music through art!

In addition, the adolescents have been recently really excited about learning how to play the drumset. On Wednesday, Jim Thomas is coming in to give a drum workshop!

Sra. Rebecca Dufendach

In Spanish for Children’s House we are learning our numbers from one to ten using our hands and songs. This week we began to sing the following song of the five little ducklings, or los cinco patitos and if you would like to practice with your child you can learn it here. We are also learning la ropa or clothing and if when you dress your child you can say pantalones or pants and camisa or shirt, it helps reinforce our lessons in their daily routine. In reading and writing we are practicing our vocabulary in cursive and some special characters found in Spanish including the ¿ and the accent marks á, ó, and é.

In Spanish for Lower Elementary we are learning about different forms of transportation. We discussed all the different ways we traveled over the break, whether by car or carro, bus or autobus, boat or barco, or airplane or avión. We then focused on the barco and following student interest, learned about the building of the Panama Canal. We set up some water dioramas to learn about how the locks for the canal function. Then we folded our own boats to work with our simulation of the opening of the locks or se abre la puerta or closing of the locks or se cierra la puerta.

Building on our sentence analysis work, in Upper Elementary we are able to begin reading novellas or short stories. The cuentos take place in Colombia so we are learning about some of the cultural background of this coffee producing region and its wildlife. We begin by reviewing the character and plot development from the previous chapter and then dive into reading the piece at hand. Then we break into different stations according to student preference, either sentence analysis, noun work, verb conjugation, or story maps. With this work we are not only developing our Spanish pronunciation but building a solid foundation in Spanish grammar.

In Adolescent Spanish this month we prepared our Viaje or student-led field trip presentations. Each pair of students researched an objective for our trip. The only requirement is that it must be related to the Spanish language or a Spanish-speaking country. Each pair prepared their presentations and speeches fully in Spanish but were not allowed to use any text on their slides. They worked with language and images to convince Sylvia and Andrew that their destination deserved funding. With feedback and some follow up questions by their guides, the students worked to clarify their budget, inclusion, and location specifics pertinent to their destination. Finally, it was decided that the restaurant Mezcal, presented by Drew and Layla, merited support. We will be traveling there in the coming month following our lessons on the specifics of ordering food in Spanish.

Ms. Sherry White

Lower Elementary students visit the library each week to work on keyboarding skills through
typingclub.com. This resource teaches correct finger-to-key movement across the entire keyboard. The student experience is designed to be clean, straight forward, engaging and fun. It is a highly effective tool that helps students at all skill levels improve their typing ability through guided lessons and engaging assessments. Students are provided with continuous feedback on their progress every step of the way and are motivated to repeat each lesson over and over to master each step prior to proceeding. Students are provided with an optional virtual key board and virtual hands on their typing interface to assist them when using the correct fingers when they are practicing each lesson. The carefully designed lessons include instructional videos, educational games, cross-curricular content, and other interactive experiences.