by Susie Rogers and Nicole Ayers, 7th and 8th Grade Homeroom Teachers

We may be a small school, but we do BIG things on campus! When our pre-school’s annual pumpkin patch field trip was canceled, the middle school students decided to step up and provide the experience themselves. First, they brainstormed, researched, and devised a plan to build and plant a pumpkin patch. They built a set of four raised beds and planted two types of pumpkin seeds: Small Sugar and Mammoth Gold. Students cared for their plants from seed, to sprout, to flowering vine. At first, the flowers were withering without developing into fruit, so the students researched and learned about hand-pollination. Thankfully, area bees found their garden and took over the task, and yellow or green pumpkins started developing left and right. It was so exciting to watch the pumpkins grow!

To expand on the science experience, English, art, and technology were also incorporated. The students each painted a pumpkin and created an original short story starring their pumpkin. Students reviewed the elements of a short story, completed a storyboard, and then wrote and illustrated their story. Copies were made and laminated and given to the preschool students along with a pumpkin that they “picked” from the patch at the end of their excursion.  On the beautiful sunny Friday,  Mrs. Denise transported each class on a hayride to their field trip where the children were greeted with fun Halloween music, silly dancing, storytime, and seed planting with 7th and 8th graders dressed in costumes. Each middle school student gave their preschool buddy a tour of the pumpkin patch explaining the life cycle and showing them the growing pumpkins underneath the masses of vines, had them pick a pumpkin to take home, and read their own original story. The middle school students also recorded and videoed themselves reading their stories so that everyone could enjoy them anytime. When students work together, priceless learning experiences are made.

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

We are studying the flow of energy through ecosystems. To simulate how energy changes forms within an organism and to quantify the amount of energy in various foods, students each built a simple calorimeter. With much emphasis on proper lab safety, they burned an assortment of snack foods and measured the resulting temperature increase for 100 mL of water. Qualitative observations showed that cashews burned the longest, and quantitative analysis is still in progress. After proper cleanup and handwashing, students of course got to enjoy a sample of the remaining snacks.

by Jennifer Jordan, History and Latin

Today, the 7th grade class presented the fourth annual Renaissance Academy Awards. Upon completion of our Renaissance history unit, students delved into some project-based learning by further studying some of the great Renaissance figures. Each student was assigned an award category, such as Best Writer or Best Artist, and given two notable people to research as nominees. This project offered the class the opportunity to practice their notetaking skills, as the students were required to take detailed notes on their nominees and then convert those notes to a Google Slides presentation. Students also engaged their evaluative skills by weighing the achievements of their nominees and using this evidence to determine a winner. Ms. McCarley added a cross-curricular element by helping students in Art class to design an award representing each assigned category. These awards are lavish and truly reflect their winners. Finally, the class dressed in costume to walk the red carpet and present their nominees and their winners. What an excellent speech each student delivered! This project proved to be the ideal culmination of learning as it combined research, review, evaluation, creativity, and reflection.

by Jennifer Jordan, History & Latin

In conjunction with our study of the Renaissance in World History, 7th graders simulated the experience of an art gallery walk in class today. 

Photos of four paintings by the Venetian artist Titian were posted around the classroom. Either singly or in pairs, students studied each painting and responded to questions about the paintings’ subjects, settings, and emotions captured by the artwork. Students also considered the choice of colors used by Titian in each painting to determine how color affected the purpose of the piece. Students then discussed with a partner their individual responses about emotion and the impact of color. Everyone enjoyed moving about the room, pretending they were in a notable art gallery in Venice, and probably not realizing that they were practicing critical analysis, an important skill we strengthen through our study of primary sources in History class. 

By Susie Rogers 5th-8th ELA

Boom! Buzz! Pow! Onomatopoeia are words that throw a powerful punch within writing or dialogue. One of the most commonly used ones now embrace a brand-new meaning. By definition, zoom literally means to move or travel very quickly or to express sudden fast movement. Now ZOOM has exploded as the app that brings our distant learning together.

In this uncharted time, students and teachers are having to adapt to online learning. Without the instant feedback and clarification, everyone is having to adjust to this virtual school. Though I greatly miss my students’ interactions, (and hugs, and smiles, and jokes, and laughter) I have been so impressed with how they have embraced this new reality. With the help of Google Classroom, ZOOM, Remind, and emails, our students continue to thrive as learning scholars.

The seventh graders are reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and researching about Judaism, the Holocaust, and WWII. They have been able to take a virtual tour of the secret annex to help with the understanding of the setting, they have analyzed vocabulary words in context, and they have mimicked the diary form by documenting their own life.

During this quarantined period, it was the perfect time for them to create an All About Me project. This unique opportunity enabled students to discuss family stories, family trees, and favorite recipes since the they had to stay home! They documented their daily activities in a timeline, and they described their pets with poetry. Some showcased their talents by sending videos of them singing and/or playing the piano- and BOY, do we have some talented and creative students! This was an excellent way of learning about the whole student, not just when they are in school mode.

As a teacher, I look forward most to our ZOOM meetings where I can actually see their huge smiles and hear their sweet voices. We tell jokes, show off our pets, give virtual hugs, and ask any pressing questions. We have all agreed that this will definitely be a year we will never forget!