A Look into 2021-22

The Outsiders- Piece of Cake

Independent Reading Projects- Mint Tins

Pride and Prejudice Tea Party- May 29, 2019

Huck Finn Dinner Party- September 20, 2017

First Few Weeks of 2017-18 School Year

Here's just a glimpse of what the language arts classes have been working on:

6th Grade Lord of the Flies Mock Trial

Is Jack Merridew guilty, or just a product of circumstance? This crew has a lot of great ideas about this topic, and they looked great presenting them. We have some potential lawyers in this class!

6th grade The Outsiders Dinner Party

Each 6th grade student was assigned a character to portray in our dinner party, a party that would not have been complete without chocolate cake (the Curtis boys' favorite) and soda (an obsession of Ponyboy's). Many kids came in dressed the part and looked authentic! It is always a great assessment when there is cake involved, so smiles were in abundance that day!

7th Grade Biography Presentations
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Each 7th grade student signed up to read a biography or autobiography of a celebrity/historical figure/politician of their choosing. Part of the project required for them to dress as the individual who they were reading about and give a brief speech about his or her life. They looked amazing!

8th grade: Visual Arts Connection

While reading Of Mice and Men, the 8th grade students collected what they felt were important quotes from each chapter. At the very end, they had to select one that really represented the work as a whole. Then, they had to find a piece of art that connected to the themes and ideas of their selected quote. The students' analysis is really incredible!

7th grade: Macbeth Tableau

During our reading and lessons of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the 7th grade students recreated moments of the play, brandishing swords, draping capes, and donning crowns and witches' hats. You can't help but laugh at times, but overall, they did a great job retelling the story of Macbeth's tragic fall.

                                                     Gift of the Magi

After reading O.Henry's short story, the sixth grade made connections to other fictional "couples". What would characters like Katniss and Peeta give up in order to give the other a gift? Well, look and see what the kids came up with. :)

Animal Farm Board Game for Review

Vocabulary Dominoes

The Ins and Outs of Communism Thanks to Animal Farm

6th grade students prepare for an upcoming vocabulary quiz by playing Vocabulary Dominoes. On one side of the "domino" is a word, on the other a definition. Students had to match the correct word and definition together until all the dominoes were connected. It became a race to see which group could finish first!

7th grade students have simulated the life of farm hands in a socialist economy over the course of the week. In the images below, the students had the option of three employers: Helen, Charlie, and Mason. Each student had to interview for jobs with at least one of these employers/farm owners. The catch, though, was that some of the students were communist, and others were not, but each of them had to find a way to get a job and keep their communist tendencies hidden. Each student soon realized how difficult it was to find a hidden communist, much like it was during the Red Scare. Despite the difficulties, the students had fun bluffing their way into a job, or giving someone the boot!

A Huck Finn Dinner Party

Both as a way to celebrate the end of a unit and a way to demonstrate their understanding of the characters of the novel, the 8th grade students participated in a "dinner party" conversation. Each student signed up to portray a character from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, most even opting to dress for the part. They were told to walk into class "in character", and many donned deep Southern accents and came prepared with hilarious accounts of their time spent with good 'ol Huck. I, for one, was cracking up the whole class period.

Mr. Brown's Precepts

Mr. Brown is the English teacher of Auggie Pullman, the main character in RJ Palacio's Wonder. On day one of school Auggie knows he is going to like Mr. Brown's class after a discussion of precepts, or what Mr. Brown explains as "rules about really important things" or words to live by. Day one, Mr. Brown's wise words come from Dr. Wayne Dyer: “If you have the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” 
​The 6th grade class has spent a lot of time talking about just that, and this week, we came up with some of our own precepts. Take a look at this group hard and work finding and designing their precepts. They have some beautiful hearts and SWEET smiles!

Pictionary Vocabulary

Why not make reviewing The Crucible's vocabulary words fun by playing Pictionary?! The 8th grade boys sure made it look easy, but only one could win: congratulations to Sebastian!

Root Word Study- Interactive Notebooks

Studying root words is a great supplement to learning new vocabulary, so to make it a little more enjoyable and memorable, the 7th and 8th grade are doing interactive notebooks on Greek and Latin roots. (And no, you are not seeing things: the students are actually using real dictionaries!)

Life of Pi- Debates

While reading Life of Pi, the 7th grade students broke into groups and participated in debates based upon topics introduced to us by Pi, the main character of the novel. As the son of a zoo keeper, Pi has strong feels about the life of animals in a zoo; a lot of people today disagree with him, so that was the first topic the groups debated. Another point that Pi announces is that the human is the most dangerous animal in the zoo, so we debated the truth of that as well. 
The students seemed to have a lot of fun doing this; they at least had a lot to say and a strong drive to be right!
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This first picture is of Cooper and Ian playing rock, paper, scissors to see how would go first....

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6 Word Memoirs August, 2016

Independent Reading T-Shirt (2015)

The Outsiders Board Games (2015)

After reading and analyzing S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, the 6th grade students had the option of creating a board game that helped their peers to review and reflect upon the novel. Here are some pictures of the class enjoying their hard work. 

A Long Way Gone (2014)

Two of my former students came to speak to the class about their time in Africa prior to our reading of A Long Way Gone, a memoir about a boy soldier who is forced to fight to survive in the land of civil war and blood diamonds. As we were reading, the class analyzed contemporary rap lyrics that discuss the continued struggle in Africa, and discussed how the messages of the song could pertain to the book. 

Beowulf Puppet Show (2014)

After reading the epic of Beowulf (as a graphic novel) the class divided into three groups. Each group focuses on reenacting one of Beowulf's battles, highlighting plot features and character traits, while also getting to be a little silly and have some fun!