History Elective Period B, 3/25/2014

Students continued to discuss their progress with their games and receive feedback and instruction. The class also brainstormed ideas for the end of the year show in the remaining time that they had.

Come prepared to show a completed (not necessarily final) game board with instructions.

Music Elective Period B, 3/25/2014

The Wind Instruments: Woodwind Family

History, Make, and Playing of the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Saxophone, and Bassoon
Observation of other Wind instruments from the Cornet to Bagpipes - Panpipes and Pipe Organ

 Projects

Experiment with blowing and “Reeds”

Assignment:

Work on Idea for own Instrument Invention/Creation
Choose Instrument for Poster
Memorize Psalm 150 Verse; finalize musical dramatization of verse

 

Both Classes’ Instrument Poster assignments will be due at class on 4/8;

Information sheets were sent home this week with each student.They will need to find information on all the following:
Photo or Drawing of Instrument
Where Instrument came from
When Instrument was made
What the Instrument is made of
How the Instrument works/What it sounds like
Interesting Facts about Instrument

 

 

 

Music Elective Period A 3/25/2014

The Wind Instruments: Woodwind Family

History, Make, and Playing of the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Saxophone, and Bassoon
Observation of other Wind instruments from the Cornet to Bagpipes - Oboes

 Projects

Experiment with blowing and “Reeds”

 Assignment:

Work on Final Performance Pieces

Work on Idea for own Instrument Invention/Creation
Choose Instrument for Poster
Bring in Kitchen Item for Song
Practice singing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “Heaven”

Both Classes’ Instrument Poster assignments will be due at class on 4/8;

information sheets were sent home this week with each student. They will need to find information on all the following:
Photo or Drawing of Instrument
Where Instrument came from
When Instrument was made
What the Instrument is made of
How the Instrument works/What it sounds like
Interesting Facts about Instrument

Drama Elective Period B, 3/25/2014

 We are delighted to report that this week we blocked the entire presentation!  So far, the kids have done a great job with memorizing their lines, please encourage your student to study the lines before & after theirs so they know when to come in. And if your lines have just been posted, please work hard to memorize them. We only have 2 weeks until the presentation. Sincere apologies for any issues in getting the script out. If you are still unable to view it, please let us know & we will do our best to address it. There should be lines accompanying the Louisiana Purchase heading. Cassia, Charlie, Jonathan, Annika & Ellie are in this section.

  Please ask your student about their roles and have them bring in any costume pieces and props they have for next week. We need to start incorporating them into the show. We have some explorers that need to look "swash-buckling." Some of the students have dual parts as soldiers and settlers. Soldiers don't necessarily need uniforms because they are re-enacting Valley Forge so presenting the "remnants" of a uniform, with or without shoes (ask your student if they need any) would be much appreciated.  That said, if you have something that looks like a colonial uniform that we can borrow, that would be very helpful. As far as settlers go, we will need some packages & bundles to carry to look legit, so any idea that you have that could be brought in would be great.  If you need clarification on any of this, please let us know. Many thanks for your help ahead of time....

Drama Elective Period A, 3/25/2014

This week in Drama everyone made plans to finalize their "movies."  Most of the groups have finished their shooting as of the end of the class period and all that remains is to edit.  The class expectation is to have all the movies finished, edited and ready for viewing by next week's class so we can incorporate them into our final presentation.  Popcorn will be served and some gluten free cookies. If any parents would like to contribute a snack for our movie event, please let us know.

Aztec Conquest - History A

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire saw the Catholic army of Spain decimate 15 million Aztec people.   During the campaign, Cortés rallied many rivals of the Aztecs, to join him.  These forces arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, where Cortez was welcomed by Moctezuma, leader of the Aztec people. 

Trust between the two leaders was precarious.  Fear and anger eventually led Cortez to take Moctezuma captive in his own palace and use him as a puppet ruler. The people eventually realized what was happening and stoned their own leader as a traitor.  This resulted in a massacre at the Main Temple of Tenochtitlan.  Cortés and his men had to fight their way out of the capital city, however, the Spanish later returned with reinforcements and laid siege to the city, leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan a year later in 1521.

In class activities 3/25/14:

• Learned about the fall of the Aztecs to Cortez
• Built Aztec temples out of clay
• Made clay hearts to remind us of the religious practices of the Aztecs
• Built wooden bridges for our Tenochtitlan models
• Played telephone to discover the difficulties that Cortez faced when using multiple translators
• Added to our history notebooks

Optional lesson extension activities:

Horrible Histories - Angry Aztecs is a funny way to review all that we have learned about the Aztecs.  I couldn't find a single link to the entire show, so forgive the long list of links.  Each video is only a few minutes long.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JVmv_aXjsQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBQ-O3cy-fQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33aCE3T8jEQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oarNOjHHMjc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN6-Mwp-oIE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-GLDwfb-o

Assignment:

• Draw a picture of Cortez setting fire to his own ships.  Write a sentence or two explaining why he would do such a thing. (Additional information available here)
• Review your timeline

Drama Period B - 3/18/14

This week we were able to rehearse the first portion of our script!  Thank you to all the parents that have already begun to work on memorizing with their students!!  We did make it a little farther into the piece, you will find the updated script here.  Along with our rehearsals each week we are learning some fun tidbits of added history, make sure you ask your kids about what happened to Magellan ;)  

Please keep working on memorizing!