Math
7th graders continued the surface area unit with lessons over finding the surface area of triangular prisms and pyramids on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday they began building robots out of paper nets with the goal of calculating how much foil is needed to wrap the robot. The 8th graders worked on their study guide for the Pythagorean Theorem unit on Tuesday and Wednesday, and took their check-in on Thursday. The Algebra students had a lesson over dividing polynomials by monomials on Tuesday, then started factoring on Wednesday and Thursday. Factoring started with first factoring out the greatest common factor, then factoring by grouping.
Humanities
In Humanities this week , students focused on the end stretch of our novel The Book Thief. We the novel took us into the war as it came to the small village and took too of the major characters into battle. Students analyzed the connection between what we are learning about the Holocaust.
We also created Figurative Language projects that take one quote from the book and turned it into a sketch. The results were fabulous!
Theme
During our short week, Theme work allowed our talented Epsilon students to get their creativity on! We have been analyzing the plight of Japanese internees during World War II. One of the camps, located at Tule Lake, CA, ushered in a special artform: creating corsages out of bleached shells found around the camp. The students studied examples of this art form and let minds run wild. Using various products, the students followed this unique tradition and constructed their own Japanese shell art. Students used patterns and paint to enhance them
But we weren’t done with the shells and the artwork that came out of it. Students also thought about the legacy of Japanese internment, studying the spiritual beliefs of “gaman”, a Japanese term meaning the endurance of impossible situations with patience and dignity, using grit and grace to make it through. Using these themes, students developed lists of words that paid tribute to those internees. After choosing a representative word, they added the terms and their Japanese translation to finish the project. The results were AMAZING!!
7th graders cutting out nets to build robots.
Following the artform of Japanese internees at Tule Lake OR, Epsilon students brought their creative vision to life, using bleached shells to make special projects.
Students gather materials to bring their visions of Japanese Shell Art to life in their study of Japanese Internment during World War II.
The Epsilon’s engaged in a PE activity that allowed them to get exercise and compete for spots. Each student tried to navigate steps in a pattern that brought them together in a showdown with the tried and true game. Each group whittled down with those that passed the first round competing in a final round.
