Friday, October 21, 2016

October 21, 2016

In this post...

  • MYP: Mission & Politics
  • Spring Break Trip to France & Italy!
  • Spring Journeys
  • What We Are Learning...highlights from Language & Literature and Science
  • Things To Do in our Community

MYP: Mission & Politics

The IB Mission Statement ends on a challenging note: "These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right." Commitment to the underlying assertion can also be found in the various attributes of the Learner Profile, especially Open-Minded, which we are exploring in All-Schools and Middle School Chapels this month. This is a difficult principle to put into practice, especially during an active political season. In the next two weeks, we will welcome two elected representatives - Bruce Dammeier (Republican, State Senator and candidate for Pierce County Executive) and Derek Kilmer (Democrat, Representative for Washington's 6th District in the US House) to share their experiences with and approach to public service. The Middle School Student Council will have time to meet with each of our guests as well. In addition to discussing leadership, my hope is that they will explore the challenges that come with representing diverse communities. We are honored to welcome these

Spring Break Trip!

Ms. Gettel is again taking Middle School Students to France and Italy during Spring Break! The "Abundance" Journey focuses on Patronage of the Arts, as studied in 7th Grade Music. The group will fly to Paris, travel by the fast train to Nice, and travel on to Monaco, Florence, Assisi, and Rome. We are again using Explorica, and students may easily register online. Click here for the itinerary. If your student is interested in participating in this trip, there will be an informational meeting for parents on Tuesday, October 25th at 5:00pm in the Library. Please contact Ms. Gettel for further details. 

Spring Journeys

If you haven't already, please register your student for the Spring Journeys via the links below by October 16, 2016. 

What we are learning...

This week, we highlight our Language Acquisition and Design programs!
Language & Literature
During the last Language and Literature update, Mr. Price shared highlights of Seventh Grade. Now it is time for Sixth and Eighth Grades!
In Sixth Grade, we are delving into Greek mythology and have been engaging in fantastic conversations about myth and its connection to culture. Soon, we’ll embark on the Hero’s Journey. With our writing, we are all about strong paragraphs - and students are seeing the power of revision to substantially improve their writing.  

In Eighth Grade, we have been reading Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and though students have loved discussing the book, some of our richest conversations have come from discussing how their own identities have been shaped and molded. For example, we have been talking about catalyst moments - experiences that have had profound effects on their lives - and their ‘lifeboats’ - what they turn to when the world seems all out of whack because they know they will be comforted. We also tried to distill their personalities down into three adjectives each - which was sometimes a lot harder than they originally thought it would be. I consider it a privilege to get to know your kids through our discussions of literature and how it relates to their world.  

 Science
In Eighth Grade Science we’ve begun a unit on Genetics and Variation with the Statement of Inquiry: Understanding how change impacts form leads to innovation. Students enjoyed isolating their DNA from cheek cells and making DNA models from pipe cleaners and beads. We’ve touched on the process of protein synthesis to understand how DNA provides a blueprint for proteins. Next we’ll explore the many forms of variation in human traits and how we can predict the traits of offspring.



Seventh Grade Science has just wrapped up our Scientific Method unit by completing their first Design Lab of the year. This lab will serve as a baseline for the year as we look to make improvements in our ability to use the Scientific Method. We’re beginning our Cells and Microbiology unit and will soon be learning about the parts of a cells and doing a number of activities with microscopes over the next few weeks.

Sixth Grade Science is in the middle of our Earth Science unit. Students particularly enjoyed exploring the Earth’s interior through a series of stations in the lab that allowed them to look at, build and draw models of the layers of the Earth. This week we shift our focus to volcanoes and earthquakes!

Things To Do in our Community...

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