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Despite our vacation time last week (I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!), we had a very full two weeks! We have worked on a project for the homeless, made apple turkeys, learned about Thanksgiving, continued learning about Egypt, added to our knowledge of fables and Mother Goose rhymes, and myriad other things! Every day brings so much that it is hard to explain it all without pages of text! (And, I'm sure no one wants that! :-) ) It does bring up a small thing. I absolutely want you to keep your child home if he or she is running a fever or is feeling very ill. This is important to your child's health, as well as to the health of every other child in the school and all the teachers! However, having said that, I do want to mention that we do a TON each and every day. Learning is happening by the minute, and--no matter how much I may want to do so--I cannot replicate all the discussions, projects, videos, photographs, books, and lectures that we do! So, when your child misses, he or she really does miss a lot, and it just can't be "made up" with the few worksheets that I may be able to send home. So, if you ever question: "Will my child be missing anything important when absent?" the answer is unequivocally "yes!" Now, of course, children--especially children at a school like this one where lots of learning happens all the time--will still do well even not knowing as much about papyrus, Jack Sprat, or how a (possible) earlier Egyptian queen similar to Hatshepsut has been discovered. And, they will get many of the math, grammar and reading concepts again. So, when necessary, please do keep your child home! But, I do want to be clear that we do a LOT of things every day, so, we definitely miss your child when he or she can't come. So, stay healthy out there!


Language Arts

We have continued our fable study. We learned a new fable: "The Clever Fox and the Vain Crow." We analyzed it to discuss personification, plot (beginning, middle and end), character(s), and setting. The students are really taking to heart some of the life lessons (morals) these stories teach! In addition, we have continued learning our Mother Goose rhymes, adding "Jack Be Nimble" to our growing repertoire. We practice using phonogram skills in the short Mother Goose rhymes to see how the English language works. If you haven't yet checked it out, the next phonogram video (#27 - #55) has been posted. Please have your child watch it as often as you can (once a day is great!) The hand motions and scripted way of saying the sounds will really help your child cement in the various sounds of the letter combinations. It doesn't take too long to watch and will really help with spelling and reading. The students are regularly taking comprehension quizzes where they practice reading passages and then answering questions about the passages in a set amount of time. They continue to practice their Timed ABC tests, and we have had one quiz over the various literary terms we have been studying. We read about Egyptian Queen Meret-Neith in our article today (and about the Indian holiday of Diwali in our last Friday article!) After reading, we brainstorm a good summary of the article as a class, and then we copy that summary for copywork time. In our Morning Work, we regularly practice our phonograms, Rigg's Spelling List #1 words, and various aspects of the English language such as syllables, plurals, and punctuation. We also learn a famous proverb or English saying daily and discuss what it means. We continue to do Daily 5 regularly, where students read, write, practice their word work, and do listening activities. We also did some poetry writing this week as we brainstormed ideas about Christmas, tied them to our 5 senses (see Science), and then filled in a framework with our own words to create some very cool Christmas poems! (Please check out our bulletin board which is still in progress!) My goal is to have a classroom that is rich with literacy, so that the students are thoroughly exposed to the English language, including beautiful words, big words, and literary and cultural English regularly, so that they may learn to love language and words, and grow into well-educated, life-long readers and learners!


Math

We are meeting both in large group (during Morning Meeting time and, occasionally, during actual math time), and in small groups (where I can target individual grade skills). All the children are working on number sense right now. For the younger students, that means recognizing and writing numbers, and understanding their quantities and composition. This is true of the older students as well, although they are working with numbers in the 100s. Students regularly take timed tests on adding numbers as well as on "number bonds" or combinations that make certain numbers. Whenever possible, the students use manipulatives. When you see bean papers? They actually are throwing real beans (colored red on one side) from real cups and recording the combinations they discover! When you see cubes? They are using real Unifex Cubes to created their own combinations of numbers. When you see drawings of Base-10 blocks (older students)? The students are actually touching and using real Base-10 blocks to practice the concepts. Actually touching and using real, concrete materials helps students of this age truly cement in what they are actually doing and what the numbers actually mean. We also regularly use abacuses, which allow the students to move beads to see real ideas "take flesh" in front of them. No one need be "bad at math." Given the right tools, everyone can learn it!


History

We continue to study Egypt and work on our new Egyptian lap books! Today, we learned about papyrus and how it was made. Then, we made (a reasonable facsimile) of own papyrus! We have learned about Egyptian social structure, clothing, and pyramids. In addition, we learned a great deal about Thanksgiving and the first Pilgrims. History is one of my personal favorite things to study, so we do a lot with photos, realia (mostly photos, but real things whenever possible), video, and storybooks. I try to make history as "hands-on" as possible, immersing the children in history by allowing them to participate in how people in the past did things. We will continue with our Egyptian study for awhile!


Science

Our class is learning as much as we can about light and how the world works! We explored translucent, transparent, and opaque last time, and this week, we moved into sending messages with light (and other means without words)! We talked about Morse Code, Semaphore, lighting beacon fires (Lord of the Rings anyone?), and, of course, sign language. The students made up their own secret messages to send, and then sent them with colored light (using flashlights and colored paper). Did their partner receive their message? Most certainly! We also talked about our 5 senses and discussed them in conjunction with our Christmas poem writing project! We will be moving into learning about our human bodies over the next few weeks and into the New Year!


Helping the Homeless

Our students participated in filling bags for the homeless this week. Students were allowed to take home a bag if they wanted. The idea is to keep the bag in the car, and, when you see someone in need on the street, you give them the bag! We want our students to learn to give back and to help others. I plan to have students make Christmas cards for folks in care facilities who don't get visits from family. We will be looking for other opportunities for the students to learn to be loving and kind!


Faith

We continued (and finished up) learning about Abraham. We read about his son, Isaac and how he got his wife Rebecca. Recently, we read and discussed the story of Esau and Jacob. The children were amazed that one brother would grow to hate another, and were surprised at how much this reminded them of Cain and Abel! They are waiting on pins and needles to find out if Esau ever forgives his brother Jacob. Today, we read about Jacob being sent away back to Haran--ostensibly to find a wife (but really to keep safe from Esau!)--and we learned of Jacob's dream of the ladder to Heaven. The children are quite engaged in the stories of the Old Testament as we work through them tied to our history. We looked at maps of Mesopotamia and Ur (where Abraham originated), the land of Egypt (where Abraham went, and then the land of Canaan (where he finally settled). We found out that Haran was in Mesopotamia! This connection to history, and tying the stories to other subjects they are learning, makes it all more real to the students, and they are truly excited to hear the next thing that happens!


Art

Students worked on creating 3D animals from paper bags this week! There are so many techniques they are learning!


Music

Mary Northend continued working on the various songs that your children will be singing for the Christmas performance! I hope you're practicing at home! :-)


Closing

Last Monday, we had a celebration with our stuffies! The students had worked as a team on clean-up and transitions, and earned a group celebration. We brought our stuffed animals and we watched the classic cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and ate a few Oreo Cookies! It was a lot of fun! Progress Reports came out today. They are here on Brightwheel. Remember, that there are two main reasons for progress reports: 1) to communicate to you accurately where your child is presently, and 2) to give us benchmarks for their growth! Please don't concentrate on grades with your child, but rather on how much they are learning, where they are growing, and where they can set goals to get even better! If you have questions about your child's progress report, or about anything they are doing in the classroom, please don't hesitate to ask. I am here because I want to help you rear up your children to be the best possible version of themselves. So, our work as a team is very important! Next week will be interesting due to all the practices for the Christmas performance. It also means that I will not be able to stay late to write a newsletter. I will either find another day to do it, or it will be combined in the following week. May all you do this weekend and into next be blessed!

Grammar 1- Week 22

By Christina Blankenstein • February 15, 2024
Grammar 1 - Week 22

Middle School Newsletter- Week 22

By Christina Blankenstein • February 15, 2024
Middle School Week 22

Shout out to Let's Roam!

By Christina Blankenstein • February 9, 2024
Scavenger Hunts by Let's Roam!

Middle School Week 15

By Christina Blankenstein • December 11, 2023
Hi MS families! This was a very crazy week for all of us--with Music rehearsals, we did not get to every subject, but I squeezed in what I could! As I write this, I do not know how the performance will go, but I can tell you about how your students handled practice. I've been so impressed with them--not foremost for their acting, reading, or singing ability (although they're good there), but because they were consistently responsible, helpful, and demonstrated great leadership. Our students were responsible not only for long practices, but for setting up beforehand and tearing down afterward, to ensure that the nave was ready for the daily Liturgies. They helped put new feet on the risers to protect the solea, they got the props ready, and they set up the microphones and lights. They also helped guide and teach the younger students, and led the whole school in singing the songs and hymns. When we (the teachers) put together an edited script, we used their notes, and a lot of their ideas. Perhaps what stands out to me the most is that this is a stressful time of year, and this was a stressful week for us teachers, and they actively made it much better than it could have been. I had cause to talk to them early in the week about how they have the power to make the lives of those around them better or worse, and are called to choose to make it better. They definitely made mine better this week, which I told them today. I didn't have to spend those practices embarrassed or worried about their behavior or their stamina; on the contrary I could count on them to help, and spend my own time helping the younger classes and trying to fill in where necessary to solve problems or handle logistics. In addition, several of our students are loud, clear, and confident readers and singers. I'm not their music teacher, but I did try to help them practice this week, so I got to see first-hand how quickly and well they can pick up songs. In the practices, they helped carry the whole school. A couple of our students took it upon themselves to memorize their lines--a feat I assumed would be impossible when I realized how little time they actually had to practice, all things considered. Again, as I write this I do not know what may happen in the performance itself tonight, but even if there's some problem, you should know how impressive this all was this week, and how well it reflects on your students. I've taught students this age before, but there's not many I would have trusted to be quite this responsible. Faith and Literature In Faith this week, we got into Joshua and Judges. We covered the story of Jericho, and focused on how Rahab's faithfulness saved her and her whole household. Judges is a bit of a depressing low point in Scripture--the Israelites repeatedly do not follow God, things go really badly, and everything gets worse and worse. Still, we discussed how God repeatedly saves His people, and familiarized ourselves with the stories of Deborah, Gideon, etc. In Literature, we continued with Black Ships Before Troy, which of course is the story of the Iliad. These chapters got us to the climax of the stories of Achilles and Hector, their deaths, and the aftermath. Next week, we'll finish up--this version, unlike the original Iliad, includes the famous story of the Horse! *Just as a note here, I did in fact take a bit of pity on the students, and gave them class time this afternoon to complete their reading homework for Monday. So, it's likely that if your students tells you he or she did it already, that's true. Composition There wasn't much time for Composition this week, but we did think about description and dialogue in stories, and worked with an example (the story of Athena and Arachne). History and Geography We had a brief bit of time for History this week. We covered some things we know about Egyptian daily life through archaeology and art, and began talking about some prominent New Kingdom pharaohs. Logic This week in Logic, we introduced the tu quoque fallacy! Latin In Latin this week, we continued working with basic verbs and the accusative case (direct objects). We also sang and discussed Adeste Fidelis, from the Music program! Math We had a brief chance to cover some math this week, which I used to work with the students on negative numbers and negation. Specials and Other Notes We did have PE this week, and of course tons of Music! No Art, sadly, but we did have one of our Greek classes. On Wednesday, we celebrated St. Nicholas with some cookie decorating and treats. Thanks to the parents who provided the cookies and materials! I gave most of my extra notes up at the top! Next week is our last before break--I know everyone's looking forward to it!

Middle School Week 13

By Christina Blankenstein • December 3, 2023
This was our shortest scheduled week of the year! Nevertheless, we managed to fit in a couple things. I hope everyone has a wonderful little break and a very happy Thanksgiving. Know that I am thankful for all of you, and especially for the students you're raising, and the opportunity to teach them this year! Faith and Literature This week in Faith, we discussed highlights from the rest of Exodus. We thought about the incident with the golden calf, why Moses's face was shining after speaking with God, why there are so many instructions for the Tabernacle, altar, Ark of the Covenant, etc., and the parallels and continuities between worship as prescribed by God in the Old Testament and the worship of the Church today. We also attended Liturgy for the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. In Literature, we hit a couple of famous Greek myths. We discussed Prometheus, Pandora and her box, Phaethon and the chariot of the Sun, Echo and Narcissus, and Hades and Persephone. We found morals, discussed characters, and found parallels. This is an exciting moment in Literature: Students should have brought home a copy of *Black Ships Before Troy*, which we're beginning to read. (Chapters 1–3 are due by Monday.) This is a retelling of the *Iliad,* which is possibly the most famous and influential story in existence after the Bible. We'll be working through that for the next couple weeks! Composition This week for Grammar, we reviewed direct objects. In Writing, we worked a bit more with parable models. We wrapped up with "The Rich Fool," and then considered a couple parables that aren't in Scripture: one from the Talmud (medieval Jewish), and one from China. We continued to work with description, setting, morals, and story structure. History and Geography This week in History, we wrapped up our consideration of the Minoans by learning about their economy, and their dramatic collapse as a result of a volcanic eruption! We then considered the Mycenaeans, which gives us the background we need to learn the story of the Trojan War. Logic No Logic this week--we went to Liturgy this morning! Latin No Latin this week--we went to Liturgy this morning! Science In Science, we took the data we had collected last Thursday on the amount of salt, fresh, and frozen water on Earth, added it up, and put it into a graph. We worked especially on graph elements and neatness in presenting data. Mathematics Math this week was a combo with Science--we reviewed the power of the commutative and associative properties for addition by adding up the long string of numbers we had counted. We covered how the commutative and associative properties allow feats of mental math and shortcuts to tedious arithmetic problems. Try asking your student what the sum of every integer from 1–20 is, or 1–50, or 1–100! Mr. Schwartz (the elder) also came in, and students enjoyed the chance to try a Lego project. They were asked to build a simple machine with a color sensor that, in conjunction with some basic code on an iPad, would play sounds when pointed at specific colors. Students got a chance to see how programming logic works--and to try some troubleshooting! Specials and Other Notes We finished out this week by joining Grammar 1 for some apple turkeys and (vegan) apple pie. Mrs. Schwartz always makes those as part of her Thanksgiving party, and this year she thought of us and asked if our students could come help hers with some of the instructions that the young ones find a bit challenging by themselves! I was pleased to offer our students a chance to be helpful role models--and a bit of pie. Our students met with Mrs. Northend this week for Music and PE. I saw them bust out some floor hockey sticks, and I know they're gearing up for the Nativity program! The forts out in he parking lot seem to be doing well, in case you're curious--I was told the rampart wall is done now, and both forts seem to be looking forward to decorating for Christmas!

Middle School Week 12

By Christina Blankenstein • November 20, 2023
Hi MS families! I hope you've all had a blessed start to the fast! As a reminder, next week we will only have school on Monday and Tuesday. I'm finishing up some comments on the progress reports, so those should be out early next week.  Faith and Literature This week in Faith, we were in the book of Exodus. We read about the plagues of Egypt, and thought about how this was a judgment of the Egyptian gods. We discussed the Passover, and its connection to Pascha. And, finally, we read about the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai, including the 10 Commandments! We finished out the week this afternoon by watching The Prince of Egypt--a classic animated movie that retells the story of the Exodus--and we thought a little bit about what was changed for the purposes of the movie's storytelling. We also attended Liturgy this week for the Feast of St. Matthew, and wished our own Fr. Matthew (and several others) many years! In Literature, we read a few more Chinese myths and legends, and then got into Greece. We read about the Olympian gods, and considered their characters, while familiarizing ourselves with classic stories like that of Athena and Arachne or Hades and Persephone. Having this background will allow us to more fruitfully read the stories of the Iliad and Odyssey, which we will begin shortly. Composition For Grammar this week, we continued getting comfortable with pronouns and prepositions, and introduced direct objects as another noun/pronoun job in a sentence. (This will soon help a great deal in Latin, as the accusative case gets introduced.) In Writing, we considered parables and story structure, and worked on sequencing a story, setting description, finding a moral, and descriptive synonyms. We focused especially on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Parable of the Rich Fool, both from the Gospel according to St. Luke, as our models. History and Geography This week in History, we introduced the Minoans as one of the earliest civilizations of Greece, and therefore Europe generally. We learned about the impressive archaeological sites they left behind--especially the palace of Knossos on Crete. Then, students were able to construct a model diagram of a room of the palace, including Minoan-style murals for the walls. Logic This week in Logic, we continued working with the ad hominem abusive fallacy by considering examples from advertising and politics. Latin This week in Latin, students either finished up the test from last week (if necessary), or practiced their numbers by playing I Piscatum! (Go Fish!) Science This week in Science, aside from working on our chicken mummies, (almost done!), we began considering Earth systems. We took the Dust Bowl as as example of the interaction of several systems, and the consequences one system can have on others. Then we considered Earth's hydrosphere by collecting data on how much fresh vs. salt water there is on Earth, which we will use to work on our graphing skills once more. Mathematics This week in Math was exciting--we had Mr. Schwartz (the elder) in for the first time! He was able to tell the students a bit about his career as an engineer, and introduced them to factorials and calculating combinations and permutations. He also, of course, introduced them to some of the LEGO robotics materials! For more on that, check out ASA's blog: https://www.asapdx.org/blog. We also (as a whole class) took a deeper look at some arithmetic operations and properties that become more and more relevant as students prepare for algebra. For example, we considered how to use the commutative and associate properties to easily solve problems like "What is the sum of the first 61 positive integers?" or "Compute the product 25 x (12 x 8) in your head." Specials and Other Notes We had an almost full week of PE and Music with Mrs. Northend, until she got sick Wednesday afternoon. We hope she feels better soon! I heard students starting to work on some Christmas music before that. In Art, I saw students painting with animal subjects. In Greek, Ms. Karafotias told me that they are working on Greek articles and grammatical gender, and noted that everyone's pronunciation is good! Fr. Matthew came in Wednesday afternoon to read to the students--he alternates between a section from a catechism book and a saint's life chosen by one of the students. Out in the parking lot, several students have been busy during recess constructing a fort rampart! 7 Wonders is still a favorite for free moments indoors.

Grammar 1 Gazette Weeks11-12

By Christina Blankenstein • November 20, 2023

Introducing LEGO STEM

By Taran ASA • November 16, 2023
Hi! My name is Kurt Schwartz and I'm starting a new STEM unit this quarter with the middle school students! About once every week or two, I will be leading a unit about math and engineering, using LEGO education Spike Prime (robot building and programming) and LEGO BricQ (physics and engineering) kits. I've been an (electrical) engineer for over 38 years, many of which I spent professionally training other engineers how to design chips using computer languages. I currently work for Apple at our engineering site in Beaverton, where I'm on the chip design and verification team. This week was our first lesson, where the students first learned about the "factorial" mathematical operator, and how it is used to calculate how many different combinations of some size can be made from a given number. The students calculated that we can make 15 different possible partner pairs from the students in the class. Ask your student to explain factorial! This will help them review and remember! I had then planned to have the students work through the short tutorials in the LEGO iPad app, but as soon as the lids came off the LEGO tubs, there was no stopping these kids! Within minutes, we had motorized vehicles being driven across the floor, proximity sensors being used, programs being created (LEGO uses a "word block" - based programming language based on "Scratch"), and sound wave graphs being manipulated to produce weird sound effects. Who needs tutorials?! I was really impressed by the initiative, ingenuity and enthusiasm that the students demonstrated. I can tell, based on their reactions and the excitement in their eyes as they experimented, that this unit will be a huge hit! At the end, I explained to them that what they just did - first learning the nature of things (what these things do), then creating an idea of something they wanted to make it do, then applying what they knew to make that idea a reality - that's what engineering is, and they just did it! I look forward to see what we can accomplish this year!

Middle School Newsletter Week 11

By Christina Blankenstein • November 10, 2023
Middle School Week 11

Middle School (5th-8th grade) Week 1

By Taran ASA • October 30, 2023
Welcome Hello and welcome! I was excited to start the first week of middle school here at ASA, and want to thank each of you and your students for being here! I'm so excited for our class and our year, and I hope you all are too. I'd like to give you a quick summary of some things we did this week, to keep you informed about what your student is doing in class. Faith and Literature In faith and literature this week, we started getting familiar with how to have discussions about complex topics. We brought up theosis, asceticism, and canons, and what each of these can show us about what our goals should be at school and in life. Of course, these are enormous topics, so they'll come up again! However, I wanted to start the year by reminding students that there is a real purpose behind the rules, requirements, and struggle of a school year. Learning is a process of growth, and we want that growth to be oriented toward God through good habits of mind and character that allow us to know and love the good, true, and beautiful. Composition We started our composition period with a few writing challenges and a mini grammar assessment, before diving into an analysis of one of Aesop's fables. Fables are great tools for working with character, descriptive language, and themes in writing. We'll continue next week by having students try their hand at writing a modified fable using Aesop as a guide! History We started our discussion of history this week by thinking about the importance of stories, and what makes something history. We began an exercise in telling personal history through a mini-autobiography that will continue next week, and is meant to illustrate the importance of stories in shaping experience and understanding, as well as what to do with multiple perspectives and accounts of an event. We will continue next week with some overarching skills in history (like understanding how to deal with times, dates, and cultures), and then begin discussing a bit of prehistory before we get to ancient Sumer. Logic We opened our consideration of logic this week by introducing what logic is, and what we mean by philosophy more broadly. The law of non-contradiction came up, so we also discussed the implications of that for human thought and the structure of the world. Latin We spent our Latin period this week reviewing some material on masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, singular and plural, and adjective agreement. We also reviewed the numbers, and some Latin prayers. Moving forward, we'll begin some more formal Latin material, striving for a balance between grammar instruction and speaking/reading fluency. Science We kicked off our science by considering the role of wonder and questioning in scientific endeavors, and then cultivated a bit of wonder by exploring a virtual night sky. Moving forward, we'll be discussing stars and constellations, as well as some of the stories behind them. Mathematics Students began with a pre-test in math, to help me see where they are and what they already know. I was very proud of them--it wasn't a short test, but they were very diligent! I had mercy on them and didn't require the whole thing in one day, so we'll finish that up next week. My goal is to give the students the personalized attention they need to grow from where they each are. After the test, we played a fun and strategic math game (Corners), which proved quite popular. Specials Our specials classes haven't officially started yet, but since I was the Greek teacher last year, we were able to do a bit of review of the Greek alphabet. Students also had the opportunity for some artistic expression through illustrating their own class binder covers. Next week, Mrs. Northend will start our Music and PE!
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