(Original email from Mary Margaret on Friday, December 6, 2013)

WELLNESS

“Life is movement -” Our Second Trimester begins with a challenging focus on motor skill, agility, strengthening and aerobics through soccer, volleyball and a personal exercise program through to Winter Break.   As well, we are integrating a nutrition awareness element, building our understanding of “energy out” and “energy in.”

We are committed to maintaining the ground gained in balance, core strength, and skill in our first trimester and will generally revisit the base skill set, core strength, balance and health from circuit work and yoga once a month.

Swimming is an invaluable life in motion skill and we are surveying the possibilities for eighth grade swim classes at the Pullen Aquatics Center.   Stay tuned.

An important reminder: on Wellness class days, no matter our focus, students need to be wearing an athletic shoe that affords them proper support and safety for running, exercising etc.  Thank you.

 

 

 

VISUAL ART

I hope you all enjoyed seeing and reading about the projects from the first trimester.

Before break

• Sixth graders will be learning facial proportions and apply these to a self-portrait.  The background will connect with their astrology theme.
• Seventh graders are being introduced to the Spanish artist, Joan Miro, and will be painting in his whimsical style on canvas.

 

• Eighth grade students have been hard at 
  work cutting linoleum blocks. Their designs came from photographs they took downtown of interesting textures and patterns.  This has been a really fun project (with only a few small cuts:), so we decided to keep printing and use the extras for our next collage project.

Art room needs:

• Magazines
• Calendars
• Fabric scraps
• Maps
• Interesting paper to collage.

GLOBAL CULTURES

6th grade

Pick a country that speaks the language you are taking to study the relationship between holidays, cultural traditions, and the seasons.  Try to pick holidays that are related to the seasons in some way.  To successfully complete this project for an “accomplished”, all items must be completed in a high-quality fashion.  Remember, to receive an “exceeding” you need to make some outside-of-the-classroom, real-world component of this project.

• Explain why we have seasons.  What are the differences in seasons in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, and the tropics?
• Create a 12-month calendar for your country with the following:
  • Seasons
  • Important celestial dates:  equinoxes, solstices, etc.
  • Major holidays and traditions
  • Moon phases
• Create a brochure (or some other publication or production) explaining three major holidays or traditions in your country.  Make sure to include at least:
  • Dates and how the holiday or tradition is related to the seasons
  • Foods associated with the holiday or tradition
  • Traditional symbols and colors associated with the holiday or tradition
  • History of the holiday – how long has it existed and how has it changed over time?
  • A few key words written in the language you are studying

7th grade:  Economics and Global Village Cultures

You will work to create and sell a product somehow related to one of the cultures of the Global Village locations:  Thailand, Tibet, Guatemala, Mozambique, Appalachia, or Kenya.  The money generated from the sale of items will go towards the 7th Grade Heifer International field trip in April.

To successfully complete this project for an “accomplished”, all items must be completed in a high-quality fashion.  Remember, to receive an “exceeding” you need to make some outside-of-the-classroom, real-world component of this project.

Market Research:

• Who is your target audience?  How will you determine this?  What is your marketing strategy?
• Supply and Demand – how will you determine how much of your item to make?  How will you determine pricing?  Can you effectively meet demand with your supply, while not being left with a surplus of goods?

Market Day:

• Market presence – what makes your table or area stand out from the rest?
• Item quality and supply

Economic Analysis for Thailand, Tibet, Guatemala, Mozambique, Appalachia, and Kenya

• What are the major imports and exports of each country?
• What surpluses or shortages are in each country?
• What current events in each country might affect the economy?
• What is the exchange rate of each country’s money compared to the U.S. dollar?
• What is the average income in each country?

8th grade

To successfully complete this project for an “accomplished”, all items must be completed in a high-quality fashion.  Remember, to receive an “exceeding” you need to make some outside-of-the-classroom, real-world component of this project.

• Create a list of multicultural places in Raleigh organized by country of origin (you should try to find as many countries as possible and research places besides restaurants)
• Create a multicultural attraction or event that could be added to Raleigh to highlight the multicultural population.  This can be a building, public space, business, or anything that features the culture of one country or the cultures of many countries.  Design it, illustrate it, explain it in writing.
• Create a menu for a multicultural restaurant using a combination of foods from different existing Raleigh restaurants.  Have at least a total of 10 dishes from at least four different cultures. 
• Create a newsletter or website featuring different multicultural locations and events in Raleigh OR a calendar featuring cultural events in Raleigh for 2014
• Complete the accompanying “Multicultural Raleigh” sheet with responses from each group member