Eighth grade speeches are in full swing! All eighth graders submitted speech proposals at the start of the year that were reviewed by  Mrs. Lamb. This year’s topics have ranged from the history of Basketball to personal experiences with a variety of topics. Giving students the chance to inform the school about something that is important to them is a wonderful experience for the speakers as well as the audience.

Click the respective player below to hear some of the speeches from past assemblies so far. Be sure to check back as our 8th grade speaker series continues!

Patrick - The History of Basketball

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Olivia - Her experience at the Waldorf School

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Michael - Evolution of Music Technology from LP to MP3

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Jonathan - Personal Tennis Experience

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Jaeden - Personal Piano Experience

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On Wednesday, January 11th, the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students gathered in the library for the annual school wide Geography Bee. The winner of the Bee was 7th grader Max. Max will take a test to see if he qualifies for the statewide Geography Bee, which will be held in May. 5th grader, Mary came in 2nd place and 6th grader, Delaney came in third. Other students who represented their class were Jonathan and Rachael in 8th grade, Paul in 7th grade, Maria  in 6th grade and Giana in 5th grade. These students all answered 5 or more questions correctly in the classroom round in which each student is asked 7 questions. Alternates included Ben , TJ , Alex M., Kailey , Ian, Colin and Danny.

Sra. Brenna’s eighth graders are putting their Spanish to the test! Students were charged with reading a Spanish story to kindergarteners. To accompany the reading, eighth students were also asked to develop an activity to help the kindergarteners comprehend the story better and to master the vocabulary.  Little by little, eighth graders are honing in on the skills needed to practically apply the Spanish they are learning in the classroom in a meaningful way.

Back in November, our sixth, seventh and eighth graders participated in the American Mathematics Contest along with more than 2200 other schools. The AMC is a 25-question, multiple-choice test. The related high school contest is part of the series of competitions that leads to the IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad.)

At assembly on January 4, Mrs. Haseltine announced the results. In third place we have a tie between seventh-grader Paul and eighth-grader Gwyneth. Seventh-grader Ian placed second and the school winner is eighth-grader Hannah, who received a school winner pin and whose name is now on the school AMC plaque.

Congratulations to everyone who participated for their excellent effort and achievement!

Eighth grade has been busy busy … from translating a traditional Winterfest song into Spanish, to teaching Spanish to their Little Buddies, to mastering important language structures.  To end the semester, eighth grade put all of this into practice with Alrededor del mundo,  Around the World Spanish-style.  Thinking on their feet, students had to answer (quickly!) questions on note cards covering all we have studied so far this year.  Laughing and showing an adeptness with the language, students tried to answer questions before each of their classmates and journey around the circle back to where they started.  Safe travels this vacation eighth grade, and see you next year!

Half of the students in eighth grade led the sixth, seventh, and remaining eighth graders on tours of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum after completing their four weeks of docent training in October. The Student Docents asked questions of their peers while viewing the museum’s current exhibitions including Chelpa Ferro, Kate Eric, Jessica Stockholder, Type A, and Judi Werthein. Additionally, the students worked on a group hands-on activity in the education center. As the current theme of the museum is related to collaboration, the students were asked to work on a group piece by each contributing to each other’s drawings. The tours were once again a great success, and it is always a pleasure to be involved in one of the Student Docent’s conversations about the art. We are looking forward to the Spring, when the other eighth graders will train to be docents and give tours of the museum to the fourth and fifth graders.

Last week, the Spanish world celebrated Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)– and so did eighth grade!  After bringing in fruit, pictures, painting materials and other things commemorating the life of Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, eighth grade had a typical Dia de los Muertos celebration.  While enjoying home-made Pan de Muertos (bread of the dead — a sweet bread special to the holiday), students became the family and friends of Frida Kahlo, passing the day together and celebrating her life.  Speaking only in Spanish, students discovered how each of their classmates was related to Frida and something they remembered about her.  They discovered she was on a US postage stamp, that one of her paintings was on the 500 peso, and that most of her paintings were self portraits.  By the end of class, students had a new first-hand appreciation for this tradition that celebrated the lives of the deceased and a deeper understanding orenowned artist Frida Kahlo.

Sra. Brenna’s students are taking the lead.  Every day for our daily warm-up activities, volunteer students take turns being the teacher. The “student teacher” is responsible for carrying out familiar questions and answers regarding the calendar, expressions of quantity, phonetic alphabet exercises and their accompanying vocabulary.  Student teachers are quick to realize the patience and clarity needed to obtain the results they want from their classmates.

Unquowa students in the 8th grade prepared a Long Island Sound salt water aquarium recently with the help of Maritime Museum staff member Jim Paul. The students prepared the tank for the correct levels of PH, salinity, nitrates, and calcium so that shrimp, crabs, snails and Mummichogs could survive and thrive in the classroom tank. This marks the first year that the shrimp population has made it to the third week in their new tank environment, hopefully due to our student’s care.  Eighth graders Jonathan and Michael are seen testing salinity and preparing to feed the denizens of the not so deep.