Science Fair

The 3rd Annual Science Fair came to a closure last week.  The amount of effort, time, and detail students put into this event was phenomenal.  So many of our wonderful students took great pride in their displays as well as being able to succinctly and professionally present their experiments to judges, teachers, and parents.  The 7th Grade class again excelled in their commitment to high quality work.  The deciding factors for the top 3 places were very close and every student was close to placing.

Below, Ashley Aguilar stands by her Co-1st Place Project and fellow Co-1st Place recipient Niuyen Garcia shows Ms Graber how to use his experimental equipment.

Paul Hayes and Jonathan Garcia are prepared to present their work to the school community.  Paul and Jonathan earned 2nd and 3rd place awards respectively.

Special thanks to Mrs. Garber for setting up a wonderful show and to our parents who came out on Thursday evening to support their children.  It was a wonderful event.

Underground Railroad Codes

The 5th Grade class is wrapping up our unit on the Civil War.  During our unit, we discussed how slaves often tried to escape to the North.  Students questioned how this was possible knowing that many had very little education nor people they could rely on.  Our textbook gave us a little background information on codes that slaves used.  I enhanced this by playing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot for the class and asked them to decipher any messages they thought might be sung in this song.  The students were able to pick up on subtle hints from the song.  I also displayed quilts or blankets on our screen that showed examples of work that had codes sewed on to the top.  The class then set out to create their own quilts with hidden messages, using at least 8 quilting squares to write a code.

In this picture, Noel Perez, Joel Marcial, Mia Vazquez, Arianna LaSalle and Carlos Mendoza show their coded messages for all to see.

Some of the messages were done extremely well and were completed with historical accuracy.  The class had to decipher what the students meant with their symbols on their quilts.

Here are some close up images of the fine work done by the 5th Grade class.

Poetry Cafe

Our 1st Annual Poetry Cafe was a rousing success!!  Once again, my homeroom put in an excellent effort and had numerous entries into the competition.  Overall, the 7th Grade class had multiple students place in the contest, including sweeping the Haiku portion of the middle school contest.

Below, Bryan Barocio reads his 1st Place Haiku, while classmates Ashley Aguilar and Isai Lopez look on after receiving their 2nd Place and 3rd Place awards respectively.

Anny Solano reads her "Shape" poem for the school that won her 1st Place.  Nia Curiel stands to the far left after receiving her 3rd Place award for her "Shape" poem.

Greek Mythology

To close out the Greece unit, the 6th grade class dressed up as Gods and Goddesses.  They were to perform a skit, act out their super powers, or give the class a 1-2 minute speech on their character.

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Kenneth Munoz shows off his passionate, tough face of Poseidon 

Here the 6th grade class performs a skit on the many wives of Zeus.  One goddess was upset that she did not know her mother.  Zeus actually went to see a counselor to discuss his immoral ways.  A creative, insightful, and real life adaptation of Greek Mythology! 

 

Below, Denise Godoy gives a speech about her Goddess, Aphrodite.

 

 In this video below, Leslie Arias describes Athena, The Goddess of Wisdom.  Look at the detail in her costume!!!

 

Cubs Trip

A generous donor provided the school with Cubs tickets.  The 3rd-8th grade classes were able to attend on Friday May 6th for a 1:20 game against the rival Cincinnati Reds.  It was great day!!!  The weather was cooperative, the kids were excited, and we all received free "Los Cubs" t-shirts that were given away at the gate.  Below are junior high students enjoying their time together at Wrigley Field.

Your teachers enjoying the day together!!! 

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!!!!!

The 6th Grade class recently completed their unit on Ancient Greece.  During this unit, I used multiple assessments in lie of giving an exam.  One of our major assignments was to create a newspaper that detailed all the important aspects of early Greek life.  Each paper included a Geography section, a Sports page, an Economics/Money portion, Arts and Entertainment and concluded with Greek Mythology.  Each paper used a traditional Greek vocabulary term for the title along with such names as traditional papers like Times, Journal and Post.

Below, Oscar Nieto uses his textbook to describe the trading the Greeks used to grow their civilization.

Below, Jelanni Reyes shows off the beginning of her paper and the wonderful final product ready to hit the newsstands!!

Marangeliesse Mongoy adds details to her geography portion of the paper.  From start to finish, he effort and outcome were quite impressive!!

Andy Mendez shows off his map skills and information on the Island of Crete.











The 6th Grade class has many different learning styles.  Some students learn from visual imagery while others excel in writing.  This assignment allowed them to use multiple skills to create their papers.  Their research on Greek Mythology and the use of a primary resource book gave them additional information unavailable in our text books.  These additional steps expanded their knowledge base and kept them interested in the project.  Overall, a wonderful display of fine work that other students are able to pick up and read in their free time.

Literature Circles

A note to parents about the newest section of the literature circles for the Dominican Reading Group.  Each group will consist of 6 students.  The following novels will be read over the next 2-3 weeks, Park's Quest, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, and Snow Treasure.  All 3 novels encompass political or social aspects in our nations history.  These historical fiction novels are all highly regarded literary works.

The purpose of breaking the class into groups is to focus on each novel in depth.  Student centered inquiry and feedback will be important components of each literature circle.  Each student will also have an assigned role and is responsible for describing their work and information to their fellow students.  These reading centers allow the students increased access to critical thinking questioning and can have organized, quality discussions with their groups.  The goal is for deeper understanding and increased attention to detail to authors purpose, enhance extended responses via journal writing and individual attention to each student on their oral reading skills.