2019-03-08

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XI, ISSUE 24

MARCH 08, 2019

 

FROM THE OFFICE

 

UPCOMING

NEXT WEEK:

  • Monday, 3/11/19
    • Chess Club (4th – 6th)
    • Volleyball training (5th – 11th girls)
  • Tuesday, 3/12/19
    • Spring XC Training commences!  5th – 11th (must return permission slip)
    • Volleyball training (HS girls only)
  • Thursday, 3/14/19 –
    • Pi Day!  3rd – 6th grades will enjoy some wonderful Pi competitions and activities, which will, of course, culminate in the eating of PIE.  Yum!
    • Volleyball training (5th – 11th)
    • XC training (5th – 11th)
  • Friday, 3/15/19 – Last day of 3rd quarter!
    • Re-enrollment contracts are due.  Please follow the link provided in your weekly e-mail reminders to complete re-enrollment.  There is a drop down menu that allows you to indicate your intentions for next year. Everyone needs to complete it.
    • Reading Day – 7th – 11th (Teachers will communicate with students what to plan on and expect.)
    • Report cards to go home.

 

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

  • SPRING BREAK:  March 18 – 22nd
  • 4th quarter:
    • 9th – 11th graders:  It is your turn to bring your Clorox wipes, paper towels and tissues!
    • Sweaters are optional for dress uniform in the 4th quarter
  • TENNIS CLUB:  (8th – 11th graders)
    • Mondays, beginning 3/25
    • @ Mill Creek tennis courts
    • 3:15 – 4:15  girls
    • 4:20 – 5:20  boys
    • Competitions with local schools are being planned for the end of the season!
  • Williamsburg Field Trip (5th – 6th)
    • Monday, 3/25 – 7:00 pm Parent Meeting
    • Leave Wednesday, 3/27
    • Return Thursday, 3/28

 

FROM THE TEACHER’s DESK

 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

 

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Luther)

Bible
  • This week TK reviewed verses they have memorized this year.  They reminded us to love one another well, always try our best,  and honor the Lord.
Theme Adventure
  • TK students have been very busy preparing for Grandparents Day next week.  There are many surprises in store that we cannot share just yet!
Literacy
  • This week TK students continued to review identifying syllables while also reviewing descriptive words.  They were challenged to describe items by touch, smell, and taste.
  • TK students began identifying final sounds.  Ask your student if they can stretch out the final sound of common words. TK teaches ending sounds in this order:  rhyming words, onset rime, and final sounds. Final sounds are the smallest ending sounds or phonemes. Identifying beginning and ending sounds in words prepares children for reading.
  • TK students have completed their preK handwriting books! After spring break TK will begin a kindergarten level handwriting workbook to prepare them for great work in K.
Math
  • TK students continued to work on measuring items and comparing length.  
  • TK learned to make a more complex ABC pattern with various math manipulatives.
Arts and Sciences
  • TK completed stories about their favorite animals.  They developed a character, a setting, and told a story.  The students are excited to share their works on Grandparents Day next week!

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera & Mrs. McDorman)

Language Arts
  • Our kindergarten scholars were introduced to their eighth book, Dan Of the Den. This book is based on the story of Daniel and the lion’s den found in Scripture. We added the letters J and Z to our phonics museum. We reviewed special exhibit words and added more to our list. Please review these with your student. If they know these words, they can concentrate on what is being said in the story and not focus on deciphering the words.  
  • Special Exhibit words: there, you, your, have, said, one, then
  • Spelling list for next week: review all spelling words
Math
  • Adding 10 to a number; comparing and ordering numbers to 100; counting by 100; addition facts: sums of 10; identifying a missing addend; estimating and measuring length using nonstandard units; comparing the size of the unit and the number of units used to measure an object; written assessment 18.  
History
  • Historians usually date the start of the Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.” Luther believed that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. Luther and other reformers skillfully used the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience.
Science
  • We are continuing our study on mammals, reviewing the basic characteristics of mammals, and learning interesting facts about a few mammals. Did you know the zebra’s stripes help it to blend into the background? Since lions and other predators of the zebra are colorblind, they have trouble seeing the zebras standing in the tall grassy areas. The shrew is the tiniest rodent and only weighs 1.8 grams. That is less than a paperclip!
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer and had our video lesson about the composers Bach and Handel. Then, we spent some time warming up our voices and singing the quarterly hymns. Finally, we enjoyed coloring and listening to the beautiful music of our quarterly composer, Rossini.
Art
  • We read Katie And the Waterlily Pond, by James Mayhew. It traces a little girl’s adventure through the museum exploring Monet’s paintings. Katie steps into his famous paintings and discovers Monet’s garden and love for plants, trees, and flowers.
P.E.
  • The weather kept us inside but we were still able to practice throwing and catching the basketball. Students practiced three types of passes: chest pass, bounce pass, and overhead pass.
Memory Work:
  • Proverbs 14:34 and review

 

1st Grade (Mrs. Campbell)

Language Arts
  • Phonics target sound: Soft C (circus, race, mercy); Adding S and ING to final CE words (racing)
  • We continued working to put words in alphabetical order, particularly words with the same first letter
Math
  • This week we continued practicing the addition algorithm, adding two-digit numbers with regrouping.  The students are doing well with this concept. They also completed their first 100 addition fact assessment!  In addition, we began review of subtracting 1 facts and practiced identifying and creating similar shapes and designs using geoboards.
History
  • After finishing our study of Benjamin West, we enjoyed a humorous book about a curious boy determined to know what George Washington ate for breakfast.  Along the way, we learned some interesting facts about our first President, and of course, his breakfast food of choice. Ask your child what he ate!
Science
  • Students reviewed the scientific method and states of matter and then completed their Chemistry test.
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer and read our weekly praise verse together. Then, we enjoyed watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.
Art
  • Our class enjoyed a brief video about Claude Monet and the style of the Impressionists.  The students imitated the colors in one of his well-known paintings “The Stroll”. We also used oil pastels and watercolors to create a replica of Monet’s beloved waterlily garden and Japanese footbridge in Giverny.
P.E.
  • With the weather being cold we stayed inside and worked on a football drill. Running when the ball is snapped.  We also played “4-corners” and “7-Up.”
Memory Work:  
  • 2 Corinthians 9:6,7

 

2nd Grade (Mrs. Jones)

Language Arts
  • Reading: This week on Baby Island Mary and Jean finally met the person who left such large, scary footprints. Mr. Peterkin speaks with a hard to understand accent and doesn’t like “young ‘uns”, but he does own goats! Ask your child why Mary was so excited to see a goat!
  • Cursive: We have now learned all of the lower case cursive letters. We spent the week reviewing the hardest letters before moving on to the upper case letters next week.
  • Grammar: The students were introduced to prepositions, the object of the preposition and prepositional phrases. They practiced coding sentences using what they learned.

 

Math

  • Selecting coins for a given amount
  • Subtracting 7, 8, 9
  • Writing checks
  • Adding money amounts
  • Reading and creating line graphs
  • Adding and subtracting fractions
History
  • We studied the birth of Moses this week, which is exciting for so many reasons. First, we traced Moses’ lineage to see how he is a part of God’s promise to Abraham. Second, we see how God protected Moses throughout three of Pharaoh’s plans in order to fulfill his own plan. Third, we get to connect all of the parts of ancient Egypt that we have studied so far with a major character from the Bible. Joseph, Thutmose I, Hatshepsut, the Nile river and more all play a part in Moses’ life.
Latin
  • This week the students took a Latin test over all the commands they have learned so far. Next week they will begin to learn animal names.
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer and read our weekly praise verse together. Then, we enjoyed watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.
Art
  • We continued our study of impressionism by copying Monet’s San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk. The students used sponges to try and create the same look. They worked on blending and creating the right shades using only the primary colors and white.
P.E.
  • With the weather being cold we stayed inside and worked on a football drill. Running when the ball is snapped.  We also played “4-corners” and “7-Up.”
Memory Work:
  • Hebrews 11:1-16

 

3rd Grade (Mrs. Mitchell)

Language Arts
  • Reading:  Detectives in Togas – Students learn more about the Roman government and justice system as we read.  Detectives find out that sometimes clues don’t turn out to be good clues after all.
  • Writing:  This week we worked on our 3rd paragraph of “Damocles and the King”.
  • Grammar: Learning the classification chant for Direct Object has been a challenge, but we are mastering it.  Students also continue to hone capitalization and punctuation skills.
Math
  • Mixed numbers and improper fractions – review; multiplying a 3-digit number by a 2-digit number; identifying, naming and drawing polygons; finding the area of polygons using tangram pieces; writing remainders for division problems as fractions; when to write remainders for division story problems.
History
  • Ministry of John the Baptist – John is referred to as the last Old Testament prophet. While reviewing what occurred in the years following the last Old Testament writings and the beginning of the New Testament, we discovered a good bit of familiar Greek and Roman history.  This included many men we’ve met in our studies: King Artaxerxes of Persia, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Hannibal, Octavian and Mark Antony.
Science
  • Compounds:  We reviewed the definition of solutions and compared that understanding to our growing knowledge of compounds.  We then participated in some kitchen chemistry to create an edible compound.
Latin
  • Chapter 23 – We are a bit ahead in Latin, so we have slowed down to enjoy translating all the sentences in this review chapter as well as the ones about John the Baptist from our Libellus book.  Students are also able to identify each part of speech in the sentence with a proper label, which matches the labels we use in grammar.
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer and read our weekly praise verse together. Then, we enjoyed watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.

 

Art
  • Monet’s Haystacks serve as our model for Impressionist “painting”.  We are actually using pastels to duplicate this masterpiece.
P.E.
  • With the weather being cold, we stayed inside and talked football.  We also played “4-corners” and “7-Up.”
Memory Work:
  • Psalm 19:14 – This final verse of Psalm 19 is a prayer that students can tuck away for present and future use.

 

4th Grade (Mrs. Hamilton)

Language Arts
  • Reading: we completed the wonderful and fun novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, after which we played several art puzzles based on the art housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the protagonists of the novel were hiding.
  • Writing: Students completed the introductions of their research papers. The purpose of this project is to give students a glimpse at what a true research paper is (one based on argument, and not just a report), at its structure, and at the way to conduct research.
Math
  • Students learned about the properties of geometric solids, reviewed the concepts of mean, median, mode, and range, and learned about units of capacity.
History
  • Johannes Gutenberg Prints the Bible: Students greatly enjoyed learning about one of the most important inventions of the Middle Ages, which helped usher in a new era.
Science
  • We completed our geology unit with learning about the three types of rocks and the rock cycle.  Students also brought their favorite rocks, learned ways to identify them, and studied them up-close using our HDMI microscope.
Latin
  • In Latin, we began memorizing and working with the demonstrative pronoun “this” (hic, haec, hoc).
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer and worked on our recorders. We learned the fingerings for High G and High F#, and we will practice, “Technique Time,” for homework this week. Then, we enjoyed the rest of class time watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.

 

Art

  • Students are close to finishing their pen and ink castles and cathedrals. This week they moved from drawing the outlines to focusing on the finer details and using a variety of textures to show different types of materials in their piece of architecture.
P.E.
  • With the weather being cold, we stayed inside and talked football.  We also played “4-corners” and “7-Up.”
Memory Work:
  • Psalm 94: 16-19

 

5th Grade (Ms. Windes)

Language Arts
  • Reading: As we continue to read Witch of Blackbird Pond, we reviewed symbolism and its uses throughout the book to help us better understand the characters and deeper themes.
  • Writing: Students wrote a final draft of their narrative poems.
  • Grammar:  The class reviewed classification of sentences and practiced  capitalization rules as well as punctuation rules.
Math
  • In math, we studied proportions, the order of operations, using cross products to solve proportions, and finding the area of a circle.
History
  • The Revolutionary War moved to the south with disappointing battles such as Camden, Guilford Courthouse, and finally the impressive finale at Battle of Yorktown. We also began to study the Treaty of Paris and the state of affairs in the colonies by the close of the war.
Science:
  • Students completed their study of astronomy for this year by taking their unit assessment and by sharing some of the amazing facts they learned in this class. Next week, we will begin our new unit, Physics.
Latin
  • We learned the fifth and final declension this week, also practicing identifying cases of nouns and using fifth declension nouns in sentences.
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer, then we enjoyed watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.

 

Art
  • The students are finishing their portraits to turn in before the end of the quarter! We focused this week on adding contrast by making sure darks are dark enough and brights are bright enough to truly create a three dimensional face.
P.E.
  • This week we went outside and practiced some football drills. We learned how “go” when the ball is snapped and how to properly run routes.

 

Memory Work:

  • Proverbs 17:17 and 27:17

 

6th Grade (Mrs. Garrett)

New Testament Survey
  • Assessment on the New Testament and memory work, 1 John 1-2:14
Literature
  • The class provided a wide variety of reports based on biographies of missionaries from India to Africa to England to China.
Math
  • Plotting functions, negative exponents, scientific notation for small numbers were covered this week.
  • The students reviewed and took an assessment this week. They also demonstrated that they could plot random points on a graph and create a dinosaur!
History
  • General Custer was discussed this week. His character, his negotiations with the Native Americans and the ensuing conflict proved a sobering topic.
Science
  • The students reviewed the terms of experimentation. They tested dependent, independent and control variables by creating an experiment using 4 different types of balls. After bouncing each ball, and measuring the heights, the students provided excellent data, graphs and results for the experiment.
  • Upcoming: Test: 3/12/19
Writing/Grammar
  • The class provided descriptive and inspiring book reports this week. Each report reminded the students of the eternal value of prayer, stepping out in faith for God, and trusting Jesus’ work on the cross to bring salvation to the world.
Latin
  • Students continued to study prepositions and how to use them in translation before taking their chapter 11 test.
Music
  • This week we began class with prayer, then we enjoyed watching the first half of, “The Barber of Seville,” a famous opera written by our quarterly composer, Rossini.
Art
  • The students continued to mimic Monet’s masterpiece this week by using short, color-filled brush strokes to create the feeling of movement, light and reflection. The canvas depicts the cathedrale, San Giorgio at Dusk, reflected on the waters of Venice, Italy.
Logic
  • Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc was discussed this week.  It translates from the Latin to “after this, therefore because of this.” This arguments assumes causation by something else that occurred before.
P.E.
  • This week we went outside and practiced some football drills. We learned how “go” when the ball is snapped and how to properly run routes.
Memory Work:
  • In Flander’s Fields, I John 1-2:15, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

 

LOGIC & RHETORIC SCHOOL

 

Mrs. Byrd

Physics
  • In our study of optics we are learning how to do ray tracing diagrams for convex and concave mirrors to see what types of images they produce.  Next we will look at lenses and see how various types of lenses are useful in eyeglasses, telescopes, and microscopes…and perhaps to light a fire if you are camping without matches
Precalculus
  • We concluded our study of sequences, series, and probability with a test on Friday.  Next week we will put some of use some of these skills into practice with our March Madness Bracket Project.  We will calculate the probability of choosing a perfect bracket and also look at some historical data and calculate how likely it is for a team to win a certain round.
Geometry
  • Currently we are learning about various angle and segment relationships with circles.  We will finish this unit with a brief test next Wednesday.

Dr. Byrd

10th Bible Survey
  • We are very close to finishing our survey of the Old Testament. This week we covered Micah – Habakkuk. We have seen many promises of the coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also learned about God’s sovereignty; not to mention seeking God’s will and waiting for God’s answer. The students are close to finishing their book analysis reports as we finish the third quarter.

Mrs. Dovan

8th Omnibus
  • We finished A Midsummer Night’s Dream this week, which the students thoroughly enjoyed.  As the week closes and the end of the quarter approaches, we are nearing the close of The Two Towers, comparing the narrative accounts of Tolkien’s several points of view.  This week, students discussed the characterization of Frodo and the distinct roles that he and Sam play.  Though their callings on the journey are quite different, they are both pursuing loyalty in their respective roles.

 

  • We will have a quarter 3  essay exam next Wednesday.

 

11th Elective – Intro to Drama
  • We finished Pygmalion this week and have begun the film-musical adaptation (My Fair Lady).  Students have been noticing already how their perceptions of characters change once the words on the page take on a personality on the “stage”.  Students were on the stage themselves this week, performing memorized monologues from Pygmalion and A Doll’s House.

 

Mrs. Fairchild

Advanced Art:
  • Our students took their quarter exam on Claude Monet.  We are also selecting which paintings of N. C. Wyeth’s we will copy.  We will begin oil painting soon.
  • 11th grade finished monotype printing and is beginning reduction printing.

 

Mrs. Frueh

7th Grade Science

  • We wrapped up our student presentations this week as part of our Quarter Three astronomy projects. We’ll begin our final unit on Planet Earth next week.
8th Grade Science:
  • The students are gaining practice in calculating the speed and acceleration of moving objects, as well as using dimensional analysis to calculate changes in rates. We are also learning that many words, such as velocity and acceleration, have slightly different meanings in vernacular than they do in the field of physics.
  • Quiz on Tuesday, March 12, on Speed, Average Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration.

 

Mr. Hamilton

7th Grammar/Comp
  • As we look to the end of the quarter, students are working hard on their literature essays, seeking to implement all that we have learned thus far about essay writing.
9th History
  • Our final assessments are coming up! For our Quarter Three assessments, students are to write essay-style answers to key questions, including what led to the American Civil War, the causes and results of American minority policies in the 19th and 20th centuries, how the American West was settled and transformed, and a biblical critique of communism.
9th Literature
  • As we wrap up our Quarter Three assignments, we are looking forward to a strong Quarter Four, in which we read such classics as The Great Gatsby and 1984.
9th Theology
  • We’ve had a strong Quarter Three, discussing such weighty matters as proper relations toward minority groups, racism, economic policies, a Christian’s attitude toward government, and much else, all from a Christian point of view.
11th Philosophy/Apologetics
  • This week we learned about the latest manifestation of the design argument, the argument from fine-tuning.

 

Dr. James

9th/10th Biology
  • This week larvae and pupae from the F2 generation of flies were present, so we removed the F1 generation from the vials.  The students completed their research presentations,, which were all themed around distinguishing between related topics at the molecular and cellular level.  We also concluded our discussion of molecular and cellular biology.
  • Next week the students have their third test of the quarter and their final exam.  The F2 generation of flies should be at adult stage, so we will note the wing traits of this third generation.

 

Mr. Johnston

8th Latin
  • We are wrapping up chapter 21.  Students, don’t forget your translation homework!  Final quiz is next Thursday so be prepared.
7th Logic
  • We are considering fallacy of “Begging the Question.” It’s one of the very common but difficult-to-spot fallacies.  Be sure to ask your child about it.

Mr. Miller

7th Latin
  • This week we practiced translation and parsing related to demonstrative pronouns.
8th Logic
  • This week the students took a quiz on immediate inferences.
10th Literature
  • .We read and discussed books from the Apocrypha this week, including Esther, Judith, and the Wisdom of Solomon.
10th History
  • We continued reading Josephus’ account of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, learning about the terrible horrors occuring in the city as the famine increased and the end drew near.
10th Rhetoric
  • The boys presented an introduction to a speech in which they wrote part of it in meter, and now they are working on finishing these speeches by the end of the quarter.
11th Literature
  • We are reading through Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, our last book of the quarter, and so far have learned how the two fell in love during the Trojan War through the cunning mediation of Pandarus.
11th History
  • This week has been devoted to working on the biography projects (including both a report and a presentation) which are due next week.
NT Greek
  • The students took a vocab test that included words from all the chapters we’ve covered so far, and then we reviewed for the translation and parsing test next Tuesday.

 

Mrs. Palmer

7th Art
  • We are working hard on our Winslow Homer watercolor pieces and they are coming along nicely.  I am excited to see how they turn out!
8th Art
  • We are continuing on with our oil pastels that have been inspired by literature from Omnibus.  These are coming along well!
9th Spanish
  • This week we finished up Chapter 5 and took our test.  Students worked hard to learn direct object pronouns, present progressive tense, weather phrases, and continual use of the verbs SER and ESTAR.  

 

Mr. Palmer

7th Pre-Algebra
  • This week we worked on adding positives and negatives, figured out how to find percent increases, reviewed for a test, and took a test.
8th Algebra I
  • This week we learned how to multiply and divide with scientific notation, solved problems with rates and time, reviewed for a test, and took a test.
7th/8th P.E.
  • This week we started to learn about the wide receiver route tree, practiced making cuts out of a route, and how to line up on the football.
9th Intermediate Logic
  • This week we took a quiz and began preparing for our test next week.

 

Mr. Davis

7th and 8th Grade Choir
  • The week the students worked on the song “Is He Worthy.” Next week they will continue to finalize all vocal parts for the same song.
11th Grade Introduction to Church Worship
  • This week the students worked on writing their own Worship Hymn that places a major emphasis on theological content.