BB 02-28-2020

 BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XII, ISSUE 21

FEBRUARY 28TH, 2019

 

FROM THE OFFICE

Austerfield invites all families to join our fundraising service project next week.

WHAT: Collecting loose coins in order to support a Bradford family and an orphanage in Panama.

WHEN:  Monday – Friday 03/02 – 03/06

HOW: Send contributions in Ziploc bags labeled with your child’s House name.  (This is an informal house competition.)

UPCOMING

NEXT WEEK:
  • ALL WEEK:  Austerfield Service Project (see above)
  • Friday, 3/6:  OPEN HOUSE A great event to refer friends and family interested in learning more about Bradford!  Tours can be set up via office@bradfordacademy.org
IN THE NEAR FUTURE:
  • Monday, 3/9:  Spring XC Training begins (for 5th – 11th graders, boy and girls)
  • Friday, 3/13: 
    • TK Grandparents’ Day
    • End of 3rd quarter
    • report cards go home
  • March 16th – 20th:  SPRING BREAK
  • Tuesday, 3/24:  
  • MS athletic awards, 8:00 am
  • HS athletic awards, 7:00 pm
  • Saturday, 3/28:  Leiden Service Project (email to come)

 

FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK

 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

 

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Grubb)

Bible
  •  This week the students learned about the parable of the lost son.  We saw how overwhelming and abundant God’s love is for His people.   
Theme Adventure
  •  It’s time for the spring garden!  This week is always a fun week in TK.  We use the week leading up to Dr. Seuss’s birthday to read The Lorax as an inspiration to plant seeds for our garden.  We thank Mrs. Meredith for teaching us about box gardens and helping us start seeds this week. Coming soon are red cherry tomatoes, arugula, spinach, buttercrunch lettuce, sugar snap peas, broccoli, yellow squash, cucumbers, and beautiful flowers! 
  • TK students also enjoyed Reading Day by celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Students were able to dress as their favorite character from a Dr. Seuss book and enjoy many activities during the school day celebrating joy in reading! 
Literacy
  •  TK students continue to develop comprehension skills. 
  • This week students created settings and illustrations for their own stories to be displayed at Grandparents’ Day. 
Math
  • This week TK students worked on comparing lengths of objects.
  • We continue to build number sense.
  • Next week we will begin to learn to count by fives!  
Arts and Sciences
  • TK students created stories using their favorite animal as the main character of the story!  They are creating 3D renderings of their character in a setting. We look forward to next week when they develop and tell their story.  

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera & Mrs. McDorman)

This Week
  • Our kindergarten scholars celebrated Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday on Friday. He is otherwise known by the pen name by which he authored children’s books: Dr. Seuss! Everyday we enjoyed reading a different Dr. Suess book during snack and lunch time. We played Cat in The Hat Lightening Round Sight Word Review Game in Phonics. The lights were turned off for maximum viewing of the pointers glowing paw which was used to select the sight words. Students wore their craziest socks and and enjoyed special Dr. Seuss snacks: Green Eggs and Ham M&M Pretzel Buttons, Lorax Tangerines, Truffla Tree Seeds, One Fish Two Fish Snacks, Horton Hears A Who Peanuts, and Brown Bar-ba-loots. After tasting green eggs and ham, we recorded our likes and dislikes on our bar graph. In Math we learned how to add ten to a number and divide shapes into fourths. Our time line has brought us into the Middle Ages. The students listened to the stories of a monk named Gregory. He was one of the earliest Benedictine monks who was appointed to the position of magistrate in Rome by Justinian. Benedict founded the first Benedictine monastery and wrote the three vows each monk was required to take. These were the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Students listened to Gregorian chants by candle light. Next week, we will explore the world of castles and Joan of Arc.
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the names of the notes on the spaces of the treble clef staff. After reviewing our past lessons, we continued with this week’s lesson. We also enjoyed praising the Lord with our monthly praise verse and song, “Thy Word.”
 
Memory Work:
  • Review third quarter verses : Romans 11:33-36, Isaiah 40:28, and Proverbs 14:24

 

1st Grade (Mrs. Campbell & Mrs. Morgan)

This Week
  • This week we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday! Students came to school with their crazy socks on, curled up with a pillow and blanket and read their favorite book. We celebrated with special snacks and various mapping, graphing and art activities. A highlight of the day was hearing our beloved headmaster read The Cat in the Hat while in costume!  Thank you all for bringing in donations to help make this day special for all involved.  In Math this week students continued to progress and work with adding double-digit numbers and regrouping.  We are continuing to grow our knowledge of vertebrates and invertebrates by playing a matching game and learning a new song, while in Grammar we moved from our study of nouns to working with action verbs.  Students also memorized a poem about manners and a catchy chant to help us with our study of words that show action!
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the names of the notes on the spaces of the treble clef staff. After reviewing our past lessons, and continuing with this week’s lesson, we enjoyed praising the Lord with our hymns of love! 
P.E.
  •  This week the students had P.E. inside and played Mosquito tag, Snake tag and Mission Impossible.
Memory Work:  
  • 2 Corinthians 9:6,7

 

2nd Grade (Mrs. Jones)

This Week
  • Second grade had such a fun week learning about the ten plagues in Egypt and the impact they had  on the empire. We discussed the very first Passover and what that meant for the children of Israel. In reading, we finished up My Father’s Dragon. Our favorite baby dragon was finally freed from his miserable life. Ask your child what “bum cack” means! On Friday, the students dressed up as a favorite book character to present their book report to the class. Ramona Quimby, Pippi Longstocking, Neil Armstrong, Encyclopedia Brown and Junie B. Jones were just some of the exciting characters to visit our classroom. It is encouraging to see the students fall in love with books and reading. This is a love that will help to grow them in all aspects of their academic career. 
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the music of the Romantic Period. After going through a historical worksheet about the time period, we listened to “Dies Irae,” from Requiem by Verdi, and, “Ride of the Valkyries,” from Die Walkure by Wagner. Finally, we enjoyed praising the Lord by singing our hymns of love!
P.E.
  • This week the students had P.E. inside and played Mosquito tag, Snake tag and Mission Impossible.
Memory Work: 
  • Hebrews 11:1-16

 

3rd Grade (Mrs. Garner)

This Week
  • During our morning forums, our class had very thoughtful discussions about Ash Wednesday and Lent. We talked about what these religious observances were, how they should remind us of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin, and ways that we could give something up for Lent and spend our extra time drawing ourselves closer to God. Some of the ideas we discussed included saving money to give to the food pantry, sharing our meals with others, cleaning up our rooms and donating our excess to the poor. We also said that just trying to spend time with God in prayer or read the Bible every day for a little while was sufficient for Lent. With all that said… Reading day was such a treat this week! The students devoured book after book. We all enjoyed our classroom being a more relaxed, peaceful, and reflective environment. As we read through the day, we kept track of the books we enjoyed and wrote down our thoughts after reading each one. I think all of us were surprised at how much one could read when we set aside the time. Please ask your child to see their list and ask which ones were their favorite.
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the music of the Romantic Period. After going through a historical worksheet about the time period, we listened to “Dies Irae,” from Requiem by Verdi, and, “Ride of the Valkyries,” from Die Walkure by Wagner. Finally, we enjoyed praising the Lord by singing our hymns of love!
P.E.
  • This week the students worked on throwing and running skills by playing a game called JailBreak. 
Memory Work:
  • Psalm 19: 1-12 (Next week, add verse 13)
Upcoming:
  • Tests
    • Tuesday, March 3- Math Fact Assessment and Written Assessment
    • Thursday, March 5- Latin Chapter 22 Test
    • Friday, March 6-
      • “Birth of Christ” History Test 
      • Chemistry Test (Students MUST be able to spell the first 18 elements correctly. This section of the test will count for their Spelling test for this week.)

 

4th Grade (Mrs. Hamilton) 

This Week
  • In history, students learned about the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire and how the battle for the great city of Constantinople was fought.  Students eagerly reconstructed the final days of the 53-day siege using their LEGOs. In literature, students continue to enjoy Claudia and Jamie’s adventures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in our new read, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, while in writing, we are continuing to work through the basics of research and writing a research paper. The highlight of the week was our Reading Day, when we dedicated a full day to the joy of reading. 
Science
  • Fossils: students learned about fossils, including what they are, how they form, and what they can tell us about the Earth’s past. Each student had the chance to chisel out fossils from a pile excavated several years ago by Dr. Wright. 
Music
  •  Our lesson this week was about the music of the Romantic Period. After going through a historical worksheet about the time period, we listened to “Dies Irae,” from Requiem by Verdi, and, “Ride of the Valkyries,” from Die Walkure by Wagner. Finally, we worked on our recorders. We learned the fingerings for High F and High G. Our homework for the week was a choice between, “Technique Time,” or “Jeanette Isabella.”
P.E.
  • This week the students worked on throwing and running skills by playing a game called JailBreak.
Memory Work:
  • Ps. 94:16-17

 

5th Grade (Ms. Windes) 

This Week
  • We came to the end of Duel in the Wilderness this week, and are getting ready to begin our next book which is appropriately set during the time of the Revolutionary War, Johnny Tremain. In math, we learned how to find the area of a circle, practiced finding unknown numbers with decimals and fractions, and using proportions to solve ratio word problems. In history we focused on the winter at Valley Forge, and each student did a great job with the various projects they prepared – presentations, drawing maps, role playing, or writing a newspaper article.  We all looked forward to reading day on Friday and getting to spend the entire day reading!
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the music of the Romantic Period. After going through a historical worksheet about the time period, we listened to “Dies Irae,” from Requiem by Verdi, and, “Ride of the Valkyries,” from Die Walkure by Wagner. Finally, we enjoyed praising the Lord by singing our monthly praise verse and song, “Thy Word.”
P.E.
  • This week the students had P.E. inside and played several group games.
Memory Work:
  • Philippians 2:16
Upcoming:
    • Wednesday, 3/4: Math test 
    • Friday, 3/6: History test 

 

  • No Latin test this week as we prepare for the National Latin Exam on March 11th! 

 

6th Grade (Mrs. Garrett) 

This Week
  • The class looked into the Wild West this week with General Custer and the Battle of Little Big Horn in view. The students also looked at the cattle industry and the role of cowboys on the range. They will enjoy cowboy stew on the open fire next week. Make sure to bring bandanas, boots, cowboy hats, chaps, or any other cowboy gear that one might have on Tuesday morning. We will each bring an ingredient to add into the stew. In addition, the class dove into circumferences, pi and solving ratios this week. The students took an assessment on viruses and the different ways they replicate as well. The students enjoyed finishing up Buck’s adventure in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild and took an assessment to look at reading comprehension and point of view. The students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Friday by reading Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, and many other novels and history books. 
Music 
  • Our lesson this week was about the music of the Romantic Period. After going through a historical worksheet about the time period, we listened to “Dies Irae,” from Requiem by Verdi, and, “Ride of the Valkyries,” from Die Walkure by Wagner. Finally, we enjoyed praising the Lord by singing our monthly praise verse and song, “Thy Word.”
P.E.
  • This week the students had P.E. inside and played several group games.
Memory Work:
  • I John 1-3:3, 1815 History Song, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, States and Capitals Song
Upcoming:
  • 3/3: Grammar Quiz, 3/5 :  Vocabulary Test, 3/6: History Test

 

LOGIC & RHETORIC SCHOOL

 

Mrs. Byrd

Calculus
  • This week ended our study of derivatives and their applications.  Next we will begin looking at integrals and learning their connection to derivatives.
Precalculus
  • We’ve concluded our study of sequences and series and next will take up the topic of probability and sampling.  This will culminate in a friendly class March Madness bracket competition and a look at the probability of making the perfect bracket.
Geometry 
  • The class is now looking at two dimensional area.  We’ve begun with a review of familiar area formulas and are now learning how to calculate area of more complex regions.  Students have a project to calculate the amount of paint needed for a room at home – have them choose a room you are considering painting in the near future.

Dr. Byrd

10th Bible Survey
  • This week we studied the book of Daniel. He took a stand for God in his early years and remained faithful to the Lord for many years in the courts of many important national leaders. We must serve God with all our might in the callings He gives to us even though there will be obstacles. 
  • Scripture memory: Hos. 6:3

Mrs. Dovan

10th Rhetoric I
  • This week in Rhetoric 1, students began their next speech. It is an encomium, a speech of praise that outlines an individual’s characteristics and good deeds.  The students will be praising a classmate and are encouraged to saturate their writing with the schemes and tropes we have been studying. 
12th Rhetoric II
  • Students turned in their second argument this week. As far as page count, we are about half way through drafting the senior thesis. We have discussed the importance of engaging with more secondary voices and we completed a workshop on effective introductions.  Next week students will turn in the third installment of their theses.

 

Mrs. Fairchild

9th Grade Advanced Art

Our 9th grade class has been studying the Artist of the Quarter, Thomas Cole. The main focus of their study has been on a series of paintings called The Course of the Empire.  Additionally, they studied contrasting pieces of art on the death of Marat. One painting was completed during the French Revolution and the second painting was completed by another artist about 70 years later. These artists had competing viewpoints on the French Revolution and our students enjoyed debating the message of each artist.

 

Mrs. Frueh

7th Grade Science:
  • The students reviewed the five major layers of Earth’s atmosphere and learned about the three minor layers: the ozone layer, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. 
  • Unit Exam: Thursday, March 5th.
8th Grade Science:
  • The class was introduced to the fun, but challenging task of balancing chemical equations. We also learned about the use of moles to express the number of atoms of a substance. Understanding molarity will serve as the foundation for our investigation of acids and bases next week.
  • Unit Exam: Tuesday, March 10th.

 

Mr. Hamilton

9th History
  • Our last unit of the quarter takes a look at developments throughout the world during the late 19th century.
9th Literature
  •  As we continue in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy continue to be at odds, while Collins and Wickham make an appearance on the scene.
9th Theology
  • After our assessment on baptism, we have turned to our final focus, eschatology. 
10th History
  • As our study of Thucydides is coming to an end, we are taking a look at Hellenistic Greece and the rise and fall of Alexander the Great.
10th Literature
  • Our study of Aristotle’s Poetics is providing some surprising and thought-provoking revelations.
11th Philosophy/Apologetics
  • This week we examined the cosmological and design arguments.
12th History
  • We have moved into the 20th century; tragedy and heartbreak await!
12th Literature
  • We finish off our quarter with a look at the sundry claims of Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil.

 

Dr. James

10th Chemistry
  • Due to the snow day last Friday,  the students took their second test of Q2 on Monday, and we began our discussion of intermolecular forces and solids.
  • Next week we will discuss properties of liquids and solutions.

 

Miss Oldham

8th Grade Omnibus
  • We finished The Two Towers and began reading selections from The Canterbury Tales. 
11th Grade Literature
  • We are continuing with Don Quixote and his chivalric quests. 
11th Grade History
  • We finished A Distant Mirror and began Summa Theologica, our new history text. 
7th Latin
  • We reflected on how we did on our last test (please see TADS for those grades) and made a game plan on how to change our fruit to be more positive. 
8th Latin
  • We took a test on Unit 1 in Book 2 and are working on translating fairy tales from Latin into English. 

 

Mrs. Palmer 

7th Art
  • This week we continued working on our watercolor finals inspired by Winslow Homer.  Students seem to be grasping the medium the more we go on!
8th Art
  • This week we started our LOTR oil pastel finals.  Excited to see these progress!
9th Spanish 
  •  This week we talked about direct object nouns and pronouns.  We review a lot of vocabulary and are continually working on conjugating irregular verbs. 
10th/11th Spanish
  • This week we reviewed preterite versus imperfect.  We also added some new vocabulary this week. 

Mr. Palmer

7th Pre-Algebra
  • This week we reviewed for a test and then took the test.
8th Algebra I
  • This week we reviewed for a test and then took the test.
10th Algebra II
  • This week we reviewed for a test and then took the test. We also began solving systems of equations using both substitution and elimination methods.
9th Intermediate Logic
  • This week we finished working with the conditional proof and began working with “Reductio ad Absurdum.”
12th Systematic Theology
  • This week we finished learning about the atonement and took a quiz. We then began learning about Christ’s resurrection.

 

Mr. Davis

7th and 8th Grade Choir
  • This week the class worked on solo’s for Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor, and we had a class discussion on the importance of personal worship and its relation to corporate worship. 
7th Grade Logic
  • This week we reviewed for a test and took the quiz on Friday. 
8th Grade Logic
  • This week the students took a test and had a debate. 
Advanced P.E.
  • This week the students did group games that focused on strength and speed training. 

 

Ms. Hutchison

7th Grade Forum

Our hymn for the week has been How Firm A Foundation, an 18th century hymn that has been a favorite of several American Presidents and generals.  We have learned from this hymn that Jesus is our firm foundation through all of life’s ups and downs.  He never changes, and that is good news for us in these changing times. Your students learned about the process of refining gold in order to remove the dross, or impurities; a metaphor used in the Bible for God’s design of sanctifying  us.

7th Grade Omnibus
  • History:  This has been a wonderfully productive week for our seventh graders in Omnibus!  We are enjoying Histories by Herodotus as we learn about the lives of people in the ancient world in the 5th century BC.  We have learned this week about Persian and Greek armor, battle tactics and strategies that influenced the outcome of the battles during the Persian/ Greek Wars.  Students are beginning a writing project in which they will be historians of an event in their own lives, writing in the style of Herodotus. Seventh grade students are also brainstorming ideas about a visual project they will be working on related to Histories. This project will be due in the fourth quarter.
  • Literature:  We continue to rehearse for our production of The Odyssey, which will be presented on a Friday in late May.  Additionally, we began reading Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, by C. S. Lewis.
9th Grade Biology
  • 9th grade students finished up a big unit of study on cellular reproduction by taking a test on meiosis and the process of sexual reproduction in eukaryotic organisms.  Our next Module began today (Friday). We will be learning about Mendelian Genetics and the fascinating world of heredity and how traits are passed from one generation to the next.
Honors Biology
  • Honors Biology students are gearing up for the big day…MAY 11!  This is the date of the national AP Biology Exam. Our students will be taking the exam at Burlington Christian Academy.  Honors Bio students should IN NO WAY be winding down; exactly the opposite. Diligent and consistent study is necessary in the next two months as we finish the race!  We are currently studying the ways cells communicate with one another by signaling, the use of hormones and a process called transduction. Additionally, students planning to take the AP exam are doing an independent study on evolution.  Stay the course, kiddos.