BB 08-19-2022

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XV, ISSUE 2

Aug 19, 2022

 

FROM THE OFFICE

With the first full week under our belts, students are getting accustomed to routines and curriculum.  Many happy moments of chanting and singing have been enjoyed.  It takes a lot of energy to establish good practices, and we are well on the way to success.  

UPCOMING

NEXT WEEK:

  • Monday, 8/22 – 
    • 8 AM: Lower School Scarfing Ceremony
    • 4:30/5:30 PM: Girls’ Volleyball – Away v. Alamance Acers, 238 Dixon Rd, Graham, NC
  • Tuesday, 8/23 – 
    • 3:30: The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team and the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team will both host HOME games at the MACC at 3:30 PM (8/23). Bradford students receive free admission.

 

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

  • Friday, 9/30 – 3rd Grade Field trip to Greensboro Science Center
  • Friday, 9/30 – 4th Grade Field trip to North Carolina Botanical Garden

FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK

 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

 

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Grubb)

We enjoyed a great first week of TK! We practiced being students in the classroom this week. TK was introduced to 2 new math materials, teddy bears and pattern blocks. We also began learning to sky write the numbers 1-4. TK students also began learning Ecclesiastes 9:10, which is their first Bible verse of the year. We enjoyed getting to know our teachers and friends and practiced shaking hands while listening to the “Hello Song.” The TK team is looking forward to a wonderful year with our students!

Lower School P.E. (Mrs. Bennington)

K – 5th

  • This week, students learned about and practiced the routines and expectations for PE. Students were drilled on the 4 whistle blow meanings. Students then played a few games to practice their ability to follow directions. 

 

Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)

K-5th 

  • This week, students learned about and practiced the routines and expectations for the music classroom. Students also learned about the importance of warming up their bodies and their voices to prepare to sing. We worked on the piece “Deep and Wide” in K-4th grade so students could comfortably start practicing proper vocal technique. Fun was had by all when we started adding in the body motions and leaving out words for this piece. All students, K-5th grade, worked on the school song, “Non Nobis”. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students also worked on the first hymn of the quarter, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Students started learning about our composer of the month, George Frideric Handel. We began listening to the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah”. 

Kindergarten (Mrs. Lopes and Mrs. Rivera)

This Week
  •  We are introducing so many new things to the students and they are  eager to learn! We started with the first question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism: Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. Our first grade-level math begins with a review of proper strokes for the numbers 0-9. Ask your student to recite our clever number rhymes as they practice writing their numbers. In phonics we introduced the letters a, b, c, d, g, o, and qu. Students have enjoyed practicing their letter sounds by playing Around The World. In history we introduced the timeline, starting with creation; heard the account of creation from Genesis 1; and started assembling our creation magnets. Our young scholars learned a song in science that teaches what was created on each day. This was also our first week of music and PE, which the students really enjoyed!
Memory Work:
  • Proverbs 1:7

 

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

This Week
  •  Our 1st Grade students have been getting back into the routine of school, remembering how to navigate the classroom, homework, and all the things that make Bradford special. We have been reviewing things in math, including adding doubles, telling time by the hour, and remembering all the days of the week. In phonics, we are reviewing sounds and sounding out words in order to decode them. In penmanship, we are reviewing our lowercase letters and adding to our knowledge base the upper case letters.  In history, we are taking a look at symbols of America, including the US flag, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, and the Liberty Bell. Finally, in science, we have been learning about the classification of living things, with special attention to the beautiful birds God made.
Memory Work:  
  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Upcoming:
  • Fact Assessment (doubles)- Thursday
  • Written Assessment – Friday

 

2nd Grade (Mrs. Hedgecock & Mrs. Batten)

This Week
  • Second grade put their scientific inquiry skills to work in our first full week of school as they formed a hypothesis and then we tested many common objects to see which would float. As part of the scientific method, our young scientists analyzed the results and used them to form new questions for our next experiment. Speaking of experiments, Uncle Andrew is up to no good with his ring experiments in our read-aloud novel, The Magician’s Nephew, but we are seeing Digory’s courage and nobility in contrast to his uncle’s cowardice.  We have also enjoyed learning about and imagining life on the prairie (sod houses and snake wrangling included) as we read Prairie School. Not only have the students been getting plenty of practice in reading, but they are also building up their endurance for and speed of writing in their journals and reading packets.
Memory Work: 
  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (this week)
  • Philippians 2:4 (next week)
Upcoming:
  • “I’m in the Bag” Presentations (spread out over the next several weeks)

 

3rd Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Mrs. Meredith)

This Week
  • Third-grade dove into the world of the Greeks and the Trojans. After reading the first few chapters of The Trojan Horse, students began forming opinions on what really caused the Greeks to go to war. Was it because the Trojans took Helen, their beloved queen, or was it because they were tired of paying tolls to cross the Aegean Sea? They also wanted to know why the Trojans  would be foolish enough to accept the strange parting gift of a  large wooden horse from their enemies, especially after being at war for so long!  In math, we collected data using a survey and  organized the information into  a bar graph so that we could decipher it easily. We tested the best strategies for determining all the possible combinations for a given set of numbers, and looked for patterns as we worked. Using a KWO, students retold a piece of expository writing in their own words using only their KWO’s. Curious to know what a KWO is? Just ask! Each day your students dig deeper into God’s word, such as 1 Corinthians 14:40, and discover just how orderly this magnificent world in which we live really is. Rest up, we have a wonderful year ahead!
Memory Work:
  • 1 Corinthians 10:31
Upcoming:
  • Biome Projects and presentations (completing during class time)
  • 9/30 Greensboro Science Museum

 

4th Grade (Mrs. Burtram and Mrs. Lawson) 

This Week
  •  We had a wonderful first full week.  We began reading groups and enjoyed teaching literature and writing in small groups with 5 and 6 students.  We completed our first History topic (St. Augustine and his conversion to Christianity.)  The students enjoyed listening to stories of the fall of Rome and the beginning of the barbarian invasion.  We have found wonder in our nature study and started our unit in Botany. 
Upcoming:
  • Barbarian Invasion and Vikings Presentation due on Friday August 26th
  • Information and details will be sent home on Monday the 22nd in black folders

 

5th Grade (Mrs. Erdt) 

This Week
  • 5th graders came in ready to learn and lead this year! They are quickly adjusting to new routines and responsibilities. We learned about Prince Henry the Navigator in history and explored the complexity of map making.  We’ve been studying Freytag’s pyramid and how it is used to track the plot of a story- ask them to explain the 5 parts of the plot for you!  Probably the most exciting thing we’ve done this week is begin reading The Hobbit.  So far we are in the exposition of the story and learning all about the characters.
Memory Work:
  • This week: Romans 12 vs 1-2
  • Next week: Romans 12 vs 3-5
Upcoming:
  • Next week we will learn about Columbus in history. We will also begin our Latin book! 

 

LOGIC SCHOOL

 

Mrs. Bennington

6th-8th Band
  • This week, students went over the Band Handbook. We practiced the routines and expectations for the band classroom. Students learned/reviewed basic music theory concepts to begin reading music. We practiced counting and clapping a wide variety of rhythms. Students also learned how to sit with correct playing posture and how to breathe from their diaphragm. Students ended the week by learning how to correctly articulate when producing a sound and how to form their mouth to play their instrument. Our first day with instruments will be this Tuesday, August 23rd! 

Mrs. Thrasher

6th-8th Chorus
  • We jumped in and began our routine of vocal warm-ups, solfège and sight singing exercises, quarterly hymns, performance pieces, and a short lesson on music theory or history.  I am excited to see their abilities and confidence grow through our work this year – we have already noticed progress!

Mr. Davis

6th-8th Boys’ PE
  • This week the students were timed for a one mile run, worked on pushups and situps, and worked on soccer drills. 

Miss Stevenson

6th-8th Girls’ PE
  • This week we did baseline tests for pushups, situps, and a one-mile run. We will repeat these tests on the last class of each quarter. For the month of August, we will be focusing on how to play ultimate frisbee.
6th Reading and Literature
  • We are starting off the year by reading The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. This book is a good way for me to gauge reading comprehension and inference skills before we move on to more challenging reading.
6th Grammar and Writing
  • Everyone did so well on the diagnostic essay from last week that I decided that they were ready to jump into a larger writing assignment right off the bat! We are starting out with a Personal Narrative Essay. First draft is due on Monday, August 22 with the final draft due on Friday, September 2. This assignment is designed to give students the opportunity to practice basic formatting and organizational writing skills while writing about their own experiences, which requires much less analytical thinking.
6th Bible
  • We will be reading through the entire New Testament this year. This week we focused on learning about the authors of each book, and we started reading through the book of Matthew. 
6th History
  • This year’s history curriculum is an overview of events in the US from 1815 to the present day. This week we finished up discussing the Monroe Doctrine and began looking into the national significance of the Erie Canal.
6th Science
  • This week we learned how to take Cornell notes and briefly discussed the definition of science and the Scientific Method.
6th Logic
  • As we begin working  through The Fallacy Detective, we spent this week on the introductory chapters which emphasize the importance of exercising your mind and being a good listener.

Miss Windes

6th Grade Latin
  • We began our new book this week! After a ‘Magnum Review’ (the Great Review), we practiced pronunciation, discussed Latin sentence structure, and made our first set of vocabulary flashcards. 

Mrs. Frueh

6th Grade Math:
  • We’ve spent the first 2 weeks reviewing concepts learned in 5th grade. The students have quickly settled into a routine of completing and correcting their work independently and aiming for growth in areas of weakness. 

Mrs. Palmer

6th Art
  • This week we talked about Leonardo Da Vinci and began a small scale sketch. Next week students will take a quiz on Leonardo Da Vinci.

Mrs. Crotts

7th Grammar and Writing
  • Our new books arrived moments before class started! As we were actually starting in the middle of the book from last year we whizzed through a review of writing techniques previously learned.  Next we discussed lesson 7 on RELATION (cause and effect; being a good investigative reporter).  Our example was DUKE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM LOST IN THE FINAL FOUR TO UNC; what caused or led up to this  event?  We then headed outside to write a paragraph.  We observed a bird in the road…in this situation their causes had to be creative rather than factual since no eyewitnesses were available to see how the bird landed in the road or why and also the results/effects… we then shared what each student wrote… cause and effect of the bird in the road!
7th Grade Omnibus
  • By Friday we will complete our overview of Genesis and Exodus.  Omnibus covers history, literature, and theology/philosophy.  Most of us have heard of these Bible books’ events, but Omni allows us to go deeper or jump out and view from different angles.  Theology (study of God): Creation – we are created by an intelligent Creator with a purpose, the Fall – we fell with Adam into sin, Redemption – we have hope,  a Redeemer is coming!  History: an account of how it all started, keeping in mind other ancient accounts of history that we will view soon.  Literature: what genre are we reading…who’s the audience, writing style (these works are translations from Hebrew)…?
7th Logic
  • Learning the Art of Argument, we worked hard to clarify that there are positive and negative methods of presenting an argument and also a need to be eagle-eyed about how we persuade and are persuaded to believe or do something. 

Mrs. Frueh

7th Grade Science:
  • After spending a few days reviewing the scientific method, the students are excited to jump into their first scientific experiment. They’ll begin their soil analysis lab next week. This will be a quarter-long project, ending with each student writing their own formal lab report.
7th Grade Pre-Algebra
  • The class is off to a great start! The students have jumped into arithmetic and geometry review and already took their first test. Everyone’s excited to jump into some tougher concepts in the weeks to come.

Mrs. Palmer 

7th Art
  • This week we talked about Leonardo Da Vinci and began brainstorming for our upcoming comic strips. Next week students will take a quiz on Leonardo Da Vinci.

Miss Windes

7th Grade Latin
  • Seventh graders spent the week reviewing the Latin we learned last year; we will dive in to new material beginning next week! 

Miss Windes

8th Grade Omnibus
  • History: This year we learn about the time period from Augustus through the medieval period up to the early renaissance. We began this week by adding a timeline of our whole time period to our history books as well as a map of the Roman empire near its height in 117 AD. Then we explored the emperor Augustus and his successes and failures as well as the string of emperors that followed him. 
  • Literature: We continue through the book we began last week, The Church History by Eusebius. Eusebius gives us a peek into the early days of the church, covering the time period from the birth of Christ through his own days around 325AD. 
  • Composition: The students wrote and revised a persuasive paragraph last week, and this week worked on some stylistic and grammatical practice based on their needs. I’m excited to work with this excellent group of writers this year! 
8th Grade Latin
  • Eighth graders did a bit of review and then jumped into learning a new set of vocabulary words as well as some special Latin constructions. 

Mrs. Frueh

8th Grade Science: 
  • We spent this week learning the difference between physical and chemical changes. Ask your student about the electrolysis experiment they performed this week and see if they can explain what their experiment had to do with the color of the Statue of LIberty.
8th Grade Algebra I: 
  • The class is off to a great start! The students have jumped into arithmetic and geometry review and already took their first test. Everyone’s excited to jump into some tougher concepts in the weeks to come.

Mrs. Palmer 

8th Art
  • This week we talked about Leonardo Da Vinci and began a small sketch using pen and ink. Next week students will take a quiz on Leonardo Da Vinci.

Mr. Davis

8th Logic
  • This week the students learned about the purpose and types of definitions in Lesson 1 and what genus and species are in Lesson 2. 

 

RHETORIC SCHOOL

Mrs. Palmer 

9th Spanish 
  • This week we learned basic vocabulary, started learning numbers in Spanish, and talked about articles.  Next week students will take a quiz on their beginning vocabulary.

Mr. Crotts

9th Logic
  • We met for our first classes this week and have enjoyed getting to know one another. Our students sit at round tables and work together to learn about propositional logic. Together, we discovered that logic is the study of the mind as it reasons. It is both a science and an art. It is the science of correct reasoning and the art of discovering and applying rules to construct or determine correct arguments. Our studies will be in propositions (or statements) like “God loves the world” and we will learn to use  symbolic language to represent or replace the words and phrases. For example, “God loves the world” can be represented by the uppercase letter or symbol G. Our class values participation and serving one another as we learn a difficult subject. We hope to  be better thinkers and arguers (in the right sense!).

Dr. James

9th Geometry
  • This week we kicked off by examining examples of geometry in nature.  We then proceeded working with sets and operations of sets. 
  • Next week we will talk about points, lines, planes, and space.

Mrs. Hicks

9th Biology
  • The  biology course started with a playdoh lab. Each student had to construct things out of playdoh, one thing that was important to them, one thing they want to do in the future, and one thing they were excited to learn about in class so we could learn more about each other. Students  completed a learning style assessment and a pre-assessment about biology, as well as discussed their summer reading assignment, Darwin on Trial, it was very thought provoking and a great introduction to the subject of biology!

Dr. Smith

9th Theology
  • This week we talked about the nature and history of historical theology. We learned a little about the four categories of theology, as it has been structured in the history of the church–exegetical, systematic, practical and historical. We also learned about how the seven basic doctrines of the Christian faith–Scripture, God, Man, Christ, Salvation, Church and Last Things–have served to be the categories through which the church’s most faithful pastors and theologians have worked through what Christians ought to believe and do.   

Mrs. Crotts

9th Grade Omnibus
  • 9th Grade Modern Literature began the pilgrimage through John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.   We spent some moments learning about Bunyan’s life and how his experiences are mirrored in the book.  It is a work of encouragement–lay down your burdens, rest in Christ’s work of salvation and plod on towards a glorious end!

Mrs. Fairchild

9th Grade Advanced Art
  • We began the year with getting the students set up and ready for their upcoming art classes. We studied a few interesting masterpieces by playing a game.  The students were each given a notebook with a picture of a masterpiece on the front.  This game  involved  “stealing” paintings from their classmates.  The students learned more about the artist  and each painting as the game progressed. They soon discovered that the more they understood about the painting or the artist the more they valued or appreciated the painting.  Those paintings became the ones that were being “stolen” and enjoyed the most.   Interestingly, our students discovered the most expensive painting up for grabs, priced at $450,000,000 by Leonardo Da Vinci, was not the most popular.  The monetary value of the painting did not impress our students, but rather the message of the artist and their work.  Ask your student if they were able to keep their favorite painting or if it was stolen.

Coach Johnston

9th History
  • Students began history class with a geography lesson and will now be studying Early Explorers and the Reformation.

Mrs. Byrd

10th Grade Algebra II
  • We’ve begun the year by reviewing exponent rules and how to identify and combine like terms.  Students should have a scientific calculator for use at school and at home this year.

Dr. Byrd

10th Bible Survey
  • We have begun another exciting year of Bible Survey. Our goal is to examine each book of the Bible by June. We started looking at  key texts that demonstrate a summary of the Bible and also texts that explain the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture. We emphasized that the Lord Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Old and New Testaments (Luke 24). Next week we will begin with the book of Genesis. 
  • Bible Memory: Joshua 1:8-9 
  • Read chapter 1 in William Hendriksen’s Book Bible Survey.

Mrs. Crotts

10th Grade Omnibus
  • 10th Grade Ancient Literature began our mountain top climb of ancient works with an overview of Proverbs.  In this poetic work we learned about wisdom’s meaning–the Fear of God is the essence of wisdom. Next up–the book of Job and then Aesop’s Fables.

Dr. James

10th Chemistry
  • This week we began with an introduction to many terms associated with chemistry, which we will use throughout the year. 
  • Next week we will continue the introduction with discussions of particle motion, types of energy, and states of matter.

Coach Johnston

10th History
  • Students began Ancient History class with a geography review, and then a close reading and discussion of the Biblical account of creation and four other origin stories from ancient times. A good question to start a family discussion would be: how do BOTH the similarities and differences between creation accounts speak to the trustworthiness of the Biblical account?
10th PE
  • Students were introduced to and have begun to practice the regular rhythms of PE class. They also tackled a few team-building challenges and played ultimate frisbee.

Miss Oldham

10th Rhetoric I
  • Students started their rhetoric journeys! We have discussed how the art of rhetoric was born and why we study it at Bradford. I am really looking forward to teaching these students this year! 

Mrs. Palmer 

10th Spanish
  • This week we reviewed verbs, vocabulary and basic grammar concepts.  We will continue to review for the first few weeks of class before launching into new concepts.

Mrs. Byrd

11th Grade Physics
  • After a review of significant figure rules, we began to consider motion in one dimension.  Our first topic was to learn the difference between vector quantities and scalar quantities.  Ask your student why time is a scalar.
11th Grade Precalculus
  • Our key topic for the year is mathematical functions.  We are beginning with the most basic function – a line.  The class is also acclimating to using an online platform “Web Assign” to do their math homework.  They also need a graphing calculator for their classwork and homework.  These will also be used on various standardized tests – such as the SAT, ACT, and AP exams.

Miss Oldham

11th Grade Literature
  • Students began to read Augustine’s City of God. We are looking at how Christians should discuss fate, destiny, and loving this world. 

Dr. Smith

11th NT Greek
  • Before diving into the nitty gritty details of the Greek language, we considered a theology of language. We considered that God begins his word by revealing that all creation came into being by his speaking and the work of his Spirit. We considered that Genesis 1:1-2:3 tells us not merely that God created but how he proceeded in creating by speaking things into existence and then distinguishing realities from each other. Thus, human knowledge of anything is rooted in the ability to rightly identify realities and using language to identify and communicate this identification in relation to other realities. This was contrasted with the current “Woke” ideology and radical individualism that allows people to define their own reality, and thus, in principle, completely undermines and denies any actual ability to have  common knowledge or genuine communication.

Mr. Webster

11th Grade History
  • This week we began by studying the importance of history from a Christian perspective. We will also briefly cover a little bit of background to the Middle Ages, particularly with the Roman Empire. 
  • Next week will have a quiz on the slides concerning the importance of studying history and will begin covering the initial stages of Medieval history. 

Dr. James

Personal Finance
  • This week we began with an introduction to personal finance, which included topics such as net worth, debt, and evaluating spending and saving habits.   The students received their first assignment:  pick three passages of Scripture that address money, and present them to the class with regard to context, instruction, and application.
  • Next week the students will have a quiz on Ch. 1, and we will talk about budgeting. 

Mrs. Byrd

12th Grade Calculus
  • The foundation of calculus – the idea of a limit – has occupied us this week.  Students are learning how to find a limit graphically, numerically, and algebraically.  

Mrs. Hicks

12th Anatomy
  • This week in anatomy we started with a playdoh lab. Each student had to construct things out of playdoh, one thing that was important to them, one thing they want to do in the future, and one thing they were excited to learn about in class so we could learn more about each other. Students completed a learning style assessment and a pre-assessment about anatomy. The first anatomy  lecture introduced the subject of anatomy and physiology. The lecture included a review of cells and students made their own cells out of various food and candy. 

Coach Johnston

12th History
  • Students began Modern History class with a geography review, and since then we have been reading about and discussing the five major factors which caused the 16th century to be an Age of World Exploration.

Miss Oldham

12th Grade Literature
  • Students began to discuss Paradise Lost and Milton’s Satan. This is bringing up some hard truths and deep thoughts, so ask your senior about it!
12th Grade Shakespeare Elective
  • We have begun our survey of Shakespeare with his classic, Twelfth Night. This is going to be a fun class! Please stay tuned for information on a field trip. 
12th Rhetoric II
  • Seniors are looking at their thesis topics and thinking through mentors. Please be in prayer for our Senior class as we all navigate this year and this difficult topic. I am very excited about this class and these topics! It will be a good year.