BB 12-10-2021
BRADFORD BULLETIN
VOLUME XIV, ISSUE 18
DECEMBER 10, 2021
FROM THE OFFICE
The end of the 2nd quarter is drawing to a fast close. We pray the kids will be strengthened in their character to finish these last days well. Break is coming!, but it’s not here yet. Let’s press on to the finish line.
- Thank you to all Lower School parents who signed up to send snacks or volunteer next week!
- LEIDEN: It’s our turn to bring in those extra supplies! We need: thin expo markers and Clorox wipes (we do not need tissues or paper towels at the moment, but if you purchased them to send in, we will accept them).
UPCOMING
NEXT WEEK:
- Wed, 12/15 – Special upper school music performance for group at FBC
- Thurs, 12/16 –
- 8:30 – TK Nativity Play
- 3:30 – Varsity Boys home bball game
- Fri, 12/17 –
- Christmas celebration for the students
- End of 2nd quarter. Report cards released on EDUCATE.
- NOON DISMISSAL! Christmas break commences.
- 12/20 – 12/31: CHRISTMAS BREAK, no school
- 1/3/22: LEIDEN – extra supplies are due
- Used Uniform Sale – in January (date TBD)
- 2/15/22: DEADLINE to…
- 1) Make any desired changes to your payment plan for the 22/23 school year (i.e. change from pay-in-full to monthly plan).
- 2) Submit a letter to the office to Opt-Out if you do not plan for your child to return in the 22/23 school year.
FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK
GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Grubb)
Bible
- TK students continue to learn about the story of Jesus’ birth. The account found in Luke affirms the prophecies that Jesus is Lord! We are thankful for the hope we have in Christ.
Theme Adventure
- TK students made and decorated Rice Krispie treats this week. We had lots of fun in the kitchen.
Literacy
- Students continue to develop understanding of onset rime, counting syllables, rhyming words, and expanded vocabulary.
Math
- TK learned to tell time to the hour this week! Students have also continued to work with ordinal position and predictions.
Lower School P.E. (Mr. Davis)
K – 5th
- Due to the cold weather, we had PE inside this week. The students did warm up stretches and then played various active games inside.
Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)
K- 5th
- This week k-3rd grade students reviewed all four verses of “O Come All Ye Faithful”. We watched a clip of a performance of this piece and talked about how the musicians added interest to each verse. Students then worked on the first verse of “Angels From the Realms of Glory” and continued to try “Deck the Halls” in a round. Third grade students also worked on recorder pieces with the notes “A” and “B”.
- This week 4th-5th grade students worked on signing the piece “Deck the Halls” in a round. Students also worked on page 10-11 in their recorder books. Students will have a test on “Merrily We Roll Along” this Tuesday.
Kindergarten (Mrs. Lopes and Mrs. Rivera)
This Week
- This week our young scholars learned the plus two addition facts, measuring length using nonstandard units, writing the numbers 0-10 using words, and identifying pairs. We continued our study of Alexander the Great in our history lesson, leading up to next week when we read about the birth of Christ. In art, we made a special gift they will be able to bring home next week to share. The big news is that our students wrote and studied their first spelling words! This is building their confidence as readers.
Memory Work:
- Isaiah 9:6-7 and review
1st Grade (Mrs. Morgan & Mr. Law)
This Week
- Our intrepid students have been taking on measuring using feet and inches in math, along with making various polygons on the geoboards. In reading, we have been encountering many “ai” sounds in our new reader, “The Sailing Saint”, a fascinating legend about an Irish monk who explored the seas. In grammar, we are beginning to take on the pronouns “I” and “me”. In history, we are finishing up our study of Squanto and will soon move on to our study of Colonial America. Finally, in Science, the students have been learning about the Bird of the Month for December, the tufted titmouse.
Memory Work:
- Psalm 1
Upcoming:
- Half Day – December 17th
2nd Grade (Mrs. Jones & Mrs. Batten)
This Week
- Students began the week by diving into the long and detailed story of Joseph and his family. We have both looked at Biblical texts describing the story of Joseph and how he became a slave in Egypt, and took a deeper look into Jacob and Esau and the story leading up to Jacob’s twleve sons. Students read Genesis chapters 37-40 for a better understanding of this complicated story. In math, students have been working hard to master their multiplication facts for this week as well as continuing learning about how to tell elapsed time to the hour and half hour. We have also introduced the three different ways to write division problems this week. See if your child can remember any of the ways to write 50 divided by 10! We are continuing to read My Father’s Dragon this week, and students are thoroughly enjoying learning all the ways that Elmer is escaping the animals on Wild Island.
Memory Work:
- Proverbs 25:17-18
- Review all of Proverbs 25 verses
Upcoming:
- Half Day – December 17th
3rd Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Mrs. Meredith)
This Week
- Students are discovering the details of the Roman Republic. The patricians and the plebeians struggled to gain power and create laws best suited for the people. Ask your students who were these two groups of people. In math, we focused on finding the area of a shape, using mental math to solve for the difference, and multiplying two-digit numbers using an algorithm. We have now reached a total of one hundred vocabulary words in Latin. Next week, we will create stories using our Latin vocabulary. In grammar, we are nailing down our capitalization and punctuation rules. This week has been all about the details of learning. We discussed how the details matter and encouraged students to be sure to pay attention to them in all areas of their life.
4th Grade (Mrs. Burtram)
This Week
- The students have completed a wonderful learning week. In Math, we finished through lesson 65 and stopped to review many concepts and think through multi-step problems. We learned about cardinal numbers in Latin and counted to ten in Latin, parsed and translated sentences with numbers used as adjectives. We wrote parts of speech poetry and continued analyzing fractions, simple sentences, and compound sentences. We also practiced many sketches of robins in winter, holly berry, and faith tulips. We will be using these skills next week when we design homemade Christmas Cards. The students have enjoyed a wonderful book read aloud called Tabitha’s Travels during our devotional about the life of a shepherd girl seeing the birth of Christ in the manger. It is filled with scripture and devotionals after each reading and has been a rewarding experience for all of us.
Science
- We finished our Chemistry study this week with two fun experiments (Elephant Toothpaste and Lava lamps). The students had a wonderful time creating their mixtures and observing their chemical reactions!
Memory Work:
- Quarter 2 Review
Upcoming:
- Early release Friday at noon.
5th Grade (Mrs. Erdt)
This Week
-
- This week we started our unit on acids and bases in science. We continued reading our new book, Witch of Blackbird Pond. It lined up perfectly with our history unit this week: Salem Witch Trials. In math we learned to add and subtract fractions with different denominators. We are almost halfway through our math curriculum for the year! We started working on our Burlington Writers Club pieces as well!
Memory Work:
- Q 2 review
Upcoming:
- Next week we will review more in Latin. Please remember to wear dress uniforms on Thursday and Friday. Bring gifts for our exchange on Friday if you choose. We have an early release Friday at noon
LOGIC & RHETORIC SCHOOL
Mr. Batten
6th Language Arts
- We wrapped up our study of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Students learned to write by using their own sensory details after reading the story.
6th History
- We discussed the Transcontinental Railroad and its impact on the United States, and took a few minutes to review the Civil War.
7th Grade Omnibus
- We continued reading Screwtape Letters and discussed the plethora of theological themes that Lewis lays out through the eyes of Screwtape and Wormwood.
7th Logic
- We discussed the fallacies of Bifurcation, and Circular Reasoning. Students identified where they see these fallacies most commonly used, and made examples of their own.
8th Logic
- We reviewed for, and took a test on the Mood and Figure of syllogisms.
Mrs. Byrd
Physics
- Besides learning about conservation of energy this week, our class has been perfecting their egg protection devices. Drop challenge is planned for next week.
Precalculus
- We’re concluding our study of log and exponential functions. Next we will start some basic trigonometry. We will also do an investment project to cap off our log/exp unit.
Calculus
- Our study of derivative applications is nearly complete. We’ve been learning how to visually move between function and first derivative graphs as well as to extract extrema and concavity information. We’ve also considered Optimization Problems, a common application of the first derivative. After Christmas we will take up the second main topic of calculus – integration.
Mr. Davis
6th -10th PE
- This week the students did warm up stretches and played various games to help build speed and coordination.
Mrs. Fairchild
9th Grade Advanced Art
- Our students have worked all quarter long preparing for their first mock trial. This was a light introduction to what is coming in the 4th quarter. They did a great job, but also gained some experience in how to frame an argument and provide evidence.
Mrs. Frueh
6th Grade Science:
- We have started examining the hierarchical organization of living things, both at the level of the individual organism (cells → tissues → organs → organ systems) and at the level of all living things (kingdom → phylum →class → order → family → genus → species). The students identified other organizational hierarchies in our everyday lives.
6th Grade Math:
- The students have started learning how to use rates and unit multipliers to solve problems, including problems with mixed units of measurement.
7th Grade Science:
- We wrapped up our unit on earthquakes and volcanoes by looking at the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, as well as the on-going eruption of the volcano on the island of La Palma, which has been erupting since September. We will take a test on earthquakes and volcanoes next Tuesday.
7th Grade Pre-Algebra:
- Many of our arithmetic skills are being combined to solve more complex problems. This week, we used our knowledge of proportions and fractions to solve proportion problems that included complex fractions. We also used our “fraction of a number” skills to solve complex word problems.
8th Grade Science:
- It was an exciting week in physics as the students brought in their self-propelled vehicles to test on our hallway “racetrack”. The goal was to build a vehicle powered by a mousetrap, rubberband, or balloon that would travel 5 meters. I was very proud of the hard work and perseverance that went into each vehicle and the diligence it took to continually troubleshoot and redesign their prototypes until they built a working vehicle. They should all be very proud of their accomplishments.
8th Grade Algebra I:
- Many of our algebra skills are being combined to solve more complex problems. This week, we used our knowledge of exponents and rational expressions to simplify rational expressions that included negative exponents. We also took a cumulative test this week.
9th Grade Biology:
- Our study of biochemistry continued this week with a closer look at carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. We used our molecular building kits to build glucose, fructose, and sucrose molecules and were in awe of the complexity of these biomolecules that are essential to all life and form the basis of all food chains. It has been fascinating to look at how the molecular structure of foods determines both their physical properties, as well as their function in living organisms.
Mr. Hamilton
9th Theology
- We are having our final test this week, which covers theological developments in the Eastern churches during the 7th and 8th centuries.
9th Literature
- As we wrap up Pride and Prejudice, we are preparing for our final essay.
9th History
- Our final unit of the quarter covers social and cultural developments in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
10th Literature
- We have decided to end our quarter with a creative writing unit, focusing on poetry.
10th History
- Our final history test is in the books! We look forward to beginning Greek history next quarter.
11th Philosophy/Apologetics
- Our final philosophy unit of the quarter covered developments in epistemology during the 20th century. Next up is our final exam.
Mrs. Hamilton
6th Music
- After completing our brief overview of the life, works, and influence of J.S. Bach, we began preparing for our music history test, which will include vocabulary, listening recognition, and short answer sections.
- Students completed a piano assessment and continued to progress in their piano pieces.
7th Music
- Students completed a massive Jeopardy-style review and test, which included vocabulary, listening recognition, and composer biography sections. It was a very useful, albeit unconventional (and very fun!) way to complete our quarter assessment!
- Students are doing a great job practicing their piano pieces!
8th Music
- Girls choir is ready for their performances next week! Hear them sing on Monday Forum at the main campus for K5 students, and on Wednesday 12:30pm at FBC Mebane.
- Students completed a massive Jeopardy-style review, which included vocabulary, listening recognition, and composer biography sections. It is proving to be a very useful and fun way to prepare for our second quarter assessment.
Music History Elective (Baroque to Modern)
- After our intensive study of Frédéric Chopin’s life and works, students began their rigorous second exam, which includes challenging vocabulary, matching dozens of pieces with their respective composers, recognizing musical examples, and writing an essay on a chosen composer. Students are doing an incredible job persevering through (and enjoying!) this college-credit class. Coming up in the second semester are several guest artists and concert trips to enhance our class experience!
Dr. James
10th Chemistry
- This week we discussed balancing chemical equations, and the students took their third test of Q2.
- Next week we will have a time for review, and the students will take their final exam.
Mr. Lopes
12th Systematic Theology
- We concluded the quarter by contemplating the sad and consequential Doctrine of Sin
Miss Oldham
12th Grade Literature
- We finished Hamlet and took our final exam this week.
12th Grade History
- Students wrapped up presentations and used this time to work on their theses.
11th Grade Literature
- We concluded our Shakespeare unit with Romeo and Juliet and a final exam.
11th Grade History
- Students have presentations due next week, so they have been working on those.
10th Rhetoric I
- Students are looking at speeches using the rubric they’re graded on to see what it is people look for in speeches.
12th Rhetoric II
- Students have their penultimate section of their theses due this week. The conclusion is due next Friday. Their Christmas present from me was to not have to worry about their theses over break, so we will start fresh in January with IST.
Mrs. Palmer
6th Art
- This week we worked on our colored pencil final drawings. These are nearly finished and look great!
7th Art
- This week we worked on our charcoal architecture drawings. We focused on blending our medium as well as honing in on details.
8th Art
- This week we worked on our magazine clipping portraits. We have been focusing on color theory for this project.
9th Spanish
- This week we took our Chapter 3 test. We began with new vocabulary and conjugated new verbs.
10th Spanish
- This week we talked about several verbs that change meaning from present tense to preterite tense. We also worked on new vocabulary and prepared for our Spanish skits.
Mr. Palmer
9th Geometry
- This week we learned more about formal proofs and prepared for our final test for the semester.
9th Logic
- This week we worked with formal proofs by using the “rules of inference.”
10th Algebra II
- This week we reviewed for a test, took a test, and then took a final.
11th / 12th NT Greek
- This week we prepared for our final and then took the final.
11th/12th Finance
- This week we talked about global economics.
Miss Windes
- **Please note: Miss Windes had to return home for the funeral of her dear grandfather so she was not able to update the information for her classes this week.