Backwards writing

In Art History class the boys have been studying Leonardo Da Vinci. Last week they looked at the Mona Lisa, and this week they did backward writing which is also called mirror writing. Leonardo used mirror writing for most of his journals. Mrs. Mollett did an excellent job presenting this topic, and the boys had a great time trying mirror writing for themselves. Mrs. Mollett brought mirrors so that the boys could see how they were doing. I shot a much longer video than the one posted above, but it is interspersed with boys' names, so I could only include this snippet. Trust me when I say that there was enthusiasm and excitement in abundance in the room during Art History. Thanks for such a great lesson, Mrs. Mollett!! Click here to see a great link to see your own phrases in mirror writing. Better yet try it out yourself at home and send notes back and forth in your family. Any carpool or other note sent in from home may be written in mirror writing if you would like. Go for it!!

The Laying Out of the Papyrus

Today we laid out the papyrus strips that soaked in water over the long weekend. While this is always one of my favorite days of the year, today brought even more joy than I anticipated. With our new schedule, the only time we had in the morning for the project was from 8:00 - 8:30. I had no idea how it would go and if we would be able to get finished, but I was delighted with the outcome. The two elements that made it all work so smoothly were the help and cooperation of the boys. It was truly a team effort from start to finish. As the boys got finished laying out their papyrus they helped out in many ways. A few boys stood at the papyrus container and pulled apart strips that were stuck together while others made countless trips for paper towels to wipe up water from the floor. With those jobs well in hand, other boys fanned out through the room admiring their classmates' work and offering to lend a hand getting more strips from the container. By 8:30 all of the boys present had laid out their sheets of papyrus, and the room was immaculate. I covered the sheets with a pile of books and wedged the pile underneath the T-Rex. Way to go 9-2!!!!

We will replace the moist washcloths that are helping to remove water from the papyrus twice a day with dry washcloths, and if all goes well we'll have sheets of papyrus by Friday. Stay tuned.....

The Papyrus Project

Over 5,000 years ago a wise Egyptian figured out that if he (or she) cut papyrus into thin strips, soaked them in water, laid them out on a rock to form a sheet, and pressed the papyrus with other flat stones until it dried, that it would form a durable, yet flexible surface which could be written on. We will be recreating this remarkable sequence of events (without the rocks) next week in class. We have started the process by soaking the papyrus strips which were sent to us from Egypt, after they had been cut down from the banks of the Nile River. Stay tuned for updates as we proceed next week. (Note: I left my camera at school which has the pictures I took of the papyrus in our classroom. This is a picture that I copied from Mrs. Williams' blog since her class is also making papyrus next week. On Tuesday I will upload our pictures...In the meantime, thanks Mrs. Williams)

The 9-2 Symphony

The boys have been working very hard in music class learning to read music and play a number of different pieces. Their budding skills are evident in these clips. Bravo to the Boys of 9-2 and their fabulous conductor, Mrs. Elliott!!

Music in the Art Room

Each time I pick up the boys from art class I am greeted by a lovely song. I asked Mrs. Bishop the story behind the song, and she told me that it is a call and response song from West Africa. The teacher's part translates to, "Listen to me," and the boys' part means, "We hear you." It is a great way to get the boys ready to leave art and move on to our next activity.

Two Great Shots

This year we have our lunch recess on the blacktop on the even days of the month, and we are in the gym on the odd days. On the days when we are in the gym we often play a game called "Basketball Dodge." The object is to make a basket in the opposing team's basket without getting hit. If a player is hit he is "out" until someone from his team hits the other team's backboard. At that point all players on his team are back in. Today I took a video of the game in action with the hope of recording a basket. I chose a player at random and followed his every move. That player scored a goal, and shortly after that one of his teammates also scored. The boys have a great time playing this game and its many variations.

First Time for Spelling Lab

Each Monday we go to the Main Lab for some practice with the current week's spelling words. The boys engage in a variety of activities that are educational and enjoyable. Doing these activities on laptops is new this year, so we're still learning the ropes, but today's time went well.

Hands-On Science

On Friday the boys had a great science class. After learning how to use a microscope, Ms. Wlodarczyk had the boys look at slides of onion cells. They had a great time as evidenced by the chorus of "Wow!" and "Look at This!!" that I heard. I included a picture of what they were looking at.

My Life as a Cave Boy

In class this week, the boys pretended that they lived back in the days of cave boys and wrote a composition about what their life may have been like. Here are two excellent compositions...

Life as a cave boy is tough and dangerous. My cave is large, damp, and has many stalactites. To get inside I have to get on my hands and knees and crawl in. I help my parents by making mud dishes and collecting food. One day I went hunting with my father and killed my first animal. It was a lion, and I killed it with my knife and spear. I threw my spear at the lion, and it charged at me. Then I grabbed my knife, and I stabbed the lion and it died. My favorite food is raw meat.

In my free time I do many exciting things. I like to swim in the stream and play tag with my brother. I face many dangers in my life. Some of them are storms, cold weather, and wild animals. At night I go to the stream and get a drink. Then I go back to my cave and find some insects to eat for dinner. After that I try to fall asleep. I’m glad that I survived another day.

Life as a cave boy is exciting but dangerous. My cave is cold and damp. The entrance is on the top, so I have to jump down into it. I help my parents by making plates and bowls even though they want me to help them hunt for wild animals. I eat raw birds' eggs and meat. My favorite food is meat, but I have to walk to the lake to find the animals.

In my free time I like to make weapons with my father. The weapons that I make are very good, but my father’s are even better. We have to protect ourselves from lions, bears, and other wild animals. I think the most dangerous animals we face are lions. At night I go to the stream and get a drink. Then I block the cave entrance and go to bed. I am glad I survived another day as a cave boy.

Cave Tools Day 2

Yet again the boys did a fantastic job. Every boy has now made a cave tool and had his picture taken in the warrior pose. We are ready for the hunt to begin. Somewhere far, far away there are buffalo that are very afraid.

Cave Tools!!!

A Handsome Class

We had our class picture and individual pictures taken today, and it went well. The pictures will come home in a few weeks for you to see. Until then you can enjoy the new blog header photo and the more subdued picture seen below.

Four Kinds of Sentences

Today we had another interesting grammar class. We learned about the four different kinds of sentences: telling, exclamation, questions, and requests. After learning the differences and writing one of each kind, the boys participated in a class activity. Each boy wrote one sentence of their choice and then balled up the paper it was written on. They threw the paper balls at a box the line leader was holding. With the papers thoroughly mixed, the boys each chose a paper, read the sentence, and then walked to the corner of the room with the type of sentence they had picked. It was a lot of fun and hopefully helped reinforce the lesson. We discussed the fact that telling sentences and exclamation sentences are sometimes told apart by the context and the way they are read.

A Wonderful Composition

Each week I will highlight one or two of the compositions. This week's featured composition is an excellent example of combining facts to form powerful compound sentences. Since I cannot include the author's name I put a picture at the bottom of his composition. In this case, I got lucky that I took a picture of the author while he was in the midst of writing the delightful composition which follows.

My Summer Memory

The summer before my Ninth Age year was filled with excitement and joy, and one of my favorite summer memories was my second day of surf camp. There was a counselor named Patrick who was helping me surf and a lifeguard watching over me. I did the surf camp in North Carolina in a little town called Wilmington. The surf camp lasted five days and those five days were the best days ever, especially the second day of surf camp. When the surf camp started I had to wake up at seven thirty in the morning. Usually in August I do not wake up that early. The surf camp was very exciting and enjoyable, and that is why I think it was special. When the surf camp ended I was very sad, and I wished it would go on forever. I enjoy thinking about my summer memory, and I look forward to making more memories in the Ninth Age.

Another First

Today we continued working on our first composition of the year. I have glanced at a few of the papers, and they look great!! I will read all of the compositions during the next few days and post one or two for you to see. All of the students will eventually have their work featured on the blog.

History Review Sheet

To see the history review sheet click here. We are doing nearly all of the studying in class. The boys do not need to memorize the information. They merely need to be familiar with it. There will be some fill in the blank answers but there will be a list of words to choose from. If you could spend about ten minutes looking over the information with your son, he will be all set.

Our First Math Folder Paper

The boys did a great job on their first math folder paper.

Happy Birthday!!!

We had a first for this year...one of the students celebrated his birthday today. Since the scheduled snack today was buscuits (and buscuits are a crowd favorite) we ended up having the birthday treat and celebrating later in the day in the classroom. In what could quickly become a tradition (the other boys sure hope so) the birthday boy was serenaded as he stood atop his desk.

Subjects and Predicates

Today we had our first grammar lesson. We talked about the two main parts of a sentence, the subject and the predicate. The boys learned that a subject tells whom or what the sentence is about and the predicate tells what the subject is or does. After a few written activities I gave each of the boys a slip of paper with either a subject or a predicate written on it. Their job was to circulate through the room and try to find the matching half of their sentence. Some subjects and predicates appeared to match up but there was only one solution that worked for all of the sentences. We ended up with a lot of matches and some strange sounding sentences at first. I had all of the groups who were correctly matched sit down and let the others continue to search for their partner. In very short order all of the sentences were matched up correctly. I had never tried this activity before, but it worked very well. One of my goals in grammar this year is to do activities like this which enforce the concept being studied in an enjoyable manner. The boys did such a great job with this I know I'll be able to do more things like this in the future.

Fun With Numbers

Today in math we did an activity the got us thinking about numbers in a different sort of way. I put a list of numbers on the board like 35, 27, 19, 303, and 41, and I asked the boys what all of those numbers have in common. After a moment or two some hands started to go up as the boys realized that all of the numbers are odd. Then I put up another group of numbers like 170, 26, 305, 80, and 44. I asked the boys what these numbers had in common. This one was more difficult but eventually they figured out that if you add the digits in each number the answer is always 8.

I then gave the boys construction paper and crayons and told them to make up their own set of numbers that were all related. They traded papers and had a great time trying to figure out the thing in common in the sets of numbers that their classmates had come up with. Below are some of the sets of numbers the boys came up with. (I separated numbers with semicolons since commas are used in some of the numbers) See if you can figure out what they have in common. I will post the answers in the comment section below the post. Good luck!!

A. 30; 103; 135; 1,000,003; 1,003

B. 11; 75; 64; 20; 97

C. 432; 658; 856; 20,306; 496; 28,526

D.1,111,111,111; 55; 64; 1,333

E. 3,005; 5,000; 4,005; 9,000

Out of This World Sentences

The boys just completed their first folder paper of the year, and the results look great. The subject matter was meteorites, specifically a meteorite that fell in Algeria in the year 2000. I listed about a dozen facts about the meteorite and the boys organized and combined the facts to form a paragraph. The first picture shows the boys hard at work with the facts displayed on the massive 9-2 Jumbo-Tron. The second picture shows an actual NWA 869 meteorite like the one the boys received after completing the writing assignment. Well done boys!!! Below are two examples of the students' work.

In the year 2000 a meteorite fell in Tindouf, Algeria. It broke into many pieces. The meteorite is called NWA 869, and it is over four billion years old. There are three types of meteorites: iron, stony, or a combination of the two. NWA 869 is a stony meteorite.

A meteorite fell in Algeria in the year 2000. The meteorite fell near Tindouf, and it was over 6000 pounds, but it broke into many pieces. It is called NWA 869 and is four billion years old. There are three types of meteorites: iron, stony, and a combination. NWA 869 is a stony one.

Another Awesome Day!!

Today was another great day. In the morning the boys each read aloud a page from C.S. Lewis's classic novel, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. We worked on reading with expression, and the boys did a great job. Mr. Wareheim joined us and stayed for the entire class. I was very proud of how well the boys did.

After that we did a math activity looking at the numerical value of our names. The consonants B-L counted as five points each, consonants M-Z counted as eight points each, and vowels counted as nine points. After each boy added up their own point value for their names I challenged them to find the Lower School teacher with the highest point value and the teacher with the lowest value. Mrs. Sczcerbicki and Miss Wlodarczyk were strong contenders, but Mrs. Silberstein took the prize for the highest value, and I think Mr. Paul and I tied for the lowest value.

We had a fantastic composition class in which we first expanded simple sentences like "I have a cat." After that we combined two or three short sentences into one compound sentence. The work the boys did can be seen by clicking here. The sentences in bold were what I gave to the boys. The sentences that follow are the ones that they volunteered. We will continue with a similar activity tomorrow that will be our first folder paper of the year.

My goal is to post this sort of information much earlier in the day, but today was a busy day and Wednesday happens to be my busiest night.

In conclusion we had a great time celebrating 9/2 in 9-2. We only get to celebrate it once every seven years or so, so we made the most of it today. More tomorrow....with pictures.

A Great First Day

The boys are having a great first day. One of our themes this year is that we reap what we sow. Today we planted some seeds in terrariums. We worked in the classroom as well as outside since it is such a beautiful day.