This week seemed exceptionally busy.  We had a couple of community outings and a lot of learning.

1. On Friday, the Yellow Team walked to Charles Best to see 3 one act plays.  Mr. Case’s classes and clubs presented That Achaean Crowd is a retelling of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in rhyming couplets; All in Disguise is a comic farce in the tradition of Comedia Del Arte which is a fast paced physical comedic style;  Fifteen Minute Hamlet, which really needs no explanation. We were very impressed with the presentations and were thrilled to see former Hillcrest students in the productions.

2. Wednesday evening Ms. Abbot and Ms. Sullivan presented a workshop on the book “Smart but Scattered” by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare.  We were thrilled with the number of people that attended and are looking forward to an ongoing conversation about this topic.

3. Students have had the opportunity to participate in several new lunch time activities.  As the weather has changed, several activities are being offered in specific classrooms and in the gym.  What activities does your son or daughter do at lunch?

4. Our literature circles continue and students completed their second written response.  All student received feedback on edmodo using the writing performance standards.  Please log on with your son or daughter to see their writing.  Students will have another response due next week.

5. Geography projects are marked and students have received their rubrics (or will be on Monday).

6. Our schedule needed to be adjusted and now grade 6/7’s have PE on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.  Please help your son or daughter remember this change and make sure they have their gym strip at school on these days.

7. We are continuing our exploration of ancient times and interpretations of artifacts.  Last week, students investigated images from “Motel of Mysteries” and speculated about the artifacts.  Students then had the opportunity to look at modern artifacts and speculate about the circumstance they were in.  Students are now working on presentations comparing two similar monuments from different geographic locations.

8. Science fair prep continues and students are working on putting together a working reference list.  Please review the science outline and expectations for the reference list.  Some students are still completing and revising their feasibility study.  Ms Moody and Ms Abbot are continuing to conference with students about their topics and helping students to focus their investigations.

9. Ms McKay and Mr Buhler are continuing to work with our classes.  They have been teaching math, PE and Socials/Language Arts this week.

10. On Friday afternoon the grade 6/7 classes went down to Planet Ice.  Almost all of our students ventured onto the ice and it was great to see everyone out together.  Some were just learning and spent some time clinging to the edges and other are accomplished skaters who were able to give some pointers and tips. Thank you to all our parent drivers – you make these opportunities possible!