In Social Studies, we took a break from amendment study to go back to the year 1800 and the debate between Federalists and anti-Federalists, including the election of that year – the first transfer of power of opposing parties. Students discussed why this mattered and how the Jefferson Presidency impacted U.S. history.  On Wednesday, October 25, students have a test on the Articles of Confederation, Articles I-III of the Constitution, and the amendments. We have started to develop study guides the kids can use.

In Language Arts, students were divided into two groups, and each group came up with an activity that the other group had to respond to. We read “The Rules of the Game” and “The Lady and the Tiger.” On Friday they debated whether it was the tiger or the lady that came out of the door in the arena. Ask your student(s) about the story.

In Civics, students looked at important Supreme Court cases using briefs and answering questions – from the 6th amendment, right to an attorney, to the questions of to whom do Constitutional rights apply (kids? marriages?). It was an eye-opening beginning to our case studies where we apply the amendments that we discussed over the last few weeks.

This week in Judaics, we finished another mishnah and color-coded again. It’s an interesting system that challenges students’ understanding of the texts we read.

In Math, 7th graders continued to work with Rational Numbers.

In Algebra, 8th graders investigated linear and nonlinear functions.

This week in Art, we talked about how to draw portraits and how the proportions of the face relate to each other.

This week in Music, we had a game day with Time Signatures! They worked together to add rhythms and determine which Time Signature was being used, as well as worked on identifying unusual Time Signatures by listening to selected songs. Our Mimi Award Winner was Teddy!