Week in Review: Everything!

We were packed with activities this week as we tried to squeeze in as much as we could before Mid-Winter Break. Monday started with Mr. Crabb’s 7th grade History class as they continued to work on their Collective Learning projects. On Tuesday Mrs. Eustace’s 8th grade English class was in to begin research for their Ignite speeches. During break and lunch, the Glass Knife put on their Love/Hate Valentine’s Day Bake Sale.

All this week 6th graders have been presenting their Scientists in the Field projects. They gave speeches as their scientists while discussing their topics then presented their scientist showcases in the form of board games, documentaries, virtual reality experiences, and backpacks of field tools. Check out the gallery below to view their work!

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On Thursday March Madness began for Mr. Crabb’s 7th graders. Students got to judge a book by its cover and listen to the first line of each novel before picking historical fiction books to read. Their books will go head to head in brackets until the best book wins. Stay tuned for results!

Thursday was also Valentine’s Day, which turned out to be a pretty festive day around the Matthews Library. Ms. Melinson’s desk was was accordingly decorated by some pranksters. The LGBTQ Club sold handmade cards much to the delight of Middle and High Schoolers alike. The library’s Blind Date with a Book display went up. The 1st grade class presented an adorable singing telegram to Ms. Melinson. Check out the video on our Facebook page!

On Friday the Glass Knife held their last Speakeasy of the year where students and faculty read poems and other writing, some original and some they just enjoyed. We were also surprised by some brief, but intense hail on Friday.

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Week in Review: Lunar New Year

This week was so jam-packed with activities and events, we can’t believe it’s already Friday! This week both Mr. Crabb’s 7th grade History class and Ms. Nellis’ 9th grade History class spent some quality time in the library researching projects. The 7th graders continued to work on their collective learning projects based on various topics such as animals, plants, and technology while the 9th graders worked on their Indigenous Peoples project. On Tuesday author and alum Victoria Loustalot visited for a lunch time chat where she talked with students about the writing and publishing process, experimenting with genres and writing exercises to get writing.

On Wednesday Mrs. Bornmann’s and Mrs. Eustace’s classes were in the library to work on their Scientists in the Field research. During lunch time we held our monthly Book Club, which you can read about here. On Thursday Ms. Melinson’s advisory and the Chinese Club celebrated Chinese New Year with chow mein, dumplings, and Chinese sausage with rice. Friday was the Sophomore Moratorium, the day where the 10th graders take over the library and work on their Sophomore Projects.

Bonus:

Mrs. Eustace brought her pup Mali for a visit!

February Book Club

The theme for this month’s Book Club was Award Winners. Ms. Melinson shared several books that won various ALA Youth Media Awards: Monday’s Not Coming, The Faithful Spy, Educated, Sadie, Circe, The Astonishing Color of After, I, Claudia, A Heart in the Body in the World, and The Poet X. Ms. Melinson also talked about “closely reading” Future Perfect (and showed off her sticky note-filled book) because she interviewed the author, Victoria Loustalot. Heloise talked about reading The People’s History of the United States, which she found fascinating even if U.S. isn’t your thing. However, she warned to be prepared for footnotes. Sanjana read Love, Hate, and Other Filters and loved it – so much so that she had a hard time putting it down to study for finals. Avi read a paper about how free speech has evolved, a topic that relates to his Sophomore Project. This was the Book Club to attend if you’re a Sophomore in need of source help!

For information about all of the books we discussed, check out our Goodreads page!

Week in Review: Classwork Edition

This week was all about classwork and library research. Mrs. Bornmann and Mrs. Eustace’s 6th grade students were in the library on Wednesday and Friday to research their Scientists in the Field topics using databases. Ms. Nellis’ 9th graders were on Wednesday to begin working on their Indigenous Peoples project. Mr. Crabb’s 7th grade History class was in on Thursday to work on research for a variety of topics, such as animals, food, weapons, and trade routes, and how it relates to collective learning that happened between the Fall of Rome and about 1750. Friday was World Read Aloud Day and to celebrate, Doctora Portillo’s High School Spanish class read old and new favorite picture books to Ms. Lang’s 2nd graders who also read to the high schoolers.