It was business as usual this week as we head toward Thanksgiving break. Ms. Kahn’s 8th grade History class returned on Monday to continue work on their NHD projects. This time they found books related to their topics and imported sources into NoodleTools. The rest of the week featured the 10th graders working on their Sophomore Projects. Students spent the week learning how to properly cite sources and beginning the early drafts of their paper.
Thursday was the High School’s annual Thanksgiving lunch where students sit with their advisory and enjoy turkey sandwiches and side dishes. Ms. Melinson’s advisory brought mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, cider, ice cream, and cookies. Cheese on apple pie was a total hit!
Students from Ms Melinson’s advisory went with Mrs. Bauman to deliver some snacks they collected for Dyer Kelly School and get a tour of the newly updated school.
We held our monthly Book Club last week where students and faculty talked about what they’d been reading and what they’re hoping to read over Thanksgiving break.
Ms. Melinson started us off by sharing Jewish Stories of Wisdom, a small & pretty book filled with old fashioned folk tales. She then talked about an assortment of new arrivals: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, Slay, The Red Scrolls of Magic, The Dutch House, The Tiger at Midnight, Angel Mage, a beautifully illustrated edition of Black Beauty, Lovely War, and the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She also had some books to give away.
Becca read The Call of Cthulhu for Beginning Readers, which she described as the Dr. Suess-ified rhyming and illustrated version. Heloise shared that she likes to read fun and wintry books at this time of year and is currently rereading My True Love Gave to Me. Samhita read Scythe, which she described as less dark than it sounds (there’s a character killed in every chapter), but still really interesting. Stephanie is rereading Just Mercy in anticipation of the movie’s upcoming release. Joanne is also rereading books, but books that she previously started and didn’t finish. She’s beginning with Bad Blood. Clara is reading How To, what she describes as being filled with “science-y, nerdy information” about how to do things. Hermione has been reading Japanese books in Chinese, and especially liked Keigo Higashimo’s Miracle in Namiya’s General Store. Sarina read Just Listen, but didn’t care for it much. However, it did encourage her to read more diversely.
Mr. Wells shared that he started reading Harry Potter with his son, who is enjoying it. He also said he’s going to reread The Handmaid’s Tale after “putting his foot in his mouth” at the last Book Club by declaring The Testaments the better of the two books. Ms. Doyle read the Master and Margarita. She also asked the question: What process do you go through when choosing a book to read for pleasure? Mrs. Bauman said when she’s teaching fiction that she reads more non fiction. Sarina looks for colorful books and often likes the themes that Buzzfeed uses for its book lists. Stephanie likes Chinese authors. Samhita will judge a book by its title. Heloise likes to step away from Top 100 books lists and opt for something a little more interesting. Joanne just starts reading to decide if she’ll like it.
To learn about all of the books we discussed, check out our Goodreads page.
Mrs. Kahn’s 8th grade History classes spent the shortened week in the library preparing for their National History Day projects. Students had a refresher using NoodleTools, using databases, and evaluating websites.
As part of their lesson on community, a group of pre-k students visited with Ms. Melinson and Mrs. Strong to learn about the Country Day community and the jobs in it. Students viewed tools the library commonly uses, observed how older students use the library, and asked questions. Students also showed us their “magic rock” pose.
On Friday, we held our monthly Book Club with hot apple cider and brownies. Look forward to our Book Club post next week! Also on Friday, the Cooking Club held their first club meeting just outside of the library. They tried drinks from around the world. In puzzle-related news, students are making great progress on the current book-themed puzzle. It got complicated at the end, but it should be completed any day now!
Bonus:
Ms. Mitchell-Vayner brought her dog, Lieutenant Commander Data, in for a visit!
The Sophomores spent the week in the library working on their Projects. Students started making an outline for their paper and worked more with databases. They also had work days where they could work on different aspects of their projects with help from Ms. Melinson, Mr. Crabb, and Mr. Wells.
The rest of the week was spent with one event after another. This week is French Week and to celebrate, the library hosted Cafe Panache on Tuesday as they returned for another delightful performance of French cafe songs from the 1930s and 1940s.
On Thursday the Glass Knife held their first Speakeasy of the school year. Students and faculty read poems by fairy lights as the audience snacked on cheese, bread, and desserts. We even had a student sing and play ukulele this year! Click through the slide show to view participants.
Also on Thursday, French teachers Mr. Day and Ms. Meyers hosted a game of Kahoots in the library in honor of French Week. Kahoots is a trivia game where students participate by using their phones or computers to answers questions. The theme of these questions was French culture.
Friday was Rockvember Fest! Rockvember Fest is a fun day where students meet with their advisors to go over their current grades and then participate in a variety of activities. Ms. Melinson’s advisory made breakfast in the morning. At lunchtime, the library was host to puzzles and Jenga and later, another round of Kahoots.
Monday started off with a work period for Ms. Burns’ 7th graders as they continued to work on their Biomes projects. The rest of the week was filled with Halloween festivities, starting with the Glass Knife Halloween Bake Sale. Tuesday was back-to-back-to-back Halloween Book Talks for Ms. Sterling’s 6th graders. Students listened to Ms. Melinson talk about a bunch of books – some new, some spooky, all fun to read. On Wednesday students attended a presentation about Dia de los Muertos, put on by the Club de Espanol at Sac State. Check out some cool pictures here. Thursday was Halloween, which means costumes! View our costume slideshow below.
Bonus:
Ms. Monahan’s Digital Photography elective visited a local park recently. Check out some of their photos below.
Books & Bytes 