Week in Review: 100 Days Smarter

We returned from Mid-Winter break on Monday to the 100th day of school. The kindergartners paraded around campus as part of their celebration, including marching through the library.

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On Tuesday the newly formed Black Student Union held its first event, a spoken word session at lunch time. Students, staff, and faculty shared poems by African American authors in honor of Black History Month.

Students from Ms. Mitchell’s Film elective came in on Wednesday to shoot a scene for their movie. One student got to “train” using books and other students got to throw books around. (No books were harmed in the making of this movie.)

It’s almost March which means it’s time for March Madness in Mr. Crabb’s 7th grade History. On Friday students got to judge historical fiction books by their covers and hear the first line before picking out several they’d want to read. Soon these books will go head to head – thirty six books will enter, but only one can leave victorious!

Bonus:

We frequently have adorable dogs in the library, but what about a cute cow? Check out this beautiful painting of an adorable cow by Olivia (’19).

Week in Review: SIF Kick-Off!

We returned from Thanksgiving break to find December and fall had finally arrived: temperatures below 70 degrees, rainy days, and this gorgeous tree in front of the library:

This week the 6th graders began their joint English and Science project, Scientists in the Field (or, SIF). On Tuesday students browsed the different SIF books bookstore-style where they were arranged in groups by theme. Check out some of the subjects below:

Students then ranked their top choices from each category. On Wednesday the 6th graders had a Google Hangout visit with one of the Scientists in the Field authors and scientist, Dr. Caitlin O’Connell. Dr. O’Connell is an elephant scientist and author of The Elephant Scientist. She spoke to students about her work and then took questions. After the visit, the kids were given their SIF books.

On Friday, the National Art Honor Society hosted a student art show inside of the library. View their work below:

Bonus:

Tuesday was our biggest and fluffiest library dog’s birthday – Quaffle! Quaffle turned 3 years old and celebrated by bringing Scooby Snacks to share with everyone.

Week in Review: Spirit Week

It’s spirit week at Country Day and our students dressed to impress!

Tuesday was Twins day and Mrs. Eustace and Mrs. Strong joined in on the fun. Wednesday was Disney-themed and Brandy dressed up as Snow White while Shelly played as the Evil Queen with the poisonous apple. Don’t eat the apple, Brandy! On Thursday advisories dressed up as TV characters. Ms. Melinson’s advisory dressed up as The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

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On Friday two local librarians visited the Sophomores. Kim, from the Arden-Dimick branch, gave the kids their library cards and talked about what research resources the library has. James, from the Sacramento Room, also visited and spoke on the historical resources the Sacramento Room has to offer. He also brought a signed copy of the Ladybird script. How cool!

Bonus:

Ms. Melinson visited the arts event, Tearing Walls Apart, featuring the work of some of our students – Bella, Jason, and Sophie. Check out their work below!

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Week in Review: Masked Edition

We were very happy to see more sunshine this week! The weather was warmer, no one had to wear rain boots, and we got some really cool additions to the library: student art! Ms. Didion shared some of her class work with the library and we’re honored to feature them on our slat walls!

We also had some fantastic discussions during our monthly High School Book Club on Wednesday. Click this link to read more about the discussions and the Great Brownie Debate of 2016.

On Friday, Ms. Melinson’s advisory had their end-of-quarter lunch, and they ate Indian food while listening to Bollywood dance music. Big shout outs to Mrs. Naify who generously donated her time to pick up the food and deliver it to the happy advisees! We had so much fun, we forgot to take pictures!

 

Some Really Pretty Photos From Ms. Monahan’s Photography Class

Hannah took this great photo of a charming little duck family. Look at ’em go!

Blake chose to take a photo of this beautiful duck because his brother loves them.

Shemar really loved the color combinations in this photo. We agree!

Briana loves this photo because the quality is crisp and draws the eye from the edges of the flower to inward. Nice!

Anna nominated this photo because she loved the angle versus the shape of the flower.

Ava also wanted to share this photo that really captures the spirit of the photography class adventure.

Ava’s favorite part of this photo is the focal point of the main flower; also the colors are just gorgeous.

Téa-Carla shared this photo because she loved the composition, the sharp focus, and the contrast of the petals.

This was Alexa’s favorite shot of the day because it seemed very “old fashioned.” We agree!

Gabi chose this photo to showcase because it represents more than just the fully-bloomed roses of Spring, but shows the beauty of the fallen rose as well.

Ms. Monahan’s photography class took a trip to McKinley Park last week to practice their skills in nature photography. We’re delighted to share these awesome photos with you, just try not to get too jealous about their adventures in the beautiful sunshine.

P.S. Be sure to click on each photo to see it in full-size (and with captions!).

 

Digital Photography Class

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Ms. Monahan’s Digital Photography class has been busy this year! The photos above were taken on campus during Spring and also at McKinley Park during a field trip.

Ms. Monahan would like to invite everyone to visit Room 11 in the middle school during Open House (5/1) to see more student work on display. The students will also have artwork featured on the Front Office screen at the end of May/beginning of June. Be on the lookout!

Snow day in the library

Today we had Ms. LaComb’s advisory in the library for a 3-Dimensional snowflake workshop. Ms. Melinson showed everyone how to cut, tape, and staple their way to creating a winter wonderland.

To make your own 3D snowflake, a video tutorial can be found here. If you prefer a picture tutorial with with written instructions, that can be found here.

Ashley Wolff Visits Country Day

Children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Wolff visited with our Middle School art class when she was on campus to visit our Lower School students. She taught the artists about forward momentum (making sure the action in the pictures faces the right, so that it is set up in the same way we read, left to right). She showed them how to prepare two-page spreads keeping in mind the gutter (the fold in the center of a book). Because heads, hands, feet, and small illustrations can get lost, any great detail should be kept clear of the gutter. She also had them draw pictures that touched on all four sides of the page. Then she showed examples from her own books where she did one in block prints with watercolors and another in collage (she used pages from the Farmer’s Almanac for an apron and a flyer from Lucky’s for the clothing). It was interesting to learn about all the things a book illustrator has to keep in mind when creating artwork.

Ceramics Art Pieces on Display

We have some beautiful art pieces from the Middle School ceramics class on display in the library. At the end of last year the students came into the library and looked at poetry books for inspiration to create their pieces.

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Brad: Poetry Out Loud, Marie: The Cuckoo’s Haiku, Daniel: Green Eggs and Ham, Emory: Lemonade, Adam: Mr. Ferlinghetti’s Poem, Emma: “Don the Dragon’s Birthday” from Falling Up, and Ali: “Oh, Fields of Wonder” from The Tree That Time Built.