Upper School: Academic spotlight on English & Literacy; Parent Resource and Reminders
Dear Upper School Families,
I hope you are enjoying this summer-like weather in October! Today was Open House, and as I spent time describing the many wonderful things happening at Brookwood, I am equally energized to share some updates about Upper School in the new format I outlined in my last communication.
Academic Spotlight - English & Literacy
Grade 8 -- The 8th grade is studying Anne Frank's Diary, The Graphic Adaptation with particular attention to text analysis of both images and direct quotations. At the same time, they are studying punctuation by reading and analyzing a group of single-sentence poems with an eye to how the punctuation influences the reading of the poems.
Grade 7 -- The 7th grade is reading short stories with focus on identifying and interpreting literary devices: imagery, metaphor/simile, characterization, and symbolism. At the same time, kids are working in small groups to prepare a slide show presentation and a poster, which do a deep dive on one of those devices. They will be presenting to the class and later hang their posters for reference at the end of the project. 7th graders in Mr. Falconer's classes are also keeping up on choice reading, which is done for the first 15 minutes of most classes, followed by five minutes of reflective writing on the reading. In Ms. Loyd’s classes, book clubs meet once a week and are reading one of the following historical fiction novels: When My Name Was Keoko, Two Roads, Stella by Starlight, and Echo. Readers have the chance to discuss once a week and are annotating as they read. They fill out occasional check-ins that check their progress in the book and their ability to analyze the text.
Grade 6 -- The 6th grade is reading Lois Lowry's The Giver. As they read, they are annotating in the book. After each chapter, students have a classroom discussion using questions that stretch their inferential thinking and analysis skills. They have been working on composing essay paragraphs and writing short answers to similar discussion questions. Jonas has been assigned to his new role as The Receiver in Training --- and the plot is beginning to get very intense!
Grade 5 -- In literacy, students are reading Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus. They are using the novel to continue building on their annotation skills, with a focus on sequencing events and details. The novel, which takes place in the 1840s, follows the protagonist Manjiro, a Japanese fisherman, who journeys to America. Through the study of the novel, students are also learning to prepare and study for weekly 'Celebrations of Knowledge'. Additionally, they are practicing drafting Brain Frames as a means of organizing their written responses each week. Lastly, this week students started their first Writers Workshop unit of the year on personal narratives. They have begun a list of strategies for generating narrative writing and have practiced using the first two, thinking of people that are important to us, or identifying first times, last times, or times we realized something. By using the mentor text, Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, they are focusing on recognizing 'small moments' that they could turn into powerful narratives.
Parent Corner
On Tuesday, November 12, Endicott College is hosting a panel that I thought parents may find interesting. I plan to attend and wanted to share the information with you all. The talk is entitled: How Social Media Has Created An “Anxious Generation” And What We Can Do About It. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. and admission is free. To learn more about the event and to RSVP, please use this link.
Reminders
- Spirit Day: Wednesday, October 30. Students are encouraged to show their school spirit by wearing school colors (green, white, black, gray) and/or anything that says Brookwood!! Spirit Day
- Parent/Teacher Conferences: Friday, November 1 and Monday, November 4. If you are on campus and would like to meet with me on one of these two days, please send me a note and I would be happy to find a time to connect.
- Upper School Dance: November 15, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Details about the dance will be sent under separate cover next week.
Sincerely,
Jay Tebbens
Head of Upper School
