The Weekly Newsletter
Week 9: November 6-9
Welcome back! We had a fantastic (yet short) week with lots of fun activities and events packed in. Here’s a look into what the Eagles were up to throughout the week!-
On Monday each studio launched their writing workshop classes for the week. The foundation and navigator transition studios delved deeper into character development- as this is one of the most important pieces of writing gripping fictional short stories! Their challenge for the week was to create a personal decalogue, which is a list of ten things to write to describe a character. The Eagles were given the topic “ten presents I’d like to buy myself”. The decalogue challenge was to write ten complete and different sentences…and only one could begin with the word “I”. We used many examples from books of ours and their favorite books to show unique and powerful ways to reveal character. Next week we’ll be exploring how to organize an interesting plot!
The launchpad and navigator studios worked on their letters to their entrepreneurial heroes. This included critiquing each other’s letters and giving suggestions on how to make their letters as powerful and persuasive as possible as well as grammar edits and warm and cool feedback. The second assignment was to draft seven meaningful, relevant, and burning questions they have for their heroes.
The entrepreneur ship quest was so fun this week, as we are getting closer to the business fair and it is time to really plan the details for each of their businesses/booths! The foundation and navigator transition studios learned all about the importance of logos and slogans, and brainstormed the best ways to present their product and booths to get the most customers. The launchpad and navigator studios studied unit economics. They learned how to calculate variable costs, fixed costs, and sunk costs, and what all of those terms mean. They used this information to set prices for their own booths!
In history for the F/NT we learned all about how the federal government was created and the events and people surrounding the drafting of the American Constitution. We also learned about why the 3 branches of government were created and what each of the importance is for a smooth and fairly run country. Next week we will explore the first presidency and who George Washington was to the people of the United States.
History for the LP/N studios was all about the beginning of the revolution and Hamilton’s chosen position as a lead brigade, although unexperienced. They learned about what kind of leader he was and why George Washington took notice of him. Along with this, they learned about why he was considered a “reluctant revolutionary” and what that really meant.
The Eagles truly showed their artistic and creative gifts in art this week. This clock project challenges each student to work with different mediums, and while the previous weeks allowed for exploration in drawing and painting skills, this week was all about working with clay which presented lots of fun yet many challenges! For this project they were asked to make the numbers on their clocks out of clay and then to paint them after they dry and to glue them onto their clocks! And they look amazing! A couple are finished, and many are on their way.
Finally we ended the week with our Winter Olympics! The first Olympics of the year are always so fun and rewarding as each young athlete sets a benchmark for their capabilities in the various Olympic sports. We revisit these later in the year with our spring Olympics where we work to improve our time and endurance. We also celebrate afterwards with bagels and lemonade 🙂
We hope you have a great long weekend and we will see you next week, for our last week of the session!