Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Jun Teaches!

Jun taught us all how to make origami angel fish and boats. We learned some pretty cool stuff.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Mark O'Brian Visit

Camera and photography expert, Mark O'Brian,  came to visit us and teach us about the history of cameras and photography.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Sophie the Algebra Teacher

Today Sophie taught some pretty advanced algebraic equations. It was hard, but I am happy to say that most of us were pretty successful with one or more of the problems. We learned a lot of math this morning. My head hurts a bit. Way to go, Sophie!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Alice in Wonderland Auditions

A message from Karl about the upcoming auditions:

Dear SK Families (Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6)--

Greetings from SK Theater Command Central. As you know, this year's school
play will be an original musical version of Lewis Carroll's beloved *Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland. *The play will be performed on *December 12 and
13, 2014.*

SK students of all ages have been hard at work in Music classes with Josh
Grekin for weeks now writing songs for the show. The kids in grades K, 1 &
2 have built specific compositions, which they will perform in the play.

Later this week, I will hold auditions for students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6
who are interested in playing roles in the production.
As with *Gilgamesh *(2012) and *The Odyssey *(2013), students in grades 7
and 8 *have* to do the show--it's part of the 7-8 curriculum. Unlike those
productions, in which supernumerary roles were open to younger grades, Iwill hold auditions for *speaking parts* for grades 3, 4, 5 and 6.

   - None of the children in these classes (3, 4, 5 and 6) are required to
   participate. It is strictly optional.   - All students who do audition will earn a speaking role.
   - Roles may not be declined. Auditioning for the play is tantamount to
   committing to it.
   - We expect to hold two or three rehearsals outside of normal school
   hours (we held two in 2012 and three in 2013). Specific times and dates for
   these will be communicated before the end of October.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

cheers--

Karl


Karl Sikkenga
Middle School Man
Summers-Knoll School
*ksikkenga@summers-knoll.org 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Fall Conferences

Hey Team,

I will be holding Parent / Teacher Conferences on November 3rd and 4th. Please select a time that is most convenient for you by writing your name in the preferred time slot on the google sheet I sent in my last email blast. If none of these times work, please let me know and I would be happy to set up an alternative time with you.

Spencer

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Wednesday Teaching Project

Every Wednesday the students will be teaching the class. I have attached a list of when the students will be teaching as well What they are expected to do.  They have all received a google form in their email with this information which they MUST fill out. 


October 15th
Olivia
October 22nd
Sophie
October 29th
Junhyuk
November 5th
Ella
November 12th
Lilith
November 19th
Juliana
December 3rd
Kaz
December 10th
Kaden
December 17th
Iris
January 7th
Jarod
January 14th
Mark
January 21st
Rebecca
January 28th
Christopher
February 4th
Folu
February 11th
Make Up Day

Form Title
What is your name?*Required
What is the date of your lesson?*Required
What is the subject of your lesson?*Required
How long will it take to complete the lesson?*Required
  • 20 minutes
  • 30 minutes
  • 40 minutes
  • 50 minutes
  • I have no idea how long these things take.
What materials do you need to do the lesson?*Required
What is the "I DO"?*RequiredWhat will you be explaining to the class all by yourself?
What is the "WE DO"?*RequiredWhat will you be doing with the class to help them understand the concept?
What is the "YOU DO"?*RequiredWhat will you have the class do to prove they understood the lesson?
Closing?Are you going to say or do anything at the end of the lesson to close it out? Clean up? Exit message?

Reading Project

Hi Team,
As some of you may know, each student in the class is choosing their own novel to read.  This has to be a novel they have not read before.  After each chapter they are to write a 3 sentences summary of what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the chapter.  We are examining the story arc and plot progression of novels, and using them as models for our own self written novels.  Please make sure your students know what novel they will be reading and that it has been approved by me.  Many of the students have said that they forgot their books at home, so it would help if they were reminded to bring them to school for in-class reading.  These summaries can also be done at home if they so choose.   They can write their chapter summaries by hand, or type them.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Cameras, Cameras, Cameras!

We are currently studying how cameras work, so I brought in my camera collection. The students were able to explore and experiment with some of them. Mark made this lovely display.

Happy Christopher Day!

Wednesday was Christopher Day!