Dear Families,

I the spirit of the rich Family Conference conversations taking place today throughout the building, I hope that the accounts given below shed a little more light on the many exciting things taking place in the middle school and provide you with some new entree points into dialog with your child about her/his school life.

Fifth graders are . . .

• continuing their deep reading of The Circuit and focusing on how to have rich discussions using prompts like:
  • “I used to think… but now I think…”
  • “This is similar to/ different from…”
  • “I partly agree, but… because…”
  • “I think this is important because…”.
• preparing for a literary essay and will be using their reading responses to develop a thesis.
• investigating why plant and animal domestication plays such an important role in tribes being able to settle in  ongoing civilization simulation
• testing, recording and graphing their own walking and running paces as part of their of their study of patterns and change
• looking at examples of guardian figures from the ancient Sumerian culture as inspiration for clay relief tiles of their own Demon Spirit Guardians that students are making.
• preparing for a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view more art and artifacts created by the people of the ancient Near East.
• putting the finishing touches on their original music compositions, which have been composed for brass, piano and percussion instruments. Each piece began as a guided exploration of melody and students have gone on to incorporate an extensive list of important musical topics that a composer must consider such as, harmony, form, rhythm, sequences, dynamics and articulation.   Near the end of the term in December, we will hold an informal rehearsal/performance of student work performed by musicians from NYU.  Stay tuned for the date and time!
• starting a new unit on touch football with a focus on throwing and catching skills. Games are just around the corner.

Sixth graders are . . .

• deep into their reading of Parzival and Arabian Nights. This reading is also shaping writing that will eventually become their Medieval dramatic presentation. Current events projects are also just getting underway.
• talking about feudalism and have begun examining the rise of Christianity in Europe and the hierarchy of the church.
• working through a series of activities to better understand fraction operations.  They began by adding and subtracting fractions and  are now using brownie pans to help us understand how to multiply fractions.  They are doing all this as well as making sure we are all using efficient strategies to operate with whole numbers.
• reflecting on their trip to the Cloisters museum (the medieval branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) as inspiration for the creation of their own illuminated letters. To create these letters, students are using quill pen and ink, watercolor paints and will be making their own gold paint to illuminate their letters.
• putting the finishing touches on their original music compositions, which have been composed for brass, piano and percussion instruments. Each piece began as a guided exploration of melody and students have gone on to incorporate an extensive list of important musical topics that a composer must consider such as, harmony, form, rhythm, sequences, dynamics and articulation.   Near the end of the term in December, we will hold an informal rehearsal/performance of student work performed by musicians from NYU.  Stay tuned for the date and time!
• starting a new unit on touch football with a focus on throwing and catching skills. Games are just around the corner
• participating in a series of “Olympic” PE challenges.

Seventh graders are . . .

• gearing up for the Colonial Museum by digging deeper into their research topics.
• finishing up their reading of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and thinking about the viability of a perfect community and the relationship between community and identity. This will culminate in a book critique and creative mini-exhibition
• learning about settlement in America in the early 1600’s and presently are looking at the establishment of community from the perspective of English settlers and Native Americans.
• engaging in literature circle work: one half of the class is reading The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and the other half is reading Animal Farm by George Orwell.
• organizing and analyzing data needed to establish a simulated bike tour company.  They’ve examined travel time, expenses, pricing and are now ready to synthesize information in the most concise form of equations.  The next question to examine is, “How do we maximize profit?’ With the help of graphing calculators, it will be interesting to test the various variables involved in calculating profit.
• deconstructing electric motors in order to better understand how electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy. They will then design and build a working motor. Once they understand this concept, they will reverse the process to turn mechanical energy into electrical energy.
• reviewing in French  irregular verbs such as avoir, etre, and faire,
  and interrogative expressions and applying them to everyday conversation; studying adjectives, describing famous individuals for a guessing game using descriptions, getting ready to start a project in which they will use adjectives and design an “ideal” model bedroom that they’ll build and use to write complex sentence structures.
• fully immersed in a food unit with new vocabulary related to food, condiments and utensils as well as continued practice with all regular and stem-change (”shoe”) present tense verb conjugations.
• navigating the ins and outs of self-defense in PE and learning how to release themselves from hand grips, chokes and bear hugs. They are also learning strategies for being safe on the streets.
• creating original PE games, which they are playing and Larry is then teaching some of the class favorites to the fifth grade.

Eighth graders are . . .

• examining the roots of the bias, discrimination and inequality that the Civil Rights Movement addressed by reading Julius Lester’s To Be a Slave, a collection of slaves in their own words, connected and commented upon by the author.
• examining linear functions and algebraic notation.  They are writing equations, making tables and creating graphs that tell stories of things that grow at a constant rate.  Taxi rides, t-shirt sales, bank accounts, walking rates and road races are just a few of the real life situations we have used in our investigations.The following are examples of questions they have answered through observing these patterns:
  • How do you identify a linear function in a table, graph or equation?
  • Can you give an example of an “everyday” linear function?
  • What is true about the equations of parallel lines? perpendicular lines?
  • What helps you to write the equation of a linear function?
  • How do the characteristics of line show up in a table, graph or equation?
• using  graphing calculators to enables them to explore answers to the above questions.  They are unafraid to ask the “What if?” question because it’s so easy to readjust their thinking with these useful tools.
• designing and constructing Mousetrap Powered Vehicles to further advance their understanding of motion and the forces that enhance and oppose motion. They are incorporating what they know about motion, simple machines and energy transfers to do this. They will then use these vehicles to make predictions associated with Newton’s second law of motion. Knowing their vehicle’s weight and the force generated by the mousetrap, they will make predictions about the vehicle’s acceleration and then test them in the field.
• learning in French regular adjectives, clothing vocabulary and the new verbs porter, mettre, acheter. They are beginning a project using the future proche tense to describe an imaginary event that will be attended, doing some virtual shopping online in France to “buy” a new outfit for the event, and documenting their work.
• reading  stories in their reader “Cuentos Simpaticos” and finishing a quick review of articles and adjective agreement in “Spanish Grammar.”  They  have also been reviewing present and past tense verbs so that they can begin a new past tense.
• starting a painting project around the theme of favorite artists. The class has been looking at various artists and discussing different painting styles and art movements as a means to help students identify an artist on which they will focus. Students have selected their artists of inspiration and are in the process of  creating an acrylic painting based on a particular piece of art or art movement.
• exploring  digital photography. The class looked at and discussed a variety of photographs before going outside to take their own. While walking around the neighborhood students were asked to think about photographing subjects from different vantage points. There were also asked to  look for and photograph things such as lines, textures, colors, and shapes.
• well into units on volleyball and soccer.  We have worked on individual skills, partner skills and teamwork skills.  With the favorable weather, we’ve been taking advantage of the turf field at JJ Walker for soccer.  We have also started training for the first leg of our fitness test, where we work on long and short distance running, stretching, arm and core exercises.

Goings on in the Seventh And Eighth Grade Performing Arts Electives:

• Vocal Majors are working together in small groups, learning Broadway songs and presenting their arrangements to the class.    The Vocal Majors and the MS Chorus are also preparing for the Winter Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 14th at 6:30PM at NYU. Vocal Minors have started creating music videos, where students pick a song, arrange and choreograph a presentation.
• In the dance majors classes, students have been spending one day a week learning modern dance technique, warm up exercises, and beginning to develop a dance sequence that incorporates modern dance, salsa, and capoeira. On the second day in the week students have been exploring choreography and composition and beginning to design short dance works.
• Students taking the major in drama have been exploring spontaneous improvisation using colors to represent emotions. Students are acting in scenes, and using a color chart to determine their character’s emotion. In the minor class, we are working on games and activities to develop confidence in the group before moving on to scene study.
• The Instrumental Elective Class is progressing wonderfully! Students who are playing their instrument for the first time -trumpets, trombones and saxophones- are making excellent progress and the ensemble has been rehearsing a number of demanding numbers for the upcoming Winter Concert. In the digital music minor, students are becoming familiar with the keyboard and Garageband, which are the two main tools that we’ll use for composition.

In and outside of the library . . .

• booktalks have started in all classrooms, fifth graders have begun their introduction to MS research in anticipation of their civilizations project and seventh graders are  deep into their colonial research process. The fifth grade Friday Nonfiction Book Nook has begun, as have read alouds in the sixth and seventh grade core classrooms.

All that in a day!

Of General Interest . . .

1) Afterschool Reminder: Open Class Week for Enrichment Classes will take place Monday, November 15th through Friday, November 19th. This is an opportunity for a parent, or special grown-up to come and observe their child/children during their Enrichment classes. Classes will meet on their regular day and time. All classes will meet at their usual locations, with the exception of Basketball which will take place at the E.I. Gym at the Highschool. All locations are listed on the Afterschool bulletin board next to the Afterschool Office. Please contact the Afterschool office with any questions at (212) 477-5316, ext. 239.

2) Applications for 2011-2012 Tuition Remission — Please be on the look-out for an e-mail from Michel de Konkoly Thege, Associate Director, which was transmitted on October 26, 2010 and contains information about applying for tuition remission for the 2011-2012 school year. This year for the first time we are communicating with families that receive tuition remission by e-mail only and are urging these families to use the online option for completing the necessary forms. If you received tuition remission in the current school year and did not get this e-mail, a copy may be accessed by clicking here. Please note that the online system for filing tuition remission materials will now open on November 8, not November 1 as stated in the attached e-mail.

3) Molière’s TARTUFFE: Friday, November 12th & Saturday, November 13th at 7:00pm at the Charlton Street PAC (40 Charlton Street)
LREI High School Play Open to all ages!
Directed by Meghan Farley Astrachan

Laugh along at the farcical adventures of Orgon’s dysfunctional family and watch as impostor Tartuffe wreaks “holy”havoc. 17th century style, with a splash of 21st! In rhyming verse! Fun for the whole family! Tickets available for purchase every morning in the 6th Ave lobby as well as at the box office at Charlton Street. Click here to view the complete flyer with all the details.

4) LREI SPIRIT CLUB! Grab a friend and come out to cheer for our Varsity Girls Basketball Team in their first home game of the season on Monday, November 22nd, at 4:00PM. Start getting into the spirit with the following fun activities at 3:00PM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center:

• Make your own noisemakers, pom-poms, flags and more!
• Face painting and Knights tattoos too!

All are welcome to join the fun, but fifth and sixth graders must be accompanied by a caregiver or parent. All home games and activities are held in the gym at 145 Thompson Street. Please see attached flyer for upcoming Spirit Club dates. GO LREI KNIGHTS!

5) From the Red is Green Committee: Red is Green recycling drive — To celebrate America Recycles Day (November 15) we will have a DVD/CD Swap. Starting on Monday, November 15 and continuing through Wednesday, November 17 tables will be set up outside of the Sixth Avenue building for the swap. You can drop off DVDs/CDs ahead of time in a bin located in the lobby, beginning November 1. Students/faculty/parents can swap all forms of CDs and DVDs, including computer, film, music, game and video. Any unwanted CDs and DVDs at the end of the week of November 17th will be sent to Back Thru the Future Technology Disposal who will safely recycle them.

6) The LREI School Store will be open on Wednesday, November 17th from 8:00-9:15AM in the Sixth Avenue lobby.  We have many new items, including our adorable LREI bear, coffee mugs and PJ pants – there’s something for everyone on your list!. Show your LREI Spirit and start your holiday shopping now! For more information, please contact Zoe at zedpicayo@aol.com or Liz at lizknyc@aol.com

7) ISDN Boys of Color event, for 4th, 5th & 6th graders and their Parents: co-sponsored by St. Bernard’s School, to be held on FRIDAY, Nov. 19th, 6 to 8pm at St. Bernard’s School (4 East 98 St., bet. 5th & Madison). Join us to:

• Play team building sports games, under the direction of a coach and have fun.
• Make new friends and relationships.
• Enjoy light refreshments for adults and dinner for students.
• Parent topic: “Staying Within The Box”: How do we retain our cultural integrity in an independent school?

RSVP to Wendy Van Amson – wvanamson@gmail.com by 11/12/10. Click here to view and print a flyer with more information.

8) Click here to access the most current “At a Glance” calendar for the 2010-2011 school year.

9) For additional school news, you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

10) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA – http://www.parentsinaction.org/). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Click here to view upcoming events and/or to download their calendar.

For All Grades . . .

1) Family Conferences and Subject Area Meetings: I trust that you all had productive and insightful conferences. As we are always in the process of refining the conference process, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any feedback that you think would be useful for us to know as we reflect on the past conferences and plan for the spring. As always, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers if you have questions about her/his performance and/or the curriculum.

2) The LREI Judo Team competed this past weekend at Tech Judo in New Jersey. Sixth grader Sadie won her division and took home a gold medal. Seventh grader Mekhi  and sixth graders Julia and Pilar won silver medals. Sixth grader Isabel Burga received a bronze medal and seventh grader Zachary who competed in the advanced division also captured a bronze medal. Sixth grader Noah and high schooler Liam also competed and were each a match away from medaling. Congratulations to all of the players and to coaches Larry Kaplan, Frank Portella and Ana Chaney

3) Photo Re-take Day: Re-take day for students who were absent on photo day will be Monday, December 6th. Photos will be taken inside. If you received your photo day proofs, you may order prints in one of two ways: using the envelope that will be sent home or ordering online. To order proofs via mail, using the ordering envelope that came with your proofs. To view/order pictures online, go to www.martyhyman.com. The web password that you will be asked to enter is a combination of letters and numbers that is listed on the ordering envelope both in the top right (below the student’s name) and in the bottom left corner just above the bar code. Click “login.”

For Eighth Grade Families . . .

1) Looking ahead to the spring, click here to access the registration form for the spring Gettysburg/DC trip that will take place next May. I’m sending you this information now so that you can spread out payments over a longer period of time. If you register online, please use the following trip ID#: 55757. If you have specific questions about payment, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you have not done so already, please register ASAP.

2) A reminder that completed Irwin Scholar applications are due on Monday, November 15, 2010, and are to be emailed to High School principal Ruth Jurgenson at rjurgensen@lrei.org. Click here to access the application.

3) On Tuesday, November 16, the 8th grade will be traveling to the Schomberg Center of the New York Public Library to participate in the National Book Award Teen Press conference. At the conference, students will have the opportunity to hear from five award winning young adult authors about their nominated titles and ask them questions. Each of the eighth graders was provided with a free copy of one of the books to keep and read before the panel, provided by the National Book Award Foundation. This is the sixth year we have been invited to take part in this special event. Please take this opportunity to talk to your child about the book they’re reading, and if they finish in time, perhaps you can even read it yourself!

4) Here are some pictures and video from the recent activity with the eighth grader’s first grade buddies:

[flickrslideshow acct_name=”lrei-photos” id=”72157625242738763″ width=”460″ height=”345″]

For Eighth and Seventh Grade Families . . .

1) As part of the performing arts elective program, students will travel to NYU on Friday, November 19th, to view a dance performance. Students should bring a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on that day.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .

1) A reminder that the Seventh Grade DISC Dance is next Friday, November 19th from 7:00-9:00PM at the Charlton Street PAC. Next week, you child will receive a permission form. Completed permission forms and the $5 admission fee should be returned by Thursday, November 18th.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .

1) On Friday, January 7th, the sixth grade will travel to the Met to view the Arms and Armor collection. trip. Students should bring a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on that day.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .

1) On Friday, November 12th, the fifth grade will travel to the Met to view the Ancient Near Eastern galleries. Students should bring a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on that day.

============= For additional information, follow these links: =============

A reminder that the individual homework blog and the “feeds” for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). These feeds provide an easy “one-click” solution to find out what has been assigned for homework. Keep in mind that a feed will only show what has been posted as of the time you check it.

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.

Be well,
Mark