Congratulations to the 6th and 7th years on a fantastic Science Fair! While 8th years continue to work on their expert projects, the 6th and 7th years researched and presented topics surrounding the theme of environmental conservation. Topics ranged from efficient lighting in homes, recycling practices, and using green roofs for drainage in urban areas.

Students started by choosing a topic and then developed a hypothesis. Then, they decided whether to conduct an experiment or collect data in order to prove or disprove their educated guesses. Students created visual presentations including their hypotheses, procedures, results, and graphics that highlighted their topics.

It was amazing to listen to the young scientists discuss their projects. They truly became experts in the process! We all learned a great deal from each presenter and applaud all for their hard work!

While we are having our first, full week of normal scheduling, choosing new electives, and gearing up for Science Fair, I can’t help but reflect on last week’s play, The Disappearing Act.

From the conception of the idea for the play through the writing process, the plot of the play took many twists and turns, but it always stayed true to the original plot line we developed together and all but one of the scene summaries we originally set out to accomplish, which is amazing and surprising.

I have to admit, I was nervous to block this play because I had such a hard time visualizing what it would look like on a stage with so many student actors and actresses in each scene. I could easily see it as a movie, but I had no idea how to tell the students where to stand or what movements to do while they are on stage. I was honestly relying on them for this part, as I have limited experience with theater.

I could not be happier that I did. Asking students to watch scenes, take notes, and then give feedback for each scene to the actors/actresses was one of the best tools for running the show.

In the end, the show was funny, lighthearted, and carried out the plot with its major conflict. Hearing laughter after the lines was exactly what the students hoped for.

The day after the show was bittersweet. We took down the set, packed away the chairs, and had a delicious ice cream sundae party. We also spent time writing reflections and discussing what went well and what could go better moving forward. Now being on the other side of this experience, we have to take advantage of the knowledge we learned and use it to make changes, keep the best parts, and improve upon the experience.

In the end, I think The Disappearing Act exceeded the expectations of the students and was filled with authenticity and enthusiasm from all.

**Reminder: Monday we will be traveling to The Museum of Natural History in NYC from 8:30-4:30. Please pack nut-free snacks and lunch for your child.

We hope you will enjoy some photos from our immersion week working on the student-written play, The Disappearing Act.  The progress on blocking, projection, set construction, props, costumes, and tech is tremendous each day. Students spend time in the afternoon writing a reflection on their morning work and discuss their goals for the next day. It’s been fun!

Last Friday, the middle school listened to wonderful and interesting presentations given by the 8th years about their week at their internships. Locations for internships included Centre Stage Boutique, Southbury Music Store, ESPN, Union Savings Bank, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a dental office in West Haven, and Children’s Adventure Center. The diverse experiences seemed informative and worthwhile.

This week, 6th years held a debate in science over whether space exploration is worth the billions of dollars spent on it or not. Students researched their perspectives and presented them in class. Each side had an opportunity to view the other’s facts to refute if chosen.

We’ve spent an exciting week focusing on writing the play for immersion week. This week of script writing focused on finishing developing our characters and beginning to write the scenes. By the beginning of the week, we had already mapped out the plot line and wrote scene summaries. We should be about halfway through by the weekend!

The process has been a learning experience for everyone. Students see the challenges in writing a plot: Deciding on a beginning, middle, and end; what information to unveil and what to conceal to the audience; how to use dialogue to foreshadow and build up to the climax; and, how to resolve it all.

I have been surprised with how open the students have been to each other’s ideas. At first, I had planned to separate the humanities classes into smaller groups and assign each to write the same scene; then, bring students together to decide which fits best. This was not needed though because we were able to compose as one big group and include everyone’s ideas to fit the scenes.

There was almost no casting involved; students developed their own characters using questions to guide them. They also wrote lines as their character that have been incorporated in the scenes. There are also no true leads. Since the students are writing the script, they can all have speaking lines if they wish. It was discussed that, in the end, some characters would have more than others, and it was all in the best interest of the play.

While writing a play in a short amount of time is a daunting task, it is exciting for students to see their visions realized. We can’t wait to see what week 2 of script writing brings us!

It has been a quick week! We started off by welcoming 5th years to Middle School for a moving up day on Wednesday. The 5th years spent the full day with 6th years, and it was wonderful. The teachers and students loved having them, and we are already looking forward to the great dynamic they will bring to our current 6th and 7th years in the fall.

Looking ahead, we are excited to listen to presentations given by our 8th years. They will be highlighting their experience from their internships.

Finally, thank you for taking the time to meet with your child’s/children’s advisor(s) last week for conferences. It is nice to have the middle school students take the lead and join us for conferences, truly making the experience genuine and effective. It reinforces the fact that parents, teachers, and students are indeed a team working together.

A note from Mr. Robertson:

With last week’s warm temperatures, ticks that were dormant became active.  Therefore, it is essential that parents begin checking their children for ticks at the end of the day.  Below is important information from the Center of Disease and Prevention about ticks.

 Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed. If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks effectively.

Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.

Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, which even includes your back yard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:

• Under the arms
• In and around the ears
• Inside belly button
• Back of the knees
• In and around the hair
• Between the legs
• Around the waist