Feb 12 2012

Assembly, Friday, February 10th

On Friday, quite a few exciting things happened at assembly. Jessie’s Early Primary class shared their book about what they would put in a zoo. Jess and some of the younger students sang “Puff, the Magic Dragon” (which never fails to make me all teary). Some of the Juniors and a few Primary Two students, who had never performed a recorder piece at assembly before, presented us with three songs. The Juniors and Primary Two also sang a wonderful song they had been practicing during Martin Luther King, Jr. week. Two of the Senior students showed the assembly their cat’s cradle skills.

And last, but certainly not least, Melissa Hutchinson from the Wintergreen Nature Foundation came and presented the school with many wonderful gifts! The NBS students and teachers are planting a garden to grow vegetables for the Nelson County Food Pantry, and we received several small shovels, large shovels, books on gardening, soil conditioner, and several planting aids. Thank you so much! The middle schoolers were not at this assembly – on Friday and this weekend they were attending Model U.N. in Williamsburg

Jessie’s class, led by Krista, tells us what they would put in a zoo:

Puff, the Magic Dragon, sung by Jess and Krista’s and Jessie’s class:

Here are three videos of Primary Two (2nd) and Junior Ones (3rd) playing their recorders, for the first time ever at assembly!

Below, the Juniors and Primary Two sing a John McCutcheon song, “Traveling in the Wilderness.”

Melissa presented the school with many gardening gifts

A successful Cat's Cradle!

Feb 11 2012

Happy Valentine’s Week!

It's Valentine Week at NBS!

I love Valentine’s Day at North Branch. All of the students (and teachers!) make their boxes or bags, and everyone gives Valentines to everyone else in their class. The Valentine boxes range from the unorthodox:

Yes, that's a giant Lindt chocolate ball. And a toilet!

To the sweetly whimsical:

A miniature shirt, and clay bacon, and real water in the pot!

To the exuberant Valentine bags of the younger students:

I liked how these have LOTS of room for Valentines and candy!

 

I also liked the specific instruction on this one:

Feb 7 2012

Bill Staines in concert this Friday, 7:30pm

Bill Staines

Advance tickets are now available for the Bill Staines concert on February 10. Tickets are on sale now at North Branch School, Trailside Coffee in Crozet, Greenberry’s Coffee in Charlottesville, and Newtown Baking in Staunton. $10 for adults and $3 for children.  (Price at the door increases by $2 per person.)  Proceeds benefit North Branch School.

NBS alums Freeman & Cody Mowrer will be opening for Bill. This evening will be a treat for you and your family. Come at 6:00 with a potluck dish to share to enjoy dinner with Bill and others, or come at 7:30 for the concert. Here’s what others say about Bill Staines and his music:

“Staines is one of the best songwriters in folk music today, penning lyrics that evoke a sense of place and a generous spirit to go along with his pretty melodies.”

- Associated Press

“There is no better writer of instantly memorable singalong choruses in this genre of music!” 

- The Boston Globe

Feb 6 2012

More from Friday’s assembly

At Friday’s assembly, we also listened to several recorder pieces by the Seniors, and a math presentation on fractions. All of the Seniors (24 students) played together on this song, they sounded wonderful:

Charlotte’s 4th grade math class showed the school their pie graphs. They divided each class into “slices” of boys and girls and then expressed the results in fractions.

Feb 4 2012

A visit to the 16th century

Katrien and her 7th and 8th grade students have been studying Elizabethan England, focusing on Elizabeth herself, the changes in religion and society during her reign, and other famous figures during her reign (1558 – 1603).  They are reading “Romeo and Juliet” at the same time, and they visited Agecroft Hall in Richmond, a house built in Tudor England that was dismantled and re-built in Richmond and is now a museum. At Friday’s assembly, she and her students dressed in Elizabethan costume. Each student told us about the character they had chosen to study or performed a sonnet. They also played a song from the period and performed a lively dance.

Queen Elizabeth introduces her companions

Below, the class plays “The King’s Ballad.”

They finished the program with a dance from Elizabeth’s court:

 

Jan 31 2012

A song from the choir

Also at Friday’s assembly, the senior and middle school choir, coached by Katrien, sang a song inspired by the Langston Hughes poem Dreams.

“DREAMS”
by Langston Hughes

Hold onto dreams
For if dreams die
Life is like a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Jan 28 2012

A Colonial Friday

Here is a video of the Juniors at assembly on Friday. If it seems a little “fancy,” it’s because I am experimenting with a new Mac…

Jess and his Junior class, along with Charlotte, have been studying Colonial and Revolutionary American history. On Friday, the class had a feast complete with historic dishes such as Journey Cake and Indian Pudding. They each picked a person to impersonate, made costumes, and presented their person to the school. Students chose interesting historical figures to study and dress as. Some of the people we “met” were: Patience Wright, Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones, George Washington and the local Jack Jouett.

Jan 25 2012

More from last week’s assembly

The celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and works culminated in last Friday’s assembly. Students and teachers spent the week studying his works, going out into the community to volunteer, and drawing, singing and writing about ways to change the world for the better. Here is Krista’s Primary One class reciting a poem they worked on all week:

Also at this assembly, Oscar’s 5th and 6th grade Spanish students shared their wonderful family posters. Each student drew and labeled a family tree of sorts in Spanish. They were allowed to be fanciful (and thus work on vocabulary skills) and so we were introduced to families of vegetables, monsters, kitchen implements and many others. Here is one of my personal favorites:

A family of mythical monsters, written in Spanish

 

 

Jan 17 2012

A special day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

North Branch School was in session today to honor the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We began the day with a special morning assembly. Charlotte talked for a bit about Dr. King’s life and the things that were different in the time before the Civil Rights movement. We had several special guests, among them parents and friends. We also enjoyed seeing several former students who came back to spend the day with their classes. The Big Room was decorated with posters and art that students have been working on:

Students were asked to think of ways in which they could improve the world

Here are some interesting facts about Dr. King from the Little Rock School District website, among others: “In 1957 Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and between 1957 and 1968 he traveled over six million miles and spoke over 2,500 times. In these years he led a massive protest in Birmingham, inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail;” he planned the drives in Alabama for African-American voter registration; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech; he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested more than 20 times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; he was named “Man of the Year” by Time Magazine; and he became the symbolic leader not only of African Americans but also of people of all races all around the world.”

The students in the middle school annex got an interesting lesson on segregation:

This was the sign on the main door

The sign on the side door - most students had to knock for entry

We were lucky to have one of the school parents come in and share this song with us:

Another video to come tomorrow…

Jan 7 2012

Lab Coat Ceremony

Today, we had a special guest at assembly. Dr. Alison Criss, who is a microbiologist and Assistant Professor of Microbiology at UVA, came to speak with the school about science as a career and how she became interested in microbiology. She was recently honored with the 2011 ICAAC Young Investigator Award, of which only five are awarded worldwide! After her talk, the eleven 7th and 8th grade students were awarded their lab coats. They will wear them as they begin research on their upcoming science fair projects. More about their chosen projects can be heard in the video below.

The students gather after receiving their coats

The students with Jebb Cuthbert and Dr. Criss