Humanities Cafe

Say Happy Mother's Day to all of Your Mom's from Me

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:02:48 -0400

Hi Everyone,

I’m off on a MOther’s Day adventure so I’ll post tomorrow! We’ll being doing history and geography on Monday and then we’ll outline the week thereafter.

Best,

Mrs. Musk

May 6th-10th Return to Normal!

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:26:23 -0400

Good Morning,

I am looking forward to this week and a return to my normal schedule. I’ve missed you and hope the testing went well. Here’s a preview of our week:

MONDAY: Literature

8th yrs: We’ll finish reading and watching Romeo and Juliet. Can’t leave off the ending!

7th yrs: We’ll begin, “To Inherit the Wind” as a dramatic reading in class. Bring your own copy if you have one.

6th yrs: Bring your Fairy Tale book (Perrault). We’ll be studying iconic styles in fiction this week.

TUESDAY: History

Everyone come prepared with history texts and last weeks reading done. We’ll discuss what you’ve read; look for patterns and concepts and plot our next goals.

WEDNESDAY: Writing By Heart

We’ll share the group stories.

THURSDAY: History

FRIDAY: Literature Follow-up.

We’ll fill in the details together. See you tomorrow!

April 29-May 3rd!

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:59:00 -0400

Hi Everyone,

This post will be a short one as we don’t have a Humanities schedule this week. Still, there are things to remember!

MONDAY;

REMEMBER: Tomorrow you’re going on a field trip to the Peabody Museum and you need to bring a Lunch, Snack and Drink.

TUESDAY-THURSDAY

You have CTP4 testing. Get plenty of rest. Eat breakfast. Bring a healthy snack to revive you between tests.

THURSDAY NITE: ”Wizard of Oz Jr.” in case you want to attend.

FRIDAY: TBA- Day after a show and a week of testing…mmmm…maybe a movie?

TESTING TIPS:

Remember your learning modality. Locate your memory bank (if you’re right handed your memory bank is to your left). If you’re a Visual Learner, your memory bank is accessed by looking up to your left (if you’re right handed and the opposite if you’re left handed.) Auditory Learners; you’re memory bank is eyes across your left ear. Kinesthetic Learners; yours is eyes cast down to the left.

Make a fist with your non-dominant hand..supposedly that helps with recall.

Don’t show off…use a Bridge Sentence for your analogies and think about the category and parts of speech.

In Reading Comprehension: Scan the questions so you know what you’re reading for. Once you find the answer, move on.

Listen to your intuition…you’re smarter than you think!

GOOD LUCK!!!! I’ll miss you!

Good Morning! April 22-26th

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:33:46 -0400

This week will be a balancing act. Everyday we’ll practice language arts skills that are applicable to the CTP4s which you’ll be taking next week and we’ll press ahead with history and finish our creative writing projects. Here’s a preview of the week:

Monday:All: Check history homework and discuss what you’ve read and learned. Practice analogies and vocabulary.

Tuesday: Ditto, as Monday.

Wednesday: Finish creative writing projects and share in Writers Circle.

Thursday: I’ll be starting Immersion Week with the Lower El and you’ll be preparing for the Science Fair. I’ll leave skills practice pages with your sub.

Friday: I’ll leave plans with your sub and, of course, you can visit me in the gym where I’ll be putting together Wizard Jr.

See you tomorrow in the sunshine!

April 15-19th Welcome Spring!

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:41:25 -0400

Hi Everyone,

I’m writing to you from the airport in West Palm Beach on my way back to JFK airport in New York and from there, of course, home. I’ll see you in the morning and catch up on your progress and the work you did when I was away. Let’s plan the particulars of the week based on that and I’ll post it to the blog on Monday night. Thanks to you loyalists who always check the blog! I really appreciate it.

Bring the work you began on Friday and your history books.

Love,

Mrs. Musk

April 8-12th: Spring is in the Air, so why is it still cold?

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:39:32 -0400

Good Morning Everyone!

This week we’ll balance Skills Practice with Creative Thinking and lots of progress in history. Here’s a preview of the week:

Monday: Skills Practice and History Homework Check for All

Tuesday: History for All: Bring your Textbooks.

Wednesday: Set Up for Pasta Dinner!

Thursday: Creative Writing: Your Story Worlds

Friday: History Packets and videos : I will be absent today but will leave instructions for your sub. Please help her by wearing name tags and by being respectful, focused and kind. I know you will, because you’re the best.

Welcome to Spring Term! April 1(no fooling)-5th

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 11:59:15 -0400

Good Morning!

Does it feel like we’ve been away from school forever? It does to me! I hope your vacation was everything you wanted it to be and that you’re returning renewed, refreshed and ready. This time of year, just before spring manifests in technicolor splendor we can learn a creative truth. Look outside and you see the ground still frozen, the trees bare and grey, maybe even the last of the snow lingering. They are like the ideas percolating beneath the surface of our imaginations, the dreams and goals we hold in our hearts; not yet arrived. They are still invisible, unseen, and with them, the thought that what we hold so dear may never happen at all. Yet nature teaches us the truth and time reveals it. Hang on just a little while longer and your world will burst forth with evidence that the seeds you’ve planted will blossom and the ideas you’ve envisioned will spring into life. And no April Fool can take that away from you!

Here’s a preview of our week:

Monday: Mystery Box Challenge and Creative Writing

Tuesday: History All: Bring Textbooks-Homework from Tuesday due on Thursday

8th-Begin Ancient Rome: We’ll begin with the text background material.

7th-Bring Book 9! We will be tackling the big ideas: Political systems, Justice, Conflict and Change. Arriving with your textbooks is essential.

6ths-Bring Book 3! We’ll be exploring the big ideas: From Colonies to Country; Cause and Effect; Conflict and Change. Having your textbooks will be essential.

Wednesday: Writing By Heart: Conclude the Mystery Box and Share

Thursday: History Continued: Assignments due.

Friday: Skills Practice: Analogies, Vocabulary, Reading Comp, Grammar, Editing.

We're Off to See the Wizard!

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:38:04 -0400

Hi Everyone!

Despite the snow day, I think we’ll be fine! I spent Saturday at school with our sound and light people. A bit of stage magic is on the way to support all your hard work. Did I tell you that I’m proud of you? I am! I am!

And being a performance coach, I’ll tell you to keep working, keep refining, keep perfecting all the way through the show. YOu’ll feel so confident and happy if you do.

It’s Immersion Week and we’ll begin tomorrow at 9am..straight through the show, top to bottom with side coaching and adjustments. It will take the entire morning. We’ll spend the afternoon practicing entrances and exits and set changes.

Tuesday is our Tech rehearsal with our lighting designer, John, programming all the LED lights to make the twister, Glinda’s entrance and Witch effects. We’ll work through the show slowly, letting him program as he goes. Lou, Christain and Jim, our sound engineers will also be there and you’ll get your first chance to work with the microphones. It will be a challenging morning but a rewarding one.

Wednesday is our Dress Rehearsal. We’ll get ready from 8:45-10 and start at 10am. If we do really well, we’ll film the Harlem Shake video with the costumes on. Just silly fun.

Thursday we’ll have a Last Chance run through in the morning. The cast goes home right after lunch to rest then back to school for hair and make-up (girls 5:30pm; boys 6pm). Curtain is at 7pm !

Every thought, every kindness, every moment spent practicing, Counts! Together, we can do this!

16 Days Until Spring...4 Days before Immersion Week Begins!

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:37:58 -0500

Good Morning My Dears,

Despite the bleak grey morning, tired sooty snow lingering on lawns and roadsides if you look very closely, tightly furled buds are forming on the branches and spring is only sixteen days away. But, before it arrives we have a Kansas Twister heading our way, scenes to rehearse, songs to sing and most importantly transitions to practice again and again. Can we do it? Well, it will take everyone’s focus and effort; everyone counts!

I’m ready to take on this challenging week. Are you with me? Hit me back with encouraging and reassuring words if you are (wendymusk@mac.com). Here’s a preview of the week:

Monday: History and Literature

6th years: Present Geo-Travel Projects and Circle Read from the text.

Afternoon class: Analogies and Word Nuances Revisited! (And I’ll give back your quizzes.)

7th years: Be sure to bring your history books: Book 8!

8th years: We’ll finish Romeo and Juliet this week. Ah, me….

Tuesday: History continued for 6/7

Romeo and Juliet for 8ths.

Wednesday: Extra Rehearsal Time and Help with props, sets, costumes as per the requests of Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Kaplan.

Wednesday afternoon rehearsal: Selected scenes: All actors are asked to stay in the rehearsal space unless specifically assigned to costumes or props.

Thursday: Immersion Schedule Begins: Morning: Run Show top to bottom. Afternoon: Singing and Dancing

Friday: Morning Run Show. Afternoon: Transitions and Troubleshooting.

Ready! Set! Lights! Sound! Action!

February 25-March 1st Oh my!

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:16:20 -0500

Good Morning Everyone,

It’s hard to believe February is almost over! We have two more Wednesday rehearsals before Immersion Week and miles to go before we sleep! I’m encouraged by our extra singing rehearsals and by the individual initiative you are showing by rehearsing with your CDs at home and in small groups at school. Let’s approach every single day as an opportunity to find a rehearsal pocket tucked away in the folds of time. Together, we can do this!

Here’s a preview of our academic week:

Monday: Complete essay edits, turn in final drafts.

6th-Work on Timeline of the Universe

7th-Leap into new history chapters

8th-Finish “Antigone” by Sophocles-dramatic reading. Discuss and write reflection of the themes.

Tuesday: History continued-all.

Wednesday: Writing By Heart

Thursday: History and Literature

6th-Dramatic readings from primary sources and text

7th-Circle reading of text and history packet

8th-Discussion based on “Sophie’s World”-Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Friday: All- Word Market

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons will have small group rehearsals as last week.

Special Surprise!

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:48:31 -0500

While there seems to be a question about the Friday field trip that we can clarify tomorrow, there is one thing I forgot to mention. Tomorrow at 12:30 we will have the honor and privilege of meeting and hearing a concert by the iconic folksinger, Peter Yarrow. Some of you might know him by his group,” Peter, Paul and Mary” whose songs delighted millions the world over. Known for their advocacy of peace and harmony in the turbulent 1960’s, they were personal favorites of mine, to be sure.

Now read the rest of the next two posts until you get to the bottom of the blog about this week! Thanks!

Schedule change this week:

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:50:40 -0500

If you’ve read the blog to the bottom you’ll realize I completely forgot that we have a field trip on Friday, so we’ll move the Timeline to Thursday. Essays will still be due at the beginning of class on Thursday; typed and ready. If you need to print them at school, do that during morning gym, please. Thanks! (Now read this week’s blog post below.)

February 19-22nd Time Flies!

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:11:37 -0500

Greetings All,

I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend. I have a fantastic announcement to make regarding our play. Thanks to the consideration of our specials teachers, we’ll be able to rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with small groups, for instance, principal players or characters by scene. I will post a schedule for rehearsals to keep everyone well informed. If you’re not in rehearsal, you’ll follow an alternate schedule devised by Mrs. Mitchell. This will also allow costume creators to work with Mrs. Kaplan. In addition, we’ll carry on with academics in the mornings as follows:

Monday: President’s Day. Homework: Memorize Lines and Rehearse Songs with Rehearsal CD.

Tuesday: Thematic Essays: We’ll choose a theme from our History of the Universe and create a brainstorm map about it. From that, we’ll do an Expository Writing Pillar outline. Using the outline we’ll write a three paragraph essay on the topic. I’ll mentor during class and the final copy of the essay, edited and typed will be due on Thursday. It will count 20pts toward a cumulative essay grade of 100%. If you’d like to get a head start on this assignment, you could begin on your own. You know how to write these essays, so take heart and have confidence in your skills.

Tuesday afternoon: Rehearsal:

1:30-2:15 Songs: Dorothy, Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow.

2:15-3-Song: Dorothy,Glinda, Mayor, Barrister/Coroner and MS Munchkins.

Wednesday: Writing By Heart or rehearsal TBA

After School Rehearsal: Scene 7-End

Thursday: All: Essay due at beginning of class. Then:

6th yrs: History: new chapters in BK 3.

7th yrs: History: new chapters in class.

8th yrs: History of Greek Drama: Dramatic readings from Antigone

Thursday Afternoon Rehearsal: 1:30-2:15- All Wicked Witch scenes and principal characters (Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow, Nikko)

2:15-3: Munchkin Land Song: Dorothy, Glinda,Mayor, Coroner/Barrister, Lullaby League, Lollipop Boys, 1st and 2nd Munchkins.

Friday: Create the Timeline of Universe and consider it with awe and wonder!

By reading this blog and saying you did by e mailing me at wendymusk@mac.com you will earn 5 bonus points toward your 100 cumulative essay points which will be part of your term grade. These bonus points can really make a difference but you can only collect them by e mailing me. It’s simple, but an effective no-excuse way for me to know that you are reading the blog and will be prepared for classes.

Thanks so much! If you’ve read to the bottom you’re my hero!

This just in: No School Tomorrow!

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:11:06 -0500

Hi Everyone,

I hope you read the blog post anyway…there’s a little perk if you read to the end. Pass it along, friends. I want everyone to be happy on Valentine’s Day!

We’ll move our schedule back a day. See you on Tuesday!

⛄⛄❤February 11-15th

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:02:53 -0500

Happy Post-Blizzard Valentine’s week everyone!
I hope you are all safe and warm. Did you venture out hip deep in fresh snow? I did!
Congratulations on a successful Research Fair. The feedback on your presentations was positive. Parents found the evening engaging and interesting. It required quite an effort and a steep learning curve for some; all skills we’ll build upon in the future. This week offers an opportunity to share one of my favorite approaches to history…through Essential Themes. Here’s a preview:

Monday/Tuesday: History of the World in Two Hours: we’ll connect the Essential themes across history from the Big Bang to the Present. Fun!

Wednesday: extra Rehearsal time and Writing By Heart
After School Rehearsal: scenes 1-7. Memorize!!!!!

Thursday: follow up to History : creating the ultimate Timeline

Friday: Conferences..yes, you attend with your parents.

Hit me back at Wendymusk@mac.com if you read this and get a delectable chocolate truffle on Valentine’s Day from moi! (Tell me in the e mail whether you prefer dark chocolate or milk chocolate💜💚💙

February 4-8th Research Fair Week!

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:51:32 -0500

Good Morning Everyone,

It’s Super Bowl Sunday with a dusting of snow on the ground and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. This is a rehearsal week for our big event on Thursday night. There’s much to be done yet! Below you’ll find a flexible plan for completing all the details.

Monday: All Final Drafts of written reports are due. You should place them on my desk for a final look through and I’ll keep them until we set up our display of reports on Thursday morning. Monday is a completion day. All Power Points should be finished off. Make absolutely sure you Spell Check them! There’s nothing more obvious than a misspelled word on a 72 inch screen! When finished, everyone should write out their remarks so that after three days of practicing, they are put aside because you know exactly what you want to say. Sixth years, you should use the precious time in Skills Class in the afternoon to rehearse your presentations.

Tuesday: All: Transfer the Power Points to USB sticks so we can rehearse with them in Humanities class. Mrs. Gans should have several we can use for that transfer. We will rehearse each presentation and peer review them for improvements.

Wednesday: Writing By Heart or more rehearsals if needed.

Thursday: We’ll set up a report display table and refreshment table and rehearse the Power Points one last time before the evening event.

Research Fair: Middle School begins at 7pm. Dress Up for this!

Friday: All: We’ll watch the remarkable video: The History of the World in Two Hours.

Jan 28-February 1st and a little surprise....

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:08:47 -0500

Morning Everyone,

I’m writing early this weekend, having edited half of your research papers with the rest in a stack before me for today and tomorrow. Some of you have done excellent research over time, others clearly threw something together just before the rough draft due date. More than anything, I hope you’re listening! I guess writing about music is, as Frank Zappa said, “Dancing about architecture.” So, feeling a bit chagrined at the lack of true enthusiasm I want to offer this. How about, starting on Monday we begin every class with your favorite songs. Consider me your student and educate me about what you love. We’ll take the first fifteen minutes to listen and chat and then move on to our regularly scheduled program. In addition, I’m looking for several brave souls to take on an additional Power Point presentation on the history of Rock and Roll (1950’s-present, even though its usually described at the 50’s to the 90’s..but we’ll include off-shoots into pop if we can show their influences). What or who changed my mind? Well, it was Jimi Hendrix! Listening to his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock and realizing that you hadn’t heard that music-altering performance where the melody dissolves into the sounds of helicopters and the battlefields of Vietnam and that it was as unnerving and impactful today as it was on that fateful morning, broadened my thinking. I still want all of you to be exposed to the transcendent logic of Bach, the passionate longing of Beethoven, the shimmering impressions of Debussy and Ravel, the perfect equilibrium of Mozart. I still want you to see great performances by virtuosi whose every waking moment is devoted to practice and their art. But, more importantly, and I say this in the most respectful and humble tone, I want you to love music in your own way and find a lifeline through it. I did and I want nothing less for you.

Your humble,

WM, who would much appreciate it if you would e mail (wmusk@fraserwoods.com or wendymusk@mac.com) with your thoughts.

Preview of the Week:

Monday: Music; Return papers.

6th years: Finish and Present Geo-Travel Plans in morning; Skills and Word Market in the Afternoon.

7ths: Jump into history.

8ths: Finish discussion on Natural Philosophers and Ancient Greece.

Tuesday: Scene work in classes to make progress for Wednesday. Delegate tasks to Assistant Director and Stage Manager. Share progress and make plans on Choreography and Costume Design. Work on staging ensemble scenes.

Wednesday: Writing By Heart: The Technology of the Paragraph- Let’s finally get this and make it easy.

Wednesday afternoon: 3-4:45 rehearsal.

Moving Up Night in Evening

Thursday: Music and History All

Friday: Gathering of the Threads: Work to finish in all areas.

Phew!

January 22-26th...unless it snows!

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:46:11 -0500

Well, the blog post is a day late due to technical difficulties, but it affords me the opportunity to tell you how much I enjoyed watching the president’s inaugural speech with you and interpreting his beautiful oratory and rhetoric. Your questions were perfect and I was impressed with the way you actively listened for content meaning, style and literary elements. This is an easy week to preview:

Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day

Tuesday: Understanding the Inaugural Speech

Wednesday: Morning Mentoring Hours: I will help individuals with their research papers, so bring your questions, partial rough drafts, enigmas, conundrums and unanswered questions and we’ll find a bit of time.

Afternoon: Writing By Heart

Afternoon: Our first official play rehearsal! We’ll stumble through the script beginning to end with the rehearsal track. Everyone will be there so we’ll get a feel for how difficult a task we’re facing. Rehearsal is from 3-4:45 and this first one will be in my classroom.

Thursday: Bring your Vocabulary Journals! Circle your twenty top contenders for a Word Market Auction. Have you got a million dollar word on your list? Also: 6th years-bring your Geography Journals. If it looks like snow for Friday we’ll do our Geo-Tour presentations to the class on Thursday instead of Friday.

Friday: All Rough Drafts Due for Editing. If it snows and we don’t have school, bring your own best edit on Monday instead. Then I’ll review and re-edit as fast as I can.

Also: Refreshments for the Research Fair should be creatively related to your topic. If your topic relates to a region of the world, your offering could be native to that region. If your topic is a composer, perhaps you can serve his/her favorite dessert. If your topic is the development of a particular instrument, perhaps your contribution could resemble the instrument in a clever way. Let’s talk about this so it is fun and not too difficult.

See you tomorrow!

January 14-18th A play is cast....phew!

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:23:51 -0500

Good Morning Everyone! It’s an exciting day for football fans, including me, and that is how I will explain being up from 3am to 6am this morning struggling to cast our play. Truth be told, there was so much talent in the audition room that I could have cast the play twice over! When I do post the cast list I hope you will remember our motto, “The Play’s the Thing” and forgive your humble director, for being the one that must make the tough choices. Part of the repertory concept is acknowledging the outstanding efforts of those who didn’t get their first choices by having them understudy. I’ve told you some of my understudy stories and, of course, the careers of many… actors, conductors, even quarterbacks, began when they had to step in for someone at the last minute. In our case, all the understudies have other roles, on or off stage. I also want to emphasize the salience of the designer roles, particularly the costume creators, whose work will occupy most the the rehearsal time with the assistance of dear Mrs. Kaplan and Mrs. Mitchell. My support staff is still a bit up in the air and I am trusting that somehow the perfect people will want to work closely with me and will step forward in that regard. We’ll see.

Congratulations all on your efforts, preparation and perseverance. Now let’s come together as a company and support each other and the play with love and zest.

Here’s a preview of the week:

Monday: 6th and 7th- Word Market, 8th years-set up Mesopotamia display, add reports.

Tuesday: History All. 8th years-Begin Ancient Greece.

Wednesday: Writing by Heart and Rehearsal Afterschool (3-4:45).

Thursday: Literature All. 6th-Witch at Blackbird Pond. 7th-Lyddie 8th-Sophie’s World

Friday: Writing By Heart- TBA

January 7-11th A week to Thrive

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 14:47:30 -0500

Good Afternoon My Dears,

As we return to our academics this week I want to express my appreciation and admiration for you and let you know that, as time passes, we can preserve the unity of our learning community and the love and support we have relied upon in our time of travail. We have a lot to be proud of. Let’s renew our energy and focus. Here’s a preview of our week together:

Monday:

All: Introduce our Research Fair 2013 project and write our project proposals.
8th yrs: Review Mesopotamia maps and plan for projects; supply list etc.
7th yrs: Quantum leap in history goals.
6th yrs: Study Skills in afternoon: Review tools in our tool box including graphic organizers, notetaking system etc.

Tuesday:

History for All
8th yrs: Building Mesopotamian City-State (bring materials to school)

Wednesday

Writing By Heart
Play Auditions After School

Thursday

History for All

Friday

Gathering of the Threads-We’ll finish our writing from Wednesday
8th yrs.- last day on Mesopotamia project in school
CITY-STATES DUE ON MONDAY, JANUARY 14TH