4/28/10

Students Perform One-Act Plays

In March, we worked on one-act plays in our Language Arts / English classes. Some of the plays were written by students and others we adapted from literature and folk tales. We painted the sets for the plays and did our final rehearsals during Arts Immersion Week. We performed most of the plays on March 30th. A number of middle school students were sick that week, so two of the plays will be performed later in the spring. 

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like
Adapted from the book by Jay Williams
Isaiah, as the old man (the dragon) greets Han, the gatekeeper of the city, played by Louis.

The mandarin (Izzi), listens to the advice of the wisest of the wise men (Schuyler).

The messenger (Quinn), and the old man, listen to the Head of Merchants (Henry), and the Captain of the Army (Charlie).

The story is narrated by Nadine.

Band members Willy and Isaac create sounds effects for the play.

The old man transforms into a dragon to save the city.

Chris, Chris and Drew
Written by Parker (RCS student)
Chris (Evan), Drew (Adrian), and the other Chris (Miranda).

 They meet King Richard (Parker).

Drew with Basil (Eliot).

Patrick, the narrator. 

Not shown: C - Mr. Stinky Monster, and Zoe - Elmo.


Jacquie confers with Anoushka and Isaac.

The Revenge of the Babysat
Adapted from a Calvin and Hobbes story
Calvin (Sam), tells his dad (Alex), that he can't believe his parents are going out without him.

Calvin's babysitter (Xzavia), is furious that Calvin and his co-conspirator, Hobbes (Isaac), have taken her homework and are threatening to flush it down the toilet.

The Missing Hobbes
Another Calvin and Hobbes scene
Calvin (Ezekiel), is encouraged by his dad (Willie), to write a note to help find Hobbes.

Hobbes, meanwhile, is with Suzy (Anoushka), about to have a tea party in her garden. Calvin (Isaac) comes looking for him.

The Princess and the Bees
Written by Lena, Amelia, Jezriel and Xzavia
The Queen (Jezriel), the king (Nadine), the royal dog (Xzavia), and the minister (Amelia) discuss how to find the lost princess.

Chuck (Bo) bribes Clyde (Quinn) into pretending he is the lost princess.

Clyde finds a maiden (Lena) and brings her to the palace for the test.

Izzi as narrator

The queen and king

While sleeping, the maiden is attacked and stung by bees (Ezekiel, Anoushka, Isaac and Willy). She doesn't feel them and sleeps soundly through the night, proving that she is the long lost princess. 

The set crew members for the evening were Jezriel, Bo, Charlie and Henry.

4/17/10

Red Cedar Undertakes Annual Arts Immersion Week

Outside it was cold, muddy, rainy, raw, and even snowy at times. Inside, the spaces of the school were turned into art studios, the kitchen was given over to the cooking of Greek cuisine, a hot fire burned in the cob oven, the newly remodeled clay stove in the yurt was lit, and students dove into week-long workshops.
Sets for the upcoming One-Act Plays were painted.

Alex


Izzi and Xzavia

Aran and Patrick

The smells of olive oil, garlic, lemon, spinach and pastry floated out of the kitchen.
 Henry, Bo and Izzi perfect their skills in working with filo dough.

Students learned how to make pita bread, eggplant mousakka, spanakopita, marinated roast lamb,  tsatsiki, and baklava - all baked in the cob oven outside. They created a huge meal with each of these, along with cucumber-mint salad and classic greek salad, for a school community feast on Friday.
Izzi makes a spanikopita triangle from filo dough with spinach/feta/olive stuffing.

Eliot, Parker, Sam and Patrick.

Brendan and the chefs at work.

Alex and Zoe clean up.

The primary room turned into a pottery studio - for both hand building and wheel throwing.
Ari on the wheel.

Another workshop was wood carving and building - in the outdoor classroom.
Amelia

Bill with Lena

Chairs made by the woodworking group

Evan, Bill and Miranda - taking a break


In the afternoons everyone rehearsed for their one-act plays. The following Tuesday evening we performed the plays for parents. And this is how we got through mud season.



4/3/10

Red Cedar Students Share Learning

Students shared their learning from January and February with their parents and the school community.
The primary group regularly creates improvisational music. Parents listened in on one of their sessions.
Bill and Sam
Anoushka, Ezekiel and Bill

Upper elementary and primary students each presented learning from an independent study they did. Amelia shares her project on diabetes.

Charlie and his study on Coastguard Rescue
Anoushka's study on dolphins
Lena and her study on chemicals in cosmetics
Louis and his study on plumbing.
A drawing of the plumbing apparatus in his basement.
Ezekiel's frog study.


Nadine's study on ocean pollution.


Nadine's drawings of a sea turtle and a crab.


From Isaiah's study of Egyptian mythology - a comparison of two gods


Quinn's drawing of a viper fish for his ocean floor study

Middle school students each wrote a science research paper. For the sharing of learning they each gave oral presentations accompanied by Power Point visuals which summarized their projects.
Research topics for the group included: Adrian - Nanotechnology in the Medical Field; C - Human evolution; Evan - Reflective Nanotechnology; John - Viability of Wood Gasification; Kellen - Nanotechnology; Margot - The Deep Sea; Miranda - Robotics and Artificial Intelligence; Parker - Extra-Solar Planets and the Possibilities of Life; Patrick - Formation of Black Holes and the Singularity; Zoe - Large Hadron Collider.

Middle school students also designed and built bridges in math class. 
John with his wooden truss bridge.


Margot with her trestle bridge

C with his bridge


The upper elementary group created large maps of regions on the United States.