Lower School Notes

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence."

Helen Keller

West African Drumming and Dancing Assembly

Glimpses Into a Very Full Week of Activity in The Lower School

Dr. De Jarnett recently shared with parents the eight traits that we think are important to instill in all our students. As you read through this week's Lower School Notes, you will recognize examples of all eight traits (engagement, perseverance, risk-taking, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, daily preparation and organization)

Celebrating Black History Month:

Former Lower School student, Erin, and Ma Ya
demonstrate dance moves.

Dwight-Englewood has a been celebrating together with West African drumming and dancing for 25 years. Many years ago our seventh grade began the study of Africa. Robert Levin, who is now a D-E parent and teaches drumming at three grade levels offered to teach drumming and dancing to seventh-graders if they would help to support the development of a rural school in Ghana. Over the years many students have been captivated by the outreach, which led to a number of our teachers and students visiting the school and helping. Our daughter Sarah, Mrs. Davies and I visited the school, and Sarah returned to help manage the school for eight months when she was in college. Drumming and dancing brings communities together in West Africa. All of our fifth graders spend a number of weeks being introduced to drumming, and they help, along with seventh graders, three of who came up through the Lower School, to create the assembly each year that gets everyone participating and feeling the power of the West African way of celebrating together. What a wonderful way to honor Black History Month each year! See the video below to get a feel for the experience.

Parents volunteered to lead activities in the first-grade and preschool 4 classes to celebrate Black History Month.

First-graders make an Adinkra cloth, a hand painted
fabric made in Ghana by the Ashanti people. Through
the years, African people have decorated cloth
to tell a story.

The finished products hanging to dry.

Kindergartners celebrate the Hundredth Day of School:

Kindergartners show off the T-shirts and hats they made to celebrate the hundredth day of school!

Above is the display of examples of one hundred things,
clothes pins, pennies, signatures, gummy bears...........

Learning to group items by tens is a major milestone in building a deep mathematical sense for kindergartners. It is worthy of a celebration that brightens the middle of a long winter.

Fourth-graders play the World Peace Game:

Engaged in role-playing and problem-solving.

Fourth-graders planning their next problem-solving
move.You can see the 3D playing board
in the background.

A new piece of the fourth-grade social studies curriculum is having students play what is a wonderful simulation that teaches collaboration, compromise, conflict-resolution and problem-solving in the context of creating world peace. The first group of fourth-graders will bring their work to completion before the spring break. The second group will begin in April. For more information about the simulation click here to hear John Hunter, the creator speak and watch a brief video of children at work.

Fifth-graders engage in problem-solving:

A team hard a work!

Hi, this is Salmaan. I am here to talk about something that happened a couple days ago in science. We started to learn about density and how boats float. As a result, we did a boat challenge to see who could make the lightest boat out of aluminum foil, tape, and glue. We also had to make it float with a can of Hunts Tomato Paste.

Everyone did a good job, and we had 3 winners. Third place was “The Boat” which was 11.9 grams made by Andrew, Jonah, Tommy, and Zach. The second place was “The Washer” by Cyrus and Jackson which was 11.4 grams. The winning boat was “Rozmataz” at 4.9 grams. by Danny J and Brian. We had a lot of fun, and we learned many new things that day.

The proud third-place winners!

Fourth-Graders make a difference:

Below are two letters I received. The result is that we now use a different cleaning agent in our cafeteria, one that was researched and now is mixed by concerned students!

Dear Mr. Davies,

We were very concerned with the wipes that we use to clean the cafeteria tables every day. We are concerned because the label says that if you rub your eyes after you touch the wipes you have to rise your eye for 15-20 minutes and contact poison control. We would like to schedule an appointment to talk with you about this.

Sincerely, Ben M., Wilson and Sam

Wilson, Ben and Sam made a difference.

Dear Mr. Davies,

I have found out that vinegar kills 90% of bacteria. It says that "People who use vinegar say that the testing for it is very unclear because it has not been tested like bleach has." Sam and I found something called "Hard Wood cleaner." The website says "Food safety experts insist that it is the only material that should be used as a disinfectant solution against food borne illnesses and bathroom grout." I think that we should use vinegar because it could not harm people.

Sincerely, Ben

Several fourth-grade girls initiated a Lower School wide "Jump Rope for Heart" project to raise money for heart research. Here are some second- graders jumping their support in PE class.

Assembly performers:

At the beginning of most Lower School assemblies, we ask students to enter and exit the gym quietly as several volunteers perform. Performers at all levels of proficiency are encouraged to share with the audience. I remember very vividly my nervousness last year when I volunteered to share my very basic banjo skills. The video above gives a taste of some of our more accomplished performers at last week's assembly. First is second-grader Nora playing the violin, followed by second-grader Anya playing the piano and finally fifth-grader Royce who won third prize in the Concert Festival International Competition playing Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor, Op. 3 #6 Mov. 1. In March he will play in Engleman Recital Hall at Baruch Performing Arts Center.

Third graders learn to use their words:

Third graders made a bulletin board outside their classroom that displayed what they are learning about words. Here is some of what they said, in their own words!

Opera Update

Costume and Makeup By:Ellie

Hi, I am Ellie, a 5th grade public relation’s officer, and I am here to tell you about the costume and makeup team (CMT). There are seven costume and makeup people. They are: Haley, Isabella C, Anna, Hannah, Kiki M, Nya, and Olivia. So far, they have been very busy! “We have been choosing colors for the characters,” said Anna. A lot of people wanted to join the costume and makeup team this year. “I chose this job because I enjoy fashion,” said Isabella. “I chose this job, because I was interested in designing clothes for the performers,” said Anna. They have learned many new things. Anna also said, “I learned that everyone has different skin tones, requiring just the right makeup, so the performers actually look natural on stage as if they had no makeup.” They need makeup because the bright lights will wash out their faces. Since the costume and makeup job is not over yet, they still have a lot to look forward to. “We’re looking forward to making and designing clothes to match each performer’s character” said Anna and Isabella. That’s it for today! Next Salmaan will tell you about the set designers!

Hello, I am Salmaan. As a public relations officer, I am here to talk another very important job in the opera, the performers! This year we have a bunch of talented people in the opera, and everyone is very happy about it! They are Adrianna, Aryan, Jack, Yuri, Danny, Jesse, Andrew, and Jonah. I have interviewed two of the performers, Andrew and Adrianna.

My first question was to Andrew. I asked, “What new have you learned about your job so far?” Andrew responded to me, “I learned to cover my mouth with my hand whenever I am pretending to whisper to someone.” My next question was, “Why did you select this job?” He said, “I wanted to get over my fear of acting to a wide audience.” My next question was to Jonah. I asked, “What have you been doing so far in the opera?” Jonah said, “We’ve been improvising some of our lines and some we’ve been practicing from the script. We just finished trying out for our specific roles. It was important that we could express the particular character that the writers created.” I then asked him, “What are you looking forward to the most?” Jonah told me, “I’m looking forward to when we finally start rehearsing for the actual opera with our finished scripts.”

I like how brave the performers are since I have a fear of performing in front of others. I am looking forward to seeing a great opera because all of them are really good at acting.