Student Creations

This week in 6th grade, we finished up our unit about ancient Egypt.  The students created their own cartouches with hieroglyphics.  A cartouche is like a name tag that people in ancient Egypt would put on their tombs and anything else that belonged to them.

Here are some of the cartouches that the 6th graders made.

In 7th grade, the students have been learning about the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Discovery.  Student created journals as if the were one of the major European explorers or their crew.  They wrote about what they thought the goals, feeling, and sights of these travelers might be.

 Sophie's journal explains what it might have been like to travel to India with Vasco Da Gama.

Georgia's journal tells of the adventures of Magellan's crew as they attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

The 8th graders recently began a unit about the Great Depression.  They learned about the stock market crash by acting out several scenarios.  Then, they created a comic strip to show the cause and effects that led to the Depression.

 This comic was drawn by Olivia S.

 Morgan uses captions, pictures, symbols, and speech to explain the stock market crash.

Ask your middle schooler about what they have created in Social Studies lately!

Have a great winter break and see you in January!

Oriental Institute

On Wednesday, the 6th grade class traveled to Hyde Park to visit the Oriental Institue Museum on the University of Chicago campus.  The museum has an extensive collection of artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.  Students got to see artifacts that they have been learning about first hand.  Ask your 6th grader about their favorite part of the trip.

 Students look at a replica of the Code of Hammurabi, a law system that they learned about when they studied the Babylonians.

This group is looking at Mesopotamian cylinder seals, which were like stamps used to press a signature into clay.

One group in front of a statue of King Tut.  Students were amazed to find out that this statue is an original from Ancient Egypt!

The students show off infront of one of the Lions from the Gate of Ishtar.

The whole class with a statue of Sargon II.  This 40 ton statue is also an original from the palace of an Assyrian king.

The students really enjoyed this experience.  I encourage you to check out the museum as a family sometime soon.  You will be amazed with how much your 6th graders could teach you about ancient history!

Prohibition Party

The 8th graders just finished up their unit about the 1920s.  To celebrate and show off what they learned, Mr. Palmieri threw a Prohibition Party.  The room was set up like a speak-easy, with the windows boarded up.  Each student came dressed as a character from the 1920s and gave a speech about their contributions to the era.

Bugs Moran (Sam Russo) looks through the secret door and asks for the password to enter.

 Izzy as Babe Ruth, Sam M. as Lou Gehrig, Quinn as Charles Lindbergh, and Adam as Henry Ford.

 Our politicians: Ben as Nellie Tayloe Ross, Lindsay as Herbert Hoover, Nora as Albert Fall, Katie as Calvin Coolidge, and Isaiah as Warren G. Harding.

 Our Entertainers:  Felix as Bessie Smith, Elena as Louis Armstrong, Hunter as Ella Fitzgerald, and Jannat as Charlie Chaplin.

 Our writers: Eva as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Olivia as Gertrude Stein, Theresa as Ernest Hemingway, and Morgan as Langston Hughes.

Al Capone (played by Karl) gives a speech about his life.

The whole class.  Thanks, Mr. Palmieri for a great event!

History Happenings

This week, the 6th graders have been studying ancient Egypt.  On Wednesday, students had the opportunity to play some games on the internet to apply their knowledge about Egypt.

 Joe and Sam are experimenting with the mummy maker.

Erin is taking a virtual tour inside the great pyramid of Khufu.

If you are interested in seeing the games, or if 6th graders want to play them again, here are the links:

Pyramid Challenge or Mummy Maker

Virtual Tour of the Pyramids

After the 7th graders took their Renaissance and Reformation test this week, they took a break from history to focus on current events.  Our newsmagazine, Upfront, publishes a yearly world almanac that helps give students information about all of the world's countries.  The students used maps and charts to look up information about what is going on in the world right now.

This week, the 8th graders finished up their unit about the 1920s.  Students in this class really enjoy debates, so Mr. Palmieri had them debate the benefits and consequences of Prohibition.  They debated in a fishbowl style, where only half of the class could speak in the inner circle, while the other students in the outer circle listened and took notes about the arguments.

This afternoon, the 8th graders will be having their Prohibition Party.  Check back soon to see some pictures!

Renaissance Festival

Today, the 7th grade held the first ever NPES Renaissance Festival.  The students worked hard to make this a very successful event.  Each student came as a character from the Renaissance.  They each performed a speech and each student had a special role to play.

 Queen Elizabeth, King Edward, Cosimo de Medici, and Pope Leo X welcome our guests.

 The parents were a great audience.

 Parents created paintings with egg tempra.  They learned about this Renaissance technique from the artists.

 The monks and the Pope taught about illuminated letters and religious art.  Albrecht Durer, Michelangelo, and Leonardo DaVinci showed the parents how to make egg tempera.

 Johan Gutenberg explained how his invention helped spread writing all over Europe.  Petrarch, Dante, Machiavelli, Erasmus, and Shakespeare told the parents about their lives and their written works.  Then, this group performed a few scenes from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

 Next, we moved into the atrium for a tour of Italy.  Medici gave Italian florins to the parents and they were free to buy goods from our merchants.  We had merchants who represented Genoa, Venice, and Florence.

 Our merchant from Genoa sold wassail to our guests.

 Our merchant from Venice sells lace and discusses her trade.

The students practiced several musical numbers to perform at the conclusion of our festival.

Students dance around the May Pole.

Students perform with hand drums.

                                          

The whole group danced the Pavane.

                                          

The students created songs to play on the recorders.

This event was a huge success.  Thank you to all who attended!

There were also several requests for the Wassail recipe. 

Make a syrup by simmering one and a half cups water, 3/4 c. sugar, 2 sticks cinnamon and 8 whole cloves.  

Simmer until it has reduced to about 1 cup.

In a large pot combine 1 bottle apple juice, 1 bottle cranberry juice, and syrup.  

Heat through and enjoy!

This event was a huge success.  Thank you to all who attended!

Students are the Teachers

This week in Social Studies, the students got to be the teachers.  In both 6th and 8th grade, groups of students researched a section from the book and then found a creative way to teach the information to the rest of the class.

In 6th grade, the students taught their classmates about Ancient Sumer, in Mesopotamia.

 Johanna narrates about Sumerian inventions as her group members act them out.  Eli is displaying how a potter's wheel works.

This group is teaching about Sumerian architecture.  Kate explains to the class about what a ziggurat is.  Ask your local 6th grader if you don't know!

This group taught the class about the arts in Sumer.  They created a commercial advertisement to sell things like jewelry and cylinder seals. 

In 8th grade, the students taught each other about cultural changes in America during the 1920s.

 This group is showing Americans celebrating Charles Lindberg's (played by Karl) first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

This group chose to teach their lesson with a Power Point presentation.  Sam is teaching his classmates about the use of the radio to communicate news and bring new entertainment to Americans. 

The leisure time in the 1920s left a lot of time for frivolous fads.  This group is teaching the class about flagpole sitting (which is exactly what it sounds like).  They also talked about crossword puzzles, Mah-jongg, and the first Miss America Pageant. 

Character Education

This year, we have partnered with other classes around the school for our Character Education Program.  The 7th grade planned, produced, and taught lessons about our first pillar, trustworthiness, for the 1st graders and 4th graders.  It was a great way for students to interact with the younger kids who look up to them.

In 1st grade, the 7th graders came up with skits about trustworthiness and performed them for the class.  Then, 1st grade students acted out the scenarios to show what they had learned.

The seventh graders act out a scenario about not keeping secrets with the first graders. 

The seventh graders act out a scene where students choose not to cheat on a test.

In fourth grade, our students came up with a game where they read and acted out scenarios and the class had to decide which choice was the most trustworthy.

 The fourth graders playing the game that the seventh graders planned for them.

 Avram is walking his group through each scenario during the game, asking the students which choice is the most trustworthy.

 The fourth graders acting out a scene about telling the truth.

Kevin and Jacob discuss which choice is best during the game.

This month, the students will focus on a new pillar.  At the end of the month, they will teach lessons about respect.

Renaissance Economics

This week in Social Studies, the 7th graders began their Renaissance unit.  They learned about how different cities in Italy traded with one another and how businesses took out loans from the bankers in each city.  Mr. Palmieri broke the students into groups to create a business as if they lived in those cities at the time.  They each came up with a business plan and proposal to ask the banker for a loan.

 Haley and Olivia K. discuss the materials that they need for their business.

 Sophie and Tessa discuss their business plan while William and David calculate their costs.  They had to calculate start-up costs, materials, and interest from their loan from the bank.

 Leo reads his group's business proposal to the banker (Mr. Palmieri) and asks for a loan.

The banker approves Jacob's proposal and lends him some money, but reminds him that he must pay the loan back with interest.

Ask a seventh grader what city they had to represent and what business they created!