Month: November 2018

On Monday, in Quest Humanities, we had a lesson about plagiarism. We learned what is considered plagiarizing and were given some examples. Mr. Greenberg played a few songs that were plagiarized by others and asked if we could identify them. We listened to Vanilla Ice and Bruno Mars. Some of us knew most of the examples, but other times there were not many people that knew what song it was. For the past week in Quest Science, we have been working on “Scientist Wanted” posters. These posters are a unique and fun way to learn more about scientists we may not have heard of before. Today, most students in each section presented their posters in a short oral presentation in front of the class. I could tell that everyone was learning new, exciting information about scientists hat they picked. – Kayla, Dinah, and Jewell

 

In Quest Humanities on Tuesday, we continued our work for both our Lit. Group gestalts, and our African American History essays. Section Z had a double period of Humanities in the afternoon, which was a productive block of time to complete our work. Gestalts can be very challenging, yet very innovative and creative if they are done correctly. A great part about Quest is that you have the opportunity to take part in unique projects such as gestalts. I think all of us enjoy that aspect of Quest. Section X had a double period of Quest Science in the late afternoon. They worked on presenting their “Scientist Wanted Posters”. The posters were decorated with color and Famous Scientists from all over the world. Some of the scientists were new to us, so it was great for us to learn more. After the presentations were finished, the class watched an episode of The Brain, a show designed to test your brain and teach you new things you might not have known. Students had the choice of watching the show or coloring in pictures of animals and plants. – Kayla, Dinah, and Jewell

 

 

 

 

Wednesday: Today we didn’t have any periods of Quest because of the school-wide tradition, Thanksgiving Happening. Students from all grades come together for the morning to participate in crafts and build a sense of community in our school. After Thanksgiving Happening, we were dismissed for the four-day weekend. We hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  – Kayla, Dinah, and Jewell

 

Monday-  In Mr. Gornto’s class we all sat with our lit groups. We continued to work on our Brown Girl Dreaming annotations. We found out about our new project, which is the gestalt. We all have to get to a certain theme in Brown Girl Dreaming and present it visually in a collage. In Mr. Greenberg’s class we continued on our African American projects and worked on our thesis statements. Our thesis statement has to consist of a sentence that can be argued and has to have 3 claims. This statement is the sentence that will guide our whole essay.

         In Science, we got back our density quiz that we took a couple weeks previous to this day. We went over the quiz to make sure everybody understood the concept before we got our homework. It consisted of many problems in density, mass, and volume. -KK

Tuesday- In Quest Humanities, we got a lot of work done. We have a few big projects happening. We had to annotate more in our Brown Girl Dreaming book. We have to make a gestalt after everyone in our group finishes annotating. We are all in groups of 3-4 people. Our groups have to work together to make a gestalt about our assigned theme of Brown Girl Dreaming. Some of the themes are memory, family, north and south, and civil rights. We have to get pictures for our gestalt that mean something for our theme. Our groups also have to pick a song to match our imagery. Everyone could also work on their African American history essay. We had to all get the perspective on our event or person from two chosen time periods. Our outline for our essay was due on Thursday, so we also worked on this. There was also the option to study for our map quiz on the United States which was the next day. We need to know all 50 states and their capitals. That much information can be hard to learn, but it is very useful to know. -Noah

Wednesday- On Wednesday we were in separate rooms depending on what section we were in. On letter days A, C, and E days we split up. We worked on our projects, revised outlines, and checked our thesis’s to make sure that they match our outlines. Sometimes, we work together with other sections. Other days we work with just our section. Quest on Wednesday was very work based and calm. We had a quiz on all of the states and capitals in the United States. We had to remember where the states were and what their capital was. The test was long, but if you studied then it was easy. This test was our second map quiz. Our previous one was on Central America and everything else in that general area. This quiz was on information that we need to know about the United States because we live there. Then in Quest Science we were working on our wanted scientists project where we had to choose a scientist and make a wanted poster for the scientist we chose.  -Makayla

Thursday- In Quest Science, we found out who our scientist was for our wanted posters. We got started on the posters. We can either do it by hand or do it digitally. Our posters need to include a front and a back full of information. Everyone was told to do different scientists so there is diversity. Ava and Makayla said that they enjoyed looking for pictures and being allowed to be creative with this project. We have a list of things we have to do, such as a picture of the person and certain information, but after that the possibilities are endless. We can use construction paper, crinkle the paper to make it look old, and even draw our person and their invention. We can make it look like an old time wanted poster or a current day wanted poster. There are not many restrictions, which a lot of students seem to enjoy. The assignment is due on Monday, giving us Thursday during class and a three day weekend. We have plenty of time to be creative and unique. In Quest Humanities, we had another day to work on our assignments. We had a period to finish annotating in Brown Girl Dreaming and work on our gestalts with our Lit Circles. -Noah

Friday- No school

Monday- In Quest humanities on Monday we were all working on projects. Some people were working on research for our assignment on African American History and Culture. Others were working with there LIT circle groups. “LIT” stands for Literature. In our LIT circle groups, each group has a theme about memory, Language etc. In the groups we had to analysed the first section in the book “Brown Girl Dreaming”. While we analyzed, we also connected the theme to at least four or more different poems to this book.

In Quest science we were learning about the Titanic. We were all working on our Titanic paragraph. We had a question we had to answer. The question was “Why was the sinking of the Titanic such a memorable event?” Ms. Bruvik wanted us to know why the Titanic sank and what were the reasons for it. – Maisah

Tuesday- In Humanities on Tuesday we have been doing two major projects. On Monday we have started to do the middle/beginning part of both projects. On Tuesday we went into more of a revising or editing process through the literature assignment. For the African American History project we have been going over our research. Mr.Greenberg wanted us either to be half way done through the research or basically have the bulk of information done. These two big projects are teaching us how to be organized through all of the hard work we are getting and helping us with our time management skills.- Maisah

Wednesday- Lately in Quest humanities we have been working on two pretty big projects. The first one was having to do with a poem book we have been reading. We have been reading and annotating a poem book called Brown Girl Dreaming in class and out of class. We have just finished the first section in the book about a week ago. We were split up into groups and each of the groups had to make an essay on the topic of the section they were assigned.  The topics were Memory, the differences between North and South,  Religion and Spirituality, Civil Rights and Racism, and Family. My group was doing Religion and Spirituality. It was a fun  challenge but it was very hard because there were not very many examples of Religion and Spirituality in part 1 Wednesday was all dedicated to the group project with Brown Girl  Dreaming. In Quest Science on Wednesday, we went over the  notes (for the Titanic) we took as a class. The point in this was to have everyone share so everyone could add to their notes and make them complete. – Nick M

Thursday- On Thursday in Humanities, we worked on and completed our Lit Circle Essay. This was the first of many essays that we have to do on the book we are reading, “Brown Girl Dreaming”. In science we have been working on density problems. These density problems help us better understand how to measure how dense an object is. Also, in QUEST science we have been working on our Titanic writing assignment. – Bella

Friday- On Friday in humanities we had a self-directed study session. Theses study sessions usually happen every other day and help us to catch up on some of the work we have for Humanities. Most people worked on their vocab, their grammar, or their United States maps. We have to memorize all 50 states and their capitals.

In science we were working on a wanted poster for three famous scientists. We had to create a paper about our scientists and why we choose them. We also worked on our Titanic project. We had to first fill out a draft and then write a descriptive 1 paragraph essay on why we though the Titanic was important. The last thing we did was work our advanced density problems. -Bella

 

African-American History Essay, The Titanic, and Lit Circles (Oct 29-Nov 2)

Monday

On Monday in Quest Science we got a chance to reflect on our trip to the African American Museum of Natural History and had a brief Meeting for Worship too. We wrote a reflection and described things we enjoyed and things that we wanted to do. In Quest Humanities we got to choose our event or person for our African-American essay. The essay must be 1200-2000 words at least and reflect multiple points of view on your selected person or event. We started the year off learning the “dirty truth” about Columbus and how the story can be told differently from different point of views. The point of the essay is to learn how stories are changed over time. Not only are we learning new material, but also practicing old skills. We will bring in the story analyzing skills so we can better understand articles on our subject. We were also able to practice annotating poems in Brown Girl Dreaming. We had to point out the tone, intent, and language. -Tori

Tuesday

Today in Quest Science we started watching a Titanic documentary on how the the Titanic really sank. You would think the Titanic sank because it hit the iceberg but there is so much more to it . I think this is very interesting because we learned a lot of new things about why the titanic sank. One reason it said the titanic said was because they were worried about cost and how the ship looked like. Also in quest humanities we got our person for our African-American project and we started doing our research. -Leo

Wednesday- No school

Thursday

Our newest quest humanities project is literature circles. In Quest Humanities today we got our literature circle groups and also annotated various poems. We get a group of three or four people and each group gets assigned a theme to find in the book Brown Girl Dreaming.  Brown Girl Dreaming is a autobiography written by Jacqueline Woodson and is told in poems. We practiced breaking down different poems as practice for when we have to find our theme in BGD. For example my groups theme was religion and spirituality so we went through all of part 1 in BGD looking for that theme. Then we had to write a 2-3 page essay about what we found. If you finished early you could start working on your African American history essay.  -Marina

Friday

In Quest Science on Friday, we were able to make foil boats that can hold marbles. The experiment was interesting and confusing at the same time because some of the designs were the same, but they couldn’t all hold the same amount of marbles. After watching a documentary on how the titanic sank, Mrs. Bruvik wanted us to find out how to make a boat that would contain the weight of the marbles we used. In one of our Quest Humanities classes we got to work on annotating poems in BGD. In our other humanities class, we learned about primary and secondary sources we could use for our African-American essay with our library teacher Mrs Phiambolis.  -Tori

Monday:

In Quest humanities on Monday we watched a short film called Warrior Queen and discussed the connection between identity and culture. The film was about a woman from the Ashanti tribe, in West Africa, who did not want to give up to British Colonizers, and who was willing to fight for her freedom. Mr. Gornto helped produce this film, and it was shown at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Each one of us worked on an analysis of a book about Christopher Columbus that were aimed towards children. In the analysis, that we wrote, we discussed what could be left out in a children’s book about Columbus, how he was portrayed, and how the book made us feel about him.

In Quest science we finished a lab where we determined density. In this lab we compared the densities of four different materials: wax, aluminum, white plastic, and clear plastic. After the lab we decided that no matter how much of the material, the density will stay constant. Even though history, english, and science seemed more separated on Monday compared to other days, everything we did worked towards developing our skills in writing, and analyzing, which is part of the goals of Quest. – James

Tuesday:

In Quest Science today we did a lab on density with three liquids which were water, vegetable oil, rubbing alcohol.  We let the experiments settle and saw which of the three were the densest. In Quest Humanities with Mr. Gornto today we had a self-directed work period.  Some of this work consists of grammar, studying for a test the next period, and or read and annotate 20 pages in the book, “Brown Girl Dreaming”.  In Quest Humanities with Mr. Greenberg gave us a geography quiz on of Central America and the Caribbean. After the quiz was completed we finished an assignment on analyzing information with a critical eye. – Nick 

Wednesday:

In Quest Science today we took a quiz on density.  Density is the mass of an object divided by the volume of that same object.  We had been working with the property of density for the past week in science.  After the quiz was finished, we talked about important African American inventors in a group of two, then shared important information to the whole class.

In Quest Humanities with Mr. Gornto today we reviewed over a 20-page grammar assignment in our grammar book.  In addition, we checked and talked about logbook question 10, “Using the film Warrior Queen as a reference, please analyze how identity and tradition connect to culture. Then – what are some values you consider important to your personal, cultural narrative?” The Film “Warrior queen” was a film that Mr. Gornto helped produce and was going to be shown on Thursday at a Film Festival in Washington D.C. In Quest Humanities with Mr. Greenberg,  we were given a 1,200 to 2,000-word essay which will be done right before Thanksgiving. We also talked about what we were going to do in Washington D.C. the following day. – Nick

Thursday:

Once we arrived in D.C., we went to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. We saw three of the theaters, as well as many rooms filled with gifts from other countries. We also saw the president’s box and went up to the balcony and looked at the skyline of D.C. Then, we went to the National Mall and ate lunch outside.

After eating, we went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We went through all the floors, from slavery, where we learned about how the slaves were treated, and about the transportation of slaves from one place to another, and the Civil War all the way to the top floors where we found celebration of famous people and amazing accomplishments throughout African American history. We also saw things like the lynchings and the funeral of Emmett Till, segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement, where we saw everything from the peaceful protests of MLK to the black power ways of Malcolm X. We finished the visit with a brief reflection in the contemplation court and even went to the gift shop. We also each searched for people or events that would serve as topics for our upcoming research project.

We then took the buses to look at the White House, and were able to take photos. After, we went to eat dinner at Bolt Burgers. Once we finished eating, we went on a moonlight tour of the Vietnam War memorial, Korean War memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. At the Lincoln memorial, we saw a passage engraved in the wall where the carver had messed up a letter in the word future, and then tried to fix it. At the Korean War Memorial, we saw the German Shepherd carved on the wall, and the wall that says, “Freedom is not Free.” This quote is very meaningful, and really captures the essence of the conflict. At the Vietnam War memorial, we learned that the diamonds mean that the person was confirmed dead, the crosses mean missing in action (MIA), and the crosses that were drilled into means the person was missing, but was then found, dead or alive. Then we finally hopped back on the bus, and headed to the hotel, where we were told our rooms, given our key cards, and went to bed. – Maggie

Friday:

Friday morning we woke up, packed up our stuff, ate breakfast, got our bags, and hopped on the buses. From there we went to the Jefferson Memorial. At the memorial, we got to look around by ourselves, enjoy the beautiful view of the river, and some of us chased a seagull. Next stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial. This memorial was separated into his four terms of office. We started at his fourth term, and walked through it backwards. In each room there were statues and gorgeous waterfalls. After the FDR memorial we walked to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. At this memorial, Martin Luther King was carved out of the stone of hope, and was looking out over the river in the direction of the Jefferson Memorial.  Fourteen of his most famous quotes were carved on two walls behind the statue. We each memorized one. When we finished at the MLK memorial we got on the buses and ate lunch on the National Mall’s lawn. After eating we walked up Capital Hill. In the Capitol Building we saw the rotunda, and the spectacular carvings on the inside of the building. We learned that each state gets two statues in the capitol building, and once they choose them, they can replace them. Once our tour of the Capitol Building was over we visited the gift shop. Then we got on the buses to go home. It was a great trip!- James