Academic Assembly Celebrates Learning
Following the end of Trimester 2, middle schoolers presented highlights from their learning and teachers handed out awards for subject matter excellence to students in Grades 7/8. As Head of Middle School Marti Champion shared, “This assembly celebrates what it means to be a student who is engaged in learning.” Keep reading for how Graland faculty teaches knowledge with intention and joy.
Following the end of Trimester 2, middle schoolers presented highlights from their learning and teachers handed out awards for subject matter excellence to students in Grades 7/8. As Head of Middle School Marti Champion shared, “This assembly celebrates what it means to be a student who is engaged in learning.” Keep reading for how Graland faculty teaches knowledge with intention and joy.
Grade 8 kicked things off with dramatic readings from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. In between acting out short scenes, they explained the famous play’s plot and nuances of the dialogue while also giving historical context to the themes.
French learners in Grade 8 demonstrated how a lesson on food vocabulary turned into a video project incorporating numbers, ingredients and recipe instructions. A video clip of Kate Henry and Alexa McDonald acting in a mock cooking show with all the dialogue in French was a hit, complete with comical bloopers at the end. Click here to watch the video!
Next, seventh graders described the various aspects of their Alzheimer’s unit including science, literacy, math and art as well as the service-learning they enjoyed with seniors from Sunrise Senior Living Center. They also displayed the memory boxes created to honor an older loved one and shared how they raised $600 to support Alzheimer’s research.
Sixth graders presented a math unit titled, “Barbie and Superhero Bungee Jumping.” The lesson challenged them to create a safe but adventurous experience for their dolls using rubber bands. They calculated, measured, recorded, averaged, graphed, predicted and tested how the size of each doll would affect the number of rubber bands needed to allow a satisfactory, but not injurious, drop from a height of 188 inches.
Grade 5 shared a few words about the stories they’ve read this trimester and recited their Person Poems written from the perspectives of book characters. Avery Anderson based her poem on Nine, Ten: A September 11 Novel and said, “My poem is written in the voice of Aimee who moved to a new school, in a new city. She is feeling uncertain about where she is and navigates her way uncertainly through the school halls.”
Left!
Right!
Straight!
Bells ring
Oh no,
I am going to be late like a sloth to its meeting!
Left!
Right!
Straight!
These halls are as endless as a maze
Left!
Right!
Straight!
Every corner looks as if it’s the same.
Oh, how will I ever find room 203?
Left!
Right!
Straight!
Finally,
room 203
on my right!
Lastly, MESH and world language teachers presented Trimester 2 Excellence Awards to outstanding students. Congratulations!
Math: Elianna Montes (7), Julie Marwan (8)
English: Ella Cobb (7), Talia Grynberg-Schepis (8)
Science: Jaelyn Williams (7), Sophia Bograd (8)
History: Lauren Frankmore (7), DJ Judge (8)
French: Piper Adams (7), Kate Henry (8)
Spanish: Lucy Coughlon (7), Aidan Patterson (8)
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
