2023-2024 Session 2 Newsletter

Happy Autumn! We had such an excellent Session 2 filled with fun fall celebrations, hands-on projects, and a lot of exciting things, which we love to share.  We enjoy holiday festivities and making lifelong memories. 

In the past six weeks, our Eagles overcame every challenge with curiosity, creativity, and resilience. They got to explore different versions of themselves by taking on new roles as young scientists. Our Eagles had a blast unleashing their intellectuality.  They have spent the past six weeks expanding their minds and enjoying their research projects. Continue to read on to learn more about what we’ve covered these past 6 weeks!

Jump to your Eagles' section of our Studio Blog by clicking here:

Sparks Elementary   Middle

Sparks

Student Newsletter Session 2

October 10th - November 17th, 2023

Morning Launches

In our morning launches, we discussed virtues and skills and learned steps to help us practice them.  At the beginning of the session, we talked about honesty and how important we should be truthful in what we do and what we say.  We also discussed the virtue of patience.  Each Eagle is practicing and reminded by peers to be patient. Another launch we had was about listening.  It was impressive seeing them trying and learning techniques to work on themselves.

Work Time

Our Sparks are more comfortable with their routine and work period expectations. They are now becoming more independent using their planner for tracking their work, a practice we have to boost intentionality and accountability. Each day, our Sparks had a role of checking the clock, schedule, and announcing where and when each activity was. For the most part, the majority of our Eagles have mastered this skill. They became equipped with the important skill of knowing where to be and what to have ready for various activities. 

Our Studio became “normalized”, as Maria Montessori describes, during work time. The older Eagles are checking younger Eagle’s work and helping them while making sure to work on their plan.

Discovery Time

Over the past six weeks, our focus was on the human body.  We started by learning the difference between living and nonliving. They also knew the reason why we all belong to the mammals kingdom.  We, then, moved to our internal organs and their functions.  We got a closer look at some of the body systems. 

We learned about the skeletal system and the names of the bones, the largest bone and the smallest bone in our body and what is the funny bone and why it is named so.  It was a big challenge for them to memorize bone names but after we put them together in a song to be able to do so.

The digestive system and the organs involved in digestion and how it works.  The respiratory system, the circulatory system, muscular system, and the immune system.  Our Sparks are very proud of themselves for learning about the human body and collecting their information in their books.

Writing

We had a comprehensive writing plan in place in Session 2.  We expanded our vocabulary through Word of the Day twice a week, we wrote in our journal using various prompts, we practiced our spelling and handwriting.  The focus of the type of writing was on reflective writing.  The Eagles wrote about different topics and added their personal reflections on their meaning.  We completed a mini writing project this session with the sparks brainstorming ideas about a topic and writing them in bullet point format, arranging their ideas in a specific order, making a draft based on those ideas, and finally creating a revised edited draft.  We are step by step preparing them for the expansion of their literacy skills.

Geography

For this geography unit, our challenge was studying all about the USA.  We started with the history of how it was discovered by Christopher Columbus.  We looked at the states and their locations on the map.  In addition we learned about symbols of the USA.  They enjoyed assembling and decorating their USA books

Journey Meeting

Our Eagles completed their first Journey Meeting of the year this session!  In these our learners present what they have accomplished so far in the school year and what they plan to accomplish by the end of the year.  As they walk their parents and guardians through each program, they share what they like and enjoy about each.  At the end of their presentations, they open the floor for questions from their parents. We are very proud of our Eagles for leading these very informative Journey Meetings and for the goals they are planning to achieve by the end of the year

Music Program

Sparks Eagles enjoy their music time very much.  They started learning about music and society in the 70’s and 80’s.  They were introduced to the Xylophone and each got their own to experiment with. Following our music Guide, they enjoyed playing the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb” along with improvising their own songs.

Field Trip - Dell'Osso Family Farm

In October, our entire school had the opportunity to attend our annual Dell’Osso Farms Field Trip.  With the help of our wonderful parent chaperones, our school had a blast exploring the farms.  Our Eagles braved the haunted house together, explored the corn maze for clues, had intense races in the obstacle course, and enjoyed many other attractions that Dell’Osso Farms had to offer.  It was a great bonding experience for the entire studio and family members alike.  They made great memories bonding with each other and all the laughs along the way.  Our Eagles look forward to this trip each year, and we cannot wait to visit again next year!

Sparks Eagles loved watching Disney’s Moana Jr. play.  It was an amazing musical performance. We were excited to watch our MS Eagle perform on the stage. They all cheered for her and each congratulated her with a flower.

Halloween Party

Halloween is always a fun and spooky time of year at Acton.  With help from our Parent Representatives, the Eagles had a wonderful Halloween celebration.  We took school-wide photos and participated in a Halloween parade where each Eagle got to admire their peers' costumes.  It was fun to see everybody dressed up in Halloween spirit.  Our Eagles enjoyed the rest of the holiday by playing fun games, painting pumpkins, and having a fun dance party at lunch

Exhibition

What an amazing Session 2 Exhibition!  Together as a tribe, Sparks Eagles put together the things they wanted to share and wrote their parts by themselves.  Then they delegated roles to one another.  After practicing several times, they were the ones who decided if they were prepared.  With confidence in themselves and each other, our Sparks put on a great show, and showed so much expression and high energy!

Closing

Enjoy the break and we cannot wait to see all our Eagles in Session 3!

Elementary Studio

Student Newsletter Session 2

October 10th - November 17th, 2023

Earth Science Quest

During Quest time, our Eagles embarked on a journey learning about the Earth- its characteristics and the causes of various natural phenomena. The main focus of this quest is to equip ES Eagles with knowledge about the Earth and the impact of both nature and humans. Quest time was full of excitement as our Eagles expanded their knowledge and questioned their surroundings. However, they faced copious difficulties in performing their DIY activities. Due to different sources of supplies and sometimes, miscalculations, they must utilize their problem-solving skills and creativity to think out of the box in order to meet the desired results.

Another obstacle that they met along the way was their teamwork skills. However, our Eagles quickly took this challenge as a valuable experience to build their life skills; they learned to tolerate opinions that were different from theirs and communicate effectively to make others feel heard yet maintain their stands. Through this process, they were capable of finishing their work with excellent quality. Within six weeks, they managed to complete seven different models and one large-scale volcano.

Through these hands-on activities, our Eagles felt tremendously fulfilled and content with the knowledge that they’ve gained. We are all looking forward to more exciting challenges in Session 3!

Ancient Civilizations - Writers Workshop

One of the major academic objectives for the writing period in Session 2 was to give our learners ample opportunity to write and build confidence in writing.  Writing periods as always were filled with curiosity, hard work, and enthusiasm.  Acton Elementary Eagles conducted independent research on 6 ancient civilizations, namely: China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, and Rome to write in their memoirs. They had to study a minimum of 5 aspects of these civilizations such as history, food and fashion culture, and significant people and events. They gathered historical information and weaved their findings into personal and reflective narratives to be added to their memoirs. These memoirs were decorated with images, stickers, and drawings.

The academic focus, this session, was on building ample narrative content and the project being creative and personal gave individuals a sense of pride and ownership.  The memoirs were on display for the Exhibition and our guests were able to enjoy looking through them and learning about these civilizations from our Eagles.

Halloween & Dell'Osso Family Farms

In October, our entire school had the opportunity to attend our annual Dell’Osso Farms Field Trip.  With the help of our wonderful parent chaperones, our school had a blast exploring the farms.  Our Eagles braved the haunted house together, explored the corn maze for clues, had intense races in the obstacle course, and enjoyed many other attractions that Dell’Osso Farms had to offer.  It was a great bonding experience for the entire studio and family members alike.  Our Eagles look forward to this trip each year and we cannot wait to visit again next year.

Halloween is always a fun and spooky time of year at Acton.  With help from our Parent Representatives, the Eagles had a wonderful Halloween celebration.  We took school-wide photos and participated in a Halloween parade where each Eagle got to admire their peers' costumes.  It was fun to see everybody dressed up in Halloween spirit.  Our Eagles enjoyed the rest of the holiday by playing fun games, painting pumpkins, and having a fun dance party at lunch!

Journey Meetings

Eagles completed their first Journey Meeting of the year this session.  These Meetings consist of the Eagles presenting what they have accomplished so far in the school year and what they plan to accomplish till the end of the year.  Learners walked their parents and guardians through their CORE programs, Quest, Genre, and our Extracurricular activities, sharing their individualized plans.  They highlighted their accomplished goals and how they planned to continue to progress in their journey.  We are very proud of our Eagles for preparing these important presentations and efficiently communicating their goals.

Friendsgiving

Our Annual Friendsgiving Feast for our entire school was on the last day of the session.  This year our entire community came together potluck style to bring homemade dishes to share at lunch.  The Friendsgiving celebration gives the entire school an opportunity to connect and bond over a delicious meal.  The Eagles spent quality time together playing fun games and sharing what they are grateful for.

Closing Statements

Session 2 was filled with many hands-on projects, cultural and academic activities, creativity, Autumn fun, and Halloween spirit.  We look forward to the remainder of the year and the memories we will create together.  Happy Thanksgiving from our community to yours!  See you in Session 3!

Middle School Studio

Student Newsletter Session 2

October 10th - November 17th, 2023

Chemistry II - Rocket Science Quest

Over the past 6 weeks, the Eagles have worked hard in their Chemistry and Rockets Quest.  The main focus of this session was to build a rocket and find the correct rocket fuel formula to lift off as high as possible.  One of the major challenges our Eagles worked on for Quest was to design film canister rockets with their own fuel formulations that create pressure in a tight vacuum to propel the rockets into the air.  Our aspiring rocket engineers also made many adjustments to their formulas and scaled up from their film canister rockets to 2-liter bottle rockets with fins as stabilizers.

Another major challenge our learners took on was to design a space station model. Some Eagles studied design features from the International Space Station and other world-renowned space crafts to model their own space stations.  Their designs have distinct details such as airlocks, control panels, solar panels, furnished living quarters, and even an airlock.  They were thrilled to be able to give tours of their space stations to our Exhibition visitors.

Genre: Hero's Journey

For Genre, our MS Eagles conducted a research project which started in Session 1.  They studied the psychological and developmental qualities of heroes and the Hero’s Journey from an academic point of view.  Session 1 was dedicated to a thorough literature review of scholarly material.  Each Eagle had 2 research topics with 2 opportunities to lead discussions and they accumulated a comprehensive literature review that studied the topic thoroughly.  In Session 2, the literature review was used for the Eagles to draft out their authentic thesis and write persuasive essays about.  All throughout, what they submitted followed the latest MLA guidelines from general formatting, to in-text citations, to their Works Cited pages.  This guided step by step research methodology equipped our Eagles with knowledge that can be used for any research project from Middle School to college level.

Halloween & Dell'Osso Family Farms

In October, our entire school had the opportunity to attend our annual Dell’Osso Farms Field Trip.  With the help of our wonderful parent chaperones, our school had a blast exploring the farms.  Our Eagles braved the haunted house together, explored the corn maze for clues, had intense races in the obstacle course, and enjoyed many other attractions that Dell’Osso Farms had to offer.  It was a great bonding experience for the entire studio and family members alike.  Our Eagles look forward to this trip each year and we cannot wait to visit again next year.

Halloween is always a fun and spooky time of year at Acton.  With help from our Parent Representatives, the Eagles had a wonderful Halloween celebration.  We took school-wide photos and participated in a Halloween parade where each Eagle got to admire their peers' costumes.  It was fun to see everybody dressed up in Halloween spirit.  Our Eagles enjoyed the rest of the holiday by playing fun games, painting pumpkins, and having a fun dance party at lunch!

Journey Meetings

Eagles completed their first Journey Meeting of the year this session.  These Meetings consist of the Eagles presenting what they have accomplished so far in the school year and what they plan to accomplish till the end of the year.  Learners walked their parents and guardians through their CORE programs, Quest, Genre, and our Extracurricular activities, sharing their individualized plans.  They highlighted their accomplished goals and how they planned to continue to progress in their journey.  We are very proud of our Eagles for preparing these important presentations and efficiently communicating their goals.

Friendsgiving

Our Annual Friendsgiving Feast for our entire school was on the last day of the session.  This year our entire community came together potluck style to bring homemade dishes to share at lunch.  The Friendsgiving celebration gives the entire school an opportunity to connect and bond over a delicious meal.  The Eagles spent quality time together playing fun games and sharing what they are grateful for,

Closing

Session 2 in Acton Middle School was filled with many hands-on projects, cultural and academic activities, creativity, Autumn fun, and Halloween spirit.  We look forward to the remainder of the year and the memories we will create together.  Happy Thanksgiving from our community to yours!  See you in Session 3!