Welcome to 9-A!

We met with our 6th Age Buddies on Monday! The girls brought in their favorite holiday stories to share with their buddies. We had lots of fun reading together and wishing each other a fabulous Winter Break!

In history we learned about many items that were invented in Ancient China. One of the most important inventions was paper. Mr. Howe came to 9-A last week to help us make some paper of our own. In honor of Spirit Week we made green paper from blue and yellow pulp.

Last week the entire Ninth Age traveled downtown to The Walters Art Museum. We saw the Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome exhibits and then enjoyed a studio experience where the girls had the opportunity to design amphorae. Then they used scratch paper to create their designs. While pictures were not allowed during the museum part of the trip, they were allowed in the studio. Here are a few shots of the girls designing and creating their masterpieces!

9-A and 9-B went outside for some grammar fun! This time the girls applied their knowledge of helping verbs. They teamed up in groups of five and one girl from each team took a turn running across the blacktop and pulling a card with a verb written on it from a bag. If it was a helping verb she chose to either run back to her teammates and put the verb in the "bank" or to choose a second card. She could continue to choose as many cards as she wanted, but if she chose a verb that was not a helping verb she had to put all of her cards back in the bag and run back to her team empty handed. The first team to bank twenty helping verbs won! The girls enjoyed the elements of strategy and risk involved in deciding how many cards to pick before banking them to avoid loosing them.

From parade to party, 9-A had a fantastic Halloween celebration!

Recently the Ninth Age girls played their first Crow vs. Canary game. They practiced their soccer skills in PE for a few weeks and were eager to show off their skills. It was a beautiful day for a game, and I don't know who enjoyed it more, the girls or the spectators.

On Friday afternoon the girls' homemade papyrus was dry and fused. Here are some pictures of the finished products!

We have been studying Ancient Egypt in history class. We have learned that the Egyptians wrote on papyrus, not paper. Paper hadn't been invented yet! They took strips of the papyrus plant, arranged them out close together, and dried them out. The result was a scroll of "paper" that they could write on. Yesterday 9-A made our own sheets of papyrus. Students will change the washcloths that soak up the excess water twice a day. The  should be dry and ready by Friday!

Yesterday Billy B. came to Calvert to teach us about keeping the earth healthy and clean. He sang songs and got us involved...we had a LOT of fun!!

Today in grammar I introduced verbs. We discussed action verbs and the girls sung a song to help them remember what action verbs are.

Last week the Ninth Age met to plant over 700 seeds for Real Food Farms. This was a fantastic opportunity to get the whole grade together and to help our community at the same time.

Last week 9-A teamed up with our 6-D buddies for the first time. Since it was raining, we met in our classroom. The girls enjoyed showing their new friends around 9-A! We can't wait to meet with them again next month!

Today we began our study of nouns. The girls enjoyed a Mad Libs-like activity in which they chose people, places, and things and filled their choices into a poem to make it unique.

Today we began our grammar lesson with a review of subjects and predicates, which we learned about last week. We sang this song to help us remember what they are. Enjoy!

9-A recently read Akiak, the story of a courageous sled dog who overcomes injury to help her team win the Iditarod. As a followup activity the girls had the opportunity to visit a Scholastic website to learn more about the Iditarod. Click here to access the website the girls visited.

9-A will have a practice history test on Chapters 1-3 on Wednesday. The girls completed a review sheet in class today. Click here to see a review sheet with the answers filled in. Click here for a blank copy of the review sheet. It may be helpful to print out a few copies and ask the girls to fill them in to help them prepare for the test.

We have been studying cave people in history. This week, the girls were asked to bring in a stick no longer than their arms and a rock no bigger than their fists. The only information I gave them was that they would use these objects to make cave tools. Today they used about four feet of string to attach the rock to the stick. Many girls thought that this would be easy, only to find that twenty minutes later they still had only a rock, a stick, and a piece of twine. Eventually, with some teamwork, each girl ended up with her very own cave tool. The pictures below show some highlights of the project.

This week the girls have been working hard to write sentences that are descriptive and that use sophisticated language. Their composition was about meteorites. For inspiration, Mr. Howe gave each girl in 9-A their very own piece of a meteorite called NWA 869 which landed in Algeria about ten years ago.

Yesterday the entire school gathered for Calvert's opening assembly. This will probably be the only time all year that the entire Middle and Lower schools gather together. Dr. Martire, Dr. Trusty, and Mrs. Herrity all gave opening remarks, and a former 9-A student helped lead the Pledge of Allegiance. What a great start to a new year!

The silhouette is a longstanding symbol of Calvert School. Now the girls' silhouettes together symbolize 9-A. They are hanging in the front of the room, above the chalkboard. Parents: Can you identify your daughter?