Holiday break!

We made it to the holiday break! We wrapped up a fun and productive week with a school-wide morning assembly, then we adjourned to the middle school to clean, pack up, and put the finishing touches on our group commercials. Have a lovely break!

Ad project, round two!

We continued our advertising project this morning with a discussion about the science of persuasion and Aristotle's Appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. 

We watched the following video, pausing frequently to discuss its content:

After that, everyone was sent off with their groups to make a commercial for their new product, this time incorporating what we learned through our class discussion. 

As with yesterday, each group was assigned a fancy Mac Air laptop. Throughout the week, students have been teaching each other how to use iMovie to greater effect, which has led to notable improvements in the quality of video editing. 

A large part of this project has involved the kids teaching themselves how to accomplish certain results, and then sharing that information with others. It's been wonderful to see them collaborating both within and beyond their small groups. You would hardly know that it was the last week before the long break, given how focused and directed they've been these last few days! 



Then, just to shake things up a bit, they went sledding in the afternoon for P.E.  

Signs of the Season...

Identity, advertising, branding, and marketing

We're wrapping up our two month study of Identity with a weeklong project about how advertising has played on (and exploited) societal notions of identity. 

Planning an ad for Nalgene water bottles.

We started out by showing a couple of old commercials. One from 1950, the other from 1960. Both were illuminating, in terms of what they were selling, and how they went about doing so: 

Seeing television commercials for cigarettes was a little jarring, as they've been banned in the United States for over thirty years. But seeing famous cartoon characters smoking and shilling for specific brands was particularly unsettling. 

Watching these ads generated a lot of questions, and we talked quite a bit about the doublespeak and questionable claims made in them. 

What was the nature of the "studies" cited? 
What's a "T-zone?"
How is tobacco "specially selected" and "specially processed?" 
Why is a successful billiards player being used as a trusted source?

After a lively discussion about some of the techniques used in advertisements, the class was divided into five different groups. Each was tasked with writing and producing a commercial for a product, as if the were a miniature advertising agency. They've spent the last two days working on their commercials, learning new techniques along the way. 

Planning an ad for EXPO brand whiteboard cleaner

Writing and filming an ad for Jenga!

Filming in progress for an ad for Shurtape.

Filming an ad for Campbell's Chunky Soup.

Of course, advertising, marketing, and branding has changed substantially over since the 1950s and 60s, which we'll be exploring as we continue this project over the course of the week. 

Middle School Student Government

Full middle school assembly this afternoon on the topic of student government!

Visitors from Joanna's class

We had visitors from Joanna's class this afternoon, who came to give a quick presentation on the physics of sky lanterns (specifically, how and why they go up). We'll be using them this Friday as part of an end-of-2013 school wide event.

Go see The Odyssey!

I hope everyone is planning to see The Odyssey! I saw it on Thursday and it was delightful. 

It must be seen in person, so this is the only photo I could post that wouldn't give anything away... Saturday is the last night! 

Building the building blocks

We've been studying genetics as part of our exploration of the theme of Identity. Today, we made models of the DNA molecule. It was occasionally challenging, as you can see here by Sydney's face...

Art portraits

We've spent the last few sessions of Art creating portraits. Take a look at the familiar faces!

Scenes from Monday

We hit the ground running today after the long holiday weekend. Here's a quick look at a hectic and productive Monday: 

Danny has been tasked with a math problem: What is the most efficient way to package these golf balls, using the least amount of packaging possible?

This afternoon was devoted to a full rehearsal of our play, which took over the lunchroom and the middle school commons. 

Those not in the play spent the afternoon working with Dr. George on the greenhouse project. Today was spent preparing and starting work on the compost furnace that will heat the greenhouse in the winter. 

Installing the ground cover involved an honest-to-goodness story problem straight out of a Singapore Math book.  

Measure twice, cut once. 

Installing the liner...

Back indoors, Evan was recruited to construct assorted props for the play. 

Finally, though the Gaga pit has been stored away for the season, some kids weren't quite ready to let go: 

Block prints

The first round of block prints are in, and they're really cool! 

Works in progress...

The final products: 

Morning Assembly: Play Rehearsal

...And we're back! 

After what was hopefully a fun and restorative long weekend, we're back at school. We kicked off this morning with an all-school assembly , rehearsing a scene from The Odyssey. 

Opening night is Thursday!