The Week in Language Arts

The first semester is drawing to a close, but there’s still tons of opportunities to learn and finish strong!

6th – The 6th graders finished the novel “The Giver” this week. As an end of novel project, they have been tasked with creating the soundtrack for a new film version of the book. They are to pick 7 tracks that represent special events in the novel.  They must create cover art and a brief justification explaining why they chose that certain track to reflect that event. It was assigned today and the kids have already been scouring their playlists to find just the right music to fit the bill.  Your music tastes can say a lot about you and I’m looking forward to getting to know a different side of them based on their music selections.  This project will be presented to the class at the end of next week. This, and a final test over the vocabulary in the novel will round out both this unit and the semester for them.

7th and 8th – We had several students decide to go for distance learning this week so we decided to push back presentations about Greek Heroes and move forward with Greek punishment myths. These are tales about wicked people who were punished by the Olympians for wrongs against them.  They were given a project to work on in different groups this time.  Next week, to finish the semester, we will have a presentation extravaganza followed by a 1st semester final to conclude our time in Ancient Greece.

High School – We’ve spent a long time with our Transylvanian Count and that will also conclude this week.  The students have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to engage with this text and have really enjoyed it!  The class discussions has been lively and they have been able to pick out elements of Gothic Fiction present in the text and draw some really insightful conclusions.  The 1st semester final will be given next week and will cover the elements of Gothic Fiction as well as contain essay opportunities relating to the novel and our discussions.  We will have a review next week prior to the test so they can feel prepared.

As my first semester at The Summit draws to a close, I’m continually grateful for the wonderful students I get to teach as well as for a faculty and staff that couldn’t be more welcoming and supported if they tried.  And, finally, I’m thankful to the parents who are so supportive, communicative, and invested in these great kids. Great students come from great parents. I’m thrilled to continue to work with such high caliber people!

The Summit Preparatory School is a fully accredited, non-religious, private school offering a full-time seated independent education for students in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Rogersville, and the greater Southwest Missouri area. Our preparatory school setting offers an enriching early childhood, elementary, middle school, and high school curriculum in a supportive environment. We have state of the art facilities, highly-qualified teachers and staff, and a large range of educational programming. Interested in enrolling your child? Learn more about our admissions process.

Related Articles

Uniform Flash Sale

Hey, Upper School! As mentioned in the Raven Report, The Summit is having a flash sale on used uniforms. Stop by The Summit for $1

Read More

Culture Day 2022

The Summit’s 2022 Culture Day was a success!  This year students traveled around to the Spanish-speaking countries of Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and

Read More