Room 503 is Greek-in' Out!

As you may have noticed, the Sixth Graders have been immersed in the world of ancient Greece. There seems to be no escaping the likes of Sophocles, Socrates, and a myriad of mythological characters.

In Drama, the students have been busy working together in small groups, creating three, three-actor plays all based around one theme. At the height of Greek theatre, Sophocles introduced the third actor and that became the "norm," throughout the Golden Age. When playwrights submitted their plays into a festival, they most typically submitted a trilogy where all three plays were based upon the same theme. The students in Room 503 are doing just that...with a bit of fun and some modern-day twists. They will be choosing just one to perform at our Greek Festival next week.

The students have also been learning quite a bit about ancient Greek theatre as well. Ask your student who added the second actor...or what a satyr play was....or what the device was that was used to wheel on dead or mangled bodies onto the stage, after it was announced what happened (violence was not permitted on stage, according to the one of the "unbreakable rules" of the ancient Greeks). Your student could also tell you the story of Oedipus Rex, probably with a big "eew!" to follow it up.

In Language Arts we have been busy reading Tales of the Heroes and learning that the Greeks were really the ones who came up with the first soap opera. Lots of tangled plots, sub plots, villains, heroes, and good guys (and gals) set the literary stage, and have kept us reading, wondering what may happen next. At the same time, the myths have also allowed us to explore ideas about our present day world, as well as explore archetypes (one of our current vocabulary words).

Social Studies, of course, has provided us with an all-encompassing view of Greek life, from its rise as a civilization, to glimpses of life in the home, the marketplace, the polis, in the arts, government, and military. And, we can't leave out: mythology.

Which brings me to the important fact that there really is no more (Trojan) horsing around. We are down to our last few days, as the Greek Mythology Projects are due this Wednesday, February 10. Each student will bring home a check list this weekend. It is strongly encouraged that the students complete the bulk of their project by Sunday so that they can use Monday - and Tuesday, if need be - to wrap the entire thing up.

It is important that your student shares his/her scrapbook with you and that you go over the check list as you look through it with them. Your signature on the checklist will assure Mrs. Stoyanoff and I that our students are sharing their most important work with you. The checklist is due, signed, on Wednesday, along with the scrapbook. Scrapbooks will not be graded without the checklist signature. Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to go through this process with your student.

A culminating celebration of our ancient Greek studies will be our Greek Festival on Thursday, February 11. The whole day is set aside to immerse ourselves in a day of TPJA-style Greek festivities and should prove to be a lot of fun! Please be sure to send the form back to school (bottom half of purple flyer) with $7 for a special Greek-style lunch on that day.

And, on a completely different note, I am sure that you have heard that we welcomed a new addition to our class: Jacob Brown. Jacob left Waggoner and the KMS Prep Program to join us at TPJA and he has fit in just as Bronson did when he slipped into our class in the second quarter. We are, once again, a class of twenty-two...when everyone is healthy.

We are dealing with a wave of sick students (and teachers). Today we were out four students in Room 503. I hope everyone gets better quickly. It's hard when students miss out on class and the students who remain, miss their peers a great deal. It's clear that each student plays an important part in the spirit of our classroom community.

Parents: when your student is out sick, but still able, please encourage him/her to check the blog and to call a fellow student or email/phone me with questions or for help with homework. That way, your student won't suffer from overwhelm upon returning to school.

Thanks for all your help and support. And remember: you are always welcome to stop by and join us in Room 503.

Have a terrific weekend!

Opa,
Ms. Nicky Pitman