Pre-Kindergarten - Mrs. Davenport

In October, we had a great time learning about leaves and pumpkins. For leaves, we went on a leaf hunt and then made leaf art the first week. We did an I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed some Leaves craft and talked about retelling a story. For pumpkins, we learned about the life cycle, made pumpkin volcanoes, explored the inside and outside of the pumpkins, and did a Five Little Pumpkins poem and activity, In November, we will be focusing on building and creating with different objects, such as sticks and boxes. We will learn about the process and make different types of structures. We will also be focusing on number writing and counting.

Pre-Kindergarten - Mrs. Levy

October's activities in the PreK Frog room focused on leaves and pumpkins.  We had a great time using the scientific process with our Pumpkin Explosion experiment and doing pumpkin investigations.  We also learned how to retell stories and practiced retelling the stories we read this month.  Two of our favorites to retell are There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves and We're Going on a Leaf Hunt. 

November is going to be another exciting month as we will become Builders, Engineers, and Architects!  We'll be working together on many STEM activities and relating literature to each activity.  Another focus will be number formation as we've gotten so great at number recognition!

Kindergarten - Mrs. Calton, Mrs. Puckett, & Mrs. Collins

October was a month full of learning about creepy crawly spiders, crunchy leaves, and gooey pumpkins. Science was fun as students brought in spiders and observed them and even named a few of them. Along with learning about real spiders, we had a blast making spiders with our hand prints and weaving our own spiderwebs! Going on an outdoor adventure and observing leaves and how they change color was a big hit and also a beautiful breath of fresh air after a day full of learning. Pumpkin Observation time was SUCH a hit and students were both grossed out and enthralled with the pumpkin innards as they each had the hands-on experience of touching them. Lots of giggling and exclamations of "eww" filled our rooms as we talked about, touched, and even carved our silly pumpkins. Most importantly, we learned about Noah and the Flood and the beautiful promise God gave to him in the sky and what it means for us.

October is gone and November fills us with anticipation of the Holidays. We will be going back in time to the trip made on the Mayflower and learning about the First Thanksgiving ever!

1st Grade - Mrs. Gartman

In October, we learned family and house words in Spanish. We conducted many experiments in Science that explored chlorophyll in leaves. We continued our leaf unit in Art as we discussed lines. In Social Studies, we discussed presidency and the election process. Then we finished our unit with a class election!

In November, we will be learning body parts in Spanish. In Science, we will focus our attention on force/motion as we create push/pull experiments. Our Social Studies and Art will be combined as we explore Pilgrims and Indians.

Primary Art - Mrs. Wright

In October, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3 Eagles learned about the element of line and how we can find lines in everyday objects.  We read several great books including, A Line Can Be by Laura Ljungkvist and Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman.  Another great book to read with your child would be Harold and the Purple Crayon.  We did many fun projects including 3D paper "sculptures" where we cut and glued different colored strips of paper of different lengths and widths to white card stock.  This encouraged us to sharpen our cutting skills and taught us that lines can be thick, thin, curly, straight, etc.  We also did a yarn and contact paper art project.  The kids really enjoyed making their own yarn "paintings."  Finally, we finished up by reading the book, If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most and made our own illustrations which further emphasized our line making ability.  We identified ways that Bernard Most used lines to make shadows instead of large blocks of color to emphasis shadows.  Also, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3 Eagles worked on a collaborative top secret string art project that will be revealed at the Christmas program.  November is a wonderful time to introduce texture.  I have many wonderful projects that feature Mother Nature in all her splendor.  Looking forward to seeing what your little artist creates.

Upper Elementary Art - Mrs. Palmer

Landscapes were our focus in October for grades 3-5 and the Art Element Value for 6th.

In November, the 3rd graders will learn about the artist Paul Klee and the Elements of texture, shape, and color and the principles of balance and emphasis. We will create a portrait in the style of his work with some special touches.  If we have time left in the month, we will begin our Symmetrical Kaleidoscopes.

The 4th and 5th grade classes will finish up their reflection landscapes and begin their Patterned Sculpture. We will learn about 3-Dimensional art and look at works of sculpture and the thought process that goes into designing a 3-D work versus a 2-D work.  We will discuss the elements of line, shape, color, form, space and the principles of balance, proportion, variety, movement, and rhythm.

The 6th grade class will continue their value project, but we have decided to change it from our previous project.  Instead of shading forms, we will create an abstract illusion using color and value to create the illusion of depth in our project. We will discuss the elements line, color, form, space, and value and the principles of balance, movement, rhythm, and harmony.  If we have time in the month, we will begin one-point perspective so get those ruler skills ready!

I will also be collecting bottles of clear nail polish for a later 6th grade project. New, old, half empty, or thickened bottles will work fine. I'll have a box by the DHA desk for anyone to drop them off or your student can bring them to class.

Computers - Mrs. Selaya

Hopefully, everyone enjoyed sharing their Google Forms!  I enjoyed getting to know the 3Eagles class this month. 

This month, in addition to finishing up forms, we moved to new seats, quizzed over forms, and started our stock portfolio. This next month, we are going to learn more in spreadsheets and databases, plus the really fun part -- seeing the values of our portfolios change.  We also learned the login and passwords for the 'Typing Races' typing app through Google Chrome. All work done shows on my teacher portal, so they can work on that at home if they have access to a computer.

Upper Elementary Music - Mrs. Scholes

We started working on our Christmas program music in October. Each week, we also discovered fun ways to learn and reinforce our musical knowledge with games of basketball, creating original compositions using Boomwackers, and doing silly breathing exercises, and we even enjoyed the beautiful autumn weather with a game outside!

In November, we will concentrate on our Christmas program and implement the solos and speaking parts chosen. Kids will learn the importance of these wonderful songs, the biblical history surrounding the Christmas story, and how to bring our best offering of worship before our King.

Primary PE - Mrs. Morrison and Mrs. Lewis

We took advantage of the nice October weather and played kickball and worked on soccer skills outside. We had so much fun with soccer games we did not get to stations, so we will incorporate them in November.  We will also play handball which is similar to basketball. You may have seen handball played in the 2016 Summer Olympics.  Thank you for notes letting us know when your child should not participate. We are thankful to the Lord for the privilege of teaching in an environment that celebrates our Christian view. Happy Thanksgiving!

Upper Elementary PE - Mrs. Miller

October was such a great month!  We were blessed with such awesome weather every Tuesday which  provided us opportunities to move outside!  Our outside activities included soccer drills, kickball, and tag games. 

In the gym, we played a couple of new fun games! One was a lead-up soccer game called Pin Soccer.  In Pin Soccer, students get the chance to dribble with the ball and aim for a bowling pin in the goal.  The other new game we played was called Tap Ball.  Tap Ball is a mixture of soccer, basketball, and football all in one game!

Because of our good fortune with the weather in October, we ran out of time for Fitness Stations, so we plan on moving them into November.  Fitness Stations allow students to try a multitude of activities in one class period. 

We will also begin a Team Handball Unit in November.  Team Handball is an Olympic sport where seven players pass a ball aiming at the goal of the opposing team.  It is similar to soccer, but players use their hands rather than feet.  It is also a great lead up to basketball (which we will do in December) because it includes dribbling, passing, and teamwork.  November will be a productive month!  As always thank you for sharing your children with us!

Primary Science - Mrs. Skinner

Hi, everyone! We have had some fun filled Tuesdays in science! Thanks for sharing your kiddos with me! Our animal unit is coming to an end. Your kiddos have learned about food chains, habitats, classification, special traits God gave animals, and animal tracks. Students took a break one week to learn through candy experiments! It was a 'sweet' day! We are very excited about our animal day on November 8th! Thank you so much for signing up to share your animals and for helping me keep those with allergies safe.

November 15th, we will begin our forces and motion unit. We will explore this unit using many things the kids have shared about and enjoy. I hope to incorporate Legos, sports, Pokémon, cars, balloons, and art!

Upper Elementary Science - Mrs. Spoolstra

We had fun this month finishing up the Scientific Method and moving on to Geology!  We explored the difference between rocks and minerals and broke open geodes.  Next we learned the 3 types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) and created our own 'rocks' with starbursts.  It was definitely a memorable experiment!  We will continue our rock unit into November.  We'll learn about the rock cycle, extracting minerals, and the layers of the earth.

Social Studies - Mrs. Wagner

We have been having fun learning about our country and how it works. We began by making a United States Flag using our footprints and handprints. Everyone learned to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance." We have also been studying about our Constitution. Everyone illustrated the "three branches" of government when they created a tree with the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches. We also made a Branches flipbook. The "3 Branches" dice game has been popular also. The next two weeks, we will register to vote and think about what it would be like to be the President. Finally, there will be a "Mock Election Day" on November 8th. We will vote for our favorite way to eat corn and tally the ballots. We will end our unit with reading "God Bless Our Country" and thanking God for our country. The last three weeks of November, we will be having fun experiencing our county the way the pioneer children did. We will compare life today with the life of pioneer children. Some of our activities will include making a classroom quilt, having a quilting bee, making corn husk dolls, and log cabins. If there are any parents or grandparents that enjoy quilting, I'd like to invite you to come and share with our classes. Just let me know. I'd like to begin the study on November 15th with a demonstration of quilts and how they are made.

Primary Spanish - Mrs. Hesman

We worked a lot on body parts this month through several different learning games!  We also learned how to ask "Where is..." by playing a game where we had to find the calabaza (pumpkin).   As well as continuing to review and practice past learning (counting, days of week, months, greetings), we will be learning names of foods and family members in November.  Be sure to ask your student to share some of their newly acquired vocabulary around the dinner table this Thanksgiving!

Upper Elementary Spanish - Mrs. Patton

¡Hola estudiantes y familias de DHA!

We have had so much fun this month finishing up animals and colors, introducing seasons and months of the year, and learning all about Mexico's "Day of the Dead" tradition, their food, music, and family gatherings that make this Mexican celebration special. We also took the last few weeks of October to learn about parts of the body (with a paper skeleton).

In November, we're going to spend some time focusing on thankfulness. We'll learn new vocabulary to help us talk about family members and friends. We'll learn adjectives as well as the difference between masculine and feminine words. I'm looking forward to more Spanish fun with your kiddos in the coming months!

EXCEL  Art - Mr. Voyles

In October, the kids finished their Zentangle portraits. We learned to create visual rhythms by exploring different shape patterns. We added color to our portraits and complementary color patterns to enhance our compositions. Bringing value, shape, line, and color together, we were very pleased with the outcome of our work. In November, we plan on moving on to still-life drawings. We will begin our still-life drawings by learning to create an image from a dark piece of paper while building up lighter colors as we create more three-dimensional images. This will be a mixed media project, using pencils, colored pencils, chalk pastels, and oil pastels as well as markers and pens.

EXCEL Music/Drama - Mrs. James

There is so much going on in our Music and Drama class! After we had auditions, I cast everyone in our musical showcase that we will perform in December. Each student has at least one spoken line, and there are several who have solos as well. We have learned about different voice types, how to practice good diction, what it means to "block" a show, and how to create interesting pictures on stage. We have staged two songs for our showcase, and in November, we will continue blocking, singing, and rehearsing for our showcase as well as learning important voice and theater techniques.

EXCEL Science - Mrs. Snyder

We were able to explore motion with our models of Newton's Cradle, an egg car, a Hero's Engine, and a hover craft. Students learned that it is difficult to separate the motion into one of Newton's Three Laws. It was very interesting to watch students work together to create a car that would carry an egg down a ramp without breaking it. The best part was that no two cars were the same, and each group had their own unique design.

November will see a big change in our weather as we enter into mid-fall. Students will explore the orbital eccentricity of our solar system while we examine the "why" of seasonal changes. Along with the concept of seasons, students will explore why we have day and night and why we measure a year as three hundred and sixty-five days.