PreK Monkeys - Mrs. Eastwood

October was full of all kinds of hands-on fun about farms--animals, tractors, vegetables and Old MacDonald! We sheared sheep, herded pigs, gave muddy animals a bath, drew and painted farm scenes, harvested crops and made lots of animal noises. In November we will explore the fall season and learn to recognize the thankfulness in our hearts.

PreK Butterflies - Mrs. Peek

This past month we had fun learning about the many things fall has to offer. We explored the topics of trees, leaves, apples, harvest and pumpkins through fun hands-on activities. In November we will continue having fun while learning about our Community Helpers, Veterans Day and of course Thanksgiving!

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

In October we learned all about Spiders, Pumpkins, Leaves and Community Helpers. Students trapped and brought in a variety of spiders for us to observe and in craft time we even practiced weaving spider webs. We weighed and measured pumpkins and made amazing leaf creatures out of real leaves. Our community helpers unit was a highlight and we enjoyed dressing up like them and representing jobs people do! Finally in October we kicked off our shoe tie challenge! We are excited to see how quickly everyone learns to tie their own shoes! In November we will be focusing on the Pilgrims, Indians and the first Thanksgiving! :)

P.E. - Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Morrison

We are presently completing our volleyball unit and will start basketball toward the end of November. We will learn a couple new games this month as well.

Mrs. Miller introduced a new warm up that incorporates acoustical instrumental music and the students use different locomotive skills to get ready for skills. The students seem to be enjoying this new warm up.

Every other week, when the weather permits (dry and above 40°F), we will be going outside for PE. Please be sure your child has appropriate gear for outside play.

Tennis shoes are required every week. Boot are not allowed for PE. They are either too bulky, have heels, or are a danger to the wearer and the other children. Thank you for packing tennis shoes to change into if your child wears boots or shoes that are not PE approved.

As cold and flu season approaches, please send a note if your child is well, but still recovering and needs to sit out. If your child is injured, please send a note as well. We will expect your child to play if they do not have a note.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. They are a joy to have each week.

Science 1st and 2nd grade - Mrs. Skinner

Hello, DHA families!

This month in science we had a fun time learning about food chains, trees, leaves, and photosynthesis.

During the November class times at DHA we will be studying habitats and biomes in more depth. We will also begin discussing our habitat shoebox diorama. This is an optional make at home and bring to school project that the students really enjoy each year. Using a shoebox, students can create a model of one of a habitat inside a biome below. If you made one last year, please choose a different biome. Choices are : Arctic/Polar, Mountain/Taiga, Grassland/ Prairie, Ocean, Savannah, Desert, Rainforest, and Deciduous Forest inside your diorama please focus on one animal and include the necessities that animal would need to survive (food, water, shelter, space). Please include a food chain involving that animal. Please do not feel like you need to buy anything. Magazine cut outs, drawn or printed animals, construction paper creations, and items from your back yard are perfectly fine to use. There are many examples of habitat shoebox dioramas online and Pinterest. Please feel free to explore those in order to help your student better understand. Have fun creating! Please bring in the boxes Tuesday, December 4th. I will have designated areas throughout the church lobby. Drop them off under their class sign in the morning. Students will show off their masterpieces during class that day. We will also display the projects during the art show and Christmas concert that evening. Please feel free to pick your child’s project up to take home after the concert. I will send this info home on paper as well. I can’t wait to learn more about habitats in class with your kiddo and to see their wonderful creations Dec. 4th.

Blessings,Mrs. Skinner

Intermediate Science - Mrs. Champ

Over the last month in Intermediate Science, the students have learned about the rock cycle and the 3 different types of rocks.  To illustrate how igneous rocks are formed, we made a syrup (lava) out of sugar and water, put it on a frozen cookie sheet and then placed it back in the freezer.  Cooling down the syrup (lava) made it hard, much like an igneous rock is formed.  To illustrate how sedimentary rocks are formed, students made an edible rock out of graham crackers, frosting, and different sediments (chocolate chips and sprinkles).  To illustrate how metamorphic rocks are formed, students used heat and pressure to combine 2 different starbursts.  Students also played rock tag and leaned about minerals. 

Journalism/Newspaper - Mrs. Swick

Last month in Newspaper class, the students completed and presented a practice article based on a classmate’s personal story. I was so impressed with their ability to put a specific angle to each story in order to make it newsworthy. They worked hard and most of them took their jobs seriously!

This month we are beginning to work on our first publication of the Newspaper which we plan to put out just before Christmas break. They have chosen their columns and have broken into groups, and they have begun the process of brainstorming which articles to include and how they will divide responsibilities. I loved seeing them work together to come up with great ideas straight from their imagination! We will continue brainstorming and will make press badges this month so the students can do interviews throughout the school and put together their creations.

Next month we will finalize the articles and polish the final details. I can’t wait to show you what they are going to create!

Art - Mrs. Wright

Happy October or what's left of it. First grade and second grade finished up our final lesson on color and how to change the value of a color by adding white or black. The projects for each grade level took several weeks to complete so we just moved on to the element of line last week but I'm so proud of how focused the students were with such long projects. They did a beautiful job. Last week we began our unit on lines. This week we will all incorporate the element of line by playing a fun dice game and create some funky self portraits with wild hair. I think the kids are really going to enjoy these. I will likely save them and incorporate them back into our lesson when we learn about texture. Speaking of texture, I'd love start on the element of texture in November. A couple years ago we made textured turkeys from all of our Halloween candy wrappers. Kids LOVED digging through the wrappers and finding their favorite candy wrappers to make their turkeys. I'd love to repeat this same activity with our first graders so any parents that would like to contribute clean candy wrappers feel free to do so (no candy please). If your child has an allergy to touching candy wrapper due to any leftover candy residue, please let me know. Wrappers, can be left at the front counter or put in a baggie and brought in to class by your child. I just know the kids are going to enjoy this activity! With second grade I'd love to do a mixed media project and incorporate the subject of gratitude which I think goes perfectly with Thanksgiving. Any old magazines especially fall magazines, newspapers, and cardboard boxes with at least 10"x10" sections would be appreciated for this project. Again, those can be left at the front counter or brought to the room by your student during their class period. Looking forward to the crisp, cool days ahead and the wonderful art that your kids create.

Intermediate Art 3rd-5th grade - Mrs. Hudson

In the month of November we will be looking at Perspective drawings through Cityscapes. Perspective is the ability to draw a 3-D object on a 2-D surface in a way that looks realistic to the eye. It creates the illusion of space and depth on a flat surface. Each grade level with learn how to draw 3- dimensional boxes in both 1 and 2 point perspective. These “boxes” will be the structures for our Cityscape drawings. Each grade level will be creating a Cityscape drawing from a different perspective. 3rd grade will be creating a Cityscape from the Birds eye view. 4th Grade will be creating a cityscape fro, 1-Point Perspective, and 5th grade from 2-Point perspective.

Art 6th-9th grade - Mr. Voyles

Our project this month represents decorative arrangement of natural or imagined forms. The students use color, motif, form, pattern, line, and dimension to construct works of art. I have been emphasizing implied line defined as a line that suggests the edge of an object or a plane within an object. The line may be broken by intermittent marks, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. We have been using spaced stickers in a mosaic like pattern to achieve this goal. Each work is visually different and unique to each students Interests, ideas or preferences.

In November we will be looking forward to drawing a fall Still life. We will also be making plans for a kinetic sculpture project to begin this winter. The materials used for both projects have been mixed media so far consisting of colored pencils, ink pens markers, sharpies and pant pens.

Social Studies 1st and 2nd grade - Mrs. Messer

First and second grade social studies started an economics unit the first week of October. We paused that unit as Columbus Day was during the 2nd week of October. The kids learned about Christopher Columbus and his achievements and true facts about him. The next two weeks we talked about fire prevention and fire safety. Students made a fire safety book. Please go over that with them and discuss your emergency plan at home in case of a fire. In last week of October, we will discuss Halloween and how people celebrate it around the world. We will also discuss what it means to be a Christian during the Halloween season. Have a great and happy week!

Mr.Hale 1-2 Grade Social Studies

This month we are studying early America; including, Columbus, pilgrims, Native Americans, and Thanksgiving. This will be followed by Christmas around the world in December. We will learn how other cultures celebrate Christmas.

Spanish 3rd and 4th grade - Mrs. Ungeheier

Our spanish speakers are continuing to look and identify key words like Cuanto (how much/how many), Donde (where). They are doing a great job responding to their daily question with a complete sentence in Spanish. They should be able to introduce them with facts about themselves and also be able to identify many of their body parts and share about some of the body parts not feeling well. We are about to learn more about our daily routines and telling time.

Excel Science 6th-9th grades - Mrs. Ungeheier

Scientists have been working with mixing some different components to form chemical reactions and observe the physical changes. We will begin discovering the differences between muscles, ligaments, tendons, and body organs.

Middle School Music - Mr. Hale

This month we are continuing with trash can band and rhythm. We are also getting ready for the Grandparents day Christmas song, and the Christmas concert.

Elementary music - Mrs. Scholes

In October we began learning our Christmas music. These kids LOVE to sing Christmas music!! Auditions for parts were held one week during class and I was so impressed and overwhelmed by not only the talent of so many DHA kids, but their bravery to get in front of peers to sing or speak. It’s been exciting to see our program come together so swiftly and it’s not even November!

In November we plan to polish our program music as well as grab some moments playing songs on Boomwhackers.

Spanish 1st & 2nd Grade - Mrs. Hesman

In October we worked more on learning colors vocabulary and body parts vocabulary. Everyone worked on learning to perform Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Spanish, and many asked me to video them performing it in a small group.  
In November we will be working on learning the names of family members.  First grade will continue working on counting to 20, and second graders will be working on counting by 10’a to 100.  We will throw in some Thanksgiving vocabulary each week and some popular Thanksgiving foods.

Spanish 4th - 9th Grades - Rachael Mitchell

The month of October was wonderful in 4th - 9th grade Spanish! We took the time to learn about conjugating –ar and –er verbs, learned a lot of “around the house” vocabulary, and studied the country and culture of Argentina. It was great to see the kids participating and engaging as we learned to conjugate and they caught on so quickly! They were full of questions about Argentina and the differences and similarities of that country to ours. In the upcoming month we will be studying –ir verbs, how to put a sentence together, more vocabulary and the country of Panama. I am looking forward to a great November with some great kids!

Computers - Amber Hodgson

In October we continued working on our word processing journals. We took a break last week and worked in teams to solve a digital escape room challenge. In November we will begin an internet safety and digital citizenship project. As we finish our projects, we will post them on Seesaw. Don’t forget to connect to your student's Seesaw portfolio.

Thanks for sharing your children with me,

Mrs. Hodgson