DHA Enrichment Newsletter

Music - Mrs. Scholes

We've had a great couple of months in music this year! In the younger grades, we spent many weeks reading through some favorite children's literature and incorporating musical concepts with them. We also played boomwhackers, which always a fun time!

The older grades played boomwhackers and dove in deeper to play some complex songs with them, also learning how to make harmonies. We studied rhythm and note names through games. 

All classes are preparing now for the Christmas concert (December 17). We've had auditions and assigned parts for special components, but as always, the entire choir is our most important part! The students will be excited to share their music with you at the concert. 

Primary Art - Mrs. Wright

We’ve been very busy in primary art.  First and second grade grade and 3 Wolves spent the first month of school discovering colors including primary, secondary, the difference in warm and cool colors and the feelings they evoke.  We did several painting projects throughout September and October and I also introduced tempera cakes which have produced some beautiful art. In October we focused on line.
I’ve also been occasionally adding facts for you to review with your student at home throughout the week.  This is a great way for them to earn class dojo points if they know the facts.
We are currently finishing up our line projects and have been using chalk pastels which are messy but the kids seem to enjoy.  I apologize if your kids clothes have been coming home discolored.  We will probably be using chalk for another two weeks at least so please keep that in mind as you’re choosing clothes for our DHA day. 
In November we will begin to combine elements like line and shape as well as start on some Christmas art.  I know you are all going to be impressed with the beautiful art they’ve made at our art show in December.
It’s a pleasure to teach your little ones and I enjoy seeing the beautiful works they produce every week!

Excel Art - Mr. Voyles

In excel art, we have begun the new school year with an exploration into sculpture. Sculpture is created through 3 basic processes: carving, molding,or assembly.  Our approach has focused on the assembly process.  As with all of our projects we discussed the specific elements of art that are involved with sculpture. To refresh your memory these are the 7 basic elements of arts, line, shape, space, value, form, texture, and color. This project was going to challenge the students in 3 specific ways. 

First, the sculpture subject matter was going to be an exploration into the human form or figure. In art, the human form is a very complex composition  to represent in sculpture. Giving examples and tips to help the kids articulate the specific proportions and anatomical shapes of the human form was vital. Assisting the kids in understanding the handling of the materials being used was also important.

Second, the materials we we're going to be using would challenge the kids. This challenge would be in growth with visual conceptualization but also with the development of manual dexterity skills.  

Third, it would require focus, discipline and patience to develop their projects as the weeks passed. Their efforts have been outstanding with what has been produced thus far.  In the beginning construction of these sculptures consisted primarily of  the basic materials of modeling paper and tape. The students were able to assemble dynamic figurative sculptures.  This will be our starting point as we continue to add different elements of art to our sculpture compositions.This will include the addition of other elements of art, such as texture and surface. 

We are multi tasking this year as we have also begun a seasonal collage project which will include multiple elements of art as well.  So far the materials we have used this year are colored pencils, pencils, Ink pens, paint pens, sharpies, paper,  modeling paper, and modeling tape.

Primary Science - Mrs. Skinner

We have been having fun in science this year! Students have gone over everything from habitats, food chains, predator, prey, migration, hibernation, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, insects, bats, spiders and more. 

Recently students have started exploring the water cycle and 3 states of matter. We had a great time making use of the snow we had Tuesday morning and making tiny snowman go through the water cycle. All three states of matter were present as well. 

We will continue to learn more about the three states of matter, water cycle, precipitation, and seasons. As always, thanks for the opportunity to teach your kiddos! 

Intermediate Science - Mrs. Champ

During the first part of the school year, Intermediate Science learned about different animal groups. We learned about insects, spiders, fish, bird, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. A lot of our focus was animals in each group that can be found here in Missouri. Students were able to explore artifacts from different Discovery Trunks from the Missouri Department of Conservation. To wrap up this unit of study, students were able to sign up to bring in a mammal (or a picture if the actual mammal was unable to make it) to share.  

This past week, students learned about force, effort and inclined planes. Students got to experiment with different heights of inclined planes to see how many pennies it would take to pull a toy car up the inclined plane.  

Over the next few weeks, students will learn about electricity and get to practice series and parallel circuits. 

Primary Spanish - Mrs. Hesman 

Primary Spanish classes have learned courtesy phrases such as hello, goodbye, good morning, how are you, please, thank you, you're welcome. We have learned how to tell what we like and do not like. We have learned 11 colors, 8 body parts, counting to 20 (all) and working on counting by 10's and 100's to  1000 (2nd-3rd).

In October we learned Head-Shoulders-Knees-Toes in Spanish and performed it for each other in small groups.  

In November we will focus on names of foods and how to order in a restaurant.  We are learning how to say "I'm hungry" and "What do you want to eat/drink?"   "I would like... (name a food or drink) please." Over the next few weeks we will get to practice ordering from menus. In December we will have some fun incorporating Christmas into games and activities using Spanish vocabulary. 

Intermediate Spanish - Mrs. Mitchell

We have had a great start to the year in Mrs Mitchell's Spanish class! So far we have covered: colors, animals, question words, household words, and body parts and a cultural study of Argentina. Every week we play a game to reinforce the words that we learn. The kids have especially enjoyed 4 corners, jeopardy and charades! We look forward to moving into short phrases and a few verbs before the end of the year. 

P.E. - Mrs. Morrison, Mr. Voyles, Mr. Colton

We have had a great start to our year. In September we learned soccer skills and played kickball. 

For October we had a special guest in the morning. Coach Brandon Horschig from KC Heartland Lacrosse taught the fundamentals of the game to our morning classes. We are hopeful he can return for our afternoon classes in the future. We also played Guard the Castle, Battleship and Save the Forest during the month. 

November is our month for a basketball unit. We are learning basic skills for dribbling, passing and shooting. We will put them all together and have some skills competitions. We will play Pin Blaster and Four Corner Dodgeball in December. 

Please remember to send a note if your child should not participate in Physical Education.  If they have an injury or have been sick it is helpful to know what activity level (if any) they can enjoy.

Also, please be sure your child wears tennis shoes or brings them to change into for gym class. Most boots do not support the ankles and are not considered tennis shoes.

If the weather is above freezing and the surface is dry, we will go outside briefly for warm ups. We may play outside when the weather is 40° and warmer. Please be sure that your child has appropriate outerwear for the weather.  

Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children.  We count it all joy!!

Computers - Mrs. Hodgson

We have done a lot in computer class the last couple months.  We used technology to reinforce some science lessons, learned some of the cool things that can be done in Microsoft Word, learned the importance of saving documents in a safe place, and discussed computer safety.  The last couple weeks have been focused on our coding unit, which is a classroom favorite!  

The kids are super excited to continue working on our coding unit. Take a look at their computer class folder in their backpack to see more of what we're doing in class.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful kids with me.

Science/Government/Economics - Mrs. Fairman 

6/7 Stingrays and 7/8/9 Ravens have done some excellent work in these classes thus far! For science, we have covered our unit on Earth Science. We began by discussing the scientific method, then moved into learning about the layers of the earth, volcano, earthquakes, and other natural processes that shape our earth. Highlights from this unit included baking soda/vinegar volcanoes, solar ovens, and modeling an earthquake.

We are beginning our physical science unit, where we will learn about basic physics as well as atoms, molecules, etc.

In government, we have discussed the purpose and responsibilities of government, types of government, the American Revolution,and the Constitution. We will finish our conversation about the Bill of Rights before moving into the Legislative Branch. Lastly, in economics we have discussed basic economic principles such as supply and demand, markets, and opportunity cost.

Currently, we are working through our business plan project, and I could not be more impressed with what your students have created! I am excited to see as they begin to develop their brochures and advertisements how their plans develop even further! If your student would like to work through pieces of their project at home, the questions in their plan are posted on the DHA parent Facebook page.

It has been a joy to get to know your students and I am excited for all we are going to be learning in the coming weeks!