In The Classroom
At Archer, we believe in ambitious, joyful learning and teaching girls the way they learn best. This means we are constantly looking for new, creative ways to help expand our students’ minds and inspire them to want to explore exciting subjects and topics.
Días de los Muertos Spanish students learned about los Días de los Muertos, or the Days of the Dead, this past November. The holiday, based on Aztec traditions, is a time to remember, celebrate and honor ancestors, friends and family members who have passed away. Families usually celebrate by visiting the cemetery and making altars, on which they place ofrendas (offerings) and photos of the departed person. Spanish students created Archer’s community altar and encouraged their fellow students as well as faculty and staff, to contribute to the project. Music Class Tours Warner Brothers Studios Two Archer Upper School music classes recently toured Warner Bros. Studios to learn more about how the sound for a film is made. Students had the opportunity to tour post production studios, including the Foley-stage, Eastwood Scoring Stage, and dub room.
In-School Shakespeare Field Trip Senior AP Literature students recently attended an in-school “Hamlet” workshop with members of the Independent Shakespeare Company.
Learning Outside Our Borders A group of ten Upper School Archer girls recently traveled to India to spend time at a girls school working with Pardada Pardadi Educational Society (PPES). An extension of their classroom studies and discussions, the girls increased awareness of themselves as they were stripped of the comforts and distractions that they have become accustomed to: cell phones, laptops, iPads, etc. They lived simply and spent time working with and getting to know the girls at the school they visited.
Digital Timeline of Evolution As the culmination to a unit on evolution, science students in Hannah Shohfi’s class worked together to create an online visualization of the sequence of events in the history of earth leading to the evolution of life and humans. Each student was responsible for creating a visual summary of a major time period and to place it on the Prezi timeline. Now they can click on the arrows of the Prezi to advance through the evolution timeline and watch the story unfold. Ghana Pen Pals Seventh grade students in Beth Gold’s History class have connected with some new epals in Accra, Ghana. Students will be exchanging information about their culture, daily life, school curriculum and practices and current events. Archer Teaching Associate Francine Wood helped connect students with their new epals in Ghana. Wood formerly attended the school in Ghana herself and was very excited to help all of the students learn about each other’s lives and countries.
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