Here is what we are up to:

1.  Literature:  We recently finished “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” and students wrote reviews on it as well as a review for the “Hunger Games” movie we went to.  Their reviews can be seen on their personal blogs.  We are currently reading the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”.  What an amazing book!  The kids are really enjoying it and there is lots of great vocabulary we are pulling out, studying, and adding to our language repertoire.  The themes that we studied in “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” are really being brought to life in this non-fiction work (Racism, Equality, Freedom, Hope, Perseverance).

2. Geography:  We have been doing some basic US and World Geography.  We are really going to emphasize World Geography the last 2 months of school.

3. Morning pages / Poetry:  The students continue to love their creative writing pieces and have most recently spent some time reading and analyzing several classic poems.

4. Math:  This work is self-directed and self-paced.  The goal is to finish our workbook before the end of the year.  Ask your child where they are and whether or not they are going to be able to achieve this goal.  Several of them have already started the 8th grade Math curriculum.  Colby, Caroline, and Jackson are enjoying their learning with Patrick and have even worked through some of their lunch periods to get ahead.

5. Latin:  Students have done an incredible job learning the Lord’s Prayer in Latin.  I have challenged them to really be perfect with their pronunciations and study what each word means so they can go deeper with their mastery of it.  They were pretty excited to find out the origin of “Panera”.  When they all do it in unison, it is really something special.

6. Research Paper:  Students have been working diligently on their “Stewards of the Earth” research paper.  We have spent quite a bit of time researching, taking notes, writing, making outlines, revising, making Works Cited pages, and ultimately creating a research paper they can be proud of.

7.  Socratic Seminary:  We recently read articles, made t-charts, wrote persuasive essays, and finally debated the topic of “school uniforms”.

8.  Christian studies:  Students are working in groups to further research the lives of Peter, Stephen, and Paul.  We have recently discussed Pentecost and the Holy Spirit.  I was pleased with the conversation we had on the challenges of experiencing the Holy Spirit.

9.  Physical Education:  I honestly can’t even begin to tell you the progress these kids have made with basic eye-hand coordination.  Although the students would like to play more than we do, we have taken some time recently to play “Monster-Ball” and soccer in the gym.

10.   Experiential Education:  We are excited about our up-coming trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota where we will be camping, hiking, serving, cooking, spelunking, climbing, swimming, writing, reading, observing, and experiencing.

If you have not seen your child’s personal blog lately, have them show it to you.  Students should also be continually encouraged to be reading their “outside of school” book.  See you next week at Meeting of the Minds.

Best,

Lance Finkbeiner

Welcome back from Spring Break.  I hope everyone had a nice break and enjoyed some sunshine!

1. Literature: One of our major focuses the last 2 weeks has been reading and analyzing the book “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry”.  Students should finish this book by Monday, March 26th and have been asked to take notes, write a summary, or show evidence of their reading and understanding of the book (which should be posted on their blogs).  We have spent quite some time comparing characters in the book with our own personality traits and discussing broader themes including racism, equality, perseverance, hope, and loyalty.

2.  Morning Pages: We continue to work on our writing with our morning pages prompts.  Recently the students wrote a creative piece about being the knife in a thief’s pocket and another more serious paragraph about being good stewards of the earth.

3.  Happy Hour: This activity was inspired by Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams”.  The rules are quite simple, students research a topic of their choosing which has nothing to do with anything we are currently studying.  Your children chose topics including:  John Lennon, tulips, Porsche, chicken nuggets (pink slime), the origin of their name, and the Tesla turbine engine.  They loved what they researched, took notes, and ecstatically shared their findings with their classmates.   The learning process (researching, sifting through the information, taking notes, sharing your findings) is the same no matter what we are studying.  Why not allow the process to take place with topics of self-interest?

4.  Intermediate Inquiry:  Block 6 emphasizes the sharing of the planet and the many factors that impact the resources of our world.  We have already created our Block 6 goals.  Students should post them on their personal blog.  Please take the time to go over their goals with them.

5.  Research Paper: One of their major goals this block is the development of a research paper.   The topic is being “good stewards of the earth.”  We have already started the process, researched it Biblically, and are starting to create the rough outline.  This assignment will be over the course of the next 4-5 weeks and will show the students all the necessary steps for effective research (evaluating sources, taking notes, rough drafts, outlines, works cited, revisions, etc.)

6.  Christian Studies:  Matthew continues to work through a curriculum which is currently focusing on the Resurrection of the Son of God and the Pentecost.

7.  Math:  Students continue to work at their own pace and most are making incredible progress.  The students that are making the most progress are taking the responsibility to stay after school at times and work on their math at home a bit as well.  Most of the Math Mastery Connect standards come from Chapters 6, 9, and 10 from the curriculum we are currently using.  Ask your child which Chapter they are in.  We would like them to finish Chapter 10 by the end of this Block — leaving the entire last block for real life applications and Algebra.

8.  Personal Blog:  Students should continually be updating their personal blogs and have been asked to add a link on their blog to their personal video.  I hope you have taken the time to see their videos, personal essays, and personal blogs.

9.  Physical Education:  This block we are learning about and playing soccer.

10.  Excursions:  Monday, March 26th — We are walking over to the theatre to watch the “Hunger Games”.  Comparing the different mediums, analyzing character development, and reflecting on the themes serves many of our learning standards.  Tuesday, April 3rd — We are hoping to take the students to Vail Pass for a backcountry field experience teaching the students about snow science, basic avalanche safety, and snow pits using beacons, probes, shovels, and snowshoes.  More information on this will be coming your way via email very soon.  May — We are finalizing plans to do a camping/service/experiential education trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  Once again, more information will be soon coming your way.

Thanks!!

Lance Finkbeiner

Hope everyone enjoyed the Watoto concerts.  What a phenomenal experience!  I will forever remember our kids interaction with them playing dodgeball in the gym.  It was hilarious!  Enjoy your spring break and safe travels to those who are leaving the city.

Students should be reading “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” during their break and working on some Math.  Otherwise enjoy some free time, get outside, and play!!

Week of 2-20:

Note to Parents:  Hoping to see all of you next Monday, February 27th immediately after school for a brief meeting regarding our potential Impact Anastasis service learning trip to Costa Rica. Tentative dates are currently May 5 — 12th.

UpComing Events:  Thursday, March 8th at 6 pm.  Watoto African Children’s Choir will be performing a free concert for our school and we’d love to pack the pulse room.  We are still in need of one family to host these African children that night.  If interested, let me know ASAP!  What an incredible opportunity for your kids to get a dose of African culture and make some friends with Ugandan children.

Makeup Work:  Despite my continual reminders, students don’t seem to understand that they are responsible for finding out and making up work that they miss while being out of school.  Please help me hold them accountable for this.  A couple of the students are quickly falling behind as they don’t bother to ask nor do anything they miss when they are absent.  Help!

1. Unit 5 goals:  Students should be working hard on their Unit Presentations.  Their first draft is due next week and their final presentation is due the following week.  They were asked to set up a meeting with me so we could look at these together.  Thus far, Caroline is the only student who has organized this.

2. Tom Sawyer:  We finished the book this week.  Most of the students have missed at least a chapter or two because of absences.  They should read the Chapters they missed and write summaries to confirm completion.  We had a great lesson this week on themes, motifs, and symbolism in literature.  Ask your students the difference between each of these along with examples from the book.

3. Finks favorites:  Social Studies — Students took notes and did basic research on the Civil War, World War 1, and the Roaring 20′s.

4. Unit #5 Inquiry:  We had a socratic seminar on the role the printing press had on Christianity.  We then briefly discussed the role the internet has and will have on Christianity.  Students have been asked to email me their notes for this discussion.  Please remind them to do so.  Please ask your students to connect the dots between Martin Luther, Gutenberg, printing press, Renaissance, Reformation, the classics, humanism, and Christianity.

5. Personal essays:  Students have been asked to turn their personal essays into a personal video which showcases their lives.

6. Mathematics:  We have started a new format that seems to be working well — ask your children for more details.  We have given each of the 7th graders a Math workbook so there is less time spent on searching for sample problems and more time spent on practice.  There is still an emphasis on real-life application but students have much more freedom now to move ahead with the curriculum.

7. Christian Studies:  Resurrection of the Son of God and Pentecost / Christian reforms with the invention of the printing press.

Week of 2-13:

Note to Parents:

This week is a bit disheveled.   We spent some time in the kitchen Monday making cakes for Valentines Day.  Tuesday included Jump Rope for Heart, arts & crafts, and an afternoon of reading and book exchange.  Wednesday is a late-start and we have crave and electives in the afternoon.  It was great touching base with most of you during Meetings of the Mind the past few days.  If you were not able to meet with me, please shoot me an email of a good time to call you so we can discuss the Impact Anastasis trip in early May.  (see below)

1.  Impact Anastasis:  After talking to almost all the parent, there is overwhelming support for the trip in early May and it looks as though Costa Rica is the clear favorite destination. The decision to take the trip has not yet been finalized, and I welcome more input if you still have questions, comments, or concerns.  The tentative dates would be April 29th — May 5th give or take a day or two.  The first step (once we finalize) is to make sure your child has a current passport!

2.  UpComing Events:  Thursday, March 8th at 6 pm.  Watoto African Children’s Choir will be performing a free concert for our school and we’d love to pack the pulse room.  We are still in need of three families to host these African children that night.  If interested, let me know ASAP!  What an incredible opportunity for your kids to get a dose of African culture and make some friends with Ugandan children.

3. Unit 5 goals:  Students have written their Unit goals and have been asked to go over them with their parents and garner your signature.  Please help hold them accountable specifically for their social, spiritual, and physical goals.

4. Tom Sawyer:  We are in the final 5 chapters of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.  This has been an incredible read for us and has truly inspired the students to write with a bit more creative word choice, voice, and style.

5. Finks favorites:  Social Studies — Students have started a project identifying 11 key event in American History and should soon be able to tell you about their significance in our nation’s story.  (Declaration of Independence, Revolution, Constitution, Civil War, World War 1, Roaring 20′s, Great Depression, WWII, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, and 9-11)  Keep in mind we are not going in depth with each of these but ask your students for a brief overview.

6. Unit #5 Inquiry:  How we organize ourselves:  An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.  Technology has changed the world of work and leisure.

Assignment #1:  Socratic Seminar — “Does technology ultimately connect us more or does it seem to distract us from true connection”?  Take a stand and explain your argument with detailed evidence.

. Assignment #2:  Research, discuss, share, and take notes:
Group 1 — top 3 inventions that have impacted the home
Group 2– top 3 inventions that have impacted health
Group 3– top 3 inventions that have impacted farming / food
Group 4– top 3 inventions that have impacted leisure activities
Group 5– top 3 inventions that have impacted schools/education
Discuss collectively the top 3 inventions that have affected our personal lives the most!!

Assignment #3:  Students will study the printing press and its impact on Christianity.

7. Personal essays:  These should now be finished and posted in their personal blogs.  If you haven’t already taken the time to read them, please do.

8. Mathematics:  Students are continuing to progress with their mathematical skills and understanding.  There is a lot of breadth to our curriculum, therefore in addition to our daily math at school, students are encouraged to spend more time on their Math goals at home!!

9. Christian Studies:  Resurrection of the Son of God and Pentecost.

10.  Physical Education:  Jump Rope for Heart and some Basketball skills competitions.

Week of 2-6:

Note to Parents:

I’m looking forward to meeting with you this coming Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for our Meeting of the Minds.  Although my post is a couple of days late, we’ve had an incredible week of learning and invite you to engage in conversation with your child surrounding the items below.

1.  UpComing Events:  Please mark your calendar for Thursday, March 8th at 6 pm.  Watoto African Children’s Choir will be performing a free concert for our school and we’d love to pack the pulse room.  We are need of a few families to host these African children that night.  If interested, let me know ASAP!  What an incredible opportunity for your kids to get a dose of African culture and make some friends with Ugandan children.

2.  Impact Anastais:  I’d like to discuss our potential May trip to Costa Rica / Guatemala / Santa Barbara with each of you to determine when, where, and what you think of this excursion.

3. Unit 5 goals:  Students have written their Unit goals.  Please ask them to share with you some of their social, spiritual, and physical goals so you can encourage them and hold them accountable for working towards them.
4. Tom Sawyer:  We continue to read “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.  Students are writing summaries, learning vocabulary, and have recently learned Costa’s 3 levels of questioning.  Ask them what the 3 levels are and how we are utilizing them in our education.

5. Finks favorites:  Social Studies — Students have done an incredible job this week identifying and researching 12 of our most influential presidents.  We are also starting to delve into an identified area of weakness — World Geography.

6. Unit #5 Inquiry:  How we organize ourselves:  An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.  Technology has changed the world of work and leisure. 

  Assignment #1:  Socratic Seminar — “Does technology ultimately connect us more or does it seem to distract us from true connection”?  Take a stand and explain your argument with detailed evidence. 

. Assignment #2:  Research, discuss, share, and take notes:
Group 1 — top 3 inventions that have impacted the home
Group 2– top 3 inventions that have impacted health
Group 3– top 3 inventions that have impacted farming / food
Group 4– top 3 inventions that have impacted leisure activities
Group 5– top 3 inventions that have impacted schools/education
Discuss collectively the top 3 inventions that have affected our personal lives the most!!

7. Personal essays:  We are in the midst of writing a personal essay which includes our personal statement and a paragraph detailing our own personal code of ethics.  I’ve been impressed with how these are shaping up.  Please take a look at this paper and discuss with your child.

8. Mathematics:  Students are continuing to progress with their mathematical skills and understanding.  There is a lot of breadth to our curriculum, therefore in addition to our daily math at school, students are encouraged to spend more time on their Math goals at home.

9. Morning Pages:  Several interesting prompts from this week.  Have your child share one of their favorite writings with you. 

10. Christian Studies:  Resurrection of the Son of God and Pentecost

11.  Physical Education:  Students are continuing to hone their volleyball skills.

Note to Parents:  As I’m sure you have already heard, our recent conference in Philadelphia certainly gave us even more confidence and confirmation in what we are doing at Anastasis.  The traditional education model in most schools is deeply flawed. Almost all of the discussions regarding what needs to be done and what a more perfect system would look like — are what Anastasis Academy is all about.  Inquiry learning, focus on skills rather than content, critical thinking, freedom and excitement in learning, room to fail, technology in classroom, and communal relations to name a few. I am excited to be part of a school that provides an innovative, caring, and unique educational model.

1. Morning pages –346 Creative Writing prompts that we use including our new vocabulary that we are continuing to learn.  Students should have several of these morning pages writings.  They have been asked to put the ones they like the most on their personal blogs.

2.  Personal Blogs — Please take the time to look at your child’s personal blog.  They are coming along nicely.  Students should constantly be improving these, adding content, and organizing.

3. Tom Sawyer  — We are continuing to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  Students are enjoying this literary piece and working hard on vocabulary, contextual clues, foreshadowing, writing chapter summaries, and responses.

4. Inquiry — This is our last week studying “How the World Works”.  Paul Anderson is visiting us on Tuesday to talk about the space programs he has worked on and to answer any further questions we may have on our complex universe.

5. Mathematics — Several of the students are finally making some headway here.  Ask your child to see their progress map.  Some of this work must be done at home to cover the ground we would like to cover.  7th graders are asked to identify concepts, show several examples, and then give a real life application.

6. Physical Education –Continuing our volleyball unit including rules, rotation, skills, scoring, and play.  We usually get down to the gym twice a week for about a half an hour. We are trying to get there more often, but our gym time is determined by our work ethic, transition time, and what we’ve accomplished that particular day.

7. Christian Studies – This unit has focused on Holy Week.  This week we studied the deeper significance and importance of communion.  We had a great discussion!

8. Fink’s Favorites –This week we discussed the Declaration of Independence, how the United States Revolution is different than most others, the Liberty Bell and how this represents freedom, and the symbolism of the crack in the bell as we strive to maintain our liberties.

9.  Socratic Seminar –The students continue to impress me with these discussions.  The topics I am presenting to them this week include:  What is love?  What is freedom?  What is vulnerability? What is grace?  Our vulnerability discussion was particularly profound. Please continue to engage with them on these topics.

Assignments & personal blogs:

1.  Students are presenting their unit goals and evidence of mastery.

2.  We are working on a Personal essay which will include our personal statement and our code of ethics.  This will eventually be made into an Identity video and will be on their personal blogs.

3.  Students should always be reading a book on the side.  Please hold them accountable for this and informally track their progress.

Note to Parents:

Next week is the end of Unit 4.  Please check in with your child and see how their unit goals and evidence are progressing — these should be on their personal blogs .  Many of the students don’t seem to realize that the unit is almost over even though I remind them daily.  At the end of each unit, students must give a comprehensive presentation detailing mastery of their unit goals with evidence.  This is fast approaching and I want to send a sense of urgency to be better prepared than last unit, when many of them procrastinated and then hurriedly finished the night before.

1.  Morning pages — We are continuing this exercise in daily writing.  This week we have practiced descriptive writing and are finishing up our responses and analysis of “Baraka”.  Writing skills are improving!  The students discussed several themes from “Baraka” and made some incredibly deep discoveries regarding life lessons.  This would be a great discussion to have with your child!

2. Tom Sawyer — The students are really starting to enjoy this book.  It is a hard read but a fun read.  Students are being challenged and really working hard to read contextual clues, foreshadowing, and learning new vocabulary.

3. Inquiry questions — Students are presenting their science videos this week. We have two special speakers coming for this unit:  Mitch Lauer will visit us on Tuesday and discuss space and weather related topics.  Paul Anderson will visit us next Tuesday and discuss some of the work he has done with the space program.
We are also going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science this Wednesday. Our itinerary is below:

Exhibit — Space Odyssey 10 am — 11:15
IMAX — Born to be Wild — 11:30 am –12:15
Lunch — Bring our own 12:15 — 12:45
Planetarium — Cosmic Journey —  1:00 — 1:30
Debrief / Writing — 1:30 — 2:30

4. Mathematics —  8th graders are testing and moving forward with Mr. Anderson.  7th graders are testing on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing positive and negative numbers.

5. Physical Education — We continue to work on basic volleyball rules, rotation, and skills.  Students have also set a physical goal this unit. Please ask them what theirs is and how they are tracking their progress.

6. Christian Studies –We will be examining the week leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ.  Mark 12:28-37

7.  Personal blogs — We have spent a considerable amount of time setting up personal blogs to serve as portfolios showing evidence of our work and learning goals. This is an on-going project that is time-consuming but very important! Please continually encourage the development and quality of these blogs.

8.  Major assignment — Unit presentations with evidence of learning goals mastery.

Hope everyones week is off to a great start.  I need your help encouraging your children to do some work at home.  We have productive days at school, but many of the students are not following through with what needs to be done at home.  Here are several items they should currently be working on:

1.  Edu 2.0 should be looked at on a daily basis to foster effective communication between the students and myself. Students are encouraged to email me at lfinkbeiner@anastasisacademy.us if they ever have any questions.

2.  3 Presentations this week:                                                                                                          1) 6+1 Traits of Writing, 2) Christian Studies, 3) How Stuff Works Video

3.  2 additional Morning Pages — 3 prompts are listed on Edu 2.0

4.  Unit GOALS should be written — ask them to share them with you.  Students also need to start accomplishing their goals and producing evidence to show their completion.

5.  All of the students should be continually working on their personal blogs, which will serve as their portfolio.  This project alone will take hours.

6.  READ!  Students should have already finished their first book for this unit and be in the midst of a second book.

And now to give you a better idea of what we are working on during the school day this week:

1.  Morning pages: Our daily creative writing.  This week our writings are inspired from watching short segments of a documentary entitled “Baraka”. Ask your child about this film, what “Baraka” means, and recognizing God and the fruits of the spirit in our world.

2. 6+1 Traits of Writing:
–Students are to give a brief presentation on their strongest and weakest trait.
–They should be able to define each trait, give examples, and share tips and techniques to improve upon each one.

3. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:
–We are reading and discussing this book together.

4. “How the World Works” Inquiry:
1. What causes earthquakes?
2. How do volcanoes form?
3. What are some forces in nature?
4. What processes change landforms?
5.  What makes up an ecosystem?

“How stuff works” video segments.
–Taking notes, Salient points, Writing a summary, Re-telling.
–Students have been asked to make a similar video answering one of their own questions regarding what they wanted to learn this unit.  These videos should be well-researched and should be 2-3 minutes in length.  They are due on Monday.

6. Mathematics:
–The 7th graders are working more independently which has freed up more of my time to better oversee our 8th graders.  Students can work down through the list of Math goals at their own pace and must take notes on the following:  1) identify & define concept, 2) show several examples, 3) give a real-life application so we better understand why we are learning the concept.
–7th graders will be tested over polynomials and positive and negative numbers.               –8th graders are also taking tests this week with Mr. Anderson.

7. Christian studies:
–Present research on the story of Jesus and Lazarus.
–Engage, Retell, Develop.

–We will be discussing Holy Week, Jesus Death & Resurrection.
8. Physical Education:     While we don’t take near as much time as the students would like for this, we have been working on Volleyball.  We are spending time teaching basic skills, rules, and rotation.  I am excited to report the improvement that is happening.  We can almost play a real game of volleyball now!  I’ll keep you posted.

–Students have also listed at least one physical goal for this unit.  Please be aware of your child’s physical goal and help hold them accountable for doing it.

9. Socratic seminar talking points:
-Jesus is always revealing himself.
-Why did Jesus have to make a real sacrifice for us?

Thanks for all your help and continued encouragement.  As many of you probably heard from your son or daughter, last week we discussed some of the major differences between the political parties and took an on-line quiz which labeled us as a “Democrat” or “Republican”.  Certainly this might be an interesting conversations between you and your child.  While I try to give a balanced view and stay unbiased, what I do emphasize is that much like their faith, they should start wrestling with “why they believe what they believe”.  On a different note, we had KLIFE do our devotion Tuesday morning.  Ask your child why “caged birds sing”.  Have a great week!!

–Mr. Finkbeiner