The Hill School -> Symposia Days bring opportunity for more creative learning

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	Symposia Days bring opportunity for more creative learning

	Artist-in-residence Elise Arnold works with Hill's Studio Arts students The Hill School’s annual Symposia Day was held this year on Monday, January 23 and Tuesday, January 24, 2012. These days provide both students and teachers the opportunity to break routine and look at their subject matter in a new light. Each class period is extended an additional 50 minutes (90 minutes total), giving teachers a chance to present learning material in a fun and creative way, and giving the students a break from their typical schedule. View more photos here. Some of this year’s activities included the following: Ms. Berner worked with her English 4 Honors class on perspective and truth in narrative nonfiction; her English 2 class did collaborative sonnet writing. Mr. Mortenson’s English 2 class discussed "Behind the Magician's Curtain: from idea to drafts to finished poetry chapbook project, a guided tour." Marian Murphy Powell offered a voice performance workshop on classical music to members of the Chorus and Glee Club. View a short video from the Chorus workshop of here. Ms. Robinson’s Spanish 2 Honors class created a commercial for an original product. All Studio Art students worked with our wonderful artist-in-residence, Elise Arnold, in creating anthropomorphic vessels out of clay. Students in Mr. Coady’s calculus class wrote a children’s book on limits. Mr. Miran’s economics classes prepared for the upcoming Dougherty Fellow (Professor Kennedy) by viewing a portion of the movie “And the Cradle Will Rock”, which tells the tale of a WPA theater projectDiscussion of Kennedy’s article “What the New Deal Did.” Mrs. Mulhern’s English 1 class performed Act III of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; her English 3 Honors class participated in an exercise focused on the writing experiences of Transcendentalism. Members of Hill's Jazz Ensemble attended a jazz clinic with guest musicians Ralph Bowen (parent of Gordon Bowen '08) on tenor saxophone, and Chris Brown on drums. The jazz musicians demonstrated a variety of jazz styles for the class and talked about the interaction between the melody and the rhythm section. View a video of Bowen and Brown performing. Students in Mr. Cerenzia's world history classes experienced "A Culinary Tour of the Atlantic World: Examining changes to Global Cuisine wrought by the Columbian Exchange" with a lecture and cooking demonstration in Mr. Cerenzia's apartment. Dr. Malone’s AP US History class worked on a hands-on "Utopia." Students in Ms. Guthridge’s AP Biology class offered presentations on current biological topics. Mrs. Neese’s six form English classes visited the Playhouse at The Hill daycare and read books and did an activity with the children. Students in Ms. Tu's Chinese 2 class learned a Chinese New Year song, "Gongxi, Gongxi." View a video of the class singing here. All Algebra 2 classes worked in groups on different topics, including using manipulatives. Students in History of Art and Music classes created medieval illuminated manuscripts.
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