Bryn Mawr and the BSO!

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls were treated to a "Symphony Space-tacular" concert yesterday by the world-class Baltimore Symphony Orchestra!  While listening to "Mars" by Gustav Holst, we saw amazing images of Mars captured by the Curiosity Rover. A NASA astronaut narrated this musical journey around our own galaxy - and even those that are far, far away. You can imagine the excitement when the orchestra played the main Star Wars theme! 

It's great to listen again! Here are the selections from the program. All are available on Spotify or YouTube.

Also sprach Zarathustra, by R. Strauss"Mars" and "Jupiter" from The Planets, by G. Holst
Symphony No. 5, 1st movement, by Beethoven
Mothership, by Mason BatesMain Theme from Star Wars, by John Williams

Mamma Mia Dress Down Day!

The girls' creativity for this 70's-themed dress down day has made us even more excited to see their Halloween costumes on Wednesday!

Prepare Yourselves!

5th graders recently came up with own class arrangement of a favorite Halloween tune. "There Was An Old Woman" has been startling these girls since they were little ones in LS. :)

The girls learned that when you shift the home note (tonic) to la, the mood of the music changes. Enjoy this 5th grade version of a classic.  (You must click link to view.)

5th Grade Arrangement

Ms. Rita Williams-Garcia

We were thrilled to hear that six of our students were able to meet Ms. Williams-Garcia, author of One Crazy Summer, at The Ivy Bookshop. The girls asked great questions, including whether the author's mother provided inspiration for Big Ma or Cecile, how she named her characters, and whether any moments from her life showed up in the novel. We were especially excited that Ms. Williams-Garcia got to see (and sign!) a couple of the Summer Feet Doodle Notes projects that we worked on when we returned to school in August. Way to go, girls!

Celebrating Our Fall Birthday Girls!

Art_Positive & Negative

The girls have been practicing "seeing" negative shapes – the shapes around the positive shapes. they could not have drawn the chair from observation without this new skill!

Drawing the complicated form of the chair was just the first step. Then, they colored both the positive and the negative shapes with colored pencil. 

Next, they cut out the negative shapes noticing how size, angle and placement matter a lot. They also had to keep track of all of them!!!

Finally, they glue down the negative shapes to recreate the chair that's not there, but is made only by negative shapes. They also glues down the positive chair drawing. This pair emphasizes the dynamic relationship between what is and what isn't. 

In reflection, the girls write about how their personal negatives "hold up" their positives and vice versa. They comment on how their struggles have helped them grow stronger and that the things they don't know or aren't good at are balanced by the things they do know and are good at. 

French: Le Défilé de Mode!

Today was the highly anticipated French fashion show and the fifth grade girls put on an absolutely fantastique performance! Each girl walked the cat walk and then read a paragraph in French describing a classmate's outfit. In the weeks leading up to the show, the girls worked very hard writing their paragraphs and then practicing their pronunciation. Today, they were poised, fun-loving, and read beautifully. Bravo, les filles!