Mrs. Przybojewski and Henry are excited about sauntering a new school year with you. It will be a year filled with great writing!
"How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live." Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau Resident Author November News
We are sad to report that Ralph Waldo Emerson was unable to visit the eighth grade students due to a leg injury. He expressed his disappointment and is planning to reschedule after the holiday season.
Students still have Henry periodically as their substitute teacher. The eighth graders are using Walden as a source for writing and are using Henry’s philosophical thoughts as a means to evaluate their own lives. The focus was that we have only one life to live. Will we live it deliberately? How will we choose to spend our time? They spent time writing an essay on their use of time during a forty-eight hour weekend and evaluating whether it was used wisely or wasted. The essay were written very well, and the students did a great deal of critical thinking about their lives.
The sixth graders wrote and illustrated narratives about spending the day with Henry David Thoreau after hearing the story If You Spent the Day with Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond by Robert Burleigh. Their narratives showed that they would like to share some new activities with Henry like teaching him to play modern games, as well as going to parks and viewing nature because that is what he would like to do.
Seventh grade students read Henry’s journal entry about his father’s lost pig. They identified the characteristics of a narrative by using the journal entry as a source. Then students wrote their own narratives from the pig’s perspective. The results were hilarious as well as the illustrations that the students did based on their narratives.
Grade 8 News
November
In language Arts, the students have been learning about the Reverend Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. Students examined the social injustices that were occurring during the Movement and comparing them to the social injustices that they see occurring today. They viewed the video of Dr. King making his “I Have a Dream Speech” and analyzed it in groups. Students wrote compositions explaining what they can do to make Dr. King’s dreams for social justice a reality. Their compositions will be entered in an essay contest about Martin Luther King. Doing this assignment not only incorporated history and informational text but also taught them the characteristics of an explanatory composition.
In Religion, students in 8A are continuing to work on their saint research paper, and students in 8B are learning about the Bible, God’s written Word. Father Haren has begun teaching once a week in the classroom since he has returned from his trip to the Holy Land. He generously gave each student a blessed cross made from olive wood. He is teaching students about the Ten Commandments.
In social studies we have been studying the formation of the original thirteen colonies. We have found out that most were founded for religious reasons. These colonies however could not have been more different from one another. The continued expansion of these colonists into the interior of the continent sowed seeds of discord that led to the seven years war and ultimately, our next unit, The American Revolution.
Grade eight has been finishing up a section on transformations. We learned a song that is still stuck in our heads about rotation, transition, and reflection. On a similar note we occasionally hear Christmas songs as students finalize their preparations for the Christmas musical this year. We can't wait!
Henry David Thoreau Resident Author October News
Henry David Thoreau made his return to St. Benedict Catholic School by being Mrs. Przybojewski’s substitute. He was greeted warmly by all the students and enjoyed preparing the junior high for the work that they will be involved in about his writings. He reviewed his life and importance to the students and was able to answer their questions. Since the eighth grades respond in writing in their journals about statements that he wrote in his own journal, Henry was able to expand a bit more on their significance.
Grade eight students are looking forward to the visit by another great American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was Henry’s mentor and first encourage him to keep a journal. Emerson will speak to the students about his life and will talk about the art of journaling. He and Henry will speak to the students about their literary influence upon each other and the rift that separated them.
Grade 8 English and Religion October News
In English, the eighth graders have been working on descriptive compositions and learning how to describe using their senses. They just completed one based on their nature observation journals. Students have been analyzing three poems to introduce them to the first chapter in Walden, which is “Economy.” They read and discussed “House on Pooh Corner”, “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, and “Sic Vita” by Thoreau. All three have the theme based on leaving childhood behind while still retaining child-like qualities of being awake, aware, and alive. They did critical thinking responses in groups as they analyzed these poems. Presently, they are writing a poem that expresses their emotions of leaving childhood behind as they prepare for young adulthood. Henry David Thoreau substituted for Mrs. Przybojewski and introduced the students to “Economy”. They discussed his words and he guided them in their critical thinking questions.
In Religion, 8B is studying about the mystery of the Church and learning various models of it. Father Haren comes in once a week to teach both classes about the faith. Students especially like the stories he tells them and the way he is so receptive to their questions. The eighth grade had a wonderful spiritual time with the Trinity High School “Got Prayer” retreat at Camp Christopher. They learned various methods of prayer and especially found Eucharistic Adoration very meaningful. The retreat culminated with the celebration of liturgy with Father Haren as the celebrant.
Grade eight students are also in the process of shadowing various high schools to narrow their Catholic high school selection, which will take place in January. Students shadowed Trinity High School and Cleveland Central Catholic High School as a group.
Grade 8 students spent a spiritual day at Camp Christopher in Bath, Ohio on September 27. They attended the Got Prayer Retreat sponsored by Trinity High School. It was a day where the students grew in relationship to God and each other. The day concluded with the celebration of liturgy with Father Haren.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU RESIDENT AUTHOR
IDuring July of 2018, junior high teacher, Mrs. Donna Przybojewski, attended the Thoreau Society gathering in Concord, MA. She gave a two and a half hour presentation explaining the continuing study of Henry David Thoreau during the second year of sauntering with him. She had eighteen tri-fold poster displays, which highlighted the students’ Thoreau activities as well as giving a power point and reading students’ creative works. Everyone was amazed that St. Benedict School displayed such high academic standards by encouraging students to write, critically think, and celebrate their own unique qualities. St. Benedict Catholic School and Mrs. Przybojewski received a standing ovation for the work done in promoting the legacy of Thoreau through all classes and disciplines.
Also, Mrs. Przybojewski had two art displays of her oil and mixed media illustrations of her illustrations from her Thoreau children’s books. She had a month long display in June at the Cleveland Heights Library Art Gallery and one in July at First Parish in Concord, where she also gave a lecture on her role as an artist and writer of children’s books on this American author. This was an honor because First Parish is the church that Thoreau received his Baptism and had his burial service.
Another highlight for Mrs. Przybojewski occurred at Walden Pond State Reservation where her book Henry David Thoreau Loved the Seasons of the Year was used as a story walk throughout the summer. Her fifth book on Henry David Thoreau If Henry David Thoreau Traveled the Southwest was published in June.
