ACA Middle School News 11-15-21

  • Minimum Days all this week
  • 1st Trimester Report Cards will be emailed home on Friday, Nov. 19th
Weekly Work (additional assignments may be added by teachers)
 
Humanities Unit Final: Friday, Nov 19th
Renaissance Project :  Presentations are on Nov 16 & 18th.
Math:  Daily assignments, including classwork & homework.  Assorted due dates, & assessments are usually on Fridays.
Science (Space): Unit Final is Friday
Passion Project:  yearlong project with assorted benchmarks/due dates.  Students are given an hour a week in class to work on this project.  Ask what their focus is on. Ask your student how they are doing on the project!
Head’s Up
On December 21st, just before break, we are going to have our biennial Victorian Day.  It is not too early to start thinking of your student’s costume.  Attached are pictures from previous Victorian Days, so you can get an idea of how the students are expected to dress.   Also, there is an article below giving guidelines/ideas too.  Please do not go out and spend a lot of money.  Start asking family, friends, and previous students if you can borrow items. Second hand stores are also a great place to look.   All participants are expected to come in some type of Victorian era clothing, so don’t put this off!

Following are some descriptions of clothing from the Victorian era to help you in creating your costumes…

For Women:
• Skirts and dresses were long and full skirted. Petticoats with a ruffled hem or a hoop skirt can add fullness. White long sleeved blouses with high collars that button in the front or back. Lace or embroidered blouses are wonderful. Wide belts (2”) were usually worn with blouses and skirts. Ball gowns were low cut to reveal shoulders and often laced tightly in the back with short or three-quarter length sleeves.
• Outerwear included capes, cloaks, and knitted or crocheted shawls. Jackets had pagoda or bell-shaped sleeves. Bonnets that tied under the chin were very fashionable. Lace doilies can also be adapted into a hat by merely adding silk flowers or ribbons.
• Accessories included gloves, muffs, fans, parasols, aprons, brooches, small earrings and pins. Cameos and pearls were also popular. Shoes were either low heeled slippers or laced up boots.
• Fabrics were taffeta, wool, twill, velvet, cotton, and linen.
• Colors were rich – garnet, plum, golds, greens, blues, as well as black, gray, beige, and brown. Patterns included plaids, stripes, paisleys, tweeds and herringbone. Trims, lace, and ribbons were also used as accents.
• Hair was worn tucked underneath the hat or tied back. Mob caps were typically worn by servants or lower class

For Men:
• Shirts – A tuxedo, plain white, or striped shirt can be made period by turning up the collar (often with the tips down) and adding a scarf or fancy cravat knotted in the front. Working men wore collarless shirts or smocks with sleeves rolled up. Vests or waistcoats were colorful and made of satin, brocade, velvet, or wool (usually tweed or plaid). To make modern vests Victorian era, merely fold front points under to make the bottom hem square.
• Pants for gentlemen were black for formal evening wear, with gray, buff or white for day wear. Trouser styles varied from tapered to looser at the thigh, then tapered more through the calf. A working man would wear a baggy pair of pants or knickers in wool or corduroy. Frock coats, day coats, or tail coats can be made from a dark overcoat or raincoat. Trim the collar with brocade, velvet, or silk and remove the top few buttons so that the coat will fall open in a cutaway style. The common man would wear a wool coat with a scarf or muffler tied around the neck.
• Hats were a must! Top hats for gentlemen, tweed caps or derby hats for others.
• Accessories included walking canes, pocket watches with chains, mufflers, gloves, handkerchiefs and umbrellas.

For Children:
• Boys wore knickers, trousers, and shirts under coats or vests with a cap like the men.
• Girls wore frocks fastened behind with cloaks or shawls and bonnets for outside.