This four week for our oldest students unit looked at the structure and function of a typical animal cell. The animal cell’s organelles were described and discussed. Students constructed a large model of an animal cell, working in class and independently in pairs on their contracts. Students watched a PBS short and discussed the Read More >>
Archives for April 2019
Letter Writing
This spring, students in grades 3-4 participated in a unit on writing a persuasive letter. We read informational articles to gather baseline information about how littering affects the ecosystems on Earth. We began this unit by viewing letter examples and highlighting different aspects of the letter to view how a letter is formatted. As we Read More >>
Emerald Atlas
This spring, students in grades 4-7 participated in a book club for The Emerald Atlas(Books of Beginning) by John Stephens. We began this class by creating group discussion rules that were agreed upon by all students that revolved around respecting others. After our initial meeting, one discussion leader was assigned (with student volunteers) per class meeting Read More >>
Spectra: Energetic Escape!
Students enjoyed four activities that explored friction, kinetic and potential energy and how energy is transferred. In each experiment students considered a key question and after setting up an experiment they collected data. The data was graphed and analyzed. In Fiction Fun they considered what affects the force of friction. Here students set up an Read More >>
Making the World a Better Place
We spent the first half of the year being inspired by people like Ghandi, Wangari, and Malala, and their stories of how they made the world a better place. We listened to their stories. We also invited local activists who saw and responded to a need in our Syracuse Community. We met with inspirational people Read More >>
Creation Myths
Since January, we began a class with the younger half of the school reading a wide variety of myths from Native American, South American, and African cultures that give voice to stories of how our world and elements of it have been created. We read many versions of how there came to be Day and Read More >>
Story Time at DeWitt Library
Our kindergarten students look forward to Tuesdays. That’s the day they walk to the library for story time. They join several other children to listen to stories, and sing and move to songs and verses. One week the librarian brought out the parachute for a new way to sing “The Wheels On the Bus.” There Read More >>
Crocodile Lyle
This winter, our Kindergarten students explored the fun of Bernard Waber’s lovable crocodile, Lyle. Each Thursday we read a Lyle book and then drew and wrote about one part of the book. Students enjoy predicting what will happen in the story from the pictures, discussing vocabulary and drawing their own pictures for each story. They Read More >>
Layers of the Earth
This spring, students in grades 2-4 participated in a unit on the layers of the Earth. We read The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, by Joanna & Bruce Cole to gather baseline information about layers within the Earth. We began this unit by creating clay model representations of the different layers found within the Read More >>
Silly Sentences
Once a week during journal time, the youngest students are part of a class called Silly Sentences. Here they play with puzzle pieces to make sentences that are bound to make them laugh. After making two or three sentences, the children copy and illustrate their sentences in their journals. In the process there is a Read More >>