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Lego Class

In past years, our students who are now 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders learned about simple and powered machines using Legos. They investigated structures and forces, levers, and wheels and axles while building models of machines out of Legos. We had two new students in their age group join us at The New School this Read More >>

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Explorers

Explorers class was a class that focused on a key question throughout the entire unit which was; did the explorers explore, encounter or invade the land they found? This question was asked many times throughout the unit. We read a book on Christopher Columbus called Encounter, after we read the book the vote was unanimous that Read More >>

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Geometry Centers with Mary

This year we have continued math class with our youngest children by working on geometry. The first class looked at what they knew about a triangle.  They drew pictures that included triangles and we talked about triangles having 3 sides and 3 corners. The second class we worked with 4 1/2 inch squares to visualize how Read More >>

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The Seed Within

In this science class, the students read a book called “A Suitcase for Seeds.” The students were asked to make predictions about what they thought the seeds would look like, where they were located and how many there were. The students then got to analyze different fruits. We predicted what the inside of every fruit Read More >>

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Circus Books

This fall we have been reading and discussing books about the circus in two groups, one for older students and one for younger students. With ideas and inspiration from these picture books, the students, during Investigations, are beginning to create their own circus acts, using materials from the art room. One book we read was Read More >>

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Lyle the Crocodile

This fall, students in Kindergarten and First Grade are exploring the fun of Bernard Waber’s loveable crocodile, Lyle. Each Friday we read a Lyle book and then draw and write 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 Read More >>

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Copy Word

  Our kindergartner and a few of the first grader students participate in a once a week class called Copy Word.  During this class, students are working on their fine motor skills through cutting and printing.  Each class, students get to look through magazines and pick one word to “copy” neatly and accurately onto their paper. Read More >>

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Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages

Lucy Calkins inspired a poetry unit for our students in grades 1-3. Each week of her unit inspires children to consider a new “ingredient” or strategy. The unit began with experimenting with looking at ordinary things in a new way. Subsequent classes explored looking at patterns in poetry, music, line breaks and the use of Read More >>

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Twister on Tuesday

A small group of students read Twister on Tuesday, a Magic Tree House book about twisters. The  book club focused reading skills such as comprehension, compare and contrast, summarizing, predictions, moods of pictures and text, and relating character traits to yourself. They also worked on vocabulary, and literary elements. The students were assigned chapters of the book Read More >>