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Party Platforms – Green Party

We started off our third year of a “Government” unit, by learning about party platforms and planks. In advance of meeting with a representative from each of the four political parties with presidential candidates, the older students were assigned to read sections of each platform. From their reading they had to develop two questions for Read More >>

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Fresh Water Biomes

Freshwater biomes has had a great start! We have had such wonderful and enriching discussions on streams and other freshwater biomes. The students are really dedicated to the subject and love to share their thoughts and ideas. Outside of great class discussion and book readings we have explored freshwater biomes in our area! The students, Miranda Read More >>

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Water Cycle Class

We began our study of the water cycle by identifying where we can find water throughout the earth. An ocean evaporation demonstration helped us understand how the polar caps and glaciers are made of fresh water. As we continued learning about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, we had questions about a single water drop. That led Read More >>

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Breathing Room Book Talk

Breathing Room Book Club by Neona (an 8th grader) This year I taught a book club on the book the Breathing Room. I taught the book club to Ace, Jonas, Juliette, Maia and Jake. They are in 6th grade. The Breathing Room is about a girl named Evvy who is sent to a sanatorium when Read More >>

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Inventions

Students in grades 4th-8th participated in a science class this winter that explored and created inventions. We started this unit by reading a book called What Can You Do With a Shoe? We then applied the ideas in this book to a coat hanger. What could we do with a coat hanger besides hang up Read More >>

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Ancient India

Ancient India The oldest group of students have been participating in a social studies unit on Ancient India. They began by studying the geography and location of Ancient India and comparing it to the present day location of India. They studied the climate and cities of Harappa and Mohejo-Daro. In small groups, the students performed Read More >>

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Stone Fox Book Clubs

Two groups of students participated in a book club to read Stone Fox, by John Reynolds Gardiner. The book tells the story of a ten-year-old boy whose grandfather falls ill, so he must save their farm from the tax collector. A major theme of the story is perseverance. No matter what obstacles Little Willy faces, Read More >>

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Poetry with Kenneth Koch

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost. Kenneth Koch published his Rose, Where Did you Get That Red? in 1973 to enormous acclaim. His book revolutionized the way children are taught to read and write poetry. Around 2000 Mary Cunningham gave us a copy of Read More >>

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Temple Grandin

    This year, the older children are examining groups of people who have had to fight for their rights. One such group is individuals with disabilities. We’ve read articles, watched Ted Talks, watched Temple Grandin, and engaged in discussions with mystery guests about how far we have come in meeting their needs, and also Read More >>