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Australian Aboriginal Art

To kick off a yearlong appreciation of visual arts from around the world we first looked at the word “continent.” What is a continent? How is it defined? We soon discovered that people around the world do not all learn that there are seven continents. Some places teach there are 5 continents with North America Read More >>

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Haiku

Students from 1st to 3rdgrade were introduced to haiku and the proper method in which to construct these poems. As a way to assist them in understanding the syllables that are found in haiku, students were in various activities in which they were able learn about syllables. These activities were syllable name clapping and sentence Read More >>

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Biomes

For this class, all of the 3rdgrade students learned about the ocean and the connection the creatures of the sea have to the land. They first watched a Bill Nye video talking about oceans. Then, the students created a food chain based off of sea animals that they knew. After that, they were read The Read More >>

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Discussion Box

A custom supported by our collaborative environment here at The New School is Discussion Box. Discussion Box gives students the opportunity to voice their concerns. Students write down their concerns and place it in the Discussion Box. Every few weeks during Snack we choose an entry from the Discussion Box and the student who wrote Read More >>

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Equalizing

Beginning in the Fall, a group of eight kindergarten, first and second graders took part in a math class focusing on Equalizing. Using a variety of manipulatives they investigated how to make different lengths and weights equal. They decided to add on or take away from two different lengths of string or chain links to Read More >>

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My Side of the Mountain Book Club

Beginning in the Fall, eight of the 3rd grade students took part in a book club that read My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Each week the students were assigned chapters to read and a role such as discussion director, connector, word finder, illustrator or summarizer. Each student had the chance to Read More >>

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Human Body Systems

The older students began their exploration of the human body by learning about the skeletal system. They took part in a variety of activities that helped them come to conclusions about the human body. Insightful discussion took place about what bones we have in our bodies and where they are located after jumping rope and Read More >>

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Louis Braille Book Club

Our third book in a series for this book club is about Louis Braille, the boy who invented a way for blind people to read.  All of the participants in this book club have really enjoyed learning about people who are blind, deaf or both.  During our reading of Louis Braille, we got a chance Read More >>

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Centers for our youngest students

Centers are an important part of the day for Kindergarten and First Grade students.  Every day they participate in at least one language arts, math and gross/fine motor center. Children learn by playing games in these centers, whether they are adding, subtracting, learning letter sounds or reading sight words. To simplify their contracts, we use Read More >>

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Immigration for older students

The whole school has been learning about Immigration to the United States. In addition the oldest students (grades 5 – 8) studied Ellis Island. We read a book about the history of Ellis Island and how New York came to be a major gateway for immigrants coming into the United States. We learned how and Read More >>