Lucy Calkins inspired a poetry unit for our students in grades K-3. Starting in May, each week of this 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 will explore looking at patterns in poetry, music, line breaks Read More >>
Local History
Each child at The New School was given a replica of an old postcard of a Syracuse scene. Postcards showed parks, downtown scenes, and places of interest such as Oakwood Cemetery. Using VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) children were asked to look at the picture and describe what was happening, and what made them say that? Read More >>
Properties of Light
Students in 7th and 8th grade participated in a light class this fall that explored the topics of reflection, refraction, absorption and color. To start this unit, students were asked to build a “chamber” out of paper where they had to reflect the light into the pyramid. This simulation was to show how Ancient Egyptians Read More >>
All American Boys Book Club
During the fall semester, our student teacher, Julie, hosted a book club with the 8th grade students. The book she chose was “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. She chose this book as an extension of the student’s learning about systemic racism. “All American Boys” allowed us to look at some of Read More >>
Rocks and Minerals
In the fall, 2020, the 4-6 graders got to learn about rocks and minerals. To start our rocks and minerals class, we learned about the three rock types (Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous) and some characteristics of each type of rock, including how each type is formed. Then, we moved into how rocks are ever-changing and Read More >>
Four Voices
A group of older students studied speech writing in a 5-session, online class. We listened to speeches written by Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, and watched Martin Luther King deliver his “I have a dream” speech. We also discussed techniques for making writing for spoken voice more effective, and analyzed three videos delivered Read More >>
Four Voices
A group of older students studied speech writing in a 5-session, online class. We listened to speeches written by Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, and watched Martin Luther King deliver his “I have a dream” speech. We also discussed techniques for making writing for spoken voice more effective, and analyzed three videos delivered Read More >>
Slave Trade
After the social injustice occurrences this past summer, The New School took it upon themselves to educate our students on the history to gain a better understanding of what is happening in our country. You could see our students learning about slavery and injustice all over the school. From Julie’s book club to Miranda’s read Read More >>
Vooks
Vooks is an online digital library with animated books aimed towards young readers. Throughout the fall, going into winter, I would show the students a Vook and during the reading, I would pause the video and ask students questions about the book we were watching. This is referred to as a “pause and ponder” on Read More >>
Africa
In the weeks leading up to winter break, our K-3 students had the opportunity to learn about another continent with our student teacher, Julie. She took them on a trip around the Earth to visit Africa (virtually, of course). To introduce this unit, she started out by using Google Earth to show the students our Read More >>