This year was the continuation of an animal class that had begun 2 years ago. Many of the activities of the class continued through this year. However, we had several new students join us and our group size became 11 children. We continued to read books and have discussions on Wednesday mornings at snack. As Read More >>
Lego Class
In Lego class 2nd graders used Legos to learn about simple and powered machines using hands-on activities. First, they investigated structures and forces, incorporating both rigid and flexible shapes in building deck chairs and drawbridges.Applying principles they learned about levers, they made drumming machines. Attaching a motor provided more opportunities to explore. For example, the students Read More >>
Mystery Powders
Students in grades 3 – 5 took part in a chemistry unit titled, Mystery Powders. They had to observe and learn about the chemical and physical characteristics of white powders (cornstarch, baking soda and plaster of paris) in order to solve (infer) a “Who-did -it” mystery. Students were told that there had been a robbery Read More >>
Atoms and Molecules
This semester the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders spent 5 weeks learning basic chemistry! We started with the structure of the atom and decoding the information in the periodic table of elements, atomic numbers, atomic masses, etc. We then discussed the importance of electrons and covalent bonds. We started drawing simple organic and inorganic molecules Read More >>
Magnets
Over the last few months, all of the kindergarten and first graders have been in a magnet class during Investigations that was a total of five classes. The groups were split up into two groups and they met about once a week. This class was incredibly fun for them because they all love magnets and Read More >>
The Amendments to the Constitution
This year the fifth and seventh grade group worked together in their social studies class to investigate the amendments. The students worked with their student teacher, Amelia, and looked deeper into the constitution and the amendments that were added. Students were able to individually identify initial issues that were in the constitution, and work with Read More >>
Book Club: The Secret Soldier
This year 8 of the students at the New School worked with the student teacher, Amelia, during the book club for “The Secret Soldier”. This book was about a woman, Deborah, who lived in the colonies during the revolutionary war time period. Deborah wanted to have adventures, so she dressed up as a man and Read More >>
American Revolution
Students in 2nd – 4th grade participated in a class this spring about the American Revolution. Students listened to and discussed the books such as: Sam the Minuteman, George the Drummer Boy, Can’t You Make them Behave King George and Phoebe the Spy. They have learned about the differences between Minutemen and Redcoats, discussed Paul Read More >>
Art at The New School
Throughout the year children at The New School participate in school wide art projects. One of the first projects this year was “Cube Art” which used cardboard cubes, aka boxes. Each student decided on an overarching idea and drew a group of six related pictures. We then glued the pictures to the six faces of Read More >>
Ten Blue Dots
Some of the youngest students listened to the book Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews. After listening to the book, counting dots and discussing each page, students worked hard on making their own Ten Blue Dots Book. During each class, students get to work on a page or two by drawing their picture with the dots Read More >>