From about mid-March to mid-April Misha, Sam, RJ, Stuart, and Jiyong participated in a short story unit where they further developed their writing skills and critically examined the parts of a short story and learned how to write one themselves. The unit started off with learning about where writer’s find their story inspiration or “seeds” 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 >>
Butternut Creek 2020
At The New School we work hard to bring our curriculum alive, and to take our students out into the community for hands on learning experiences. This fall, as we started learning about fresh water biomes, we took our students in grades 4 – 7 to explore Butternut Creek. Nothing quite like donning a pair Read More >>
Systemic Racism
Our children, our students, live in a world that has developed all kinds of media and ways to transmit information, disinformation, ideas, and images. They hear the media, adults, other peers talking about events and opinions as they move through their days. Some of these ideas are exciting and innovative, others are darker and disturbing. Read More >>
Declaration of Independence
In the fall of 2019, students in grades 4 and 5 were part of a social studies unit studying the Declaration of Independence. First they reviewed the 13 colonies and read books about the Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord and the ride of Paul Revere. They considered what made the people living in the Read More >>
Mystery Powders
Starting in September 2019, all the fourth and fifth grade students were part of a “Mystery Powder” unit. The unit started with the shocking news of a “robbery” at the Temple up the road! Left at the scene of the “crime” was a white powder as the only evidence. All the students were engaged in Read More >>
A Study of Honeybees
This spring, the students in grades 3-6 engaged in an exploratory study of honeybees that touched on their physiology, role in the natural environment, and current threats affecting their population today. We read from Gail Gibbon’s The Honey Makersto acquire some background knowledge of the life cycle of honeybees, conducted a honey tasting to analyze Read More >>
Story Soup
Many a white page has been known to cause “writer’s block.” At The New School we recently tried something new. During Read Aloud we are reading “Sweep: The story of a girl and her monster” to the older children. Early in the book Nan, the main character. reminisces about happy days. Her Sweep collects lost Read More >>
Science Fun
The older students spent one month in the fall of 2013 rotating between four science centers where they explored and experimented with various science concepts. The liquid station assessed the students’ ability to use measuring equipment, make inferences about discrepant events and formulate questions in the solution of the problem. The Ball and Ramp station Read More >>