This spring, students in grades 4-7 participated in a book club for The Emerald Atlas(Books of Beginning) by John Stephens. We began this class by creating group discussion rules that were agreed upon by all students that revolved around respecting others. After our initial meeting, one discussion leader was assigned (with student volunteers) per class meeting Read More >>
We Rise Above the Streets Field Trip
Through our Making the World a Better Place unit, students in grades 4 – 8 got to participate in a morning of service for the organization: We Rise Above the Streets. At the organization’s office, students helped pack bags of personal hygiene items that would be handed out to homeless and food insecure individuals Read More >>
Enterprise America Field Trip
This fall students in grades 4-8 got a chance to participate in a WCNY program called Enterprise America. Students got to run a simulated city for a day. Each student was assigned a job and given tasks on how to complete that job. Students also had to manage their paychecks, pay health insurance and figure Read More >>
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 >>
Take Apart
A small group of the oldest students have been participating in Take Apart, a science class connected to the Electromagnetism and Invention classes. Before the “taking apart” happened, the students drew predictions of what parts would be on the inside of their objects, discussed what these parts could be used for and how they worked. Read More >>
Government
In January the oldest students started a “Government” unit. For three-months we have studied the needs and rights of individuals, the rights of a community and different forms of government in existence today. Children were first asked to bring in a newspaper article describing some aspect of government. The diversity of topics, from Speaker Sheldon Read More >>
James Pass Arboretum Project
Over the summer of 2014, teachers at The New School decided that the older students would take part in a year-long study of trees, where they would learn about tree identification, and how the study of a tree’s habit, its leaves, bark and fruit provide identification clues. As we researched our options of places we Read More >>
Book Club: Two Tickets to Freedom
The oldest students have all read Two Tickets to Freedom: The True Story of Ellen and William Craft, Fugitive Slaves by Florence B. Freedman. This has been part of their social studies unit on the Civil War. After completing the assigned reading, they met in small groups to discuss questions that not only exercised their comprehension Read More >>
Margaret Bourke-White Field Trip
On Thursday, October 16, 2014, nineteen of our oldest students visited Syracuse University’s campus to view Margaret Bourke White’s exhibit of 180 vintage photographs taken in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Germany, England and Italy in the 1930s and 40s. Prior to our field trip, Andrew Saluti, Assistant Director to SU’s Art Galleries, visited The New Read More >>
James Pass Arboretum and our tree unit
The older students (ages 9 to 12) have embarked on a tree exploration. They started out looking at how trees grow – by observing their rings. We soon learned that not only can you tell how old a tree is by its rings, but you can also determine whether it was a “good” growing year Read More >>