The oldest students, who have been studying the Civil War and the Abolitionist movement, were treated to an end of the year field trip led by the amazing Vanessa Johnson. Vanessa Johnson is a gift teacher and storyteller, who brings history to life! The first part of our experience was to view the “object theater” Read More >>
Civil War
Our unit started with learning about the Triangle Trade route, and locating and identifying the countries and goods involved. We then studied how Africans brought to the New World were forced to participate in this trade through the Middle Passage. Students studied images of slave auctions using the Visual Thinking Strategies: What’s going on in Read More >>
Inventions
In January 2023 we started an Invention unit, inspired in part by the many inventions we learned about during our study of the Industrial Revolution. We started this unit by watching a few videos. Bill Nye always offers interesting and humorous videos on science topics. Then we watched videos that documented two recent real world Read More >>
Industrial Revolution Essay
As a culminating activity for our year long study of the Industrial Revolution, all the students were asked to develop an essay evaluating its positive and negative effects. Many historical documents, photos, journal entries, cartoons, were studied and discussed. The class sorted these documents into positive and negative piles, and of course some didn’t belong Read More >>
Industrial Revolution
To start this unit, students were asked to analyze a Lewis Hine photograph of children working in factories using the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). This led to a discussion of child labor. Each student was assigned to read and present an historical fiction novel about child labor at the turn of the century. In their Read More >>
Inaugural Poetry
A group of our six older students were part of a poetry class inspired by Amanda Gorman’s spectacular presentation of “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. Gorman’s poem provided a natural extension for our year-long study of systemic racism in America. After reading Amanda Gorman’s poem, students were asked 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 >>
History and Lincoln
Students in the upper grades this fall started a unit on the Civil War. Before we delved into this history topic they were asked three questions to respond to individually and then discuss as a group. They were asked: What is history? Who Cares? Why study it? Some of their responses were: Events leading Read More >>
The Great Depression Through the Eyes of Artists
The causes and effects of the Great Depression were studied through the eyes of artists Dorothea Lange, John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, a political cartoonist of the era and Langston Hughes. Children created a one-page written and visual response based on one of Lange’s photographs making connections to its historical context by creating. They listened to excerpts Read More >>
World War 1
The oldest students spent three months studying the causes and effects of World War 1. The causes were complex. Students looked at world maps showing imperialism around the world prior to the war. Having identified the colonialists gave meaning to the complicated alliances that were formed prior to the war. This led to an examination Read More >>