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 >>
Rigamajig
A part of every afternoon at The New School is a time called Investigations. During this hour children can choose between several activities: art studio, construction materials, strategy games, or work on individually designed projects. For several years we have used Rigamajig, designed by Cas Holman of RISDE and represented by KABOOM, as a major Read More >>
Cooking Class
Cooking is a favorite Investigations activity. Students work together to make a food that they share with the whole school. In the process, they see practical applications for math and science. In their read-aloud group, the younger students listened to some of the Little House On the Prairie books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. So, over Read More >>
Sewing
Six of the oldest students just completed an exciting sewing project! First the children had to get certified by the Fayetteville Free Library’s staff. An hour long course taught them the parts of the sewing machine and how to thread it, fill a bobbin and more! Our second class involved designing a bargello patchwork quilt. The children selected fabric, donated by Read More >>
Ramps
During Investigations the youngest children at our school explored inclined planes using ramps. They rolled marbles down ramps and measured the distances each marble rolled. They varied the slope of the inclined plane, predicting which height would cause the marble to roll further and explaining why. First they used a height of 6 wooden blocks, Read More >>
End of Year Traditions
We end the school year with many lovely traditions. Tradition #1. Children draw names out of a hat and secretly make a gift for a fellow student. Then using materials at school, the children spend many hours creating just the right gift after thinking about what makes that person unique. Sitting in a circle, one Read More >>
Cooking
Our students like to cook, so that has been a choice at Investigations. We made cheese quesadillas with pico de gallo. When students noticed chives growing on the creek bank, we made biscuits with chives and cheese. With no oven available, we “baked” them in a skillet. We made apple crisp, cooking the apples in Read More >>
Flying Airplanes!
How do airplanes fly? That is a question that our younger students (K-2) explored during Investigations. They made paper airplanes and tested them to see how far they could fly. Then they modified their planes to see if they could get them to fly farther. They compared their recorded distances to draw their conclusions.
Cooking with Kathy
A favorite Investigations activity for our students is to cook. Besides honing their cooking skills and working together, students connect their math and science knowledge to real life experiences. But everyone agrees that eating the results is the best part. After picking apples at Beak and Skiff Orchard in the fall, we had lots of Read More >>
Friendship Bracelets and Boondoggle fun
Johnna, our student teacher, enjoyed sharing her interest in arts and crafts activities during investigations. She choose to teach the students how to make friendship bracelets. Each student was given the chance to make a friendship bracelet to then give to a good friend. Boondoggle was another way Johnna engaged her students in conversations. This activity also gave some Read More >>