This December we wrapped up a unit on Explorers from all different time periods and people going to all different places (space, underwater, to the arctic), and we moved to just learning about the “New World” that was “discovered” by Europeans. To kick off this unit, we read the book Encounter by Jane Yolen. In Read More >>
Animal Classification Part 2
If you need a reminder, check out the Part one description from last semester. This project was designed as a year long project with time as one of our tools. Another tool that The New School frequently utilizes is looking at the same big idea in multiple forms, and during multiple times of a Read More >>
Hot and Cold
Hot and Cold is science unit for our youngest students which was started when the distance learning period began. We started by exploring the melting of an ice cube. How long did we think it would take for an ice cube to melt? Then we considered ways we could make the ice cube melt faster. Read More >>
Small Moments- Language Arts
Small Moments was a lesson that met once a week for four weeks. Each week we would read a small moment from a children’s book to notice the details used by the author. The students would then have time to journal their own small moments and focused on enhancing their own detail writing. Students worked Read More >>
Wildflower Romp
Our younger students joined other children on a Wildflower Romp at DeWitt Library in early June. They explored the meadow behind the library that is full of many kinds of wildflowers and were encouraged to pick all the flowers they wanted. With an assortment of art supplies available, the children used their flowers to create Read More >>
Creation Myths
Since January, we began a class with the younger half of the school reading a wide variety of myths from Native American, South American, and African cultures that give voice to stories of how our world and elements of it have been created. We read many versions of how there came to be Day and Read More >>
Story Time at DeWitt Library
Our kindergarten students look forward to Tuesdays. That’s the day they walk to the library for story time. They join several other children to listen to stories, and sing and move to songs and verses. One week the librarian brought out the parachute for a new way to sing “The Wheels On the Bus.” There Read More >>
Crocodile Lyle
This winter, our Kindergarten students explored the fun of Bernard Waber’s lovable crocodile, Lyle. Each Thursday we read a Lyle book and then drew and wrote about one part of the book. Students enjoy predicting what will happen in the story from the pictures, discussing vocabulary and drawing their own pictures for each story. They Read More >>
Silly Sentences
Once a week during journal time, the youngest students are part of a class called Silly Sentences. Here they play with puzzle pieces to make sentences that are bound to make them laugh. After making two or three sentences, the children copy and illustrate their sentences in their journals. In the process there is a Read More >>
Math Centers for Kindergarteners
Over the last few months the Kindergarten students explored counting, coins (pennies, nickels and dimes), measurement using standard units, and adding and subtracting using games and their workbooks. Students compared lengths of object using a ruler. They used a balance where they compared the weight of various objects using non standard and standard units. For Read More >>