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Women’s Hall of Fame

As part of our social studies unit on Government, the oldest students went on a field trip to Seneca Falls to learn more about the Women’s Rights Movement. They visited the Women’s Hall of Fame, which was opened in 1969. The Hall of Fame’s mission is to recognize the contributions made by women to our Read More >>

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Government and Social Justice

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In class we discussed the meaning of these words from the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. We then brainstormed Read More >>

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Electromagnetism

Last year the teachers began a long term project that integrated science, technology, social studies and language arts. As teachers we began by jointly reading an inspiring book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. We were able to ascertain that a young people’s version of the book would be issued in February 2015. Once Read More >>

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Advocacy in Action

Sriharsh Gowtham, a young activist, visited the New School at the end of the year. He came to share his political experiences in New Hampshire where he worked hard to change laws in regards to political campaign donations. Harsha shared information about how much it costs to run a campaign and how important it is Read More >>

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The Three Branches of Government

The older children have been learning about the three branches of government. At the end of the year we went on three field trips to observe the legislative, judicial and executive branches in action. The City of Syracuse was amazingly hospitable and willing to enrich the learning of our students. On May 5 we took Read More >>

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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 >>

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Explorers

Students in grades K-2 started a social students unit this fall on explorers.  Students were first asked to explain the difference between an Explorer and Exploring and came up with statements such as: Explore means to look for things and Explorer is something or someone that discovers things; Explore means to find things and Explorer is someone that Read More >>

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Native Americans and their Biomes Part II

After creating a landscape depicting the biome where their Native Tribe lived, children were given a Native American myth or legend to read and study. Each child was challenged to retell the story to their peers using all the skills ably demonstrated by gifted storyteller, Vanessa Johnson. Some of skills the children identified when Vanessa Read More >>

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Civil War Class

The oldest group of students finished up their in depth study of the Civil War. After learning about the local abolitionist movement and underground railroad here in Syracuse at the Onondaga Historical Association, the students analyzed the causes of the war from both the north and souths perspective. They read and interpreted the inaugural address Read More >>

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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 >>