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Local History

Towards the end of the year we started a unit to learn about Syracuse’s past. We started with learning about how the development of the Erie Canal in the 1800’s impacted our city, bringing economic prosperity and immigrants to our region. In class discussions and games helped us learn about the people who both were Read More >>

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Electricity 

At the end of the year the students started learning about electricity. They were challenged to figure out how to light a lightbulb when given only a lightbulb, battery and one wire. In the process they learned about complete circuits, and the important parts of a battery and bulb. After lighting the bulb they were Read More >>

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Paper Quilts

The K-2s and I read the book, A Quiltmaker’s Gift, outside of the art room during their reading times. This book was about a woman who made quilts for the poor and needy. She taught a greedy king how to care for others and give back. The students had an opportunity to create their own Read More >>

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Ancient China

Students in grades 7 – 8 studied Ancient China, first by researching one of its many dynasties: the Han, Song, Zhou, Shang and Tang Dynasties. They had to develop a presentation by dressing up and acting as one of the emperors of their dynasty and bring to school an artifact that would represent something about Read More >>

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Ancient Egypt Daily Life

During a two week timeframe, the youngest students were introduced to the daily life of ancient Egyptians, primarily looking at what life as a kid would look like. Before studying life as an ancient Egyptian, students reflected on their own daily life and routines. As a group, students completed a Venn Diagram by including events Read More >>

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Book Club – The Giver

For five weeks, students read Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” for a small group book club. Meeting weekly, we discussed main ideas, themes, and made predictions for future chapters. Students learned and reinforced how to connect ideas between other non-fiction texts, poems, images, and music. Student’s answered questions each week to guide their reading. To conclude, Read More >>

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Space

This spring, students in grades 2-6 participated in learning about space in their science class. In a mixed age group, we discussed what the word “astronomy” means and then had students share what they knew about astronomy. We started the unit by talking about early astronomers and their discoveries/ models. Students created a timeline of Read More >>

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Art Studio

During my time here so far I have had the opportunity to take over some of the art studio days. Since this is such a short period during the day, I really like to use it for the youngest children to explore! We have worked with watercolor, color mixing, and clay. We just recently have Read More >>

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Egg Drop

How egg-citing!? Over the past three weeks, students have been working on blueprinting, designing, and editing a device to protect an egg from high fall. The egg drop challenge has been an exciting activity for students to work in collaboration or independently with free access to materials. There were a few scrambles along the way, Read More >>

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Ancient Egypt Younger Students

This fall students in all grade levels have participated in learning about Ancient Egypt. First as a mixed age group, we discussed what the word ancient means and then had students share what they know about any ancient civilizations. Then in three age groups, we started to delve deeper into Ancient Egypt. In the youngest Read More >>