Once a week our youngest students gather together for their own read-aloud during the school-wide reading time. Some of them are just beginning to learn to read. Others have developed some reading skills and are just beginning to read independently. They all enjoy listening to a good story together, sharing their thoughts and questions about Read More >>
Cycles of Change
This winter, students in Kindergarten through Second Grade participated in a class on growing cycles. We started this class out by talking about our cycles in our own lives. We discussed the months of the year and did an activity where we did all the cycles in a year from the month we were Read More >>
Open Hand Theater’s The Loneliest Snowflake
Our younger students attended a performance on December 4, of The Loneliest Snowflake at Open Hand Theater. The play was co-written by one of our own students, Amelia. The children loved getting a back stage view of the theater and the craft activity that followed the performance.
Little House Read Aloud
The younger and middle group of students have listened to the book Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. While listening to the book, we made a chart of interesting words and the main characters that we heard about. We also got a chance to make butter, visit the pioneer museum at Read More >>
ABC Centers
Our youngest students typically have an ABC center once a day. During this time they play language arts games with a teacher or an older student. Sometimes the activities involve all three Kindergarten students, sometimes one other student and sometimes the game is played one-on-one. This fall the children have been learning and practicing recognizing Read More >>
The Seed Within
In this science class, the students read a book called “A Suitcase for Seeds.” The students were asked to make predictions about what they thought the seeds would look like, where they were located and how many there were. The students then got to analyze different fruits. We predicted what the inside of every fruit Read More >>
Lyle the Crocodile
This fall, students in Kindergarten and First Grade are exploring the fun of Bernard Waber’s loveable crocodile, Lyle. Each Friday we read a Lyle book and then draw and write 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 Read More >>
Chickens
The New School started housing fertilized chicken eggs on March 7th, and are watching them grown in an incubator day by day. We looked at this as a great opportunity to teach our students all about chickens. Students in Kindergarten through Second Grade have been taking a Chickens class with our student teacher, Erica, where Read More >>
DINOSAURS!
The youngest group of students have been investigating DINOSAURS! We took a long time to read Dinosaur Valley and Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up. Dinosaur Valley follows a family of Orodromeus dinosaurs. Maia is a story of a Maiasaura, a duck-billed dinosaur, as she grows up, travels, and becomes a mother herself. In both stories Read More >>
Fractions and Geometry: Parts and Shapes
The youngest students have been taking part in a math class learning about fractions and geometry. They loved the hands-on activities! In fractions, they began by identifying and creating equal parts of objects. They used playdoh and cookie cutters to cut shapes in half. By playing games such as Pizza Fractions and Fraction Pies they Read More >>