Immigration for older students

The whole school has been learning about Immigration to the United States. In addition the oldest students (grades 5 - 8) studied Ellis Island. We read a book about the history of Ellis Island and how New York came to be a major gateway for immigrants coming into the United States. We learned how and why people might be turned away and what happened to people that arrived at Ellis Island with a sickness. Next each student was given a quote from a primary source - oral histories written by immigrants who  came through Ellis Island. Each student had to highlight one or two phrases that caught the essence of the immigration experience.  Using those highlighted words, students created a piece of art using only images to illustrate the meaning of the words.  In the  final class, we put all of the highlighted phrases into a poem that expressed the feelings and experiences of immigrants coming to America.

Lunch Interviews

 Once a year all students at The New School are invited out to lunch by the teacher responsible for his/her individualized curriculum. This year we changed the restaurant from Friendly’s to A La Mode on Nottingham Road in an effort to support local businesses. Over lunch the teacher asks his/her student prepared questions. Questions include: If you came home and found a small box on the kitchen table and inside it you could find anything you wanted, what would you like to find? If you had magic boots and could travel anywhere and at any time, where would you like to go? Are you like a babbling brook and or a placid lake? List three things you are good at. It is a wonderful gift to spend an hour and half of uninterrupted time with each student. On Child Study Day, which happens approximately once a month, these interview responses are shared with all of the teachers. As we share the responses curriculum is created to meet the needs of the individual child. Often as we plan for the needs of one child, we find we can apply what we develop to one or two other children. These lunch interviews enrich our curriculum, build community and develop relationships between teachers and students. 

Family Posters

Jessica Ryan Gostin, NS parent, gave us the idea to create “Family Posters” to display in our entranceway. Families were sent a brief set of questions and asked to supply a family photograph. At school their children created a family portrait using flair pens and watercolors. Jessica then put all the pieces together and spent many hours designing a poster for each family.  Please stop by and learn more about our school community.

Quidditch for Muggles

                     

Students at The New School formed two Quidditch teams this year. After spending two afternoons practicing, the two teams came together to play in earnest. It didn’t appear to bother anyone that it was snowing! Our game had to be modified slightly but fun was had by all. The chasers were running and trying to score by throwing the quaffle through a hoola hoop. The keepers did their best to prevent this from happening and the beaters, zig-zagged around the field beating the bludgers with a tennis racket against the keepers and chasers alike. The only person complaining was the snitch. Even though the snitch is allowed to run beyond the field of play it was exhausting to keep the seekers at bay. Limiting the seekers to skipping did not solve the problem. Hmmm. 

Lexi’s and Pee Wee's Tale

Three 2^nd graders have been enjoying reading Joanna Horowitz’s books about Lexi, a squirrel and Pee Wee, a guinea pig. We started reading Lexi’s Tale. As we read the book we practiced using three comprehension strategies, ones we had been introduced to last year. We predicted, questioned and made connections. For  Pee Wee’s Tale, the second book (which we discovered was actually the first book in the series), we practiced three new comprehension strategies. This time we visualized, looked at new and interesting vocabulary, and identified the main idea of each chapter. 

Immigration

Our youngest students (Kindergarten through 2^nd grade) were part of the whole school discussion focused on immigration stories. Reading picture books helped us compare the experiences of immigrants from different countries, such as Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine or Haitians bravely boarding boats looking for a better life in America. As we read each book we considered questions such as: Where did they come from? When? Why did they come? Who came first and what did they bring? What or who was left behind? What did they expect to find? This provided us with the information we needed to compare and contrast the many different experiences.

            In addition the younger students listened to books such The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Betty Maestro. The students were so  fascinated by the sculptor’s process that we decided to mirror this experience by making our own models of the statue out of clay.

In order to get a sense of the size of the statue we measured 150 feet across the parking lot by using a yard stick and then drew Lady Liberty in chalk. It was hard for some of us to accept that her nose is over 4 feet long!

            

            Finally we decided to become immigrants ourselves! First each child had to choose a place they would like to immigrate to! We explained that this wasn’t a vacation! Then we considered what we wanted to pack in our suitcases, and what traditions we would take with us. Their ideas, in drawings and words are collected in a book to be shared with families. 

Digestive System

After spending six weeks studying the skeletal system the youngest students turned their attention to the digestive system. First we listened to the book What Happens to a Hamburger? As we read this informative and funny book children followed the journey of what happens to our food from the moment we start to chew. In the process they learned vocabulary words such as mouth, saliva, esophagus, stomach, small Intestine, large intestine, and of course the anus, Children took part in centers where they measured how long the small intestine is. They observed an experiment showing what happens in your stomach to food, and how food dissolves in liquid. Finally children collaboratively created a three dimensional model of the digestive system which was presented to the rest of the school