Rigamajig

The Rigamajig  is a new large-scale building kit conceived for hands-on free play and learning. This unique toy was conceived and designed as a custom play feature for the High Line Park in New York City, by independent toy designer Cas Holman of Heroes Will Rise, and Friends of the High Line, in collaboration with early learning educators, woodworkers, and children.

Rigamajig was launched in 2011 as the High Line Children’s Workyard Kit, and will be distributed by KaBoom, a national non-profit that has partnered with Heroes Will Rise to provide easily accessible, cognitively challenging play opportunities that include science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to all children in diverse communities. 

This collection of wooden planks, wheels, pulleys, nuts, bolts and rope allows children to follow their curiosity through play. There are no right or wrong answers. Children create contraptions to convey buckets, three legged spaceships, elephant movie projectors hiding under robot monsters, and all-purpose “Rigamajigs”. The act of playing and building is the goal, not the finished product.

The New School is the first school in the area to have access to this unique learning material. Mary Cunningham created a slide presentation about the New School's experience with the Rigamajig.

Click here to view the slideshow.

Science Fun

The older students spent one month in the fall of 2013 rotating between four science centers where they explored and experimented with various science concepts. The liquid station assessed the students’ ability to use measuring equipment, make inferences about discrepant events and formulate questions in the solution of the problem. The Ball and Ramp station assessed their ability to make observations, inferences and predictions based on data collected. The Magnetic and Electrical center assessed their ability to use a magnet and an electrical tester to collect data, to make generalizations and make inferences from their data. Finally at the Unknown Object center the students were assessed on their observational skills in describing an unknown object and their ability to raise questions. At each center the students were all required to use communication skills and work cooperatively with a partner, though they were responsible for completing their own packets and observations. The centers were designed by the New York State Education department and were formerly part of a hands on performance test given to 4^th graders on NYS.

Solar System

The youngest children started learning about the Solar System in January. Children developed questions they wanted answered about each plant.  As we listened to The Magic School Bus, Lost in the Solar System, and books by Seymour Simon children drew and wrote notes about each planet. We started with the gas giants and then moved onto the smaller planets closer to our own orbit. During Read Aloud these children listened to Sally Ryde’s To Space and Back, gathering information about man’s exploration of the solar system. Children will be assigned to be “experts” on a specific planet and responsible for presenting the information, gathered by the whole class, at our Science Celebration. Each science project will include a paper mache model of the planet.

Ancient Greece

The whole school is involved in studying Ancient Greece. The 2^nd and 3^rd graders focused their study on how the Ancient Greek civilization has enriched our own culture. We looked specifically at theater, architecture, democracy, and philosophy. Students created a book illustrating their discoveries. One field trip involved visiting Thornden Park’s amphitheater and comparing it to the modern day theater at Syracuse Stage. After looking at the construction of ancient Greek temples we went on a “Column Hunt,” informally tallying the number of Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns in parts of downtown Syracuse. In our books we shared our favorite Greek gods and goddesses stories after listening to D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. When we studied maps, we noticed how important the Mediterranean and Aegean seas were to the Greeks, using them for travel and trade. Finally we learned about the philosophers – especially Socrates - and will be participating in our own re-enactment of the trial of Socrates.

21 Balloons

During Read Aloud, at the end of the day, the older students listened to William Pene du Bois’ fascinating book 21 Balloons. This book chronicles the adventures of Professor William Waterman Sherman in his specially designed hot air balloon. Professor Sherman lands on Krakatoa where he discovers an amazing settlement. Sadly, the volcanic explosion of Krakatoa ends his visit and appreciation of their life of invention and culinary successes. After reading the book the children designed the balloon of their dreams and then wrote a paragraph describing the highlights of their creation. Students revisited how to locate cities on a map after being given latitude and longitude readings. They searched on a map for places Professor William Waterman Sherman might have travelled over – such as Ankara, Turkey and Brussels, Belgium. 

Stink Bug Mystery Guest

With the invasion of stink bugs into The New School this year, we took part in a study by Cornell tracking the locations of the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive species. The students photographed the stink bugs they found at school. These photos were sent to Cornell to help in their study. 

Our latest “Mystery Guest” Janet Fallon helped us answer the longing question “Did we actually have the brown marmorated stink bug or a different stink bug species?” Janet shared a slide show discussing good bugs and bad bugs, invasive species and the life cycle of stink bugs. She demonstrated how stink bugs harm fruit and vegetables by piercing them with their straw like mouths. The students pierced bananas with a straw to see how this works. Comparing photos of our stink bugs to Janet’s resources, the students concluded that we do in fact host the brown marmorated stink bug. Thank you Janet!

Small Moments

The second and third graders are proud to have published their small moments stories! They took part in a writing workshop where they realized that they can learn to be better writers by studying other authors. Angela Johnson, Ezra Jack Keats and our fellow New Schooler Jonah became mentor authors to the students. Through their study of small moments stories by these mentor authors, the students learned how they could turn a true life event into a short, or “small moment” story. They noticed techniques their mentor authors used such as “...” to add suspense or keep the reader on their toes. They noticed all the details Angela Johnson used and that details made the book come to life and described who, what, where, when and how. They noticed that the story was broken up into pages and the author repeated phrases, words or the title to make the reader think and feel. Each student put these techniques in their own small moments stories about making clay tablets, a maze they went through in England, a day at the fair, their halloween, a summer day, the fist time they met their friends, playing in the mud, getting their boot stuck in the mud at Highland Forest, their trip to California and the first time they caught a fish.