Our Reconstruction unit started with a few simple questions: What is History? Who cares? Why Study it? The overarching theme to the students’ answers was that we study history to learn from it and to not repeat it. Then students considered the Declaration of…
During the fall of 2025, the older students at school have been studying the microworld. We started learning about Antonie van Leeuwenhoek who made the first single lens microscope in the 1670s. We then made our own magnifying glasses out of water bottles filled with…
Students in grades 5-8 participated in a Digital Literacy class this year. Just as students have to learn how to be citizens of our world, country, community, school, and family, this class taught students how to be responsible and safe citizens of the digital world….
Students in grades 4-7 participated in Pixie Class. Pixie is a philosophical curriculum designed to encourage students to think critically about social topics. This year, as we read about Pixie, an elementary school student, interacting with her peers, teachers,…
Some of our students have participated in a printing class this year. We spent the first part of the year carefully practicing the proper formation of each letter, both upper and lower case. Over the last couple of months, we have been focused on transitioning our…
A group of our younger students have been part of a class where we first read the book, Wacky Wednesday by Theo LeSieg, and illustrated by George Booth. Then every week they meet to write sentences in their packets, describing the wacky things going on in each…
Small Moments is a personal narrative writing unit from Lucy Calkins. Students were asked to think of a small moment in their life they could stretch into a detailed and structured story. These young writers began with brainstorming before writing a draft, revising,…
To finish up our Haudenshanee unit, we looked at the stories that were associated with the different clans of the heron, turtle and beaver. Students learned about the importance of the natural world to each tribe and where some of their folk stories came from. As we…
This spring our 2nd and 3rd graders participated in a study of habitats. We began by thinking about what a habitat is and what a habitat provides for animals. They decided a habitat must provide air or oxygen, food, water, shelter, and space.Students had many amazing…
Art Studio continues to be a favorite place for our kindergarten, first, and second grade students. We have continued with the studio format where students can choose their materials alternating with some classes that introduce an art form, project, or material. On…
Students in grades 4-8 learned about forces and bridges during science class lead by our student teacher, Alexandra. They learned what load, compression, and tension is. As well, they learned about three main types of bridges-arch, suspension, and beam bridge. Words…
In spring of 2025, students in the younger grades met once a week and focused on making predictions and articulating the theme of each story. A book by Stephen Kellogg was read and connections and predictions were made, while discussions were had about the topic of…
Some of our 2nd and 3rd graders read Loius Braille, The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind by Margaret Davidson. While reading and learning about the life of Louis Braille, students were answering comprehension questions, making predictions, and using text evidence…
Our K-2 students studied sound to present at this year’s Science Celebration. They investigated how sound travels and questioned if we can see sound. They used tuning forks in a bowl of water to see how the vibrations traveled through water. Students…
Maryrose, a student teacher from SUNY Cortland, had the opportunity to take over an author study during snack time. She chose to have the students listen to books by the author Jane Yolen and her books titled “How does a Dinosaur….” Maryrose’s objective for the author…
Before teaching this class, our student teacher, Maryrose, interviewed students and asked them what the phrase (idiom): “don’t lose your head over this” meant. 9 out of 12 students were able to understand what the phrase meant but they didn’t know it was called an…