With the switch to offsite learning due to the coronavirus outbreak, our faculty will be sharing various curriculum highlights from their virtual classrooms.
Sixth Grade French Class Gets Poetic
After studying a poem by a Francophone author, it was time for sixth grade French students to create their own poems in different styles. Their “faux-acrostiche” displays the letters of their name included in a word that represents their interests or who they are. For their diamond poems, they had to choose two opposite words and characterize them using nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Language class is driven by the ability to communicate effectively and be understood by one’s peers. The vocabulary used in the poems was either learned in class or researched with an online dictionary. In this latter case, the students were required to create a glossary.
– Nathalie Pellenq, French teacher
Kindergarten Takes it One Letter at a Time
In kindergarten, students celebrated their literacy learning with a collaborative alphabet book! Each student was responsible for one letter of the alphabet. The kindergartners used their knowledge of letter sounds to brainstorm words that begin with their assigned letter, which they used to illustrate their page. Kindergarteners then demonstrated the work they have done throughout the year on letter formation by writing a sentence that incorporates their assigned letter multiple times.
– Missy Paravati, kindergarten teacher
Third Grade Presents a Virtual State Fair
The third grade team reenvisioned their beloved state project this year. With research and other materials created by their teachers, the third graders studied notable people from their state as well as important and interesting places and things. They transformed their work into pieces of writing, videos, and visual models to reflect what they learned and wanted to share. Students also solved and created multi-step word problems that encapsulated what they learned about state symbols and other features of each state. Each third grader studied their state animal and created a model along with a presentation to teach others about the animal’s appearance, adaptations, and place within a foodchain. Several students chose extension projects to further their knowledge about their state. The state project concluded with a virtual State Fair, where guests saw highlights of student work and heard speeches from each student that reflected what they learned about their states and themselves throughout the entire process.
– Leigh Twarog, third grade teacher
Arts: Fifth Graders Record Songs for Hip-Hop Unit
In the fifth grade general music, students concluded the hip-hop unit by submitting a final project song. During this trimester, students worked on concepts about musical loops, audio mixing, and album covers. Students worked on how to write a song using verse, chorus, and bridge with a topic of their choice.
– Yui Kitamura, music teacher
Physical Education: Field Day Scores a HUGE Win
As with much of our learning this spring, Field Day shifted from its traditional on-campus location to an at-home and online experience. Over two days, students platform students were tasked with recording videos of themselves completing six challenges. Throughout those two days, our students showed their true colors (blue and gold, of course), by submitting 780 videos, featuring innovative, inspiring, and often hilarious responses, and encouraging their cross-graded partners. It was, without a doubt, the greatest virtual Field Day in school history.
– Alex Tzelnic and Abbey Nyland, physical education teachers
