Updates From Upper Elementary
Coordinate City & Zoo Project
In geometry, 4th and 5th years were presented a lesson on locating and plotting coordinates on a four quadrant grid. Once they were comfortable plotting coordinates they took the lesson to the next level. In pairs, and based on guidelines, students created a blueprint of their imaginary cities and then many decided to create 3-D models. The 3-D models are in the works and they’re excited to share their final models with the class.
Similar to Coordinate City, the 6th years are designing their own zoos, utilizing lessons on finding area and perimeter. This project has the additional component of budgeting, as the students price out the costs for every element including purchase of animals, building appropriately sized enclosures and hiring people to cover day-to-day operations. Ultimately they will actually “run” their zoos and discover how viable their choices were.
New York City
The 6th years leave for NYC in less than 3 months! All the tickets are booked, final site papers complete and presentation cards in the works. The 6th years have entered the second phase of their project and are about to begin the itinerary work by looking at maps of Manhattan and learning about streets versus avenues and subway maps and bus maps. Soon they will begin writing directions for each day and destination. Their excitement is building with each day that passes. We can’t wait to share our NYC experiences with the community in early May.
Spanish
This month has seen the return of Spanish for Upper Elementary, and the students are delighted by the immersive approach of our new teacher, Julia. Lessons are during the work cycle on Wednesdays and are presented entirely in Spanish with a student driven focus on information gathering and comprehension. They spent their first few lessons looking up, labeling and touring classmates through the school building. Students are enjoying this fun new approach to the language.
