Olympic Games in PE!

Posted on by Pam Pascarella

The Kindergarten, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary participated in Winter Olympic Games stations in class. The students were questioned on their knowledge as to why there are only five rings and what the colors represented. They were also asked where the Olympics were taking place and what continent that country was located in. The students participated in the following winter Olympic Game stations: Curling, Speed Skating, Ice Hockey, Table Hockey, Skeleton/Luge, Ski Jump, and Bobsled. The stations they most enjoyed were the bobsled and ski jump!

During our Gymnastics unit, students participated in pyramid building and single balances. A human pyramid is a formation of three or more people in which two or more support a tier of higher people. For practical reasons, lighter people are often positioned higher while stronger/heavier people are located closer to the base.

Makers take flight!

Posted on by Walker Fuchs

The elementary students have been busy experimenting with the dynamics of flight. Students have been working collaboratively to design and create original flying machines. They are able to use all the tools available to them in the MakerSpace including various recycled materials, laser cut designs, and 3D printing. The students are learning to make calculated design choices in a low risk environment, learning to balance the natural forces around them such as thrust, drag, lift, and gravity. Our makers are given the freedom to discover how their designs react to flight and then encouraged to go back to the drawing board to rebuild based on their observations. Through hands-on experimentation, the students gain confidence in their abilities and a willingness to dive into the unknown. Well done!

The Pottery Wheel and More!

Posted on by Jen Reid

The Art Studio has been buzzing lately with lots of wonderful clay work from students Kindergarten through Middle School! Students have been exploring a range of clay processes and techniques such as coil building, slab rolling, pinching, and throwing on the pottery wheel.

Working with clay has many benefits for children of all ages. It is a complex sensory experience that encourages self-expression, helps promote self-confidence, and develops problem-solving and motor skills. Because clay is highly responsive to touch, children become engrossed in their work: they are able to express and articulate their ideas through shaping clay and learning to repair mistakes. Clay is different from other art mediums in that it requires an understanding of the three dimensional world. While working on their projects, students must move around to see their creation from all sides. From this, they begin to understand shape, form, and perspective, and gain knowledge of planning methods and problem solving as they map out their creation.

Students in each class have particularly enjoyed creating bowls, cups and vases on the pottery wheel. The first step is to center the clay on the wheel by applying water and pressure to the clay with our hands. Once the clay is centered, students then open it up and slowly form it into a bowl, cup, or vase. Working on the potter’s wheel is a physical activity that aligns with the Montessori philosophy of encouraging freedom within limits: children focus on specific forming techniques and hand positioning, while being free to move the clay into a desired shape. Each step of the wheel throwing process engages both the body and the mind.

Cooperative Games in PE Class

Posted on by Pam Pascarella

In Physical Education Class, students participated in a Cooperative Games unit.  Cooperative games help develop problem solving skills.  During cooperative games, students work together to find solutions to group and individual challenges.  Cooperative games put an emphasis on team building, communication and trust.  The goal is to enhance students’ social skills and self esteem in an active environment.

UE Collaborative Art!

Posted on by Jen Reid

 

Collaboration is a frequent and natural current that flows through the Art Studio. Whether it is a planned collaborative Art project, or it happens naturally among students, collaboration helps students understand the subject matter in a deep, meaningful way and encourages students to think beyond themselves. In Upper Elementary, young artists worked collaboratively on a mural inspired by the artist Alma Thomas. 

Alma Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia, 1891 and died in 1978. For 35 years and in a segregated city, she empowered art students at Shaw Junior High School to see beauty in the everyday and brought exhibition opportunities and cultural enrichment to Black youth. Throughout her career as an artist and teacher, she was a leader within her creative community. She created small watercolors, aerial landscapes, and brightly patterned large-scale abstractions that reflect her local surroundings and her fascination with space and the environment. Thomas made history in 1971 by becoming the first Black woman given a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York at age 81, and again in 2015 by becoming the first Black woman to have a work of art acquired by the White House Collection.

After learning about Alma Thomas’ extraordinary career and viewing a range of artworks created by her, Upper Elementary students embarked on a large-scale  landscape mural using collage techniques. To begin, students painted a range of warm and cool colors on papers, allowed them to dry, and then cut them into small squares. Then, they mapped out their landscape with pencil and filled in each section with the colored squares according to a color scheme they chose together. When collaborating, the students were interdependent; their work became intertwined throughout the process, resulting in a unique work of art that many hands made together!

Throwing and Catching in PE

Posted on by Pam Pascarella

This past month, students in 1st through 5th grade have been practicing and participating in the team sport of football. Did you know that the Super Bowl is the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis?  In grades 1 and 2, the unit focus was throwing and catching a ball. Learning to throw and catch a ball at a young age helps build hand-eye coordination, timing, motor planning, and attention. Playing throw and catch is a great way to share the day with someone and make new friends.

In grades 3 through 5, our football unit’s main focus was on developing hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Skills taught were: passing the football using the the proper grip (fingers on laces), taking a step with the opposite foot when throwing, passing with a partner about 10 feet away, catching a ball thrown to them (thumbs up for a high ball and pinkies down for a low ball), practicing the proper technique for kicking a football off a tee, punting the football, and understanding and using simple game rules. Students also learned that the quarterback is the person who throws the ball, the center is the person who hikes the ball, and the receiver is the one who catches the ball and runs with it.

Broadening Our Minds!

Posted on by lizettegeudes

 

This past month we worked extensively on our different topics form greetings to feelings, and we were most excited about our exploration of the “Dia de los Muertos”

Day of the Dead (Día De Los Muertos) is a two day holiday that reunites the living and dead. Families create ofrendas (Offerings) to honor their departed family members that have passed. These altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of the one being honored. The offerings are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods and join in the celebrations!

Day of the Dead is a rare holiday for celebrating death and life. It is unlike any holiday where mourning is exchanged for celebration.

I’m pleased to be able to share my first hand experience with the children and to contribute with a grain of sand to the broadening of their minds. Understanding different cultures allows us to be more open, accepting, and tolerant of other people. By understanding different cultures we have an appreciation for our differences.

Lizette Z Guedes

 

 

Exploring Materials for Hidden Strengths!

Posted on by Walker Fuchs

 

In the Makerspace our lower elementary and 4/5th graders have been exploring unconventional building materials. Our young makers were challenged with first designing and then building functional chairs made completely out of cardboard. While students were initially surprised by the choice of a “flimsy material”, they quickly learned to adapt their plans to the material.  Often, perceived weaknesses can be turned on their head with a little creative thinking and ingenuity- and our students did not disappoint. Working with unconventional materials provides the opportunity for our makers to think outside the box and feel the spark of excitement as they achieve something they previously thought was impossible. 

This project has now evolved from the initial design phase, paper drawings, to modeling, virtual 3D models made on tinkerCAD software, and finally to real structures! The students were able to test and refine their design through iteration of their ideas and constructed several prototypes before their final product. Each trial led to new discoveries about how they could adapt the given material to the challenge at hand. We are so excited to see the final products of this design process and can’t wait to continue to learn with our makers.