Second Graders Host ‘Read For Seeds’ Read-a-thon
On Wednesday, you could hear a pin drop in second grade. How is this possible, you might ask? We were holding our 17th annual Read-a-thon! The second graders spent all day reading to raise money in support of Gaining Ground, a local nonprofit that grows and distributes 100 percent of its fresh produce to people experiencing food insecurity. The students have spent two weeks tracking their reading in order to collect money from sponsors, as part of a program called Read for Seeds. This program culminates in one exciting day where we put change into action by doing one of our favorite activities: curling up with a good book! We are grateful to our BDS community members who supported our changemakers by stopping by the classroom and reading alongside us. We will then get to see the direct impact of our efforts when we visit Gaining Ground during Community Service Day in May. We are so proud of our second graders!
– The Second Grade Team
Arts Update: Sixth Graders Design, Create Chalk Mosaic
In the IMPACT lab, one section of sixth graders in innovation arts engaged in a design charette to create a chalk mosaic outside on the pavement nearest the lab. Collaborating on the initial sketch, the students then taped off sections and applied chalk to bring their vision to life. Through experimentation with chalk application techniques and the strategic use of water to enhance colors, the group honed their creative and collaborative skills. Reflecting on their work, the students will provide feedback to the other sixth grade innovation arts cohort who will further iterate on the chalk art which will be installed once this mosaic fades. Come check out their work before it’s gone!
– Brittany Conroy, innovation coach
Seventh Grade Math Puts Updated ChatGPT 3.5 To The Test
This week, seventh grade mathematicians set out to see how ChatGPT’s math capabilities have improved over the past year. Following in the footsteps of last year’s seventh graders, the students completed a problem set thinking through various solution pathways and then turned to ChatGPT to see how it approached solving these same complex problems. Equipped with the transcripts and tips from last year’s iteration of this activity, students wondered whether the updated GPT3.5 would show improvements over GPT3.0 in its creative thinking and mathematical reasoning. After entering the prompts word-for-word to compare GPT’s responses, students experimented with prompt engineering to see if they could lead the chatbot to the correct answer. The verdict? While the updated model of ChatGPT shows improvements in its formatting, mathematical notation, and explanation, it still needs the collaboration of our seventh graders’ creative minds, careful eyes, and flexible thinking to reach a solution!
– Sarah Pikcilingis, seventh grade math teacher, and Annie Fuerst, director of innovation
Pre-kindergartners Grow, Harvest, and Taste Mushrooms
Pre-kindergarten has been having fun with fungi! A few weeks ago, Ms. Solomon came to our class with special mushroom-growing kits. We sprayed them diligently with water and kept them out of direct sunlight, and slowly the golden and pink oyster mushrooms started to sprout. Then, all of a sudden, our mushrooms got very big and were ready to harvest! We brought our mushrooms to Chef Lightbody who then prepared them for a very special tasting. “After receiving the mushroom harvest, I prepped them by chopping the much larger pink oyster mushrooms and simply separating the golden mushrooms,” Chef Lightbody said. “I tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and some thyme. The golden mushrooms were as crunchy as popcorn kernels. They were quite delicious. Thank you, pre-K, for inviting me to be a part of this fun project.”
– Nicole Siverls and Kim Edwards, pre-kindergarten teachers, Kathy Jo Solomon, art teacher and sustainability coordinator, and Tara Lightbody, food program director
