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Learning Updates for November 12 to November 15

November 15, 2024

Sixth Graders Interview Faculty About Identity

This past Friday, our sixth grade students completed their final diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging lesson as part of our growth, development, and belonging program. For the entire trimester, students dove deep into understanding how different identities impact us and the world around them. As part of their final “capstone” project for their DEIB strand, our sixth graders had the opportunity to interview Belmont Day School faculty about identity and its importance to their work. Students ask questions such as “When did identity become important to you?” and “How has your identity changed since you were our age?”. As they moved through their various interviews, the students received experience conducting interviews, as well as connecting deeper with faculty about the importance of celebrating different identities. Incredible discussions with their educators led to the perfect final class together; we are so proud!
– Trinity Johns and Luc DeArmey, sixth grade DEIB strand leaders

Wild Robot Inspires Innovative Project in Fourth Grade

This fall, the fourth graders read The Wild Robot by Peter Brown and completed a cross-curricular project involving science, innovation, and writing. The novel is about a robot named Roz who finds herself on an island and has to adapt to survive. The book allows for rich discussions about acceptance, inclusion, forgiveness, and helping others. In the book, Roz camouflages herself to get to know the island and its inhabitants (animals), so we decided to build our own versions of Roz so she could learn about our BDS community. This process began in science class where the students learned about cardboard engineering and how to connect cardboard structures without using tape or glue. They learned how to create folds, slots, flanges, and tabs to hold their creations together.

The class then worked with the innovation team on a design challenge. They needed to create their own wild robot out of cardboard with no glue and only 12 inches of tape available to them. Other constraints included height requirements and that their robot needed to be free-standing. Students set to work planning, experimenting, iterating, and trying again. Next, students created a project journal in writing class to document the tools and strategies they used and to reflect on what went well and what they would do differently next time. This is the first of three cardboard engineering challenges the students will take on this year. These journals will help students reflect on prior projects and use what they learned while also developing new skills.

The last part of the project involved fourth graders hiding their robots around the schoolhouse so the robots could observe our BDS community. Our Roz creations did not use camouflage but instead utilized the environment to hide in plain sight (a place where she may not be noticed unless you were looking for her.) We then alerted the pre-kindergarten to grade two classes to be on the lookout for our robots and provided them with data sheets they could use to keep track of the robots they found. This part of the project (much like sharing assemblies and cross-graded partnerships) connects our younger students with our older students and helps build our BDS community. Next week, the fourth graders will analyze the data and reflect on the project as a class. Fourth grade students and teachers enjoyed collaborating with the innovation team and our youngest community members.

– Lana Holman, fourth grade teacher

BDS

December 6, 2024

Seventh Grade English Tackles Macbeth “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes …” For six weeks during the seventh grade English curriculum, Charlie Baird, seventh grade English teacher and department chair, is kind enough to allow…

By John O'Neill, director of athletics |

November 15, 2024

It was an uphill battle for the girls’ junior varsity soccer team this fall. With a condensed roster and some first-time players, the team struggled to gain traction early on. As the season progressed, however, the team slowly began to…

BDS

November 8, 2024

Songwriters and Recording Technology Students Unite This week, students in the seventh and eighth grade Songwriting arts elective showcased their work in a Tiny Desk-inspired recording event in the Erskine Library. They collaborated to think about form, lyrical rhyming structures,…

By John O'Neill, Director of Athletics |

November 8, 2024

The boys’ varsity soccer team finished their season on a high note with a dominant 4-0 win over Lexington Christian Academy this week. The win improved the team’s record to 7-3 on the season, with all three losses coming by…
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