Learning Updates for October 25 to October 29

October 29, 2021

360 Degrees of Discussion in Sixth Grade

Students in sixth grade English observed and practiced discussion skills with a “fishbowl” protocol. Five brave “fish” sat in the center of the room to discuss a question from the current book we’re reading in class, The Giver by Lois Lowry while their classmates observed the dynamics of the discussion. Those outside the fishbowl looked for questions posed, evidence cited, ideas shifted, and airtime shared, then shared what they saw with the group. Throughout the year, sixth graders will continue to establish independence in classroom discussions, preparing for the Harkness model used in the seventh and eighth grades.

– Julia Juster, middle school English teacher 

Third Graders Learn Months of the Year in French

Third graders is finishing up their months of the year unit in French. Our lower school language program is oral proficiency oriented, which means that the students practice using French “from the top of their heads.” Many activities are necessary to build up confidence and agency. The students danced the Macarena of the months (presentational speaking/kinesthetic learning), they sorted the months with a secret rule that their partners had to guess (language observation/communicating observations), and they practiced asking and answering questions about birthdays with partners (interpersonal speaking). The wrap-up activity was a multistep interpersonal speaking project: the students were tasked to line up in the order of the months of their birthdays, using only their French. See the accompanying photo!

– Nathalie Pellenq, French teacher

Fifth Graders Research, Write, Deliver Speeches on Activists

Over the past few weeks, students in grade 5 humanities have been working on their activist research project. At the beginning of the process, each student chose an activist and visited the Erskine Library to refresh on research skills and find resources with librarian Amy Sprung. Students then engaged in their research, using resources such as databases and non-fiction books. From their research students created a speech that outlined their activist’s accomplishments, obstacles, and lessons we can learn from them. On Thursday, students’ projects culminated when each student presented their speech. Great work fifth grade!

– Vaniecia Skinner, grade 5 teacher

By John O'Neill, director of athletics |

June 9, 2023

The 2023 Athletics Banquet filled the Barn Gym yesterday as the Physical Education/Athletics department bid farewell to the 45 graduating eighth grade athletes. In addition to recognizing every athlete individually, the program also included the presentation of the Coaches’ Awards,…

By Belmont Day School |

June 8, 2023

Scharer Honored for Artwork by the MWRA Congratulations to eighth grader Lydia Scharer who won first place in this year’s MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) poster contest. There were over 2,000 submissions! This year, the contest theme was water conservation.…

By Belmont Day School |

June 2, 2023

Seventh Graders Explore Many Dimensions in Math As seventh grade students wrap up their last math unit of the year, they’re expanding on some geometric ideas to think beyond the two and three-dimensional figures from their workbooks. What would a…
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