This year, we’re introducing the Fundations program to the pre-kindergarten curriculum. Our other early childhood students already use this evidence-based literacy program with great success, and we are eager to align letter and sound instruction with the approach used in the older grades. As part of the curriculum, students are
Do you know what a tombolo is? Ask a second grader! This week, the students visited the Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library. Students had an opportunity to meet with map educators and learn about the current exhibit, Terrains of Independence, and examine revolution-era Boston maps.
In the current fifth grade science unit, students are studying aspects of our planet and its relationship to the Sun and Moon. Through lessons examining the changing seasons, shortening of daylight hours, and how the Earth both rotates and revolves, fifth graders are learning more deeply about how and why
In first grade, students are beginning their poetry unit, which is the foundation for their curriculum showcase in March. First, the students explored poetry as art and a style of writing, and now they are examining different forms such as haikus and free verse poems. For their free verse poems,
It’s that time of year! Fourth graders are learning about Ancient Egypt in social studies, and in science, they are conducting mummification experiments. Each partnership has chosen to mummify either a hen or another food item of their choosing (one group chose to experiment with watermelon this year, which has
Third graders are stepping up their game in the woodshop, using a variety of established and new skills in order to see projects from beginning to end. Recently, the students designed and created individual Hole ‘n’ a Box projects. Each student started by imagining and drawing their designs. They then
Third graders have been busy planning, designing, and building their own communities. They first decided if they wanted to design a rural, suburban, or urban community and then made plans for their community. They decided what laws would protect their citizens, what services their government would provide, what utilities were
Fifth graders created a symbolic “key” inspired by their reading of The Arrival by Shaun Tan. The keys were made to represent an idea each student believes is essential to understanding the unique beauty of others. Drawing from the novel, students designed a physical key and attached a symbol that reflected a
The third grade visited Belmont Center on Tuesday for a field trip. We walked down the hill to Town Hall, where we met with Selectman Matt Taylor and Brandon Fitts, who works with community outreach. The students asked questions about how local government works in Belmont. Next, students went in
Each afternoon, Monday through Thursday, kindergartners enjoy thirty minutes of choice time to close out their day. Activities change regularly, and children have the freedom to choose what they’d like to do and move between options as they wish. They might build with blocks, play card games, create art, or
