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SCHOOL NOTES by Susan Braun Johnson
Van Ness Elementary
Otters Celebrate the Blossoms Students got into the cherry blossom spirit to decorate the front of Van Ness Elementary School for the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s annual “Petal Porches” parade. Van Ness Elementary, 1150 5th St SE, www.vannesselementary.org.
Northeast Stars NES students have recently learned how to water a plant, fill a watering can, and water the plants in the classroom. This activity helps to develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and develops a respect for all living things. They have also practiced spelling and sounding out three letter words using phonetic reading blocks. They turned each block to match the order of the letters in the word presented. Three parts of speech, verbs, nouns, and adjectives were introduced. Northeast Stars Montessori Preschool, 1325 Maryland Ave NE www.nestars.net.
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Maury Elementary Capitol Hill Day School Earlier this month, six-graders participated in an internal Model UN conference as part of their most recent Humanities unit. Their essential question for the unit was: How does power, or the lack of power, affect individuals and communities? The topic of the conference was Women’s Political Participation and Leadership and Girls’ Access to Education. Students worked with partners to represent specific nations. They conducted research, wrote position papers, and presented speeches to their peers. By the end of the conference, the group had passed three resolutions committing to: increasing educational access in rural areas and for marginalized populations, developing STEM education hubs for girls and implementing political leadership training programs. Capitol Hill Day School, 210 South Carolina Ave SE; www.chds.org.
Friends Community School Fifth graders at Friends Community School enjoyed a weeklong interdisciplinary residency experience with Kelly King, a DC dance artist. Kelly worked with them to create an interpretive performance built around phases of the rock cycle. Students learned about how movement and music can teach, convey meaning, and bring a community together. Friends Community school, 5901 Westchester Park Dr, College Park, MD; www.friendscommunityschool.org.
At Maury Elementary, first-graders made rover models out of paper towel rolls, coffee filters, and string or pipe cleaners. They tested them in Think Tank both with and without a parachute and discovered that the parachutes slow the rovers and help them land safely. Look for coded messages on the coffee filters. The project was inspired by the NASA Perseverance Rover, whose own parachute design reportedly includes the message “Dare Mighty Things.” Maury ES, 1250 Constitution Ave. NE; mauryelementary.com.
