News for Collegiate School Families and Friends
Holiday 2014
Building for the Future Projects that integrate subjects expand possibilities for learning skills that have real-life applications.
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reparing students to be competent participants in the world of discovery, here at Collegiate and beyond, is one of our primary missions, and we are always looking for new ways to spark curiosity and make learning meaningful. This year, we’re strengthening our focus on the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a key segment of the professional workforce that is projected to increase dramatically in the coming years. STEM lessons offer engaging and relevant cross-curricular opportunities that fortify 21st-century skills and support differentiated learning. STEM lessons can also incorporate non-fiction reading and writing and provide an authentic assessment of student understanding. In the Lower School, technology teacher Liz Clayton is leading the initiative with an engineering curriculum that interfaces with math, science and technology studies and involves age-appropriate activities for each grade level. Starting in Kindergarten with ScratchJr and progressing through the Lower School with MaKey MaKey and Lego Wedo Robotics, students are learning how things work. “The Lower School began incorporating engineering into its curriculum three years ago with 2nd Grade Engineering Day and an introduction to programming for 3rd and 4th Graders,” says Ms. Clayton. “This past summer, a comprehensive low-tech/ high-tech K-4 children’s engineering curriculum was developed.” continued on back cover
Lower School students display their model of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including Lake Otsego in Cooperstown, NY and the Susquehanna River, leading to the Bay.
Learning by Doing The 2nd Graders have completed our study of the Chesapeake Bay! This was a project-based learning unit, which included research, group work, and sharing of learned knowledge. Librarian Allison Williams, technology teacher Liz Clayton, and many others came into the science classroom to help with the research and provide guidance on the projects. The projects included three alternatives: creating a model of the watershed with an emphasis on Cooperstown, NY, Lake Otsego, and the Susquehanna River; marching with informative signs around the Lower School campus; and talking with an expert, “Mr. Cooper,” via FaceTime. All groups had the opportunity to share their projects with either their classmates or adults and students around the Lower School Campus and/or Mr. Cooper. As these 2nd Graders reflected on their experience during this unit, many said they had fun and enjoyed learning about how pollution can travel through a watershed, how our Collegiate campus is a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and about the importance of the estuary to the blue crabs that live in the Bay! They said they would have enjoyed MORE time to share ALL they knew! — Ellen Clore, science teacher