discovery channels

THE DISCOVERY ISSUE DISCOVERY

CHANNELS

Education at its essence is about discovery. Through teaching methods like project-based learning, design thinking, collaborative idea generation, and self-guided projects, students can be at the helm of their learning journeys every day. From kindergarteners transforming their classroom into a zoo to seniors designing their own Capstone projects, every student at Greenhill has the power to discover themselves, each other, and their passion through a lens of limitless potential and opportunity. Tune in to discover more!

We are pleased to feature the work of Grace Doyle ’18 in this issue. Throughout her years as a student at Greenhill, Grace was active in the arts and found her love of drawing in many Greenhill classes. Artistic skills are in her blood (some of you may know her father, AVP instructor Corbin Doyle) and Grace has carved out a unique and characteristic style as an emerging artist. A sophomore and liberal arts major at Sarah Lawrence College, she also enjoys reading, writing, and looking up pictures of greyhounds wearing sweaters.

EXTRA , EXTRA , READ ALL ABOUT IT Spotlight on Third Grade Social Studies

Earlier in the fall, third graders embarked on a journalism project in social studies where final broadsheets were “published” in their hallway. According to third grade teacher Hannah Harkey, the students first had to discern the meaning of true news. “We really had to unpack the idea of what makes things timely and relevant, i.e., news . . . but the students worked hard and one pair in particular had an interesting idea . . . ”

Two determined third graders worked as a team to interview Head of School Mr. Hark by taking notes and simultaneously recording onthe ipad. Tough questions ensued. The final piece shows results! Ms. Harkey disclosed that the two students worked extra hard on this piece, knowing that they were truly getting published.

SCIENCE isHANDS-ON Spotlight on Middle School Science

Science in Middle School is Hands-on! “It’s all about doing, rather than hearing or reading,” say teachers Sharon Charlebois '97 and Gretchen Pollom. From different forms of energy to measuring human volume in a swimming pool, the science curriculum is about every dimension imaginable. Meet Rube Goldberg projects, named for the famous engineer and inventor best known for his concepts of complicated gadgets and chain reactions performing simple tasks. Mrs. Pollom tells us more. “Every fifth grader does this project working in pairs. They can use everything they know about kinetic energy, as well as the potential energies of gravitational, chemical, elastic, and magnetic. They might invent a series of simple machines that turn on a light, play music, water a plant or pour a drink. The challenge for these fifth graders is to work with many simple concepts and discover the power of their knowledge, including the vast array of social emotional skills at play in problemsolving and teamwork.” Ms. Pollom has also been instrumental in bringing a birding unit to Greenhill, using apps and measurement tools from the School of Ornithology at Cornell. Working closely with Lower School science teacher Regina Yunker, our students are discovering how to make the campus safer for birds. Last year, second graders merged science and design knowledge to make a bird-safe window in Lower School. And in Middle School, students are leading a similar window project, adding an element of subject-relevancy. English classrooms might display quotes on their windows, math classrooms might feature equations, all while mitigating bird strikes. These classes are also investigating the restoration of outdoor space to native blackland prairie. Hands-on work can sometimes mean your whole body in Susan Eve’s eighth grade science class. “We are lucky enough to have a pool on campus, so we thought we’d use it!” With a large tub of water alongside the pool, the class set out to measure actual volume and density of humans. A few volunteers fully dunked themselves with water spilling over the pool deck. The class then measured that displacement by filling the tub again, and calculating individual densities using mass and volume. Ms. Eve explains, “Often concepts like density are taught as a mathematical formula, and while students can learn to use the formula to compute an answer, they don't really get what's going on. Thinking about the volume and mass relationship in such a personal way allows the students to discover deeper meaning in this concept."

LAUREN MAROLD WORKS WITH SECOND GRADERS IN A DESIGN-THINKING EXERCISE.

PROBLEM SOLVING through DESIGN THINKING Spotlight on Second Grade Computer Science & Engineering

A popular class among Lower School students, Computer Science & Engineering, offers hands-on problem solving opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the discovery of design thinking. The class instructor, Lauren Marold, explains how design challenges use the steps of Computational Thinking (see box to the right), generally a process applied to computer programming, but are then applied to real world challenges. “This year the focus in second grade is how to take large problems and break them into their parts using many different modalities: computational thinking, design thinking, and engineering design processes. We also talk about how a computer solves a problem through literal steps and functions and how humans might solve problems a bit differently through social and emotional inferences.” Students work on a coding exercise (an image is substituted for a letter and students need to fill in the blanks to write the sentence) that teaches algorithms of program solving. The second step of the process is to create their own code.

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING : •Decomposition: Break the problem into its parts.

Ask what do I need to know? •Pattern Match: What are the similarities?

What do I already know? •Abstract: What information is irrelevant?

What information cannot be changed?

What can I take away to simplify the problem further? •Algorithmic Thinking: What are the detailed steps to solve the problem?

DR. VALERIE GILLESPIE ’98'S SIXTH GRADE 2-D ART CLASS POSES WITH THEIR LARGE-SCALE SELF PORTRAIT COLLAGES.

DISCOVERING IDENTITY Spotlight on Sixth Grade Art

The sixth grade 2D art class, taught by Dr. Valerie Gillespie ’98, was given an assignment that helped them explore their identities. As Dr. Gillespie explains, “students were asked to create a large version of themselves using collage. We spent a day discussing ways in which we can create the tones of our skin and later applied that mixed tone to the portrait, traced on butcher paper.” Dr. Gillespie’s theme in every Middle School class this year has been identity and discovery. “I’ve been homing in on ways students can better get to know who they are. From projects examining skin tones to how we see ourselves and others, we dive deep into the discovery of what it means to be a human in our society. By examining our interests, history, family, and feelings, students have been able to learn more about who they are and how this translates into the broader scope of our world. Earlier this year, students explored their past through a descriptive pen and ink thumbprint drawing where each student shared their story through narratives within the lines of their fingerprints. Students have also channeled their interests and other aspects of their personalities that make them who they are through our surreal eye projects and abstract self portraits.”

“ BY EXAMINING OUR INTERESTS , HISTORY , FAMILY , AND FEELINGS , STUDENTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHO THEY ARE AND HOW THIS TRANSLATES

INTO THE BROADER SCOPE OF OUR WORLD . ”

RETHINKING SOURCE MATERIAL Spotlight on Tenth Grade History

In the fall, tenth grade history classes transformed the history pod into a museum with exhibits about the progressive era. History Department Chair Dr. Amy Bresie ’96 explains, “For the past couple of years, the history department has been focused on teaching students how to interpret the past. It’s not enough to learn about events, people, and places; we also need to think about how we know about them and how they have become part of our cultural understanding. The museum project allows students to wed historical research, design, and interpretation. Last year students created WWI monuments for lesser-studied aspects of the war. This year we focused on the Progressive Era, in part because it’s the centenary of many of the important events of the period.” First, students picked their topic and brainstormed a plan to create an effective exhibit. The goal was to use this exhibit to teach the school community about their topic. Students had to compile a bibliography with at least six scholarly sources. Then they worked on design and construction of the exhibits and toured the museum themselves, learning from each others’ work. In an in-class writing assignment, they had to assess the legacy of the Progressive Era — was it progressive? For whom? What blind spots did it have? Dr. Bresie was impressed with the results. “This writing, using other exhibits as source material, turned out to be some of the best they have done all year. I was blown away by all they had absorbed. They got far more out of the museum than from our typical study of documents and sources. I also learned a lot from their work. While I knew most of the factual information already, their methods of exploring the topics were often moving and thought provoking.”

" THIS WRITING, USING OTHER

EXHIBITS AS SOURCE MATERIAL , TURNED OUT TO BE SOME OF THE BEST

THEY HAVE DONE ALL YEAR . "

TRANSFORMING theCLASSROOM Spotlight on Preschool Classroom Installations

The power to transform is especially endearing when done with the smallest hands. Every fall, our pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes turn their entire classrooms into wonderlands of imagery and multi-media installations with project-based learning methods guiding the philosophy. From flowers and gardens to zoology and oceans, the students participate in a series of projects that display in a collaborative and multi-faceted approach. Kindergarten teacher Janice LaMendola explains the process. “Projectbased learning is more than just the projects you see on exhibition day. For 10-12 weeks, the whole curriculum is centered around the students. We start with an overall topic and through brainstorming and discussions, we land on an overall question that the students want to investigate more thoroughly. This process is so powerful because student engagement is at its highest when they feel they have a say in what they are learning. As the investigation process ensues, students practice many skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and communication. Additionally, social-emotional skills like perseverance, self-management, adaptability, patience, and resilience come into play as students work to make their ideas a reality.”

BANDS, STRINGS,orCHOIR Spotlight on Music

Every fifth grader at Greenhill is empowered to make a choice in the study of music. They can choose to learn band instruments such as trumpet, clarinet, flute, and more, led by Band Director and Greenhill Legend Brian Donnell and Cheryl Hopkins; they can choose string instruments such as violin, cello, and bass, taught by Orchestra Director and Greenhill Legend Nick Paraskevas; or they can choose to exercise their voice in choir, led by Choral Director Lucik Aprahamian. Dr. Aprahamian, in her second year at Greenhill, hopes her students discover a love for singing in an ensemble with their colleagues. “There is a thrill that comes from being on stage, in sync with your fellow singers – you are part of a greater whole and that feeling of being transported is what we all seek as performers. I also want them to experience the beauty of the process of learning music. It is not always easy, but there are layers of information that are revealed the deeper you go into a piece. I hope they discover a strong sense of community and the unique family of which they are a part.” As these students advance in their music study, notes of appreciation begin to develop that can stay with them for a lifetime. Mr. Donnell says, “Aspiring student musicians might find these moments of discovery in advanced articulations, extended ranges, tuning, tone production or complex rhythms. In our band hall, older band members might challenge themselves with another instrument to perform and participate in other ensembles. We have several drumline members whose primary instrument is saxophone or bassoon; or in jazz band, we have French horn players learning trumpet or trombone. The discovery moments are there for anyone interested in improving as a player. Hopefully, our graduating musicians head into adulthood with enough curiosity, skills and interest to be a consumer, participant and advocate of music for their lifetimes.”

DISCOVERIESin the HORNET'S NEST Spotlight on Athletics

Our new Head of Athletics & Physical Education Jarrett Shine has worked with a lot of student athletes in his career and he brings many goals to Greenhill. He knows students who never saw themselves as athletes win tournaments, he has seen leaders emerge who are not necessarily captains of their teams, and he has seen students push past discomfort to become better versions of themselves. “The way to grow in athletics is to deal with adversity, physical challenge, even a healthy dose of fear — and rise to the occasion. It is also about discovering your individual potential while serving your team.” Mr. Shine brought a new rally cry to Hornet Athletics in the fall called #ProtectTheNest. The students responded with enthusiasm, pride, and of course, t-shirts! “I want to instill strength, determination, leadership, and grit in our program. The message is that we will stand strong. Our student athletes will never be satisfied with where they are, and we will constantly set out to improve ourselves. It’s also about following passion. I have seen that fire in our students’ eyes, and I have high hopes for the years to come.”