Looking Back, Looking Forward

If asked to write about the school year’s highlights, I can easily talk about the fantastic interdisciplinary projects that students experienced:

• Rebuilding the Santa Monica Pier to be ecologically sound;

• Creating the set and costumes for a Readers Theater; and

• Researching primary sources to become citizens of early Boston.

I could quote lines of text from outstanding fantasy stories students wrote and in-depth mathematical conversations about the many ways to divide fractions.

In addition to these, I find myself wanting to write about small moments that are milestones in students’ lives: A student breaking the code and realizing that they were reading. A student who in the past struggled with field trips now happily leading their classmates on a hike. A student who was challenged to see another’s perspective now confidently guiding a conversation to create compromise. A Grad working with one of the Youngers classes and figuring out how to mentor them. A student in Art with chalk-covered hands proudly showing off the work they created with only natural substances.

There are so many large and small representations from this school year. We hope you will enjoy reading more about them from the teachers’ perspectives.

Nancy Harding, Ph.D. Assistant Head for Teaching & Learning

Creating hands-on (and fun!) experiences for the students to hypothesize, build, test, and record during science is an integral part of the learning process.

Young scientists in the Red class have been learning about different forces. We started with several experiments using push and pull. As we talked more about forces in nature, students were eager to share what they know about gravity. They mentioned that without gravity we would float and not stay on the ground. We discussed how gravity is a force and they were challenged to protect a mystery object from the force of gravity. In partnerships, they looked at some of the recycled materials available for building, drew a sketch of their idea, and shared it with the group. Once they were told that the mystery object was an egg, they had time to go back to their design to rethink and make changes. When their design was ready, they built their project from recycled materials.

Students were most excited to test their project with a real egg. The class cheered each time an egg survived. Some of the projects that were able to protect their egg included cushioning or a parachute. Creating hands-on (and fun!) experiences for the students to hypothesize, build, test, and record during science is an integral part of the learning process.

Orange HOLLY S. | MEGHAN

As a kick-off to our neighborhood study, the Orange class took a closer look at the neighborhood right around PS1. We observed buildings that contained businesses: a car repair shop, a place to buy cars, a furniture store, a yarn store, a gas station, and a “plate and cup” store. Students also noticed houses and apartment buildings. We then had a chance to visit several places nearby to have a deeper understanding of the needs in our community, the people who work there, and the jobs they do. On one of our visits, we discovered that firefighters live at the Santa Monica firehouse so they will be ready immediately in an emergency. In addition, what they wear to protect themselves weighs 100 pounds! We also went behind the scenes at a local restaurant and learned how many jobs are needed to make meals happen. Students had a chance to go into the kitchen and even the walk-in refrigerator! As a culmination, Orange students developed and ran two businesses in the classroom. These simulations resulted from their research and demonstrated their understanding of community and interdependence.

This year, students of the Yellow class worked very hard to strengthen their number sense by recognizing, writing, and organizing numbers. When analyzing the “100” number chart, they quickly realized and identified number patterns and continued counting past 100, 200, and even 500 and beyond for some! As we explored our appreciation of mathematics and counting, students developed the concept of grouping, which allowed them to learn to divide and organize objects into equal groups or sets. On the 100th day of school (a special celebration to commemorate the milestone of completing 100 days), students were motivated to apply the skills learned to create a counting collection of 100 objects of their choosing! This activity supported the place value system, developed concepts of counting and quantity, and served as a creative way to make counting explicit, hands-on, and fun for our students!