As part of our fall CLIC week, students participated in a series of fun, engaging and educational compost related activities. Highlight from the week included an interactive presentation by Rhonda Mace, from Chittenden Solid Waste District, on the importance of composting. With Rhonda’s assistance, the students learned to use tools and build an outdoor bin out of pallets. They designed and painted indoor compost bins and signs, and created group presentations to describe how compostable food should get from our lunch room to the outdoor bin. They put their knowledge to the test on Friday during a compost relay race, during which they needed to sort food into appropriate piles (recycling, compost and waste). Not only was this week a great way to green up our school, but also an ideal opportunity for real-world problem-solving!

This fall, the 2/3/4s have participated in an in-depth exploration of Ancient China. They have created a timeline of important historical events and a map of geographical features, learned paper-making and calligraphy techniques in art, tasted Chinese moon cakes, and practiced informational reading skills in literacy. On November 3rd, the students will present their collaborative book on Ancient China to parents.

 

       

For our October Professional Development Day, a representative from Valley Communications held a training for our faculty on integrating Smartboards with learning and teaching. We learned a lot of new tools and are excited to continue to use our Smartboards to promote student learning and engagement.

As part of their year long study about Communities, the K/1 class is currently engaged in a project-based unit on Tree Ecology. These budding ecologists each adopted a tree in our school yard, and have been learning about what trees need to grow. Lots of opportunities to connect this learning with their concurrent Family Tree exploration in Global Studies!