LREI News Blog

Last week, our fifth and sixth graders traveled to the Ashokan Center in the Catskills for three days of outdoor and experiential education.

These are certainly core values that are well aligned with the LREI mission. Since the school’s inception, the notion of having students engage in direct experiences (i.e., going to the woods as opposed to simply staying in the classroom and learning about the woods) has been seen as a crucial pathway for developing student knowledge and skills. In this work we are guided by the assumption that our educational goals can be effectively met by allowing the nature of the learner’s educational experience to influence the educational process. At the same time, we are well aware that experiences alone are not in and of themselves inherently good for learning. The progressive educator therefore seeks to arrange particular sets of experiences, which are conducive towards particular educational goals. For the Ashokan trip, there are a number of underlying goals:

1. To build community between the fifth and sixth grade classes
2. To help students to better understand the impact that humans have on the natural world and the responsibilities that come with this interaction
3. To learn skills to allow one to move with minimal impact through the natural world
4. To gain insight into the value of labor and work that is often hidden or held at arms length in our consumer driven society

With these principals in mind, fifth and sixth graders:

• participated in a series of adventure-based activities in which group participants get to know one another better and learn how to work through difficult adventure-based challenges. The activities required problem-solving skills, determination and cooperation. They challenged students mentally, physically and socially, and required total cooperation and participation.
• took a night walk through the woods and a participated in a community-drumming workshop.
• experienced the “Age of Homespun” at the Ashokan pioneer homestead. They hiked out to visit the log house and joined the daily life of the Homesteader. Activities included cooking, spinning, shingle splitting, woodcutting, and games of the era.
• experienced blacksmithing, broommaking and tinsmithing. These activities put an emphasis on the apprentice system. The concept of community, roles people had within the community, how these roles have changed, and how the Industrial Revolution changed our lives were explored.
• participated in an “Orienteering and Survival Afternoon.” In teh woods, they learned the basics of Wilderness Preparedness, Fire Building, Shelter, First Aid, and Wild Edibles. Through games and practice, students also learned to use topographic maps and compasses to find their way. This may included a hike through the forest, use of the Ashokan compass course, “bushwhacking” to find a location on a map, and games on the field. Plant and animal communities, which make up each forest type, were also examined through observation and first-hand experience.
• participated in the “New Games Festival: These were fun, challenging activities which gave the students experiences that developed a sense of trust and cooperation among the group. These games were designed to de-emphasize competition, encourage creative play, spontaneity, participation and use of the imagination.
• participated in the “Ashokan Scavenger Hunt.” In this activity, students put all of their Ashokan skills to work. They used orienteering skills, their knowledge of survival skills and an appreciation of the environment to navigate their way through the hunt.

All in all, a mission worthy endeavor!

Click here to view the photo gallery for the trip.

We could not resist including a short excerpt from each of the third and fourth grade farm trips that are away from school this week. It is a thrill and joy to receive these nightly updates from the teachers and hear a snippet of the fantastic sensorial, active experiences that the children are having together.From Kate’s fourth grade farm trip: “We started off early this morning, some of us had to wake up at 5:45 to feed the animals! The rest of us got started around seven, waking to a beautiful, golden country morning. For breakfast, we had oatmeal with all the fixings to give us energy for the day ahead. We started off by cleaning up the farm house learning the basics of keeping our living space tidy. After that, we broke into two groups: One group went on a beautiful hike up a mountain. At the top was a view of the whole valley- breathtaking! The other group worked hard to help in the “Market Garden” which is where the farm grows produce to sell in local markets. After a yummy snack of popcorn and apple cider fresh from the presses yesterday, we divided into work groups, gardening, baking bread in a wood oven, and mucking out the cow barn. We sure were ready for lunch when it came!”

From Dot’s third grade farm trip: “After a restful and restorative sleep, we were up and at ’em taking care of the animals on the farm. The rule being that we need to take care of the animals first because then they can take care of us! For breakfast we stampeded (safely) to the communal tables to share pancakes dressed with maple syrup (tapped on site), sausage, and cantaloupe. … On the nature trail, we marveled at the gold and red leaves that canopied our walk and crunched under our feet. The same leaves we would later find next to the barn that were perfect for piling and diving into! … On the trail, we learned how one could find the North Star and use it to track their direction in the woods. We found unusual plant souvenirs, which you will probably find in your child’s jacket pocket on Friday. One child said about their finding, “Feel this. It feels like a balloon.” John showed us how to make a duck sound when we picked “quacking grass.” The children also trail blazed by leading us through the latter part of the trail. They scouted ahead to look for red ribbons tied around the trunks of birch bark trees and maples. Your children and the ribbons led us to a lean-to for a quick stop to gaze at birds’ nests before we took off down the hill for free time.”

Back at school we are connecting to autumn and the harvest-time bounty in other ways. There are sensorial and active opportunities right here close to home. Four year olds are touching and magnifying gourds, pumpkins, leaves, twigs, pine-cones and corn in the classroom. Below you see them hearing a story called, “Our Apple Tree.” Our kindergartens went to the Green Market yesterday. They chose apples, met farmers, and now will embark on all kinds of apple study and cooking projects. One kindergartener I spoke to said, “We got all different kinds of apples!” Below a group of students makes applesauce.

On Monday, September 29th, fantasy author T.A. Barron visited the sixth grade to share his tales of Arthur, Merlin, and dragons. Barron’s most well-known series begins with The Lost Years of Merlin, where he imagines the famous wizard’s youth and adolescence.

The Colorado native regaled the students with booktalks and anecdotes about his family. For example, the children were surprised to discover that all of Barron’s own five children are named after mountains! Barron also discussed with the students the topic of heroism and what qualities make a hero. After a presentation in Frank and Margaret’s room, the sixth graders trooped downstairs for a book signing in the library of Barron’s newest title, Merlin’s Dragon. Books of Wonder was on hand to provide copies of Barron’s work, and T.A. Barron signed books and graciously posed for pictures with a few of his biggest fans. I encourage you to talk to your sixth grader about their author visit. We own his entire body of work in the 6th Avenue library, so come and check them out! They make wonderful read aloud choices.

It was a pleasure to see so many of you at yesterday’s Building for Action event. While our building plans are bold and innovative, the Building for Action campaign is really an affirmation of the mission and purpose of Elisabeth Irwin’s experimental school. In this way, the bricks and mortar of the project are invested with a special significance; they support our continued efforts to engage your children in authentic and engaging inquiry that draws on the most current ideas about teaching and learning.The Middle School has been fortunate to already be reaping the benefits of the Building for Action plan. Our new classrooms stand as an affirmation of the vibrant exchange between students and teachers that takes place every day. The new spaces have also helped to invigorate our on-going dialog aimed at understanding “what is best for learners.” To that end, we thought it would be useful to share with you a sampling of some of the rich and rigorous work that is taking place in our Middle School classrooms.

Fifth graders are . . .

• using tables, graphs, and rules to model solutions to problems like the Ice Cream Problem which asks, “With 31 possible flavors, how many different types of 2-scoop cones are there?”  They are also beginning to use the same algebraic principals to act out and model trips - steady, accelerating and decelerating motion.
• taking their first steps into the exciting world of French. They are getting comfortable with the pronunciation, picking French names, reciting the alphabet, counting, and talking about the weather.
• continuing and expanding on their Lower School study of Spanish with the introduction of new vocabulary and verbs
• creating collages of “things they like to do when they are not in school,” making sketch books that will be used in school and on trips and beginning a painting project that incorporates the art elements: line, shape, and color.
• learning important organization skills as they organize their files into folders on the server and on their flash drives. They are also continuing to work on improving their keyboarding skills.
• playing indoor soccer and doing fitness training.
• exploring the question, “What is music?” through discussions of John Cage’s Water Walk and their own musical experiences in class.

Sixth graders are . . .

• reading Beowulf and learning how to take notes as they read so that they can analyze the text in class discussions, working on current events and vocabulary and are beginning their study of feudalism. They have also found time to complete their first round of booktalks.
• investigating situations in which they need to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions.  They are developing strategies to solve problems like, “Blaine plans to paint a highway stripe that is 9/10 of a mile long.  He is 2/3 of the way done when he runs out of paint.  How long is the stripe he painted?” and “There are 12 baby rabbits at the pet store.  Gabriella has 5  1/4 ounces of parsley to feed the rabbits as treats.  She wants to give each rabbit the same amount.  How much parsley does each rabbit get?”
• practicing in-class dialogues and working on their accents and pronunciation in both Spanish and French classes
• creating collaged triptychs of a journey they have taken, binding and decorating their own sketch books and learning the basics of color theory by creating their own color wheel.
• scaling the Thompson Street climbing wall.
• gathering with the other fifth grade members of the Little Red Singers  each Tuesday to sing, dance, listen to and share music! They recently performed a swing jazz piece, “Dancin’ on the Rooftop” at our Middle School Meeting to enthusiastic ovations.
• using found objects to create full class planned improvisations to exhibit the expressive potential of timbre. In small groups, students are then creating pictoral representations for their sounds and then using these to create a musical score for a short composition.

Seventh graders are . . .

• reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver and are exploring the viability of a utopia as well as the complex themes this novel presents: perfection, fairness, justice, and the role memory has on an individual and on a society, to name a few. Students are learning how to use textual evidence to support their understanding of these themes and this thought-provoking novel.
• learning how historians use primary and secondary source materials to generate an understanding of early English settlement in North America, especially when those source materials present differing perspectives and viewpoints on important individuals and moments in American History.
• helping our fictitious bike tour company get off the ground.  By analyzing data in various forms, and with the help of graphing calculators, the class will decide on a bike tour price and look at variables that will affect profit.
• looking at the significance of the Scientific Revolution and have been conducting experiments with pendulums. They are also measuring and calculating mass, volume and density of irregular objects using measurement tools, mathematical formulas and displacement as part of our study of the properties of materials matter
• writing a composition using the new verb “etre” and some -”er” verbs from last year.
• reviewing Spanish verb conjugations and classroom vocabulary so that they can begin a study of family and the home.
• developing their mime skills and are about to embark on an exploration of theater in NYC over a century ago.  Vaudeville acts, melodramas and silent movies will be the focus of the class for the next month.
• creating their own PE games, which they will teach to the rest of the class.
• reporting on the important historical music events from the week and are turning these into podcasts.
• discussing how graphics can be used to communicate ideas as they create personal symbols for their silhouette project.

Eighth graders are . . .

• reflecting on their summer reading memoir about the struggles of school integration at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1950s.  After learning about the intense conflict of racial politics and federal versus states rights during the civil rights movement, students are discussing current civil rights struggles and choosing one about which they feel particularly concerned.  Their final project is to create an art piece and reflective explanation about their cause in order to bring visibility to it for their peers and the school community at large.
• studying linear functions.  They will use what they learn to predict the consequences of leaky faucets. Stay tuned….
• conducting experiments to gain an understanding of Newton’s Laws of motion. These understandings will be used to design and construct Mousetrap powered vehicles that demonstrate these laws.
• reviewing fundamentals of Spanish grammar and vocabulary so that they can begin to study the imperfect, the new past tense as a prelude to their readings in Cuentos Simpáticos.
• completing  a composition using adjectives and verbs, both regular and irregular, to describe themselves physically and to describe an activity that they were involved in during the summer.
• are working on the climbing wall for fitness.  Students are challenging themselves on the wall with different challenges, like using only certain colored pieces or having two people cross paths as they work across the wall. On sports days, they are working on volleyball skills and strategy.
• learning Breachtian conventions in preparation for creating their own piece of political theater. This week students learned about “Geste” and the impact of ensemble tableaux.
• sketching out their ideas and exploring painting techniques as they prepare to paint the art room stools around this year’s theme of literary characters.
  Eighth graders are incorporating Literary Characters for this years theme.
• beginning an exploration of digital photography by going on a “Photo Scavenger Hunt” in which they were asked to look for a variety of things to photograph that included interesting textures, reflections and other artistic elements
• are creating original podcasts that examine music that interests them and answer the following questions: “why is this music important to you?” “what do you like about the sound of it?” “when do you usually listen to it?”

By focusing solely on memorizing facts about government and by romanticizing individual behavior of our historical heroes, many schools are missing a crucial opportunity to empower students to act on the issues they care about and to work together to bring about change.

So what’s the effective way to educate for democracy? Students should see a link between motivation and action. Experiencing this link, students naturally want to learn about the facts and the processes which help their cause. The result is knowledge that sticks because it’s acquired by doing and imprinted by caring. Also, organizing as a group for moral support as well as for strength in numbers is a critical, and revolution-making, aspect of activism for kids to discover. Our heroes are incredibly important role models and that is why we learn about them. They also were in many cases connected to movements and organizations. The lesson is that there is power in each of us connecting to people who give us ideas and support for our beliefs.

It makes sense that at LREI we don’t want to miss the opportunity presented by this election year to engage students’ critical thinking. Educating students to be active and engaged in democracy is integral to progressive education. One example comes from fourth grade where students are right now learning how our electoral process works. They are asking (and pursuing): How do we learn more information about the candidates and their positions? How do we have respectful dialogue around passionate topics? Why is this such a historic election? What does that mean to all of us? Essential questions for fourth graders and for all of us.

We looking forward to the fourth graders’ learning and leadership during for the lower school this election year!

Fourth graders made campaign posters to gain understanding of multiple perspectives and to gain insight about how messages are conveyed to the public.

Our Ninth Grade went to Ramapo yesterday with Peer Leaders from the Class of 2009 and faculty to enjoy boating, hiking and a challenging ropes course. Tenth Graders, with more faculty members, joined them there today to do the same, but also to build bridges and new friendships between the classes.Our Eleventh Graders are enjoying a thoughtful program implemented by Nick O’Han, History and English Teacher and School Historian. Today, students are on a field trip to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This trip focuses on the background to Dreamland, the novel they read this past summer. Thursday’s trip is an important part of their academic work in Gotham this year - even for those who are not in Gotham this trimester.

On Friday, Eleventh Graders will be giving back as a class. They will return to Thursday’s neighborhood to perform community service in Sara Delano Roosevelt Park. Before leaving Friday morning, they will spend some time discussing the trip the day before and break out into advisories to discuss the book based on questions handed out on Wednesday morning in homeroom. These book discussions will be led by student moderators, with Eleventh Grade Advisors setting the tone.

The Class of 2009, minus Peer Leaders, is spending the day working on college applications; they also have the opportunity to hear from select schools today, including Smith College, Hartwick College, Bryant College and Bennington College. To have the undivided attention of select faculty and Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance, is important.

Equally important is the work Peer Leaders are doing while Upstate. They have spent time coming together and getting to know members of the Ninth Grade and have worked hard training for ropes course leadership yesterday, putting together the campfire last night, and the annual talent show tonight.

Tomorrow, Twelfth Graders have the opportunity to visit colleges; some who have made the decision to apply early have chosen to participate in the Eleventh Grade community service trip, which is terrific.

Finally, one of the first class trips of the year occured yesterday; the Twelfth Grade Drama Class went to see a matinee of Equus, which they loved!

Last week one of our first grade classes opened their very own Learning Center with course offerings that included chess and guitar lessons, as well as horse grooming and self-portrait study. When I arrived at the Learning Center I had to stop at the front desk to choose a course. I was then told to go to the cashier to pay a fee after which I was escorted to the section of the room where my course was being offered. Most lessons were full, but luckily there was room in the horse grooming class. I learned all about the different parts of a horse, how to take care of a horse and the different ways you can ride a horse from a very experienced teacher. A video and model horse was used to demonstrate specific saddling and grooming techniques. “How to” books for each course were available at the door on your way out. What a very impressive learning community!All of that learning helped me work up an appetite so next I visited the Funky Earth Café run by another first grade class. The ambiance was colorful, clean and calm. The background music was upbeat and fun. A very gracious hostess greeted me at the door, asked how many were in my party and seated me at a table carefully prepared for a scrumptious meal. The wait staff immediately brought water to the table and gave me just enough time before coming over and asking me if I was ready to order. The menu included items such as a creative fruit salad, hot crepes and love knot cookies, all made by LREI students. Everything sounded delicious! I ordered a fruit salad and love knot cookies and thoroughly enjoyed every last drop. It was amazing to see the fruits of many weeks of the planning and work of first graders. Proceeds from both the Learning Center and the Funky Earth Café will go to charities selected by first grade students.

High School students Gloria Bardin, AJ Sims and Ryan Kim have constructed a Lego robot that controls a solar panel so that a set of arms points the panel to the sunniest space in the sky. Their project will be on display all summer at the Cafe Habana in Brooklyn (click here for directions). The Cafe Habana and Habana Labs sponsored this project, which was exhibited at the Feedback Sustainability Event at the Eyebeam Gallery in Chelsea. The robot will let patrons recharge computers and cell phones and bring awareness of sustainable power solutions such as solar power. For more information about the project, go to http://www.ecoeatery.com/lab/events.html

LREI encourages and teaches our students to probe, to challenge and to develop one’s own interests and passions, and certainly the goal of the Senior Project Program is to express our educational experience to those in the world of work. This requirement is of particular importance. As the internship demonstrates the ability of our students to move through the world and make a significant impact, the presentation, which will take place during the annual Senior Project Presentation Evening on June 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM, demonstrates the ability to utilize one’s experience to educate others. It is also important because it marks the end. At the end of this evening, all of our seniors will have fulfilled the requirements for graduation.

It is important to thank all of the faculty mentors who provided guidance and support throughout the process and especially the Senior Project coordinators, Adele Pelz and Antonio Valle who provided the vision and the organization. Many thanks to the organizations, companies and institutions who provided our 12th Graders with internships, including:

Bleecker and Sullivan Advertising, Peace Games, Nightingale-Bamford, Random House, Harlem Hospital, Mary Ellen Mark, DDC Lab, Democracy Now!, Public Theater, The Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International, the UN Development Program, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA), the Harlem Success Academy, and NYU School of Medicine (Departments of Pathology, Dermatology and Cell Biology).

All are welcome to attend what is always a terrific evening, June 5.

Click on the above images to see the full image.

I’d like to share an impressive art project that a group of eighth graders completed quietly and without much fanfare. This year, the whole Middle School has explored the ways in which art can be used as a tool for social and political activism. Through the Paydirt/Fundred Dollar Bill Project, which is still ongoing, we discovered first hand how art and collective action can make a difference. In the same spirit, The Doors of Hope project empowered our students to address civic and social issues through the creation of public art.

As Middle School art teacher Carin Cohen who coordinated our group of artists notes:

This Spring, LREI was asked to participate with Cityarts in the Doors of Hope Project. Emerging from the theme Young Minds Build Bridges, CITYarts created a portable mural consisting of eight doors, painted by students from eight schools in New York, to be given to the kids of New Orleans. The groups of students were each given a standard-size wooden door to paint and asked to think about inspirational messages and images that celebrate nature while raising awareness of global warming. The students were also encouraged to think about and incorporate aspects of their own New York City culture or what they know about New Orleans culture.The students designed the doors specifically with their contemporaries in New Orleans in mind. They were visited by Paul Deo, a professional artist from New Orleans who moved to New York after Katrina. He provided some insight about New Orleans culture as well as sharing some related imagery with the students. Upon completion, the doors were assembled together into a paneled mural. The mural was displayed at CITYarts’ 40th Anniversary Benefit and Awards Ceremony in early May. Following the Benefit, the Doors of Hope panel was sent to the Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans as a gift from the youth of New York City to the youth of New Orleans. The doors and the collective spirit reflected in the work will provide encouragement and support for the children of New Orleans, who are still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Congratulations and thanks to eighth graders Maya P-H, Henry, Jack G., Gaia, Brianna, Lilly, David, and Emma for their beautiful work and committed activism.