Speyer News Round-Up: Middle School Nature Newsletter, Second Grader's "Gotham" Mystery, and More!
All of our Speyer students have been busy these past few weeks…check out a few of the highlights here in our Speyer News Round-Up!
Hot Off The Presses! The First-Ever Speyer Nature Newsletter!
Come and get it! Speyer's Middle School Environmental Club released the first-ever Speyer Nature Newsletter! From Earth Fun Facts to letters to senators they are writing about protecting our world and more, our students researched, wrote, and published this amazing collection of news and updates all centered around our environment! Please take a moment to read it… and stayed tuned for the next issue coming soon! Huge shout-out to all of the club members and faculty advisor Science teacher Ms. Martinez!
Second Graders Tackle The History of NYC...With Their Mystery Pal "Gotham"
As they have delved into their History of New York City Humanities unit, our second graders have received cryptic messages signed "Gotham." Gotham has enlisted them to complete tasks and activities related to the curriculum (see a sample of his clues and hints above). From analyzing Henry Hudson's attempted routes to Asia to Gotham's diary entries to encountering the Lenape on Manhattan, Speyer second graders are so excited to receive these missions and, of course, contemplate, "Who is Gotham?" Is it a person? An idea? A group of people? They have their guesses for sure, but our second grade teachers are keeping the thrill of the mystery going! This unit is guiding and engaging the students in critical thinking, observations, comparing, and contrasting ideas -- all skills essential to becoming a historian. With the help of the Gotham mystery, this unit has allowed students to use their imaginations and engage in drama to imagine what life was like in the past. As they are challenged to unlock the past and grapple with time periods and comparing life from long ago, it is a wonderful and powerful learning experience!
Kindergarteners Help All of Us…With Their Feelings Wall!
Needless to say, we’ve all had a wide variety of feelings this past week (past year?). The good thing? We have the Kindergarten Feeling Wall to help us describe our emotions! Yep, while they have been learning about the author Todd Parr, they’ve also been learning about feelings! The students got a chance to pose as several emotions and they put their photos up on the wall. (Note: although the pictures are massless, our fabulous teachers took precautions to stay six feet away and to make sure there were no other kiddos around!)