A few days before Winter Break, our eighth graders were joined on Zoom by their parents, teachers, and Speyer administration as they presented the final project for their World War I unit. During this immersion into the study of World War I, they considered how different assignments, all of which tasked them to delve deep into analysis, tells the story of war best and which tells the truth of war best...and what the difference between those two questions truly means.
Read MoreWords are powerful tools, but right now, they’ve been more difficult to utilize. Sometimes we just don’t have the words to convey what we are feeling, how we are doing, or just the world at this moment. However, something pretty amazing happened (virtually) at Speyer on Friday that gave us a restored hope in finding words to help us cope with what was happening. Speyer’s eighth graders held (perhaps the first-ever) 8th Grade Zoom Poetry Recitals During COVID-19 Social Distancing. They were the culmination of their Distance Learning poetry unit, during which they tackled three key questions: Is it a poem? Why did she write it? and, Is it any good?.
Read MoreThe end of December was event-full – full of culminating events! Both our second and third graders presented their work to family and friends, with each event encompassing months of cross-curricular work and interdisciplinary units of study. We have a full round-up of the second grade’s Literary Lalapalooza and the third grade’s “From Colonies to Country” events!
Read MoreWho gets to tell the historical story…and why? What does it mean to “discover” land where people already existed and thrived? What are the consequences of essential omissions from historical texts? These were the questions that our fourth graders have been asking during their latest Humanities unit, tackling the big themes of perspective, discovery, and exploration as they studied of Christopher Columbus and the Taino people of the Caribbean. In their “Columbinating Event,” the students showcased what they learned in Humanities, Art, Writing, Science, Spanish, and more, highlighting one of the hallmarks of Speyer’s curriculum: interdisciplinary units of study.
Read MoreThey are about to graduate, but that didn’t deter them from one final culminating event. In a project that truly pulled together all they had learned in the nine years they were here at Speyer, our eighth graders studied Advocacy as their last Humanities unit. Humanities teacher and Deputy Head of School Mr. Deards challenged them to start an analysis of another person’s plight, first by asking, “Do I understand what it is to live his or her life?” He has more on this amazing final culminating event!
Read MoreWith mere days left in the school year, it’s been only what can be called a Culminating Event-a-palooza, with concerts, presentations, and more as many of our students welcomed their families, our faculty, and other guests as they shared months and months of work, learning, and creating! We’ve got the full round-up for you!
Read MoreIt was a Wednesday, so we asked “Where is Speyer?” The answer: welcoming their parents to a Hall of Literature! Yes, it was the First Grade Hall of Literature, where our first graders shared books they authored with their families, which was the culmination of months of preparation!
Read MoreBefore heading off to Spring Break, the entire Kindergarten welcomed one and all to their Agents of Change Library, transforming the area outside of their classrooms into an interactive and informative collection about their Agents of Change.
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