Speyer News Round-Up: October 2021
ALL-SCHOOL COMMUNITY ART PROJECT
At Speyer, we kicked off our Art studies with an all-school community art project! All of our students plus faculty and staff worked on an installation of "aspiration flags," based on the concept of the Tibetan prayer flag. For those of you not familiar, Tibetan prayer flags are a traditional form of art designed to carry the maker's hopes, prayers, and blessings out into the world. Our flags used symbols, words, and colors to reflect our aspirations and dreams for the year ahead. Students in each grade created their individual flags using a variety of techniques, such as printmaking, drawing, watercolor, and more.
Pictured above: our eighth graders completing their flags, as well as Head of School Mr. Donovan, MS Humanities teacher Ms. Kim, and MS Math teacher Ms. Doosey with their flag creations. And, of course, that's the inspiring finished product displayed above the Dining Hall staircase.
This is a perfect example of how, by working together, we can achieve something beautiful. Middle School Art teacher Mr. Sherry shared this Tibetan Proverb, which sums up the project: A single thread doesn't make a cloth. A single tree doesn't make a forest.
FOURTH GRADE MATH EXPLORATION WITH PASCAL’S TRIANGLE
“Analysis”. That is the word that Speyer fourth graders have kept in mind as they kicked off their recent units of study in math. They are encouraged to analyze relationships between numbers and our faculty create opportunities for them to notice patterns. For example, LS Math specialist Mr. Brea recently introduced them to Pascal’s Triangle, which is a triangular arrangement of numbers that gives the coefficients in the expansion of any binomial expression, such as (x + y)n. (In case you forgot what it looks like, we added a photo from www.thescientificteen.org to refresh your memory)! This exercise presents all kinds of opportunities for observation and requires close attention to each succeeding problem. If there is a miscalculation early on, it becomes necessary to return to an earlier stage of the triangle and recalculate. Simultaneously, in Science, our fourth graders are beginning an exercise on the powers of ten, a perfect example of Speyer's focus on cross-curricular units. They were nothing but gleeful as they realized they now understood exponents and carried that discovery back to utilize in their math class!
FIRST GRADE MYSTERIOUS HUMANITIES KICK-OFF!
Our teachers love engaging with their students in fabulously creative and unconventional ways as they kick-off a new unit of study. Case in point: the launch of the first grade's Humanities unit. Last week, our first graders discovered mystery flyers asking for curious, collaborative, and creative NYC students for help tackling a challenge. After they responded to the advertisement and proved they met the criteria, the mystery person sent the clues about the project. After analyzing photos of New York City from the past, present, and future, they concluded that the project has to do with transportation! Where will the exploration of transportation in NYC lead them? Who is this mystery person? Why did they reach out to them? What will they discover along the way? What will they create? Our students asked all of these questions as they began to delve into this new unit. Stay tuned for the big reveal in a few weeks!
FIFTH GRADE ZOOMS WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR VEERA HIRANANDANI
Spotted in the Library: Speyer fifth graders Zooming with Veera Hiranandani, author of the multi-award winning novel (and our fifth grade summer read) The Night Diary. The Night Diary follows Nisha, as she writes in her journal each night to her late Muslim mother and documents the changes brought about by India’s independence from the British. Her book is based on Ms. Hiranandani’s own father’s stories about his journey fleeing his family home during the partition. During her Zoom chat, Ms. Hiranandani shared her writing process and passion/struggles with writing, which many of our students connected to. As Ms. Hiranandani comes from two cultures (Indian and Jewish backgrounds), she talked a lot about how her cultural background influenced her writing. Lucky for all of us, she is out with a new book How to Find What You're Not Looking For, which will be one of the book titles for an upcoming project Speyer Librarian Ms. Mehler will be starting with our fifth graders: the Newbery Challenge. Our students read and discuss possible books that may receive the prestigious Newbery Medal and also vote for their own "Speyer Medal" and select which book they think should be awarded the literary medal. Huge shout-out to Ms. Hiranandani for talking with and inspiring our fifth graders!
WONDERING WHAT SIXTH GRADE IS DOING? EVERYTHING!
Which poem did you like more: “l(a” by e.e. cummings or “I Dwell in Possibility” by Emily Dickinson and why? Devise a multistep linear equation, with fractions involved, whose only solution is zero and describe the ways you came up with this equation. Draw the molecules hydronium and hydroxide and compare them. Why do you think digital citizenship is such an important topic? These questions and assignments? Just what our busy sixth graders are tackling in these first weeks of school. Check out our Dragons in action!
CHECKMATE! SPEYER LOWER SCHOOL CELEBRATES NATIONAL CHESS DAY!
Did you know the second Saturday in October isNational Chess Day? Check out our youngest Speyer students who are learning (and loving) the game of chess. Chess is part of the Speyer Lower School curriculum beginning Kindergarten and our program is designed to foster higher level thinking skills such as pattern recognition, spatial visualization, analysis, strategic planning, and problem solving. It also helps students learn how to work toward goals and to win and lose with grace — essential life skills that extend well beyond the chess board. Happy National Chess Day, everyone!