Our students are exploring the history of the original people of New York with a specific focus on the ingenuity of the Lenape people as it relates to invention. With a behind-the-scenes peek into the American Museum of Natural History by an anthropologist and a very special visit from two individuals based out of Ketchikan, Alaska who are working to revitalize Native cultures, our students were able to see how what they are learning comes alive beyond the classroom.
Read MoreA 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 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.
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