Dragon Dispatch: From the week of September 29th and beyond!
Spotted off the Boulevard: Speyer Sixth Grade in Battery Park to Kick Off their Science Study of Coastal Resilience!
Our sixth graders are studying the planning that goes into coastal resilience projects (including green spaces and urban gardens) and learning about the benefits of having these spaces and plants to sustain salt water — and they are using our own city as a special focus for this unit.
New York City is full of examples of how communities with coastlines are preparing for the future, including the renovation of Battery Park. Keeping the changing coastline at the heart of its design, Battery Park is one of NYC’s largest coastal resilience projects in progress, and the trek downtown allowed our students to experience and study aspects of their Science curriculum up close and in person.
During their trip, the students explored the park’s features and green spaces and learn the reasoning behind their design. They also visited the Battery Urban Farm and were impressed with all the different types of vegetables and vegetation (especially one huge gourd hanging from the trellis)!
It was a fantastic, hands-on field trip for our Sixth Grade Dragons! Huge thanks to MS Science Teacher Ms. Koralewski for organizing the trip and to all of our teacher, staff, and parent chaperones!
What Happens When You Just Make a Dot? Where Can that Dot Take You?
Our Third Grade students explored what to do when they face a challenge, mistake or new thing. They started by answering the question: Why is it important to try new things? Here are some of their answers:
It doesn't hurt to try.
It might be cool and lead you to new things.
You can learn & grow.
If you don't try it, you’ll never know. You might be missing out.
It might end up being something you love!
They then talked about thinking about tackling a challenge, a mistake, or a new thing, discussing the importance of trying – making the first dot and seeing where it takes you!
Spotted on the Boulevard: Head of School Larry Donovan Getting to Know our Youngest Dragons!
He read one of his favorite books, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, to our Kindergarten students! They learned how each act of kindness, no matter how small, can help make the world a better place. What a fun and awesome way for Mr. D and his Dragons get to know each other!
Opp, Prop, Don’t Stop! Speyer Debate Kicks Off with Our First Debate Night!
The Dining Hall was full of arguments and disagreements…and lots of laughs during Speyer's Debate Night! This inaugural event was hosted by Speyer Debate teachers/coaches Ms. MacKay and Mr. Levin who, along with afterschool coach Allonzo Perez, introduced Fifth and Sixth Grade families to Speyer's Debate program.
As part of the evening, Varsity Debaters Baxter O., Sabali T., Adil K., Aarush B., Lucy J., and Henry A. took on the motion: "A Humanities Education Is More Important Than a STEM Education." New families were able to act as judges, casting their ballots after hearing the eloquent arguments from both the Proposition and Opposition teams.
The night also featured a panel discussion led by our Speyer debaters, including Sixth Grade Varsity Debater Ella W., who shared her insights on facing opponents. The panel also offered practical advice on navigating the challenges of competitive debate, including time management, maintaining team commitment, and dealing with the emotional highs and lows of competition.
With more students than ever before in the program, Speyer Debate is off to a terrific start! GO DRAGONS!
Can You Walk Through NYC and Identify the Specific Plants You Walk By?
During their Urban Ecology unit, our Eighth Grade students are spending time studying the local plants and trees by scientifically sketching local plants and trees! Scientific sketching is an important skill in the development of scientific thinking and overcoming plant blindness. Sketching allows students to pause and spend a long time looking at life, helping their brains stop filtering out important information about the subject. Students are learning how to get better at observations and articulating what they have discovered.
Their favorite part of this activity was their own sense of discovery – a series of “aha moments”! One student noted, "I didn't see it at first but when I kept looking at the plant over time I noticed more. And when I talked about it with you I noticed more too"
What is a Scientist? How do You Think like a Scientist?
Our youngest Dragons were asked these questions! Starting their first science unit, “What is a scientist?” they kicked things off by doing their very first science lab! They were given a box of items and asked to think like a scientist by grouping things based on their characteristics.
Through this lab, our youngest inquiring minds learned that one question always leads to another!
Sixth Graders Try to “Escape” Math Class!
Did they or didn't they escape? Once again, that was what we wanted to know when we spotted Speyer middle schoolers trying to "escape their Math classroom!" Devised by MS Math Teachers Mr. Blackman and Ms. Doosey, our sixth graders in Pre-Algebra tackled a review of solving single variable linear equations via an "escape room" — the material is presented as puzzles, and they must solve one puzzle, which then leads to a clue to tackle the next puzzle.
Mixing in some broader logic puzzles that require cooperation to gently stretch and increase the students' ability to wrestle with deeper non-routine problems, it is a fun and engaging way for students to build up their problem-solving endurance. The whole "escape" part is deemphasized, allowing the class to focus on the challenge of sitting for longer and longer in the discomfort of not instantly knowing what to do.
It should be noted that several groups did close in on a solution to the last problem as class ended in order "to escape," but Mr. Blackman surmised that the students most enjoyed being able to good-naturedly bristle at how "sinister and cruel" their teachers are to have inflicted such mentally taxing activities on them. :) This is just one example of the interesting, innovative activities happening each day at Speyer!
