Spotted on the Mini Boulevard: Agents of Change!

Jane Goodall, The Roeblings, Steve Jobs, Simone Biles, Marie Curie, The Wright Brothers, Charles Darwin

These names? Just a few of the amazing people our Kindergarteners chose to research as their Agents of Change! The Agents of Change unit of study has been a part of the Speyer curriculum from the very beginning and is just one example of how we work with our gifted learners — no matter the grade — to explore how they can make an impact in the world around them and why it's so important.

Throughout the month of February, Kindergarten students learned about a few modern day Agents of Change and the modalities they utilized. They studied Malala Yousafzai and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins (letter writing and speeches), the Water Protectors of the Dakota Access Pipeline (protest and posters), Bob Marley (songwriting), and Diego Rivera (murals). After learning about each Agent of Change, students were able to utilize their modality for a cause they found important: making protest posters, writing persuasive letters addressing problems they see in our school, and songwriting.

In an interdisciplinary Makers lesson, our youngest students read Diego Rivera: His World and Ours to learn about Diego Rivera's life and his art. Inspired by him, the Kindergarteners decided to create a mural all about Speyer: the people, places, classes, and traditions that make our school so special! Each student first planned their portion of the mural, and then they painted the mural using paint sticks.

Alongside all of these classroom lessons, students worked on a home project to research and build a project on an Agent of Change of their choice, focusing on sharing details about their change-maker, the cause they believed in, and the actions they took to enact change. These Agents of Change ranged from inventors to politicians to scientists, and students created dioramas, posters, and videos to share their knowledge.

The unit culminated with the annual Agents of Change Museum, where families and loved ones were invited to school to explore the museum featuring both school and home projects. Students acted as docents, sharing their own work with their loved ones, and attendees were tasked with leaving compliments and questions for the researchers. It was a great way to celebrate the hard work of the Kindergarteners as well as highlight the wealth of knowledge they gained during this unit of exploration and inspiration!