The Springwell School

Halloween-themed Learning in Lower Elementary! 🎃🕸👻

📝 ELA: Our students explored spooky sounds and onomatopoeia with jars of rice, rocks, and cinnamon sticks—guessing sounds like thump! and ting! Then created puppet stories filled with boo! and knock knock! moments

➕ Math: Our students measured pumpkins 🎃, practiced addition and subtraction with Halloween objects, and built 2D and 3D shapes!

💬 SEL: Our students focused on Gentle Bodies—learning about personal space, kind gestures, and calming strategies like deep breaths and hugs.

🏘️ Social Studies: We wrapped up our Communities unit by brainstorming ways to make newcomers feel welcome and even designed our own “new school” spaces!

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🌍✨ Upper Elementary Update: Do The Evolution!

A huge thank you to our Annual Appeal donors for their generous support in providing the classroom materials that made our science investigations possible! Your contributions help bring our students' learning to life and fuel their curiosity every day.

Here's an update from Ms. Ileana's Upper Elementary classroom, where our students took on an ambitious journey in the life sciences—from the Big Bang to the remarkable diversity of life we see today.

💥 We began by exploring the origins of everything—the Big Bang—and how the fundamental building blocks of our universe came to be. 

🔬 Building molecules: Students created hands-on models to bring invisible molecules to life.

👀 Microscope magic: A microscopic investigation of plant cells, hair samples, and even Mr. Sean’s hangnail! 😅 evolved into scientific illustrations of their observations, practicing both observational skills and scientific documentation.

🦠 Evolution in action: From Darwin’s finches to modern-day lactose tolerance, students explored how humans and other species have adapted over time.

🌌 Creative planet designs: As their final assignment, students invented their own planets with unique challenges and problem-solved how humans might adapt to survive in these environments. Their imaginative and scientifically grounded solutions demonstrate their growing understanding of the relationship between environment and adaptation. Talk about out-of-this-world thinking!

Our students are developing more sophisticated scientific thinking skills. They're asking more nuanced questions, making careful observations, and beginning to understand how to test their hypotheses. Perhaps most importantly, they're developing an appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living things and our shared evolutionary history.