A new school!

Hamilton is a new site for us, so we were very excited to get started! We are working with a K, 1st, 4th and 5th grade group there. We got things started by introducing each group to what their Living Histories class was going to be about: art, creativity, writing, community.

We then introduced them to the idea and process of journaling: again, with an emphasis on the creative aspect of the process, the down time it affords, etc. They seemed really eager and excited about the journals - we’ve found that students of all ages love having this book that is all theirs to do anything with!

Like our students at Longfellow, our Hamilton students started the year doing two of our favorite ‘intro’ projects: group murals, and ‘illustrating’ flower pots together. For the murals, they worked on giant sheets of paper together - another thing we’ve noticed all students seem to love! - and depicted all the things that they knew to do to help their community, which was one of the key words they learned this week. Their other new vocabulary word was ‘ecosystem’, and in turn, they drew, in groups, images of ecosystems on their flowerpots. We put a great emphasis on making sure students understood the connection and similarities between the two terms, and the key idea that in each system, very individual is critical and important, and that only through co-existing and working together are things accomplished.

I particularly love the flower pot activity - it’s always fun to grow things, and I like the symbolism of us ‘growing together’. We are still identifying a good place at Hamilton for our flowerpots and work to go - we are spoiled at Longfellow by having the whole cafeteria to turn into our art gallery! - but I’m sure we’ll have something figured out soon with plants following shortly after!

Our first week at this new site went great - really smoothly, and we are excited about the school year ahead here!