Our Practice
Below is a collection of units and lessons that have been taught during the 2017-2018 school year. In these units, you will see evidence of teachers and students experimenting with our current instructional goals.
A Passion for Whales
At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, our first graders were given the opportunity to choose a class mascot. There was a unanimous decision to choose a whale. This passion immediately launched a student-driven STREAM investigation into whales.
Students began by researching whales and gathering information on their ipads. They wrote questions about whales to help guide their inquiry further. Ms. Bogosian, their teacher, arranged for students to Skype with a scientist to answer some of their questions about whales. In addition, they used the parking lot to graph the size of different whales, as measured in feet. Students then researched ways that they could help protect and support whales, and all ocean life. They wrote about their discoveries and put together a classroom hallway display to educate the others in the school.
Curricular Connections
Science: Mammels, oceanography, ecosystems
Math: Graphing and measurement
Language Arts: Nonfiction reading and writing
Technology: Research, Connecting with experts through Skype
Religion: Protecting all God's creatures
An Old Mill - with a New Purpose
In this 8 week exploration of the historic Pierce Mill, students studied both the science and the history of our local mill. Students took multiple field trips to the Mill and learned how hydro-power and gravity came together to increase the efficency of the mill. They also studied the important role the mill played in the community, and grappled with its social and racial history. This unit of study was brought to life by the collaboration with our very own parishoner and mill expert, Steve Dryden.
Curricular Connections
Science: Simple and compound machines
Engineering and Design: Students designed their own hydro-electric mills
History: Allocation of resources, inequities of race
Religion: Environmental stewardship, Just allocation of resources
A community-wide Mosaic Project
In October, Sacred Heart spent one week undertaking a massive school-wide collaborative art project where we redesigned the front entry steps of the school and created a giant mosaic of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The entire process embodied "STREAM" teaching, as we had students measure the area of the irregular stairwell, practice finding the area using cm and inch square tiles, designing and installing our new mosaic, and reflecting on the overall meaning and message of our design. We utilized the strengths of the entire community, calling on parents with tiling experience, our art teacher, our school artists, and the entire student body. We were even featured on the cover of the Catholic Standard with a beautiful article explaining our work.
Read more our work in the article linked below.
Curricular Connections
Math - Area, Measurement
Art - Design Elements, Color theory
Engineering - Design process and building
Religion - Symbolism in Art
IM Pei - Geometry and Church Architecture
"My first building was a chapel and my last building will be a chapel" - IM Pei
In this unit, students studied the architecture of famous Asian architect, IM Pei. They visited the National Gallery of Art to take a particularly close lens at how he used geometric shapes to create a building that is beautiful and innovative. Students continued their exploration of geometry, particularly 3-d shapes and properties, and learned how art + math came together to make something historical. After studying the National Gallery of Art, students looked at IM Pei's chapels to understand how he uses the disciplines of Art and Math to create sacred spaces.
Curricular Connections
Math: Geometry - Properties of 3-dimensional objects
Design and Engineering: Architecture
Religion: Sacred Spaces
A Cross-Curricular study of Hurricanes
During September, three Hurricanes ravaged the southern coast of the United States, and Puero Rico. In an effort to understand these natural disasters, beyond what was just presented on the news - our teachers lead a one day cross-curricular exploration of the hurricanes.
Curricular Connections
Science - How do hurricanes form? What factors lead to larger and more destructive hurricanes? How can we engineer dams to manage flooding caused by hurricanes?
Math - the data of the hurricane. How many people were affected? How many gallons of water were dropped? How much money was needed to lead recovery efforts?
Religion - Who were the people most impacted by the storm? How did our greater Church community support these individuals?
Global Studies - How does poverty make individuals more vulnerable to natural disasters?
Spanish and Language Arts - How does weather affect the tone of a story?
Technology - Research, Utilizing and verifying a variety of sources
Global Web Design
In this project, students participated in a Web Design course created by Level Up Villages. Our students were paired with a school in Mexico. Over several weeks, they formed a collaborative partnership by leaving video messages for their partners. Students began discussing issues related to energy. Together, they are designing a website that can be used to educate others on the current energy needs of our colleagues across the globe.
While students are working through the web design curriculum, our students also read the Pope's encyclical - Ladauto Si - in their global studies course.
Students will be looking through the particularly Catholic lens of how do our decisions about energy consumption affect some of our world's more marginalized populations? How will it affect our local community? How will it affect their new friends in Mexico? or our global community?
Curricular Connections
Technology - Video conferencing, website design, HTML Programming language
Science - Renewable Energy and the Environment
Religion - Ladauto Si - the Pope's encyclical on the Environment
Language Arts - reading and writing nonfiction texts
The Dignity of the Spider
When PK3 went on their first field trip to Roosevelt Island, students were instantly captivated by the spiders walking around the island. When they returned to school, their passion to know more about spiders continued. Students began researching spiders, reading stories featuring spiders, and even making their own spiders. Their unit culminated in a story, written and illustrated by our 3 year olds, about a spider who wants to be friends with other animals - including fish - but must be creative about how to form these unlikely friendships.
Curricular Connections
Fine Motor Skills - cutting, drawing
Language Arts - story elements, creativity
Science - animal study, observation, ecosystems
Religion - The Golden Rule, respect for all life
Community Gardening
During the 2016 school year, our school received a $2,000 grant from the Whole Kids foundation, which enabled us to build and plant 6 garden boxes. These garden boxes have become the site of some unique cross-curricular learning, as students have an up-close look at the life cycle of plants. Students have used the garden boxes to do close looking, make predictions, and inquire about the life cycle of plants. At the end of the planting season, students are invited to harvest their crops and are given the opportunity to donate them to our parish Dinner Program, where over 200 homeless people from our community eat dinner on a nightly basis.
Curricular Connections
Science - Plant Life, Healthy Eating
Technology - Documentation of Plant Cycles, Research into planting seasons
Religion - Food Scarcity, Harvesting food for the clients of our Parish Dinner Program
Math - Measurement
Forensics Investigation in Science
PK3 Bird Scientists
Making Masks
A Spanish language unit in middle school
Migration
A global studies unit that looks at....
Cross-curricular look at Gun Control
Middle school students were given the option to investigate a current event of their choosing. Around the time of the Parkland shooting, students chose to investigate the idea of gun control more deeply.