What’s Happening
From September’s opening day to June’s closing ceremonies, we document and share events from all over our campus in an attempt to continuously communicate all the diverse goings-on at The Unquowa School. From school-wide events, assemblies, visiting presenters and other highlights from around campus, here’s a sample of what’s happening…
Honoring EARTH DAY!
Posted by Joshua Bartosiewicz
Unquowa students in grades 1-8 visited Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, CT in celebration of EARTH DAY! As you may know, we as humans share this planet with MILLIONS of different species of plants, animals and other organisms; so we decided to honor EARTH DAY by visiting the zoo to connect with just a few of the species that the planet helps provide for. Students saw animals as small as prairie dogs, as big as Bison, as gentle as a two-toed sloth and as vicious as a Leopard! During this trip, we also sat in on a Wildlife show were the zoo keepers brought out a turtle and legless lizard for everyone to see and learn about. This talk truly made everyone think about how one type of animal can be crucial for the survival of multiple other species, this significant species is referred to as a Keystone species. By the end of our day (which included a scavenger hunt through the zoo!), our students felt their place and connection with the other organisms that we’re lucky enough to share this beautiful planet with. The students have a better understanding of why it’s important to protect mother Earth!
Early Childhood Celebrates Earth Day!
Posted by Faith Barbuto
While the rest of the school was off to the zoo, the PreK and Kindergarten classes had a full run of Unquowa and made good use of it. From hands-on snacks, an edible Earth moon cake, and rolling our own Earth shaped meatballs for lunch, the kids really loved getting to be in the dining room and having some one on one time with the chefs. Next we had an animal encounter with creatures from Earthplace. We got to meet a salamander, snake, turtle and screech owl. We learned lots about these fascinating and adorable animals, all of which are native to Connecticut. After a bit of outdoor play, we scrubbed up and headed into the dining room for a pasta bar with our own homemade meatballs. The chefs surprised us with a really fun dessert, worms in dirt! Next up was an outdoor sing-a-long with the upper school music teacher, Mr. Coe. Art class was also outside and inspired by nature. Our school gardener, Ms. Amie, had some fun Earth day arts and crafts set up in the Makerspace and outside on the new picnic tables. We made bird feeders and hung them up for our feathered friends. Our Earth Day Mandarin lessons taught animal names in Chinese and focused on water pollution. As the saying goes “Every day should be Earth Day!”
I’m hungry! I’m thirsty! I’m sleepy!
Posted by Diane Nietupski
Fifth grade Spanish class worked on projects based on one of the most common verbs in Spanish “tener” (to have), and all of its numerous meanings. They used their wonderful artistic talents to portray the various meanings.
Sweet Verbs in Spanish!
Posted by Diane Nietupski
Sixth grade Spanish class are learning how to conjugate verbs, that is, changing their ends to correlate with subjects and pronouns. For an activity, they spelled out words such as “I sing”, “they speak”, and “you have dinner”, with the candy gummies alphabet. Every time their answers were correct, they got to eat their gummies! Everyone had a 100%!
A Step Back in Time
Posted by Sarah Raggio
Grade 5 is deeply immersed in the era of the American Revolution. In both social studies and literature, the students are taking a closer look at this exciting time in history. Working across the curriculum, our students gain insight and a deeper perspective because they are engaged in primary sources, secondary sources and historical fiction, simultaneously.
In literature class, we are learning and applying reading strategies to our book, My Brother Sam is Dead, to better comprehend and enjoy the book. Connection was our first strategy and we spent a class period in the kitchen, stepping back in time, learning to bake bread and churn butter the old fashioned way. While we did use the oven to bake the bread, we didn’t cut any corners churning the butter. We learned it took a lot of physical labor to turn cream into butter! The students were able to bring home the bread and butter they made to share with their families, and they were delicious!
The following week, we took another step back and learned about scrap quilts. Sewing was typically done by the women and girls during this era, but the boys in Grade 5 were not about to be left out of the fun! Each student is crafting a 9 block quilt piece with a 1925 sewing machine. Once again, we cut a few corners and used electricity, but the concept of using scrap pieces to create something useful is the same. We are also modernizing the project a bit and using the blocks to make a Yogibo cover for our classroom instead of a quilt. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product in May!
Oye Como Va!
Posted by David Coe
Please enjoy our 8h grade instrumental class performing their version of the Santana classic “Oye Como Va”. Excellent playing all around!