Seabury Pioneers: Getting things started, Seabury-style!

The first weeks of school are always packed with new things to learn and do. It's impossible to describe every little thing we've covered, but here are some highlights, and some details about why we do things the way we do -- from the core subjects, like reading, writing and math, to the intangibles, like creativity and collaboration:

Reading

We've been reading a lot, starting to learn about different genres of books, and learning our way around the classroom libraries in both Mrs. Towne's and Mrs. M's rooms (as well as the Seabury library - be sure to check out the library website in the Seabury blog list - LOTS of great resources for families there). We split into our reading groups and have started to build stamina in "Read to Self" and also learning about how to choose a "good fit" book. This can be hard for Seabury kids, whose interests can sometimes outpace their comprehension levels and whose reading fluency and comprehension levels often outpace a typical classroom library! (Have you ever taken a good look at ours? There's a lot more here than just Clifford and Frog and Toad.) This is one of our major areas of differentiation at Seabury. We use the Daily 5 model in the primary grades so that we get a lot of one-on-one reading time with each child and everyone is challenged at an appropriate reading level, whether they are still learning to read or testing off the charts.
A little aside, here: One of the experiences that led me to Seabury was when my own son (at that time attending 1st grade at an excellent Tacoma public school which I will refrain from naming here) was told he could not read chapter books, but had to choose books from a bin with a particular colored dot. You won't find that happening here! Ask your child what they have learned about choosing a book that's a good fit for them. We know that books are not a "one-size-fits-all" item and the best fit is going to look different for each child!

Investigating math concepts

You'll find us doing a lot of math investigations that are integrated into our area of study as well as learning basic math skills. In the pictures shown here we are working on identification and value of coins by looking closely at the people and symbols represented on the coins and learning about how those relate to our country's history, as well as playing some games to cement skills such as basic addition, skip counting, dollar and cents symbols, place value, decimal points, etc. We know that children's math abilities are not necessarily age-specific, so you won't see all 2nd graders working on the 2nd grade curriculum, 3rd graders on the 3rd grade curriculum, and so on. In the primary grades we break into groups in math as well, so that students are working at the appropriate level of challenge, depending on what they already know and need to learn. We know gifted children have different areas of strength, and if Math is that area, Seabury allows students the ability to work well above grade level, learn something new every day, and to work on enriching and extending their mathematical knowledge rather than doing the same work or more of the same. We know that gifted students don't need as much practice, and that worksheets and hours of repetitive practice do not equal rigor. We also know math class is a great place to learn to persevere, and that it can be incredibly satisfying to work through a hard problem. We know that gifted kids tend to be perfectionists, and we explicitly teach that it is OK to make mistakes -- as long as we learn from them. Oh yeah, we also love math and know that math is cool, and FUN!!!

Collaborating

One of the most researched-supported best practices for gifted students is that they need to work with other gifted students to collaborate, share ideas, and connect with like-minded kids. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of a multi-age classroom; I wish you could be here to witness some of the discussions that occur. Coming up with our class name and creating a classroom constitution last week generated the kind of ideas and comments that just would not normally come up in a 2nd or 3rd grade classroom. The big-picture understandings and questions they generate (my favorite, as we brainstormed the big idea of our transitions concept: Is there anything that does NOT transition?) are fascinating, and, yes, FUN. Having their ideas challenged and expanded is fun for Seabury kids -- that's what keeps them engaged and involved, and why, I think, so many students here perceive learning as fun.

Creating

Have you checked out our new "Maker Space" yet? We know gifted students need opportunities to explore their own interests and ideas, and we created a space in what used to be the Science room downstairs to let students choose from a variety of materials to make whatever they can conceive of.
Art is alive and well here, and our first week included self-portrait drawing, creating a personal and class flag, and spending time in the Maker Space. Last week, we focused on things we could make for our class pet's cage. We have been spending a little time each day working on taming Rosie Roborovski, our Robo dwarf hamster, and the students all love her. Here's what they made: