The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project is a research and staff development organization based at Teachers College, Columbia University. Founded and directed by Lucy Calkins, an expert in teaching reading and writing, the mission of this program is to enable children to become skilled readers, writers and thinkers. This year, Pardes implemented the Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information and Narrative Writing series, which is a program through The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. As Lucy Calkins explains, "[...] Young writers grow as oak trees do, over years, making it imperative that schools provide an aligned, coherent system to support their progress in opinion/argument, information and narrative writing." Our teachers, who participated in a training workshop led by a program educator from New York, are very excited about this new kindergarten through eighth grade program. In fact, several teachers are participating in an upcoming additional training in the Phoenix area led by Lucy Calkins herself. Below is what some of our classes have been doing in writing:

Kindergarten: Morah Lauren - Kindergarten launched writing workshop! The first unit of study is narrative writing. Students learned that writers think of something that they know about and use pictures and words to put their ideas on paper. They also learned that writers look back at their writing and see if they can add more to the words and pictures. Students also know that writers revise. As writers, our kindergarteners have a saying, "When you are done, you have just begun!"

2nd Grade: Mrs. Garber - Mrs. Garber's class is writing small moment stories. Students are looking for small moments in their lives that they remember and want to share. Each day in writing workshop, they focus on another way to enhance our writing. Recently, they studied the work of other authors to see how they made their readers feel like they were "in their moment" and how they made their reader want to know what was going to happen next. Every second grade writer found a place in his or her writing to try it out.

3rd Grade: Ms. Eckstein - Ms. Eckstein's class has been working on drafting their personal narratives. Students learned about the importance of having a good lead in a story. A strong lead might have action, setting, dialogue, or a combination which helps to create the mood of the story. As students worked on revision of their narrative, they examined mentor texts to see what those authors did and try it in their own writing.

5th Grade: Mr. Campanelli - Students are writing Personal Narratives. They are learning strategies for generating personal narratives and techniques for raising the level of narrative writing. Each day they come up with different "seed" ideas and spend a considerable amount of time writing and trying to incorporate all that they are learning into their writing. The writing journals hold all of their ideas (seed ideas...) and the class has now picked one of their seed ideas to become a full story. They are currently in the drafting process.

6th Grade: Miss Abrams -The sixth graders are excited to be finishing first three sections in the first book of our Units of Study. They are powerful personal narrative writers who take charge of the writing process. They know how to craft powerful leads and endings. They also know that precise details, dialogue, and inner thinking are essential in conveying an overall theme in their writing. They can't wait to share their published pieces next week at their publishing party.

8th Grade: Mrs. Lock - Eighth graders have been focusing on writing skills when responding to text. Students read The Three Questions by Jon Muth, which is based off the philosophy of Leo Tolstoy and examines the following questions:  

1. What is the right thing to do?
2. When is the right time?
3. Who is the most important one? 

Students then responded to these questions based upon their own opinion. In addition to focusing on a strong essay structure which was emphasized when they were in seventh grade, eighth graders work to incorporate more depth of thought, to apply fact to opinion and to embed quotes for support in their writing.

What incredible learning is happening in first grade! Our first graders are excited to have Hebrew five days a week. They have been introduced to the virtual students of the Tal Am program and the Super Lion, Ariot. The Tal Am program is a well-respected multi-sensory program developed by a group of educators in Montreal, Canada and Israel. The program is used by approximately 350 schools around the world.

Through interactive games, songs and displays, the first grade students learned the vocabulary to describe how to set the table for Shabbat and for Rosh Hashana. They learned important words related to the High Holidays. For example, the greeting for every day is Shalom; the greeting for Shabbat is Shabbat Shalom (Peaceful Shabbat); the greeting for Rosh Hashanah is Shana Tova (Good Year) and the greeting for Yom Kippur is Chatima Tova (May you be signed and sealed in the Book of Life.). For every Jewish holiday, the children learned it's suitable to say Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday)! Additionally, students have been introduced to the beginning of blending words with a few letters and vowels. Of course, there are also sight words associated with each lesson. The learning process is being done with kavod (respect) in a safe, fun, happy and appropriate environment, which is the foundation for great acquisition and study skills.

Inquiry is a central aspect of science at Pardes. Our fourth graders are currently working on an electricity unit, and it has been a "shocking" experience! Students are utilizing their Scientific Method skills through several hands-on experiments:

Static Electricity - Students were given a piece of plastic wrap, a towel, styrofoam, salt, tin foil, and cotton thread. The students then charged the plastic wrap by rubbing a towel quickly back in forth over the plastic wrap. Then the students lifted the plastic wrap over each item to see if the static electricity would attract the different items. The class learned that by rubbing the plastic wrap with a towel it caused charges to "jump" from the towel to the plastic wrap, therefore making the unlike charges attract to each other.

Path Finders- Students were given a "D" battery, one wire with the copper exposed, one wire without the copper exposed, and a wire with a light bulb. The students experimented with making the light bulb "light up." After reading about series and parallel circuits the students summarized what made the light bulb illuminate.  

Quiz Board - The students used tinfoil, a "D" battery, masking tape, a wire with a light bulb, and an extra wire to create their own quiz circuit board.

Students then recorded the steps of the Scientific Method in their lab journals. They included an analysis of each experiment along with key terminology. The lab journals are a wonderful introduction to lab reports, which are taught in greater depth in Middle School.

All Spanish classes in grades five through eight are currently working on projects which display their understanding of new vocabulary and grammar concepts. Fifth grade students are using their knowledge of greetings and the days of the week/months of the year to create a diary based upon Doreen Cronin's book, Diary of a Worm. Sixth grade students are developing the proper use of verbs like doler to add to their communication skills where they can now tell people what hurts. They are also beginning to prepare for a fashion show where they will describe what they are wearing and how clothing fits with the verbs llevar and quedar. Seventh grade students are developing their written skills by creating a biographical poem which emphasizes the verbs ser, estar, and tener, while eighth grade students are creating family trees using possessive adjectives. They will also be writing a story for Dia de los Muertos using the preterite tense (simple past). Spanish classes at each level meet twice a week and focus on the development of verbal, written and listening skills. Active learning is part of our classroom routine which also encompasses a better understanding and appreciation of the Hispanic culture.