Grades 4 and 5
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3-2-1 Action
Calling all actors, lovers of language or just those who want to have a great time! Join us as we bring verbs to life, give nouns a “proper name” and play with the punctuation pals as they get mixed up in the wrong stories. We will create 9-line plays, write short skits involving parts of speech and play dramatic games to reinforce important language skills.
Builder’s Challenge
The sky’s the limit when it comes to building these structures. In this class, you’ll get to be a city planner, architect, environmentalist, innovator, soil engineer and historian! You’ll be building bridges and skyscrapers that fit the needs of the people who use them and the natural environment they inhabit. As a designer, you’ll make decisions about cost, safety, materials and the environment while paying careful attention to function and load. It’s a lot of responsibility! Your structures will have to be able to withstand hurricane winds and earthquakes while using materials that are cost effective, aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly. You’ll build your structures and then test them out to see if they can pass the Builder’s Challenge. It won’t be easy, but it will be a lot of fun!
Elementary, My Dear Detectives
An invaluable Vermeer painting has gone missing, but who took it? Join us on a “who-done-it” adventure as we try to solve the mystery of an international art scandal in Chasing Vermeer, a book by Blue Balliett. In this class, we will explore the elements of a good mystery; we will enter a mysterious labyrinth as we utilize our powers of intuition, skills at problem solving and collect clues along the way; we will take a look at some of Vermeer’s famous pieces of art; and we will create our own pentominoes. Can we solve the greatest mystery before it’s too late? Join us to find out!
¡Español es Divertido! – Nivel II (Session One only)
In this class you will continue to improve your Spanish skills while learning about foreign countries and cultures where the language is spoken. We will visit the computer lab regularly where students will do research on the Internet on Spanish culture, and they will create related computer projects. Comic books are a fun way to practice a foreign language because they are written in a conversational style. Students will use their creativity to produce comic strips and write dialog in Spanish.
It’s All about the Benjamins
…and maybe the Washingtons, Lincolns and Jacksons, too! This class will delve deeply into all things money, decimals and fractions. We will gain a deeper understanding as to how these three concepts correlate. We will practice adding dollars and cents in greater denominations, deepen our understanding of place-value to the right of the decimal and convert fractions and decimals.
Mythological Mayhem (Session One only)
Get ready to enter the world of gods, goddesses and mythological creatures in this super-cool study of Ancient Greece. In this class, we’ll investigate mythology while making connections to universal themes. By studying different myths and mythological heroes, we’ll be able to create original myths that conform to standard guidelines, compare and contrast story elements from different myths, adapt mythological stories into skits and create character studies for our own favorite mythological heroes. Also be prepared to travel back to 480 BC to represent our city-states at the Olympic Games!
Puppetry (Session Two only)
Puppetry is a key expressive tool in combining visual arts and theater arts. This summer we will explore the expressive use of shadow puppetry as well as large-scale puppets. Students will create their own characters and see them come to life with their own hands. Puppetry is one of the oldest theatrical traditions in the world, and for good reason. Each puppeteer will discover the creative and expressive advantages to mastering the art of puppetry.
Scratch Programming (Session Two only)
Scratch is a computer application that enables students to develop animations, games and interactive art. During this session students will learn about computer programming in a visual way. We'll begin by learning how different controls and objects can be put together to make a project run. Afterwards we'll move on to creating our own projects and then share these projects in our group. This is a great way to learn technology this summer while having fun!
So You Want to Be a Blue Man? (Session One only)
This session’s music elective will be an instrument building class! We will be building instruments made of PVC pipe like those played by the Blue Man Group. Students will learn to create instruments by measuring pipe and adding curves as desired to create the shapes they want, as well as deciding what notes their instruments will play. We will then decorate the instruments and create pieces to play together with other instruments in our classroom. Join us for this wonderful combination art, music and applied science!
To the Moon and Back
Have you ever wondered how many miles are in a kilometer? How many yards equal ten feet? In this class, we will further explore and build our skills in making important metric conversions. We will also spend time practicing multi-digit addition, multi-step borrowing and those crazy multiplication tables. Join us on a mathematical adventure to the moon and back.
Project Read Literacy Class
(Open only to students with a recommendation by teachers.)
The Project Read Literacy skills class will help keep skills sharp and ensure reading and writing readiness for the upcoming school year. The class will include ninety minutes of targeted, small-group instruction in phonics, reading comprehension, fluency, and writing. This class is open only to students who have been invited to attend.
