Doherty “Travels” the 50 States for Cultural Connections

In a different twist from their traditional international studies, the Doherty Campus is traversing the United States for their annual Cultural Connections Week. “We usually explore another country,” said Doherty counselor Angie Bielecki. “This year we have decided on a virtual ‘staycation’ in the United States. We’ve expanded this project to take a deeper dive into discussing culture throughout the months of April and May.” Bielecki said students—from pre-kindergarteners to fifth-graders—will explore a region of the United States including questions of “Who lives here?” and “What experiences shaped this community?” from multiple perspectives. “Classes will explore together the importance of culture and how we discuss culture by using the guiding question of ‘How does culture make us similar and different?’ Bielecki said. “We have divided up the United States by region and each grade level will create a project sharing their learning with the Doherty community.” Bielecki said the intensive study may include artistic displays, story walks, and using technology to teach the rest of the school. The regions of the United States will be broken down in the following way:

• Southwest – Pre-K
• Northwest – Unit III
• Midwest – Unit II
• Northeast – Unit I
• Southeast – Kindergarten
• Puerto Rico – Encore 

Learning about Spring Things

In Molly Seta’s Pre-kindergarten class, students have been talking about spring and the changes that can be seen, smelled, and heard outside. “My class has been learning about changes in the weather with a special focus on clouds and rain,” said Seta. “We began with a read-aloud of ‘It Looked Like Spilt Milk’ by Charles Shaw and a discussion of how clouds change.” Seta said the young students also engaged in a cloud painting project. “We learned that it rains when clouds are full of moisture with a quick and fun science experiment,” said Seta. “We also recently set up a rain gauge on our playground and checked it after the storm.”

Bound to Write a Story!

Students in Amy Kulhavik’s Unit I class recently dove into a writing project that culminated in completing a book of their own! The students first wrote a nonfiction story about an animal of their choice. Then, they researched the animal, using digital books on the learning applications, PebbleGo and Epic. “After creating their works of literature, which included a title page, dedication page, table of contents, diagram, informational writing, glossary and an about the author page, I bound the stories for each student,” said Kulhavik. “The students then read their stories to our class and students in other classes.”

Going on an Insect Hunt!

Students in Laurel Robinson and Moriah Phillips’ pre-kindergarten class recently went on an intrepid insect hunt! Robinson first read books about insects to the students, who asked plenty of questions. Then the students took on the Doherty Campus with magnifying glasses to view some of their tiny newfound friends. “They investigated the world around them,” said Robinson. “We learn so much when we explore nature.”