Session 6 was packed full of events, activities, and fun for our Eagles. From the Middle School traveling to Washington DC to our 7th Annual Children’s Business Fair, the sparks focusing on Birds, Elementary Studio's exploration of Chess and even preparing for our student exhibition - our Eagles kept busy.
We are also excited to share that registration for Summer@Acton camps are still open. Join this fun and enriching summer program designed to ignite your child's curiosity, foster creativity, and empower your learner with essential skills for success. Sign up now as space is limited. The deadline for registration is Friday, May 31st.
Jump to your Eagles' section of our Studio Blog by clicking here:
Sparks
What a great session we had at our Sparks Studio! The Sparks Eagles enjoyed an engaging session filled with academic inquiry and hands-on learning. Please continue to read on to learn more about what we’ve covered these past 6 weeks!
During this session, we promoted one of our Sparks Eagles to join the Elementary Studio. We wish him the best as he continues his Hero's Journey.
Morning Launches
Morning launches for Sparks served as a structured daily ritual that fostered collaboration, kindness, and a sense of community among Eagles. Morning launches helped build safe and inclusive environments by providing opportunities for Eagles to check in with each other and connect.
This session the Eagles focused on responsibility, resilience, and communication. They had discussions about not making excuses for their actions and came up with steps to take responsibility for their decisions. Sparks also learned that listening to others is a sign of respect and highlighted the importance of clear and polite communication.
Work Time
During work periods, the Sparks Eagles focused on math and language arts. Each Eagle took the time to set and work toward their goals at their own pace. In conjunction with their goals, the Eagles managed their own time and focused on their challenge areas. The Sparks Eagles enjoyed this independence and even took their own 5-minute brain breaks whenever they needed a refresher. Once their break ended, they would transition back into completing their tasks. It is amazing how quickly each Eagle has grown in time management and responsibility over the past session.
Discovery Time: The Study of Birds
Discovery Time consists of learning through hands-on projects and activities. In this session, the studio focused on ornithology: the study of birds. The Eagles began by exploring the different characteristics of birds. The studio was introduced to a variety of bird species through multiple games and art projects.
Next, they explored the life cycles of chickens, swans, ducks, and geese. They discovered that juvenile birds are covered in soft down instead of feathers and cannot fly, making them vulnerable to predators and incapable of feeding themselves. During their research, they found backyard birds fascinating, and as they studied their behavior, the Eagles became more and more intrigued.
As their knowledge of birds grew, each Eagle chose a favorite bird, sparking a week-long discussion on creating safe environments for them. They explored various bird nests and learned how different species build nests for protection. Through research, they learned about the various types of bird feeders and the birds they attract. Each Eagle decorated a bird feeder, filled it with seeds, and hung it on a tree. They were so excited to witness the bird feeders in action.
Writing
In Writers Workshop, the Sparks Eagles focused on summary writing. Each Eagle was assigned a book to read. Once they finished their reading, they took several steps to write good summaries. They learned that a substantial summary must demonstrate an understanding of the text and communicate it to the reader. The Eagles focused on adding important details in their own words and weeding out the less important details. Once all their steps were complete, they were able to complete their final book summaries.
Geography
Over the past year, the Sparks Eagles have continued to show a growing interest in the study of geography and exploring their world. Eagles prepared to learn about new places by creating their very own passports with a photo of themselves. Since the beginning of the school year, they have recorded all the destinations they have explored and have a goal to visit every continent by the end of the year.
In this Session, they learned about the continent of Europe. During their exploration, they stopped at four countries; Sweden, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. Learning about the culture, food, sightseeing areas, currency, and even language, the Eagles enjoyed receiving one more stamp in their studio passport.
Art
Art is an essential part of a child's education and upbringing. It can help children develop in many ways such as developing motor skills, cognitive skills, patience, creativity, and even their self-esteem. During this session, our Eagles enjoyed making arts and crafts from each country they studied in Geography. They focused on creating the Eiffel Tower from Paris and even pizza from Italy. Using different tools, they also crafted flying birds and bird feeders to align with discovery time.
Lindsay Wildlife Experience
To further their knowledge of and interest in what they learned in the studio, our Sparks went on a field trip to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek. This experience educated them on several different species of wild birds. They loved seeing different insects, birds, and owls, and enjoyed learning about the animal rescue process from the Lindsay staff. A highlight of the field trip for the learners was being up close to a Bald Eagle.
Elementary School
Chess Quest
Playing chess has been proven to sharpen memory, build grit, increase focus, and train the brain to predict patterns. Connecting these skills to the Hero’s Journey was an important aspect of our Chess Quest. ES Eagles started their Quest by creating Superpower Shields with a trait they focused on honing in this session. Some of the superpowers they trained include kindness, bravery, creativity, and calmness.
ES Eagles began playing by learning about chess pieces: how they move, capture, and how many pieces each player starts with. They then studied different chess opening strategies, including the Sicilian Defense and the King’s Opening. They also trained and competed in a mini-tournament which prepared them for our Grandmasters Exhibition Tournament.
Chess Quest also taught ES Eagles about good sportsmanship. They learned how to lose like winners, and, on the other hand, to win humbly. Throughout the session, they developed their Chess superpowers by showing kindness, bravery, and curiosity each day.
Writers Workshop - Creative Writing: Fiction
Writers Workshop kicked off with Eagles learning about a new software: Storybird. Using Storybird, our Eagles wrote fictional, short story-style picture books with premade illustrations from worldwide artists. With group readings and discussions of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers, Eagles appreciated the blend of beautiful artwork and thoughtful prose in these works. They emulated this blend of prose and artwork in their own books.
ES Eagles learned the importance of revision through their Peer Critique process. They received and provided meaningful feedback to create an even better next draft. After reading the mentor text How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz, the ES Studio was more inspired than ever to continue editing and revising their creative stories before showing them off at our Session 6 Exhibition.
Lindsay Wildlife Experience
This session our ES Eagles took a field trip to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek. This experience educated our Eagles on several different species of wildlife and even inspired them when creating their whimsical Storybird picture books in Writer’s Workshop. Eagles enjoyed learning about several different species of wildlife including bald eagles, porcupines, snakes, and even owls.
Learn To Be
The act of “Learning to Be” encourages our young learners to grow. Through challenges, art periods, and learning new words each day, ES Eagles are consistently striving to become the best versions of themselves.
Eagles have been observing their habits and studio culture while searching for new ways to improve their systems. Each week our elected ES Council runs a Town Hall meeting where they all receive the chance to share feedback, encouragement, and challenges they may have faced. Sharing their feelings and beliefs in an open and welcoming environment encourages Eagles to use their voices and accommodate for themselves and others.
Middle School
Politics & Economics Quest
For Quest, our Eagles had a wonderful opportunity in conjunction with our Trip to Washington DC and the election year to participate in the Politics and Economics Quest. They dove deep into the world of politics, government, and economics - learning about political principles and government policy.
They researched, debated, and participated in political simulations to learn about our government systems. Eagles explored the different aspects of our government, learning about the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches. They participated in multiple group discussions and debated many topics from supreme court cases to gridlock in DC.
The Eagles also chose a political party to join and a political cause that they were passionate about. They examined, reviewed current laws, and looked into the current political landscape all to write speeches in support of their political cause. At exhibition, they took the stand as either a presidential candidate or Representative to talk about their cause in the hopes of earning the most votes to pass their bill into law.
A Step into Wonderland Genre
For Genre this session, our Eagles dove down the rabbit hole of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Before the start of the session, they completed reading the book in order to be ready for their Genre challenges. Throughout the session the Eagles worked on 4 different articles about Lewis Carroll’s Book: an overview article, an author article, a character article, and a setting article. These articles helped prepare them to dive into the film world of Alice in Wonderland.
To complete their final project of a comparative analytical essay, the Eagles watched multiple movie adaptations, starting with the 1903 movie to the Disney animated and the 2010 live-action film, witnessing how the story changed over time. The Eagles chose between the Disney animated film and the live-action to compare to the original story. Many reported on the drastic differences between Lewis Carroll’s light-hearted writing and Tim Burton’s dark twist in the live action.
Community Exploration - Kayaking
As the weather got warmer, the Eagles were excited to bring back the outdoor Community Exploration Kayaking. They got the opportunity to get back on the water, enjoy the sun, explore the great outdoors, and kayak at nearby lakes. They worked as pairs to traverse the perimeter of the lake and got comfortable maneuvering the kayaks and even took part in kayak racing.
