Indoor Growing Season

Mr. Fitzpatrick demonstrates
the hydroponics system.

“Repeat after me,” Mr. Fitz(patrick) cheerfully instructs. “Hydroponics.” The kindergarteners repeat the new word in staggered unison, as you might expect at this age. “We’re using water to grow plants.” And with this, these young learners entered the era of Sustainability.
     The students had come to Mr. Fitz’ art room to learn about the new hydroponics vegetable garden that was being installed in their classroom. In a hydroponics growing system, plants are placed in nutrient-rich water that is fed through a tube and up a vertical structure by a motorized pump. It’s a common hydroponics system that requires no soil and uses less space than a typical garden plot.
     “Criss cross applesauce. So everyone can see,” Mr. Fitz reminded the excitable group of students as they leaned forward and ever higher for a better view. “Are the roots going to stay wet? Yes! And it’s going to pump the water with all the nutrients to the roots of the plant.” In this case, basil, beans, and tomatoes.
     Several Edgewood classrooms are engaged in the hydroponics experiment. It’s part of a larger effort in support of the school’s Compact Committee theme Sustainability. And it’s a reminder that today’s school is more than just Readin’, ‘Ritin’, and ‘Rithmatic.  - Paul Tomizawa

Persuasive Writing

Everyone’s got an opinion. And parents aren’t going to like to hear this, but Scarsdale teachers are training elementary students to strengthen their powers of persuasion through a literacy unit on Writing Opinions.This unit is a K-5 writing strand and it is aligned with the national Common Core standards. In a recent writing workshop in Mrs. Blackley’s 5th grade class, Kristin Smith, a staff developer from Teachers College coached students on how to structure a well-reasoned opinion. She emphasized the use of supportive research.

While other Edgewood teachers observed this fishbowl-styled professional development lesson, Ms. Smith instructed students to review the list of reasons they had given to support their written opinions and to look for a fairly common mistake-- overlapping reasons. For example, she explained, “It’s good exercise and it’s good for your health” are not two reasons. They are one and the same and should be combined and rephrased. “But what if I don’t have a third?” She assured students that opinions are better supported with  “two good ones, than one that sounds the same” as the others.
This session also reminded students that they are writing for an audience and that the purpose of rewriting and restructuring their arguments was to ensure that their reasons were compelling and persuasive. So, fair warning parents. Don’t be surprised if those backseat or kitchen table arguments in the future become a little more challenging to squash.