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On Wednesday, May 1st, 4th graders Emmanuel DeJeanLouis and Nate Wertheimer, 5th graders Kam’Rahn Carter, Arianna Rodriguez and Anthony Vega and 6th grader Brandon Volel wowed the sold-out crowd at the Landmarks Orchestra Gala at the Franklin Institute.  As guests entered the ballroom, Mr. Schroeder led the group through twenty minutes of music, from the Adagietto from Mahler 5, excerpts from Brahms Symphony 1 to the Star Spangled Banner.  They then performed a specially written “serenade” for the guest of honor, artist Fay Chendler and a Beatles medley that ended with a sing-a-long.

After the performance, the students were given congratulations by many guests including Maestro Ben Zander, composer Michael Gandolfi and former Governor Michael Dukakis.  The Governor spoke with the students at length at even tried the trumpet as he is a former student musician himself!

In a more intimate setting, at the cathedral ceilinged home of Jan Levine and Brian Igoe, on Monday April 29^th, the energy and polish of brass ensemble students had the 60+ guests smiling, clapping and moving happily to their selection of tunes.  Chris Schroeder, the conductor of the Dudamel Brass also selected a Bach chorale to the selections played at the Landmarks event.

All in all, a celebratory week for the members of this fine performance ensemble.

The K2 class celebrated the culmination of their Expedition, “What’s on Your Plate?” with an event last Thursday evening, demonstrating what they have been learning about nutrition and making healthy choices. While working towards the learning target – “I can make choices to keep my body healthy and strong” - students spent months doing hands-on investigations, which included researching the five food groups, conducting fieldwork at a local Whole Foods, and studying healthy lifestyle choices such as exercise and getting a good night’s sleep.

The students demonstrated their new knowledge by performing a song entitled “Some Foods are Healthy,” with their own original lyrics. The audience was so impressed that they demanded an encore! Following the encore performance, our K2ers then debuted their research place mats and wowed the audience with an in-depth informational session on how to make healthy choices.

Following a presentation by Head of School Diana Lam and a performance by resident artists Josh Garver, Adam Eccleston, and Levi Comstock, students and faculty mingled with guests, enjoying refreshments and conversation.

“It was like something out of Downton Abbey,” described Stella Dzialas, “we are so grateful to Mr. Rives for hosting an event to support our school.”

“What would it look like if students were to meet Common Core Standards with depth, integrity and imagination?”  This was the question posed to students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education by Prof. Steve Seidel of Project Zero and Prof. Ron Berger from Expeditionary Learning.  Fortuitously, two of our Expeditionary Learning student products, “What Snake Am I?” and “Get Your Blues On”, were chosen to be featured.  Each student in the class was asked to investigate how each product was made and then make a five-minute film that illustrated the work of the teachers and students who created that product.

HGSE student Sarah Zuckerman collected video and interviews from Jenna Gampel and her students in order to not only understand but also explain how the powerful experiences of research and revision combined to create writing and art that the students and the community are proud to share.  Her film showed students involved in research, both in the classroom and at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and also used stop-motion animation to show the process of revision in the student artwork.

Our 4th grade classroom was the site of HGSE Laura Kanter’s research.  She interviewed teacher Rachel Cates, Resident Artist Chris Schroeder and student Arianna Rodriguez about the process of reading and writing poetry to both understand other perspectives and demonstrate empathy through artistic expression.  She used video of the student performance at the House of Blues as well as a montage of their poems and collages to illustrate how the Expedition encouraged the students to imagine themselves in the history and then reflect on their personal response.

We are thrilled that the work of these graduate students will help disseminate our best work around the country.

The K-1 Exhibition Celebration, which was a result of our 14-week study of color and portraiture, was a stunning success and we had a terrific turnout of moms, dads, grandparents, Conservatory Lab staff, friends, and supporters.

The children shared the song “My Favorite Color is…” and “Roy G. Biv” with the crowed who beamed with pleasure.  A special thanks to Mr. Cordes for sharing this lovely tune with the students and getting them ready to sing about what they know about color.  Ms. Mason compiled a short film of the two-month process, which documented the myriad of experiences the children engaged in to build their final product, acrylic self portraits.  By the night of the celebration the child accomplished many learning targets, including: I can use art tools carefully, I can describe details I see in artwork, I can explain how to mix all of the colors of the rainbow, I can give feedback to improve the work of others.

Guests of our special event were asked to give feedback to the children about their portrait work.  Here are just a few highlighted “stars” from our list:

“I loved the color choices you made for your backgrounds!”

“Great job everybody!”

“Nice work K-1!”

“We loved the details you put in your portrait!”

“I can’t believe that 4 and 5 year-olds did this work… it is remarkable!”

Next week the children will reflect on their paintings (the color choices they made, the details they included) and we will begin to display their work in our school lobby gallery space for all visitors and Conservatory Lab students to view.

Fifth graders became fantasy writers by studying the elements of mentor texts like The Giver. They established criteria of quality fantasy literature, then learned to create believable characters, follow a comprehensive plot, and use figurative language to make their writing more engaging.

Parents and teachers attended the celebration. Authors took turns reading from their latest works and signing copies for peers and guests. Students were excited for the opportunity to take home their own published stories as well as works by their friends and colleagues. They toasted their achievements as writers and the fact that every student hit every target on their project management board.

All year, 5th graders have been writing for a variety of reasons. Over the year, students have written memoirs, literary and personal essays, constructed responses, poetry, raps, and now fantasy. For many, fantasy was the highlight of their writing so far this year!

Students were particularly inspired by a quote of Dr. Seuss: “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

On Friday, April 12th the K2 Paper Orchestra performed for a standing room only crowd at the Boston Children’s Museum.  The concert was the joyful culmination of the students’ paper orchestra experience and was a powerful demonstration of the kinds of performance skills our youngest students have mastered.  As the audience of friends, family and museum visitors slowly gathered in The Common, an open performance space in the center of the museum, our students quietly prepared for their performance.  At 3:15 sharp, Ms. Levi introduced the group and then led the students in songs and chants designed to introduce young musicians to their instruments and their roles in an orchestra.  The students demonstrated proper positioning and bow holds as they sang an original song “We Are a Paper Orchestra” and old favorites including “The Grand Old Duke of York” and “The Wheels on the Bus”.

We appreciate the partnership with the Boston Children’s Museum.  They have hosted three K2 events this year and have provided a diverse audience for these unusual performances.  Our students have been motivated to perform at their highest level as they feel the city-wide spotlight that comes with such a prestigious venue.  This group of musicians has now begun rehearsals on their real instruments and is looking forward to performing alongside their peers on stage at Longy in the first Spring Concert on June 5th.  Mark your calendars for this debut!