As Lower Elementary has ventured out into the world to explore, trips continue to grow into a fruitful aspect of our curriculum. Children are developing a better understanding of the geography of our neighborhood as well as deeper feelings of their own place within it. Many lessons within the classroom have been inspired and enhanced by our excursions too!

We had so much fun learning about the history and technology of flight at The Franklin Institute where we saw one of the Wright Brothers’ original prototypes.

We also explored the Sports Room, got some exercise, and each wrote about an athlete of our choosing.

On Valentine’s Day, we explored the Heart and circulatory system, with a brief look at another exciting facet of how the human body works – Electricity!

The Academy of Natural Sciences gave us the opportunity to do some dinosaur research, and then later choose animal specimens that we could write about in the classroom.

The Schuylkill River has been a wonderful resource for learning, as we’ve been able to take morning walks there just to visit, as well as go on a field trip to Philadelphia Water Works, where we learned about the management and preservation of the river and the organisms that rely on it – including us!

Monthly trips to the Free Library have been a real favorite! We listen to Ms. Mary read us stories, independently choose books to read in our classroom, and of course there’s a 30-second dance party upon our every departure. 

Grocery shopping is a regular part of keeping our classroom going. Included here are some pictures of us buying pumpkins in the fall that we later used for a “sink and float” experiment! 

We’re so grateful to have so many parks near our school too, as we’ve had the opportunity to do some gross motor movement outside at Von Colln, Sister Cities, Love Park, and Winter Street Playground! As spring approaches, we are all happily anticipating more of this!