First Grade Wax Museum  

First grade thespians delivered a singular performance last Tuesday for a packed room full of family and staff. Visitors to the "Wax Museum" found themselves amid a forest of living statues, each dressed as an influential leader. As guests meandered among the performers, the American heroes began to tell their stories, breaking their pose to recite a personal narrative of their lives and accomplishments before returning to their static pantomime. Amid the quiet cacophony of this avant-garde performance art, one could hear the past, present, and future of democracy unfolding.

For several weeks, the 1st grade class has been studying the qualities of leadership and investigating the lives and contributions of historical and contemporary leaders in many fields. After conducting field work at the polls on Election Day, interviewing Head of School Diana Lam, and reading stories about many leaders, students selected the personae they would portray. Each student memorized their narrative and practiced speaking it in a clear presentation voice with the poise and confidence appropriate to their character.

Book-ended by musical performances, the Wax Museum began with a haunting a capella rendition of "Some Nights" by the band fun., whose lyrics explore the intrinsic aspects of leadership with the question, "What Do I Stand for?" The experience concluded with two rousing verses of "My Country 'Tis of Thee." Standing together, a chorus of Sonja Sotomayors, Helen Kellers, Martain Luther King Jr.s, and Barak Obamas sang with wisdom and urgency about a nation "beautiful, for patriot dreams that see beyond the years."

A Tasteful Event for Sixth Graders 

Ms. Lam hosted a splendid sit-down dinner for the ten 6th graders at her home in Milton just before Thanksgiving. It was a special time for quiet and genteel conversation engaged in while partaking of delicious, festive food. The young people had an opportunity to share in a social occasion designed especially for them. It was a time for learning more about each other outside of the context of school.  "The students were so excited about being invited to the Head of School's home and wanted to learn more about her personally.  They loved being there and loved the whole event!" said their teacher, Ms. Perkins.  

A new tradition has begun at Conservatory Lab Charter School!

Third Grade Goes Way Back!

On Monday, November 19th, 3rd graders traveled back in time to 1627 on a visit to Plimoth Plantation as part of their "Way Back When" Expedition, comparing and contrasting the lives and experiences of the Wampanoag native people and the Pilgrims.  The students conducted fieldwork at this living history museum where they explored recreations of a 17th-century Wampanoag homesite and a Pilgrim farming and maritime village.

Our students crowded into a large, winter Wampanoag home, or wetu, a structure that would house three large families back in the early part of the 20th century.  All the staff at the Wampanoag homesite are Native people wearing traditional dress and demonstrating and describing Native practices as they would have been during colonial times and up through the early 20th century.

With the keen eyes of historians, students recorded their observations, questions, and notes in fieldwork journals, comparing Wampanoag homes with Pilgrim homes.  They learned that Native people only had access to fresh vegetables in the summer and fall when they could be harvested and only ate meat in the fall and winter because the animals they hunted might have fleas or ticks in the warmer weather. In the Pilgrim 17th Century English Village, they met farmers harvesting and mothers sewing dolls, actors portraying actual residents of Plymouth County in 1627.

At the end of the visit, students saw rows of turkeys and platters of corn bread, preparations for a dinner to be served to 4000 people. Plimoth Plantation is a great place to both learn and eat at Thanksgiving time!

Ensemble Spotlight: Bernstein Orchestra 

On December 18 and 20 our four student ensembles will present two Winter Concerts, showcasing highlights from our musical learning this year. This week Resident Artist Levi Comstock gives us a sneak peak at what Bernstein Orchestra has in store.

"The musicians of the Bernstein Orchestra are building two very different worlds of sound. In Canyon Sunset, we are painting with smooth bow strokes, blending major and minor harmonies, and responding to nuances in tempo to create a feeling of open sky and the cooling of a desert evening. We are learning to place ourselves into this scene together, and to make it come alive by breathing and moving together with the music.

Hiawatha is an earthy dance honoring the Mohawk Chief who united the Iroquois Confederacy in the 16th Century to protect Native American lands.  It opens with a heavy, bear-like rhythm in the low strings and a dark, powerful melody in the violins. The middle section opens into a soaring, eagle melody, which swells into a relentless reprise of the opening theme. This piece has challenged us to create a range of sound qualities with our bows and to quickly shift moods and emotions."

Hip-Hop Across Continents: A Tool for Social Change 

On Monday, November 26^th, hip-hop artist MC Oasis gave an inspiring workshop to 6^th graders, who have been researching Brazilian hip-hop, samba, and capoeira as part of their expedition on world geography and culture.  Originally from Watertown, MA, MC Oasis now lives in Cartegena, Colombia where she helped found La lengua de mi barrio, an organization that connects and trains youth leaders from Colombia and the U.S. who are using hip-hop to transform their communities through nonviolence.  From the moment she greeted students, MC Oasis ignited the classroom with hip-hop beats, rhythms, and rhymes. Students freestyled to percussion beats and wrote hip-hop rhymes that demonstrate one of the 5 elements of hip-hop-self-knowledge. "I'm a believer, not a deceiver," rapped Kelly Exilus. "I'm like a possibility that flies high. I'm like an eagle that soars through the sky," rapped Yantaya Smith, who will be performing a hip-hop rap at next week's assembly.