Touchstone Experiences, Grades 5–8

As the name suggests, Green Acres is a school that wants to get kids active and learning out in the world. In this spirit, all of our Middle School students go on 3–5 day excursions where they experience the world, learn about themselves, and cultivate friendships. These trips are truly “outdoor education” trips, with adventures to everywhere from the mountains of West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay to Chincoteague Island to as far afield as New Orleans. These trips are part of the way that we help our students to cultivate their natural curiosity to become inspired learners, and we often hear back from alumni that they are truly unforgettable, life-changing experiences.

We want our students to know themselves, to cultivate a practice of sharing, and to have the poise and courage of self-advocacy. These lie as the foundation for our Middle School student-led conferences, which are a learning feature for all of our students in grades 5–8. Students complete a self-reflection for each class and conference with teachers, who often challenge them to look more deeply into themselves and the work that they have done. After completing the self-reflection, Middle School students attend and lead conferences with their advisory teacher and with three other teachers, respectively. Supported by the conference teacher, students use this forum to share their own learning, accomplishments, and areas of growth with their parent(s)/guardian(s). Over time, they cultivate the skills of looking deeply within themselves and understanding their growth and challenges. And, in sharing those insights with their teachers and their family, they learn to share and self-advocate. By the time they are 8th graders, students spend the bulk of an hour, structuring and sharing their thoughts and work with their parents and advisors. 

At Green Acres, we value play and the ways in which it can be used to reinforce student learning. The Green Acres Olympics is a tradition that goes back decades as a way to end each school year on a high note. All of our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders join teams that engage in friendly competition, often reinforcing what they’ve learned throughout the year in PE and their academic subjects—and sometimes just giving them the chance to be silly and have fun. Our students work hard throughout the year, and we greatly value giving them the opportunity to celebrate their learning through our year-end Olympics.

At Green Acres, students learn by doing. When it comes to literature, that means they don’t just read stories—they write them, too. One major writing accomplishment is the 5th grade fantasy story. Using the novel Tuck Everlasting and the picture book Jumanji as references, students make decisions about plot, character development, and use of dialogue for their own fantasy story. In doing so, they develop a deep understanding of the fantasy genre and its elements. By the end of 5th grade, students hold a final Author's Chair to read their narratives, and they receive constructive feedback from peers. It is a project that not only teaches them about literature, but also inspires them to be truly literary.

As a supplement to their science, math, and art curricula, 5th and 6th graders benefit from Techxplorations. In this hands-on course, students hone their computational thinking skills (decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithm design), engage in the design process, and get an introduction to computer programming. Essential questions include:

• Are robots useful in helping populations affected by natural disasters?
• How can we help young students learn coding?
• How do toy companies use technology to enhance their products?

At Green Acres, we want our kids to learn to change their world. We do this, in part, by helping them learn about others who have made a difference as inspiration for their own bright futures. In an integrated social studies/language arts project in 6th grade, students each research an important Black American in history using primary and secondary sources. They learn notetaking skills, including the Cornell format, which encourages students to jot down key words and questions, then respond to them and summarize their learning. They construct a biographical essay and presentation display, telling about the lives of these great Americans and the changes that they brought to our society. They share these with the public during a culminating Black Americans in History museum event.  In this project, students learn about change and great Americans as they reflect on their own capacities to bravely face the problems in their communities and the wider world around them.

fancy a challenge? take our 6th graders' significant black americans in history quiz.

This ten-day math lab makes math meaningful and real by allowing students to apply learned algorithms and geometry to design, build, and test model bridges constructed from toothpicks. Working in small groups as "architectural firms," students collaborate to create strong, economical bridges and to account for construction costs. Building bridges offers a hands-on approach for students to learn and apply foundational concepts of architecture like stress, fulcrums, the law of gravity, and the strength of different geometric shapes. Students learn to write checks, balance accounts, maintain a task schedule, and work with others to accomplish a common goal. Completed bridges will be judged for economy of design, neatness, the accuracy of their plans, and strength. The lab culminates with our adding weight incrementally to each bridge to see how much it can handle before collapsing (to cheers) in between the tables that it was bridging.

Black-and-white fine art photography is alive and well at Green Acres! We always say that we are involved in a process that is perhaps the highest level of human expression: that of creating art. Working with film is truly a hands-on experience, as students shoot the film, put it in tanks in total darkness, develop it, print contact sheets for editing, print larger images up to 11x14 with enlargers, and then dry-mount the finished piece while also naming their final work. One can see 7th and 8th graders developing their own "style" in creating images that interest them, while they are making something unique to the world.