Academics

West Hartford historian, Tracey Wilson, and her colleague Liz Divine visited the fifth grade as part of their final history unit this year. They are studying slavery in West Hartford; and will use primary and secondary sources to learn about the context of slavery in Connecticut. They’ll discuss the legal and political systems that kept slavery in place, and examine the lives of enslaved individuals who lived in West Hartford. Throughout the unit, they will examine and discuss the injustices of slavery; and also examine the ways in which enslaved individuals resisted slavery’s dehumanization. As a note: any study of slavery in the United States necessarily involves difficult, but incredibly important, discussions. 

The 2nd grade went outside to practice writing their spelling words using things found in nature. 

5th grade Spanish students learn about Spain and the different businesses that can be found in a Spanish city or village. They created their own city complete with stores, restaurants, hospitals using Spanish dialog.

Renbrook 7th graders welcomed Steve Famiglietti from The NEAT Center at Oak Hill this morning. Thank you for sharing how the K9 dogs get trained in a development center to help the blind! NEAT is Connecticut’s largest private provider of services to people with disabilities.

JK learned about liquids, solids, and gases today. Demonstrations included mixing baking soda and vinegar to create CO2 gas, how candles, (like people) need oxygen to keep going/burning. A few of our young learners tried using air power to move a ball from place to place.

Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recital. This program helps students master public speaking, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Congratulations to all our eighth-grade students and our winner Simone and tied runner ups Justin and Dora!

Seventh graders welcomed Fidelco Guide Dog German Shepards Ocean and Que before raising money for the Renbrook Fidelco Fundraiser on February 22nd.  

Have you ever wondered how countries work together? Have you asked yourself how a country runs itself? What rules are needed and who is in charge? Well, the fourth graders experienced just that this term.

Students in seventh grade world history just finished their unit on Japan. To demonstrate their understanding of Japanese life and culture, they had several options they could create to show the significance of Japanese culture. These are some of the final products!

Sixth grade students wrapped up their study of Ancient Egypt and created Dioramas displaying some of their favorite areas of study during the unit. Some of the areas displayed included the Great Pyramids of Giza, Life Along the Nile River, Temples at Karnak and Tombs and Burial practices.

For the past five years, students in Kindergarten through grade five here at Renbrook School have participated in the Global Cardboard Challenge inspired by Nirvan Mullick’s film, Caine’s Arcade. Each year, the children, divide into teams and are given the task of designing and building something mostly out of cardboard. They’ve created arcade games, a metropolis, and playgrounds for a guinea pig.

Third grade set out for the “Oregon Trail” through the Renbrook hiking trails! Students worked together to build wagons in teams and traversed rough terrain with their wagons, making important decisions as a group along the way! 

For the JK Story Explorers Program~we will be reading a fun story followed by a hands-on extension activity. Whether our intrepid~explorers find themselves hiking along Renbrook’s extensive trail system, collaborating on an abstract painting, or dramatizing their own fairy tale, this program is both enriching and just plain fun! Our hike was our activity following the story “Henry the Explorer”. Henry makes and then plants flags along the path he takes on his exploration, in order that he may easily find his way back home afterward. Renbrook’s Story Explorers made and planted flags along their path on Renbrook’s red trail.

Can you recall the projects you completed as a child in your school? Perhaps you made an instrument for music class, or a diorama for English class, or composed an oral presentation about a U.S. President. While assignments like these can be engaging, you probably don’t remember the specifics of what you learned, and there’s a good reason why. These types of projects only touched the surface of learning because they were not presented as a means to solving an authentic problem, which we now know is one of the keys to making learning memorable and relevant.

Second graders learned about landforms by making their own! Students got to put different materials on their created landforms to see how it flows in Lower School STEAM.

Second graders studied how businesses use needs and wants to provide a good or a service to make a profit. Each student created a business and handmade all their goods and services. Then, we participated in a day of trading, also known as “Renbrookville,” to understand simple economics through a direct experience in a mini-market.