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Naomi Stein

Promoting Peace & Understanding

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ZosiaDrawingJCDSRI’s partnership with the Islamic School of RI (ISRI) resulted in a wonderful performance on April 17th put together by fifth graders from both schools. Approximately 150 people attended the event, including Congressman David Cicilline, who tweeted photos of the “inspiring performances” by the students. The Providence Journal wrote about the event in Monday’s paper, including a photo gallery, as well.

For the past several months. students from both schools met twice each week at the Center for Dynamic Learning (CDL), getting to know each other and developing their dramatic skills. Students explored issues of identity, society, and friendship through CDL’s hands-on STEAMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Manufacturing and Math) theater program.

The project was funded through a generous grant from the Bliss, Gross, Horowitz Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation. Both schools look forward to continuing the partnership in the future.

JCDSRI Featured by YU School Partnership!

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Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 10.45.47 AMWe are very pleased that our Head of School, Adam Tilove, was featured in a conversation about innovation in schools in the YUSP Spring 2016 Quarterly. While it was our billboard that caught their attention initially, JCDSRI’s reputation as a leader in STEAM and design preceded us: in fact, Mr. Tilove was mentioned in the YUSP Fall 2015 Quarterly, as well. Our commitment isn’t just to STEAM, though; we want our graduates to be good citizens, in both their local and global communities. That’s why we also have an ongoing partnership with the Islamic School of RI. We encourage our students to consider ideas from multiple viewpoints and to be respectful of different backgrounds and beliefs.

As the only school in southeastern New England with a Design Lab dedicated exclusively to elementary students, we believe strongly in a progressive curriculum that gives children plenty of opportunities to engage in authentic problem-solving. Our students, from Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade, speak the language of Design Thinking: they employ empathy, they create prototypes, and they “fail fast” so that they can address the needs of a specific audience. Want to see our students in action? Call or email us and come for a visit!

Looking for Signs of Spring

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imageThe Kindergarten students set out to look for signs of spring! We enjoyed seeing how the pond has changed in the warmer weather. Outside all our senses were at work while we searched for clues to Spring! We stopped to investigate tree buds that we saw popping up on branches all around us. Other times we stopped to take a listen to birds. A woodpecker was busy tapping on a tree. Weimage enjoyed smelling the spring onions. The pond critters are beginning to emerge from their winter modes. The students were excited to see the ducks return. “This is awesome,” one student yelled. We looked for turtles and a muskrat. Magnifying glasses helped us to closely observe buds, dew drops, and new grass. We are grateful for the signs of the changing season!

Welcome to the Shark Tank

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For students in grades 3-5, the design lab has been transformed into a Shark Tank. The TV show Shark Tank, regularly aired on ABC, inspired me to challenge students to create something worth selling and that would convince sharks to invest in. While many students created prototypes, others, like Ezra, were billionaire investors (aka “sharks”). Ezra took it upon himself to interview the designers in his class in order to get an idea of their products, past sales, current locations, offers, and valuations prior to their pitches.

The following video is brought to you by students in the fourth and fifth grade. Cooper is pitching his product, Your Home Security. Welcome to the Shark Tank!

The Mitzvah of Consolation

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While I was out of school to take care of my Dad and then, to sit shiva (the seven day Jewish mourning period after a funeral), the students continued their academic learning. But they also participated in the very important Mitzvah of comforting a mourner. With teacher support, they talked about grief and loss and then used some time to write cards of consolation and support. When I returned to RI to sit for the last couple of days, many of the students came to my house to offer their condolences. Waiting on my desk in school was a stack of beautifully hand-designed and written cards that encouraged me to be strong and to look for the rainbows after the rain. I cannot begin to express the deep sense of gratitude and consolation that I derived from these gestures. They were incredibly meaningful and touching and underscored that the values that we are trying to impart through our curriculum and culture at JCDSRI are truly understood and being incorporated into the identities of our students.

imageThis has been a difficult time for me but knowing that our students are truly living by the values which we are teaching has brought me much comfort and has filled me with a deep sense of gratitude and blessing that I am a part of this community. Thank you.

The Three Little… Prototypes

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We’ve all heard the story The Three Little Pigs, but have you read The Three Little Javelinas? In PreK, kindergarten and first grade, we read The Three Little JavelinaIMG_6880s by Susan Lowell and talked about how the two stories are similar in some ways and different in others. In both stories the first house gets blown down very easily. The second house is a bit stronger, but not by much. The third house, however, won’t budge! In the design lab, we recreated the three houses that appear in both of the stories.

We explored different materials in the design lab and created our own houses that represent the three houses in the stories. Many of uIMG_6893 (1)s noticed that by utilizing the Design Thinking tactic of rapid prototyping, we could create better, stronger structures. Rapid prototyping is used by both adults who use design thinking concepts in the workplace and children at JCDSRI! It means that we build things quickly in order to learn from our mistakes and to move onto the iteration and improvement stage of the process.

Next, we tested our structures by blowing a hair dryer on them. Of course, children gave fair warning by yelling, “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” Finally, we decided what types of characters (or objects) might be in our own ThreIMG_6919 (1)e Little somethings stories!

In PreK, we decided that we all wanted our story to be The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Crocodile. One of our Lego structures had some interesting safety features, including a trap station to catch the crocodile and a lookout tower.

Kindergarteners decided that they wanted to create their own story titles. In the end, however, we noticed that we liked the titles of our friends. Eden, Millie, Ben, Eshel, and Meital created a story titled The Three Little Socks and the Shoe. Nathan, Bentzi, and Zemer titled their story The Three Little Scooby Doos and the Monster. Malcolm, and Aeden decided on The Three Little Monkeys.

First graders were proud to create their own individual story titles:

Naftali… The Three Little Ships and the Big Bad Star Destroyer
Maya… The 100 Little Army Ants and the Tilting Earth
Simon… The Three Little Snakes and the Lion
Elie… The Three Little Basketball Players and the Big Bad Basketball
Jude… The Three Little Leaves and the Grasshopper
Hannah… The Three Little Dwarves and the Giant
Moshe… The Three Little Squares and the Big Bad Triangle
Ella… The Three Cupcakes and the Cake
Maor… The Three Little Snakes and the Big Bird
Ayden… The Three Little Critters and the Big Bad Critter
Hadas… The Three Little Bunnies and the Cat

Are Artists Designers?

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Even when we have “free build” in design lab, we design for a reason. We have to think: who did I design for? What problem am I trying to fix? What does my creation do? Why did I choose it? Where will it be used?

During a lively discussion about different types of designers, some fourth graders were thinking about whether artists are designers. What does it mean to be a designer? Students came to the conclusion that designers usually aim to solve a problem. So, what problem do artists solve? Eitan responded, “Artists solve the problem of not enough beauty.”

Students at JCDSRI are thoughtful and curious about how they can impact the world.

An example of the ability of the young designers and artists at JCDSRI is shown in a recent design challenge. In making cardboard chairs come to life, students were given the design challenge: “How might we design these (very plain) cardboard chairs so that they display our unique quaIMG_6820lities as humans and demonstrate our learning outcomes from this year?” Below are some photos or the chairs that bring more beauty to the world, straight from the hands of young designers.

IMG_6818  IMG_6819

Third Grade Students Produce Music Video

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Our Third Graders produced this wonderful music video highlighting the 5 times table. We applaud their enthusiasm and creativity! Their teacher, Kareesh Bour, also left them a special surprise message at the end of the video (with a little help from her son!), so you may want to watch through to the very end.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/158481664″]

To be wrong is the right way…

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Common belief is that if you are wrong or didn’t get the right answer, you can not learn anything. This myth causes our kids to develop a fear of failing, fear of saying the wrong answer, fear of not being right – they often don’t see that making mistakes helps you find the way to be right, and, most importantly, that there is NO learning without making mistakes. That was the lesson my students learned this week. I introduced them to Albert Einstein’s story: when he was a child, his teachers told him, ” No flower will grow from this field.” Can you imagine what would have happened if had listened to them and stopped trying to make “mistakes?” It could have been a great loss for humankind.

Maybe we don’t need bridges anymore…

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As it turns out, bridges are tough to build. Especially with constraints. Students were only allowed to use 100 popsicle sticks and white glue to build their bridges! Constraints drive creativity. Third graders persevered and learned to ‘fail forward fast’ and have a ‘bias toward action.’ Fail forward fast inspires designers to go with their instinct, build fast, and evaluate effectiveness of a prototype soIMG_6672 that they can move quickly onto making a better prototype. Similarly, bias toward action inspires designers to, again, go with their instincts rather than pondering the potential effectiveness of a prototype. In design lab, we do more and ponder less.

As of now, the bridges have been built, but not with complete success. In design lab, however, children know that they learn from failure and that it will only help them with the next prototype they build.

The innovative nature of the students in this classroom is evident. While monitoring the prototyping process, I overheard a small group of students whose building wasn’t going so well talking to one another: “If we were bridge builders, we would teach cars how to swim.”