Teachers, school administrators, high school placement counselors, consultants, and all education professionals who are interested in learning how we teach are invited to join in discussion and observation of what makes School One students excited to get to class.
Thursday, January 30, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. @ School One 220 University Ave., Providence, RI 02906
During this special Open House, educators will learn about the thoughtful arcs and approaches that School One teachers use to lead students though the term.
After a session of front-loading curricular goals, visiting educators will have the choice to observe...
- GREEK LITERATURE* an advanced English class
- FORENSICS** an entry level science class
- MASKS, MONSTERS, MASCOTS*** a multilevel art class
At the end of classroom observation, all will regroup with students from those classes to discuss their shared experiences.
*GREEK LITERATURE: The Measure of All Things
Cary Honig
This is the second trimester of a full year exploration of the development of one of the world’s most advanced, artistic and influential cultures. The group utilizes literature to examine ways in which literature, art, religion, government, social and sexual mores, science and philosophy were motivated by similar needs, ideas and desires. They also assess the significant groundwork the Greeks provided for modern culture. This trimester, the class focuses on one of the most productive centuries in world history. In the 5th century, B.C., Athens alone managed to create tragedy, comedy and the closest thing ever to full democracy (for male citizens), build the Parthenon, create the "classical" style of Greek art and produce atomic theory, narrative history and such earth-shattering thinkers and writers as Sophocles, Euripides, Socrates, Aristophanes and Plato and such fascinating politicians as Themistocles, Pericles, Cleon and Alcibiades. Athens also managed to help defeat the greatest empire on earth and then horrifically bungle an apparent victory in a thirty-year war with Sparta in a way that led our Founding Fathers to install checks and balances in our Constitution. The class's central homework focus is the first true history book, Herodotus's Persian Wars, in which students find out how (in)accurate the movie 300 was. Students read excerpts from the second great history book, Thucydides's Peloponnesian War, and discuss how these two historians’ views of history were meant to influence the Greek present. In class, students read aloud some of the greatest plays of all time: Sophocles's Oedipus, Oedipus At Colonus and Antigone, Euripides's The Trojan Women and Medea and Aristophanes's Lysistrata. These great plays are connected with the history of their times to understand what was really at stake for the playwrights. Early in the trimester, the class has looked at the beginnings of Greek art and philosophy.
This class will prepare students for college level work with an essay due almost every week and challenging but rewarding reading. Willingness to voice opinions, participate in play reading and ask questions is necessary. This class is an intellectual marathon. Nil sine magno vita labore dedit mortalibus.
**FORENSICS
Carly McCalla
In this trimester of forensic science, the class dives deeper into the analytical techniques used to examine evidence during crime scene investigation, exploring how multiple disciplines such as chemistry and biology work hand in hand to reveal hidden details. As an introduction to scientific investigation, students build foundational skills in data collection, graphing, analytical writing and critical thinking—all through the lens of forensic science. This class goes beyond the “how” of forensic techniques; it’s about challenging the science itself. Students ask big questions: How does chemistry help us understand the causes of fires and explosions? What role does toxicology play in analyzing substances? And, Just how reliable is blood analysis in a real-world investigation? Units like Arson and Explosions, Toxicology and Serology guide students through the methods and materials that forensic experts use, but students also examine the limitations of these methods—distinguishing between solid science and what has been referred to as “junk science”. Throughout this course, students generate and analyze data in order to sharpen their ability to think critically about the role of science in the justice system. Students are expected to develop a forensic scientist’s critical eye and understand the science behind crime-solving on a deeper level.
***MASKS, MONSTERS, MASCOTS, oh my!
Lizzie Brown
Have you ever wondered how your favorite movie monster was made or how experienced cosplayers put together their nonhuman looks? Students join Lizzie and to learn how.
In this class, students follow the steps of designing a character for costume fabrication, learn a variety of strategies used to create everything from cartoon heads to hyper-realistic animatronics, study human-performed costumes across a variety of media, make informed choices about how to build their own character, use small-scale models to test possible building methods, discover the manufacturing process of various materials and learn their impacts on the environment, bring their character to life and take them home.
Key topics covered are design, material study including environmental analysis, fabrication, personal research and budgeting.
With questions or comments about the Educators' Open House, reach out to Michaela O'Donnell via email or call 401.331.2497
