The Baker News is a peek inside our classrooms. Each edition of the Baker News features articles about our Early Childhood, Primary, Intermediate and Middle School divisions, as well as news from the Baker community. We hope you enjoy our stories!
Early Childhood News
Kindergarteners Recreate Flight of the Monarch Butterfly
Kindergarteners culminated their in-depth lesson on monarch butterflies with a special butterfly activity. Parents were invited to watch as students donned their handmade wings and “flew” through Baker to recreate the migration of the monarch butterfly to Mexico. They ended their flight on the field, where they sang “Gotta Go to Mexico” and other songs about monarch butterfly migration.
Students began their study of butterflies at the beginning of the year. They raised and released monarchs, learning about the metamorphosis of butterflies and their life cycles. Students also took a virtual field trip to Michoacán, Mexico to watch the great monarch migration.
“We continued with our butterfly unit and the students were able to draw pictures of the sequence of the metamorphosis,” said kindergarten teacher Jen Cvetas. “They painted butterflies and used their knowledge of symmetry to create the patterns on the wings. They also used watercolors and pipe cleaners to make butterflies.”
Primary News
Third-graders Study Chicago River
Third-grade teacher Jane Rothschild recently led her students on a short field trip off campus to find the Chicago River! Students walked toward the Baha’i Temple and observed the river along the way.
“We wanted to visit the North Shore Channel portion of the river, in order to better understand the river system and its role as the city grew,” Rothschild said. “We stopped on the bridge on Maple Avenue and again at Linden.”
As students continued their walk east, they were able to see where the channel meets Lake Michigan and view how engineers built a lock to control the flow of lake water into the channel, and eventually into the main branches of the Chicago River.
Intermediate News
Fourth- and Fifth-graders Zoom with Local Entrepreneurs
The Baker Business School, a signature fourth- and fifth-grade program, recently kicked off with a virtual Symposium featuring local entrepreneurs.
Students Zoomed with business people from a variety of industries, including Mishra Keller, of Nutrisults, Jessica Kaplan of Jessica Kaplan Photography, Michael Lavin of Germin8 Ventures and Andrew Bauman of Creative Edge Visual Solutions. Students were placed in breakout rooms for presentations from each entrepreneur. They also heard from Samantha Paris of Orion’s Mind.
Students will also take virtual field trips to Chicago-area businesses, including Ten Thousand Villages, Wheel and Sprocket, Earth Paint and Sweet Beginnings, this week and next. Many of the businesses have a focus on a social justice and diversity.
The Baker Business School is an integrated unit for fourth- and fifth-graders, giving students the opportunity to participate in each phase of the entrepreneurial cycle.
Students learn about local businesses, as well as business ethics and corporate responsibility, the labor movement and historical and current struggles for worker’s rights. The Business School culminates with the BBS Market.
Middle School News
Seventh-graders Study Power Through Lens of Social Studies
Image from thisishowyoucan.com
At the beginning of the school year, seventh-graders in Laura Michalski’s social studies class built on their knowledge of the Six Aspects of Social Studies (history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, and geography) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, taking a deep dive into these topics and reviewing concepts introduced in sixth grade.
Students are applying this knowledge to explore a topic and power dynamic of their choice. They are using the Wheel of Power, a visualization of marginalization that includes appearance, wealth, housing, and other categories, to inform the project.
“Students thoughtfully selected a topic and uncovered the role the Six Aspects (history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, and geography) have in providing access to power for some identities while marginalizing others,” Michalski said. “Having uncovered barriers which prevent access to power, the students will research the efforts and work being done by social justice activists and organizations within the Latino community, in alignment with Hispanic Heritage Month, which was Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.”
Michalski said the last step of the project will be for students to create an action plan of realistic, pivotal steps that will contribute to creating a more open path toward power.
All School News
Baker Community Comes Together for Cardboard Challenge
Baker families enjoyed the ninth annual Cardboard Challenge on Oct. 16! The Baker community constructed whimsical creations from cardboard and duct tape. Enjoy these photos from the event! Click the photos to make them larger.
