Year-Long Themes at The Atrium School

Much of each school day at the Atrium School focuses on core academic studies, such as mathematics, language arts and humanities.  This classwork advances specific skillsets. 

With an approach that sets Atrium apart, each classroom further ignites curiosity and integrates students’ knowledge by exploring a single, multi-faceted, year-long organizing theme. Theme-based work enables teachers and students to delve into multidisciplnary connections, weaving personal passions and interests together with new ideas and others' perspectives. 

In planning a theme, teachers choose central organizing ideas from which other concepts and topics can be developed. We look for themes that have some universality, are about things worth knowing, and are developmentally appropriate for the age level we are teaching. Ideally it is something inherently interesting that starts with what the children already know and yet can be looked at from multiple perspectives. Having an overarching theme allows children to dig deeply and make connections. It also gives them a framework onto which they can incorporate new knowledge, make sense of it, remember it, and use it to generalize across contexts. It builds a sense of community in the classroom around learning, and gives a context or “story” for the year’s learning.

PreKindergarten

Kindergarten

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

Sixth Grade

PreKindergarten -- "What is Change?"

Our overall theme in Pre-K is organized around the big question, “What is change?” We explore the changes in ourselves, our community, and the environment around us. Change can be defined as becoming different in some particular way, without permanently losing certain characteristics or essence. For example, we learn that although we may grow taller or lose a tooth, we are essentially still the same person. Even though the trees and leaves change, they are still in fact trees and leaves. Change is an important concept to study and understand, as Pre-K’ers are diligent observers of their environment and often ask the question “why?” The goal of our theme is for the children to constantly reflect on themselves and environment and notice what has been modified or altered and find an understanding of why these changes occurred. This will allow children to begin noticing similarities and differences and to be active participants in the world.

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Kindergarten and First Grade -- “What happens in Harbors?”

Our year-long study of Boston Harbor provides us with many opportunities to become writers, historians, mathematicians and scientists. Explorations of Boston Harbor, along with classroom activities, help us discover sea and animal life, the past and present uses of our harbor, and learn about the people who live and work there. Throughout the years we have established ties with institutions such as Northeastern University, the New England Aquarium, the National Park Service and the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. This has allowed us to do things such as tidepooling on a private beach in Nahant, visiting a Boston Harbor Island, and touring a cruise ship and container terminal in downtown Boston. We do have plans for specific field trips this year, but always welcome new opportunities for learning. If you have any ideas or connections, please let us know.

In class activities include units on the food chain, animal habitats, and adaptations creatures have to help them survive. Throughout the year, children will make and learn about maps. At first they will create maps of areas familiar to them to develop a sense of place and to help them recognize new ways to represent what they know. Toward the end of the year, they will work on an individual research project.

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Second and Third Grade -- "What is a Human Being?"

A significant component of our human being study centers on human resilience in the face of struggle, and BRAVERY. This work is very important for creating cohesion and teaching children to take risks that help them learn and grow.  We begin the year talking about “Facing Our Dragons” or fears, about how to take risks that will help us learn and grow. The children have a chance to talk about things they are afraid of, and to identify risks they would like to take this year. We learn about dragons and dragon folklore, and the children create their own special dragons to symbolize the things they want to conquer.

In addition to learning about the things that all humans have in common, we take a close look at human variation. We explore ways that human beings can be different in terms of learning styles and abilities. We build on the concept of respect, including respecting and taking care of ourselves, each other, and the environment. We will learn about finding our own authentic voices, listening to the voices of others, being allies to ourselves and others, and standing up for what we think is right. We learn how to be an “ally” and what being an ally has meant in many different historical contexts. We work toward a sense of empowerment and pride in sharing our individual gifts and in being who we are as people, and talk about times in history when people have worked together to create change, such as the Civil Rights Movement.

Community Service: Starting in the second semester, third graders will have the opportunity to be heroes in their own right. We will learn how children can and have helped to create positive change in the world around them. Taking inspiration from this and from the heroes and history we studied last year, third graders will initiate and carry out their own community service projects, based upon what concerns and inspires them.

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Fourth/Fifth Grade -- “Who are we as Innovators?”

To answer this question, "who are we as Innovators?", we study ancient civilizations and what remains of them as well as what important innovations they left behind for us. We will use the sun and how it impacts innovations over time as an ongoing thread in our curriculum.

We begin the year by building a common language for our study of ancient civilizations. Through research and instruction, we investigate the history and innovations of Mesopotamia, ancient China, as well as ancient peoples such as the Maya. Some of the concepts we will explore are: "What is time?" "What makes something ancient?" and "What defines a civilization?" As we explore history, we reflect on the social structures of our present, current world. Specifically, we think about how social structures develop, and are organized and maintained. This leads us to many opportunities to reflect on and take perspective on our society, including making connections to the management of our classroom.

The second half of the year, students focus on what impact we want to have on civilizations to come and what we want to leave behind. We look back to our study of ancient civilizations to help answer these questions. We continue to use the sun as our guiding thread to discuss the need for energy and energy innovation. Students explore solar energy and ways that we harness the sun’s energy. We conclude the year by investigating new methods to reduce our energy consumption at the Atrium School.

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Sixth Grade -- “How do we make choices?”

This question is a culmination of the thematic ideas studied throughout the grades at Atrium.While investigating this question, the sixth graders learn to think critically about their world and grow to see each other as resourceful members of their community.

We explore what choices are available to sixth graders in this community, and what elements contribute to the choices each student makes. As they develop their understanding of the meaning of choice, they begin to build an awareness of themselves and recognize the effects of their decisions.  This year, the first topic of investigation will be food. The students reflect upon their eating choices and look into the reasons behind them. This will lead to a study of where our food comes from, and how it gets to us. We will also be examining local food sources by taking field trips to farms and local stores. By investigating and comparing foods throughout history, we will develop a better understanding of how food has impacted the lives of people over time. They also learn about nutrition and how their food choices influence their health.

In the winter, we explore our second topic, investigating political maps and changing boundaries in the Middle East through the study of the history of the Ottoman Empire. Our research will examine the social and political choices that different populations made over 600 years of growth and then decline. We also look at what happened in the area once the empire fell as well as current events in the region.

As the spring returns, we will be looking again at personal choice and the environment. By investigating waste and waste management, the students develop a better understanding of the food cycle. They will learn how to test water and soil and utilize the Atrium’s compost to fertilize agricultural adventures.

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