*Updated March 9 – see section in italics below, plus a few new photos!*
What are we learning? More like, what aren’t we learning? Students are deep into their studies, learning from the world around them and making meaning of their experiences. Below are glimpses into a few TTS classes!
In Honors Environmental Science, students are currently engaging in their second “scavenger hunt”. Their first “scavenger hunt” took place at Pambiliňo, a forest school deep in the jungle. Our current scavenger hunt is taking place deep in the Amazon Rainforest! In each of these scavenger hunts, students are asked to seek Information through conversations with guides and through their lived experiences and observations. They are also asked to apply what they read or learned about in science class, therefore making sense of scientific terms, such as ecosystems, trophic levels, communities, biodiversity, and more as they observe their “roles” in the “real world”.
In Honors Literature and Composition, students have been reading poetry that broadens their understanding of the stories of Latin American women. After reading and discussing work by Sonia Guiñansaca, Elena Poniatowska, and Juana de Ibarbourou, they started a poetry writing assignment in which they were challenged to capture images of the memories that were formative to their identity. Currently, they are looking forward to an upcoming poetry slam and excited to start reading their first novel, House of Spirits, this week.
In Honors Spanish III, students are finishing their unit on identity, guided by the question: “Who am I in Spanish “? In the process of answering this question, students learned descriptive vocabulary and complex sentence structure. Assignments included skits pertaining to advanced grammar tenses, character description exercises, and a poem based on Otavalo murals practicing the descriptive techniques used by Pablo Neruda. Now, they are gearing up for their midterm project, a creative writing assignment.
While these are glimpses into a few classes, TTS’s classes often overlap and connect with one another. We make every effort for our academics to be as interdisciplinary as possible. For example, this Thursday, students will be submitting their Oral History Projects, a project they completed for Global Studies, History, and Spanish. For this project, students interviewed their host family in Agualongo, Ecuador, about subjects of their choice. Subjects included the community’s history, family education, gender norms, and more. Students then reflected upon their interview and made sense of their learnings in a written essay.
See below for pictures of the first science scavenger hunt, as well as pictures of the homestays in Agualongo.
Best,
Arden & TTS Teachers
Added 3/9:
