Potomac Stories

Guests enjoyed visiting our annual Invention Convention last Friday, where they learned about the unique creations dreamed up by our grade 5 students, including “The Bun Fun Enrichment Pit,” “Hot Hand,” “The Pac-Man Pop It,” and many more. While displaying their inventions, students described the process of developing their prototypes and shared their cost analysis and marketing ideas. Congratulations to all of our young inventors. Check out the photos!

Sixth graders recently dove deeper into their studies on the moon phases. During science, the students completed 12 observations and chose how to present the data for their moon projects. This week, Middle and Intermediate School students visited the grade 6 "Moon-seum" and heard presentations from the sixth graders. It was a great opportunity to showcase their confidence in their moon knowledge and flex their public speaking skills. Next up, students will finish their study of the solar system and build Galileo’s telescope. View the photo gallery.

In a wonderful example of cross-divisional collaboration and cultural exchange, students from Carol Jia’s US Chinese classes recently visited Mr. Nadel’s MS music classes to help fifth graders practice Chinese pronunciation and tones while they are practicing a Chinese song. Through fun activities and interactive speaking exercises, the younger students learned how to pronounce key words accurately and recognize different tones in Mandarin. The Upper Schoolers served as language mentors, demonstrating proper pronunciation and encouraging confident speaking. 

In grade 4 social studies, students used a jigsaw collaboration strategy to learn about historical events and their impacts. Students worked with a partner to read about an event and completed a graphic organizer that included a summary, causes, and short and long term effects. They then presented their findings to the class, who took notes about the key ideas to learn about more events.

Fifth graders in Mrs. Dunkelberger's art classes have been working on murals using shapes as a metaphor for their personality attributes. As personalities, geometric shapes are predictable, explainable, and understandable whereas organic shapes are imperfect and full of individual character. Like characters in a play, students designed a narrative of how their shape or personality fits into the classroom dynamic. Some shapes join together or are near in proximity to each other, some are below to act as support or helpers in the classroom, while others are on the periphery of the design. 

In Tech and Innovation, fourth graders recently launched their Market Day businesses. Part business, branding, economics, and marketing - this day also runs on one key Potomac Life Skill - financial literacy. Students learn about small businesses and what it means to build a brand. Students partnered up to decide how they’d use their $50 budget. Fourth graders had the option to either create their own products or purchase them, with a focus on branding and packaging. They welcomed kindergarteners and first graders to K-1 Mart last Friday for a fun-filled hour of shopping! Enjoy photos!