Nov. 9-15, 2016 - NORTHERN DUTCHESS NEWS & Creative Living 25

SCHOOL OF THE WEEK: CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON, RHINEBECK

Students from Chancellor Livingston School inRhinebeck took part in a Harry Potter-themedevent on Oct. 26 and 31. In the photos, top left, a group of students gathersaround their house. Right, Julian DeGennarorides a Quidditch broomstick during the competition. Left, is the sign of House Rulesfrom the character development curriculum –responsibility, integrity, collaboration andrespect. Photos by Curtis Schmidt

Rhinebeck students build character with Harry Potter-themed eventby Stacey van den Thoorn

Students in third through fifth grades atthe Chancellor Livingston ElementarySchool (CLS) in Rhinebeck were involvedin a unique character education unit on Oct.26 and 31 that incorporated a Harry Pottertheme and the grouping of individual class-es into the four houses of Hogwarts.

Special area teachers at the schoolworked together developing a curriculumthat assisted in the character developmentof students in the areas of respect, responsi-bility, collaboration and integrity.

Over the summer, the CLS Specials teamcomprised of physical education teachersKevin Yarnell and Ryan Edson, along withmusic teacher Sandy Kane, art teacher FawnJohnson, band teacher Steph Calli andlibrarian Nora Kindley, worked collabora-tively to create a program that would engagestudents and provide character buildingopportunities with a familiar spin.

The unit began with a group meeting ofall the third- through fifth-grade classes whowere then “sorted,” (according to theSorting Hat, of course) into the four housesof Hogwarts, which as Potter fans know areGryffindor, Hufflepluff, Ravenclaw andSlytherin. Once the houses were estab-lished, a variety of lessons, activities andevents were introduced and incorporatedduring special area periods over one monthwhich allowed each house to earn HouseCup beads to be tallied at the program’s end.

Of the various events and activitiesinvolved were the transformation of theschool’s gymnasium and equipment duringphysical education classes to provide areplica Queerditch Marsh, which accordingto Potter legend was the location whereKwidditch (a primitive form of Quidditch -a broomstick mounted game to which theobject is to earn more points than youropponent by scoring goals and ultimately tocatch the 150 point Snitch. The game ends when the Snitch is caught or an agree-ment is reached between the captains ofboth teams).

For the match, each student received aFirebolt broomstick (a foam hockey stick

for imaginary flight) to use during gamesand could choose their Quidditch playingposition of Seeker, Goalie or Chaser. Thestudents competed in various modifiedQuidditch matches throughout the monthproviding ample time to practice team sportskills and develop strategies. The programculminated with the very first CLSQuidditch World Cup Finals between thehouses.

In Art, fifth grade students created papi-er-mâché’ owls to display throughout theschool, while fourth grade students painteddesigns on feathered quills and then usedthe quills to practice cursive handwriting.Fourth graders also used a continuous linedrawing technique to create colorfulabstract owl drawings.

Third-grade students experimented withthe “secret ingredient” of shaving creamand discovered how it magically marbleizespaper which was later used as the back-ground for chalk pastel dragon drawings.

In STEM (science, technology, engi-neering and mathematics) students in fourthand fifth grade learned that cooperationthrough collaboration leads to the most pro-ductive, positive, interesting, and success-ful solutions.

Fifth-grade students learned about robot-ics, built robots and completed an engineer-ing challenge to design and build a roboticextension that enabled the robot to moveblocks through a course. Fourth-grade stu-dents learned about kinetic and potentialenergy, and designed a restraint system toprotect an egg in a model car that crashedinto a cabinet.

“All of our projects were collaborative,and focused on teaching students howimportant it is to listen to and respect theopinions and input of their peers,” saidSTEM educator David Woulfin.

The CLS library was transformed intothe famous train station Platform 9 and 3/4from the Harry Potter series, complete witha magical brick wall and Wizarding Worlddecorations. Fifth-grade students per-formed a play while the fourth grade had amagic celebration with various activities,and third grade students heard The Tales of

Beedle the Bard.Meanwhile, in music, students explored

film scores and the musical world of HarryPotter by studying American ComposerJohn Williams. This lesson educated stu-dents on how a composer uses leitmotif in afilm score to represent characters andplaces, and how those themes direct themood of a film. Finally, in band, studentslearned how to perform pieces from theHarry Potter score.

Throughout the month each house wasgiven opportunity to earn House Cup beadsthat were used to reinforce positive behavior and recognition of the associated

character traits of respect, responsibility,integrity and collaboration. Following thefinal Quidditch Championship playoffs, aHouse Cup Assembly was held and thefinal beads tallied for house recognition.

“This entire unit was a lot of fun for all,”said Yarnell. “It really made students realizethat the more you work together, the moreof a chance you have to succeed.”Additional, Character Education units willbe implemented throughout the rest of the school year, but according to Yarnell,plans for next year’s Harry Potter Character Education Unit are already beingconsidered.