News from Around the Playground
Chebeague Island 5th grade students joined Harrison Middle School Students from Yarmouth to participate in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s LabVenture Program where they collected data and developed conclusions regarding climate change in our area.
Gulf of Maine Research
Education Day at the Sea Dogs!
Take a minute to write an introduction that is short, sweet, and to the point. If you sell something, use this space to describe it in detail and tell us why we should make a purchase. Tap into your creativity. You’ve got this.
Boston experiences for older grades as a culmination to learning about Early American History leading to the American Revolution.
School Concerts!
Performing the Winter and Spring Concerts at the Island Hall is a highlight of the year for our school family and the greater Chebeague Island Community. We are grateful and fortunate to have our amazing music teacher, Sharon Trace, who works on vocals and instruments with our students in such a caring way!
We love to read and are so happy that adults and children read together at CIS! We will miss book time with Ms. Kirkpatrick after she retires this year from being our Superintendent.
Plots and Coordinates
What better way to learn about plotting coordinates than to create a large plot graph of all the important places on Chebeague Island to display!
Welcome Bella!
After passing the Canine Good Citizen Trainings and Test, Bella was registered as a therapy dog and is enjoying time at school many days. Having Bella at school is a win-win for all!
We were lucky to have the opportunity to visit three different theatres this year for three different performances: Wabanaki Stories at Merrill Auditorium, Sleeping Beauty Ballet at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, and Beauty & The Beast at Pickard Theatre on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick.
Theatre Trips
Virtual Mars Mission
Students participated in a Mars Mission with NASA. They reviewed and analyzed data in teams to identify potential landing sights and exploration areas for a future Mars Rover.
Essay Winner!
Congratulations to Ben Nadeau for winning first place from the local chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution’s annual 5th grade essay contest. This year’s topic was connected to “Stars and Stripes Forever,” the patriotic march by John Phillip Sousa. Students were asked to pretend they were reporting on the first performance of this piece as news reporters and needed to include both accurate historical information as well as create interpretive thoughts about the music.
Thank you to Tina Runge for supporting our students through the essay contest process!
Wabanaki Stories
Merrill Auditorium, Portland
We took a trip to the mainland to attend a performance of Wabanaki Storytellers. This field trip was planned to support our focus on learning how to celebrate Wabanaki History and Culture as the First People of our geographic area as part of a broader study of Indigenous People of North America.
In the Woods
CIS is so lucky to have the woods as an extension of our playground. Building shelters, decorating trees to feed the animals, and hosting a solstice walk with lanterns are a few things that keep us busy in the woods.
A Visit to Chebeague Island Historical Society
Students got a private tour of the exhibit “Growing Up Chebeague” with Donna Damon who shared the history of the island schools beginning with learning that the historical society is located in the original island schoolhouse! Students learned that the island had the need for 3 schools to teach over 100 island students at one time not that long ago! After touring the exhibit, Donna shared Wabanaki artifacts from Chebeague Island and we discussed the first people to inhabit the island many years ago.
Learning about Kelp and Kelp Fishing
We are so fortunate to have community members and families who support “place-based” learning utilizing the amazing outdoor classroom the the island provides, allowing us to extend our classroom experiences to the broader world and environment. Some island fishermen are diversifying their fisheries and the Putnam family invited us to participate in the seeding process on their kelp farm and even gave the students their own line of kelp marked with a buoy signed with all of their names!
Island Institute Multi-Island Field Trip
Hidden Valley Nature Center-Jefferson, ME
Fire Safety & Prevention
As member’s of the Teaching and Learning Collaborative through Island Institute, Chebeague Island School participated in the Fall inter-island field trip hosted at Hidden Valley Nature Preserve in Jefferson, ME. Our students were able to join other island students and teachers from the outer islands of Frenchboro, Monhegan, Isle Au Haut, Great Cranberry, Cliff, and Islesboro. Student were able to socialize in mixed-island groupings while they cycled through various outdoor activities that included hiking to a cranberry bog, participating in a wellness session, riding fat-bikes on trails, collaborating during an outdoor scavenger hunt. Our students loved having outdoor learning and socializing time on the Fall Field Trip and were able to visit in person with students from their weekly inter-island on-line book clubs from many other islands.
Team Building at Cow Island
Rippleffect Program
Chebeague Island School students complete a day of team-building activities each year as a way to build upon support and trust for each other as peers and as individual people.
Students worked in teams to keep each other safe
Challenged by choice on the rock-climbing wall
Side-by-side they reached the top!
Linked together through the "laser box"
Shared ideas and listened to each other to make the boat balance!
The Hook as Learning Lab
Students documented “The Hook” before and after the arrival of Hurricane Lee in September. They observed first-hand, and through photographs, to see how the biospheres of the Earth can interact with each other. Students learned that the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere can all be effected in a coastal storm. The Hook provided a place-based learning model for students to study an event involving all four spheres in Earth’s Systems and expand their knowledge regarding fast and slow changes that occur on Earth.
Community Time
All grades (PK-5) come together for Community Time every Wednesday morning. Together, we have a Morning Meeting to greet each other, share about school and home, and support CIS as one multi-age community. Students are matched younger to older to do activities and read together. It is a favorite time of the week for everyone at school!
Fall Field Trip
Cumberland Fair
Sweetser’s Apple Orchard
Welcome to the CIS STEM Lab!
Students at Chebeague Island School are engaged and excited to spend time in the new S.T.E.M (Science. Technology. Engineering. Math) Lab! All students at CIS have time each day to make choices and explore hands-on STEM experiences in the lab. They have opportunities to design & “make” things which helps to create “I CAN” dispositions. They challenge ideas and thinking through a variety of activities in the Lab. Our STEM Lab has a Maker Space that includes two 3-D printers, an area with Building and Engineering materials, Coding opportunities through the use of Coding Bots and Apps, “Hacking” experiences such as connecting and creating circuits that snap together, and many games and books to support learning about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in integrated ways.
In addition to daily STEM Lab time, students at Chebeague Island School have the opportunity to expand on their STEM learning through weekly STEM challenges, After School programming, Outdoor Education, and Interdisciplinary Real-World Experiences. It is our belief at CIS that STEM skills need to be developed and encouraged in the early years of a child’s education in order to support the learning and skills needed to be successful in the 21st century! The STEM Lab is one way for students to develop skills and become engaged in STEM work!
Cuttyhunk Island & New Bedford
In May, the 3-5 class had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Cuttyhunk Island, MA to participate with the Island Institute TLC spring trip. This experience connected the students with other outer islands and small class schools to learn together, build tin foil boats together, bowl together and SO much more. After 2.5 days on Cuttyhunk, the students returned to New Bedford where they went to the Whaling Museum and Fishing Heritage Center. Check out just a sliver of the fun the kids had while away!
Congratulations Morgan!
Morgan won 1st place for 5th graders for his essay on the Second Continental Congress from the Elizabeth Wadsworth Chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). He also won 2nd place for the entire state of Maine! Congratulations to Morgan!
A big thanks to Tina Runge for volunteering her time and talents to help with the essay.