2012-2013 themes
1st unit: community Building
Community is a core value of GRACE After School. Our focus is the community of scholars in our program, the neighborhood community, and the global community. Our goal is to be a community that blesses our community.
For students in the program to learn, grow, and achieve their goals they must believe in the power of strong community and know that GRACE is a safe place where they can trust staff, volunteers, and other students. This is why we spent the first 6 weeks of 2012 developing community expectations together, playing together and learning routines together. We hope the time an energy invested at the beginning of the year will pay off with more commitment, more cooperation and more respect throughout 2012-2013.
At GRACE, we want to teach our students the importance of cooperation and mutual respect. We do that through sharing resources, participating in group games and team-building activities, helping each other with homework, reading to each other, and working together in the GRACE community garden.
For students in the program to learn, grow, and achieve their goals they must believe in the power of strong community and know that GRACE is a safe place where they can trust staff, volunteers, and other students. This is why we spent the first 6 weeks of 2012 developing community expectations together, playing together and learning routines together. We hope the time an energy invested at the beginning of the year will pay off with more commitment, more cooperation and more respect throughout 2012-2013.
At GRACE, we want to teach our students the importance of cooperation and mutual respect. We do that through sharing resources, participating in group games and team-building activities, helping each other with homework, reading to each other, and working together in the GRACE community garden.
2nd UNIT: Soccer & International Cultures
3 students work on jerseys as part of the unit.
Because many GRACE students come from Africa or Asia, they can relate to soccer and the important role it has in culture. As a means of celebrating the diversity of Buffalo's west side and of our students, we chose to explore world cultures through the lens of international soccer. The students attended a University at Buffalo college soccer match, screen-printed GRACE soccer jerseys, learned skills and drills that are essential to good soccer, researched the lives and careers of famous international soccer players, and presented their findings.
3rd Unit: literacy
A majority of GRACE After School students are ELLs (English Language Learners), which means they must constantly compensate for a lack of English proficiency in nearly every part of their lives in Buffalo. Learning English is--understandably--a constant challenge and often a source of anxiety.
The literacy and writing unit was designed to give students as much freedom of choice as possible within the structure of GRACE After School, and defuse any pressure to perform that students might feel. The unit kicked off with a baking activity in which students used reading skills to pick a dessert recipe they were interested in from a cookbook, then made a list of required ingredients from the book. Afterwards they baked the desserts and enjoyed eating them.
This unit was driven by student interests and choice, so there were always multiple literacy stations available for students to engage in, including reading aloud, playing word games like Bananagrams or Hangman, and writing letters to friends.
After a few weeks of stations, we extended the unit by exploring poetry, a powerful expression of literacy. This section included reading poetry aloud, listening to recited poetry (classic poetry, children's poetry and spoken word), talking about the structure and function of poetry, and writing poetry.
The literacy and writing unit was designed to give students as much freedom of choice as possible within the structure of GRACE After School, and defuse any pressure to perform that students might feel. The unit kicked off with a baking activity in which students used reading skills to pick a dessert recipe they were interested in from a cookbook, then made a list of required ingredients from the book. Afterwards they baked the desserts and enjoyed eating them.
This unit was driven by student interests and choice, so there were always multiple literacy stations available for students to engage in, including reading aloud, playing word games like Bananagrams or Hangman, and writing letters to friends.
After a few weeks of stations, we extended the unit by exploring poetry, a powerful expression of literacy. This section included reading poetry aloud, listening to recited poetry (classic poetry, children's poetry and spoken word), talking about the structure and function of poetry, and writing poetry.
4th unit: seeds of hope & resurrection
Aiden holds a sunflower seed.
As the seasons change and Spring begins to bloom, our fourth enrichment unit shaped up as an exploration of how death yields to life, both in the garden and in our own lives.
The unit kicked off with an urban maple sugaring demonstration. Our students got the opportunity to explore the process of making maple syrup, from tapping maple trees to boiling the sap for hours. It was fascinating to see how something so sweet and delicious can come from a leafless tree that seems locked in the grip of winter weather.
High school students from Columbus, Ohio shared about their experience with compost when they worked at 5 Loaves Farm. They talked to our students about the miracle of life--how when things die and rot, they become the source and foundation of new life--and then our students got to work with some worm compost in preparation for planting seeds.
The unit kicked off with an urban maple sugaring demonstration. Our students got the opportunity to explore the process of making maple syrup, from tapping maple trees to boiling the sap for hours. It was fascinating to see how something so sweet and delicious can come from a leafless tree that seems locked in the grip of winter weather.
High school students from Columbus, Ohio shared about their experience with compost when they worked at 5 Loaves Farm. They talked to our students about the miracle of life--how when things die and rot, they become the source and foundation of new life--and then our students got to work with some worm compost in preparation for planting seeds.