The children were thus able to enhance key learning skills, such as listening and visualization techniques, and to take part in group collaboration exercises and question/answer sessions. These guests presented on a wide range of topics that complemented the classroom curriculum and allowed students to interact with experts from outside the school. Throughout the spring, the ASA hosted several guest speakers as part of its Visiting Speakers Series. “After the presentation, students were able to compare their lives to children living in colonial times.” “The students loved learning about the daily lives of children in colonial America,” said Cathy Izzo, a social studies teacher at the ASA. In this way, the concept of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” really hit home. Students had the chance to see demonstrations up close, including antique foot-powered toaster and candle-making tools, which left them with a stronger sense of how past generations appreciated every item in their homes, as most were grown, built, or made by families themselves. Billerica Historical Society historians demonstrate old-style bread toaster. While the elementary classes at the ASA have on many occasions read about colonial life in small New England towns, the dynamic presence of the historical actors and their demonstrations brought history to life. Guests from the Billerica Historical Society visited the school and engaged students with costumes and artifacts from a bygone era. “I think it gives them a different perspective being inside,” he said.LEXINGTON, Mass.-On June 13, the Armenian Sisters’ Academy (ASA) of Lexington completed its spring 2011 Visiting Speakers Series with a presentation on colonial New England. Mary’s Principal Brian Cote said the students seemed to enjoy and benefit from the presentation, especially going into the balloon to take a look at the globe from the inside out. “For me, geography put a lot of political and social things into context.” “Initially, I got into the geography field because I thought it gave me a more complete view, an ability to learn how different policies affect the people,” he said. Recent Bridgewater State graduate Patric Anjos, who grew up in Taunton, was a part of a small group of current and former geography students who accompanied the professors Friday. Massachusetts is on top of the country in math and English, but it’s at the expense of understanding where we fit in the world.” “In Massachusetts, the geography curriculum is fairly limited,” Hayes-Bohanan said. There is currently a bill on Beacon Hill that would add more geography to K-12 curriculums, he said. The geography department, Professor James Hayes-Bohanan said, is advocating for more geography to be taught in the public schools. Four years ago, Bridgewater State established Project Earthview and has since brought more than 30,000 Massachusetts students into the giant balloon. The hand-painted globe was created by a former engineering student and is believed to be one of only two such creations in the world, Domingo said. “It’s important for people to understand.” “We travel to schools every Friday to teach about geography,” Professor Vernon Domingo explained. The perspective really shifted when they opened up a door on the International Date Line and let the students step inside for a geography lesson. Professors from Bridgewater State University’s geography department visited the elementary school Friday with a 20-foot-tall inflatable globe to give the students a new perspective on the earth. Mary’s Primary School went on a journey, of sorts, to the center of the earth.
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