Reading Support Specialist
The Reading Support Specialist observes children in the preschool and elementary grades at the recommendation of classroom teachers, with parent permission, and then plans with the teacher and parents how to support the student or differentiate the curriculum to meet the educational needs of the child. The Specialist works with individuals and small groups to give direct, methodical instruction to early readers who need extra support as well as offers academic support to older students who may need help with organizational or study skills. The Specialist may be available to provide before or after school tutoring to individual students on a fee per session basis.
Appropriate referrals are made for children with significant learning difficulties through a specific process (please see the Student Services Policy). If the needs of the child are outside the scope of the Reading Support Specialist's expertise, the Specialist or the Head of School will refer the family to other local learning specialists.
PE/Health Specialist
In grades 1-5, children have PE with the PE Specialist twice per week. In Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten, the children meet once per week with the PE Specialist and once per week with the Music and Movement Specialist.
Physical Education at Mulberry includes all the typical skill building children need such as ball handling, jumping rope, balancing and is conducted in a cooperative, non-competitive way. A goal of Mulberry's PE program is that, through introducing a variety of movement choices, every child can find some level of success in physical activity and "find that which speaks to you" and could become a lifelong passion.
Mulberry uses the S.P.A.R.K. (Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids) program as a guide for much of the program. The S.P.A.R.K. organization began studying elementary physical education in 1989, and today, the name SPARK represents a collection of exemplary, research-based physical activity/nutrition programs.
SPARK Objectives
The focus of SPARK is the development of healthy lifestyles, motor skills and movement knowledge, and social and personal skills.
It is expected that SPARK Physical Education/Physical Activity students will:
- Enjoy and seek out physical activity.
- Develop and maintain acceptable levels of physical fitness.
- Develop a variety of basic movement and manipulative skills so they will experience success and feel comfortable during present and future physical activity pursuits.
- Develop the ability to get along with others in movement environments (e.g., share space and equipment, employ the "golden rule" of competition-be a good sport, and demonstrate cooperative behavior).
Many different kinds of activities are introduced by the PE and Health Specialist or outside guests with the idea of helping children find something they enjoy doing that keeps their body strong and healthy. Children may be introduced to tai chi, ballet, hiking, lacrosse, double dutch jump rope or the famous rough-housing unit.
Nutrition is also incorporated. The PE and Health specialist may have children bring out their lunchboxes so they can talk about food as fuel for our wonderful bodies. Children learn why making good choices when it comes to carbohydrates, protein and water can affect how they feel and learn. For more information, refer to the Nutrition Guidelines for Mulberry (17 kb pdf).
CSTCS: Creating Sustainability Through Community Service
At Mulberry, children in grades 1-5 participate in community service projects for half the year on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm during the regular faculty/staff meeting time. During the other half of the year, children participate in drama. CSTCS is an "emergent" curriculum based on the interests of the children.
During CSTCS, children decide which daily choices are more sustainable for the planet. Children practice fulfilling their personal commitment to live in a way that is harmonious with nature and each other through participation in various community service projects. Using an inquiry-based model, students choose an area of interest and join with students of similar interests. Students work cooperatively to complete projects in their group and may try out other groups as well. The projects benefit the school and provide a model to the community that reflects consciousness and stewardship. Current projects include:
- School-wide compost buddies program
- Medicine wheel garden (native, medicinal plants)
- Gardening: composting, planting
- Painting projects: paint trash cans, walls, donation boxes
- Journalists: articles about sustainability for newspaper, educate community
- Rainforest Rangers: raise money to buy an acre of rainforest selling crafts and goodies
Music Specialists
Why do we teach music?
- Music is a science: It is definite, specific and demands exact acoustics.
- Music is a foreign language: It is a highly developed form of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas
- Music is mathematical: It is rhythmically based on the subdivision of time.
- Music is history: It reflects the environment and times of its creation.
- Music is physical education: It requires coordination and control of muscle which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.
- Music is all of these things, but most of all, it is art.
We teach music because it brings more love, compassion, gentleness, goodness, beauty and life…to life!
At Mulberry, there are actually 3 music specialists:
Music and Movement Specialist (Preschool through Kindergarten)
Once per week, children in all the preschool classes, junior kindergarten and kindergarten get a chance to move their bodies to different rhythms or act out both new and familiar stories to different types of music. They learn to distinguish between high-low, loud-quiet, fast-slow and explore different beats. Different props help make each class an adventure as children twirl with color scarves or hop into hula hoops to the beat.
Music Specialist (Grades JK-2)
The emphasis here is on experiencing the joy of singing. Students develop their singing voices and increase voice control. With more experience, children learn to sing in rounds and echo melody patterns. Children also spend time with instruments in order to study and listen for beat-rhythm, tempo, and timbre. Using their bodies or instruments, the students learn to reproduce rhythmic patterns.
Music Specialist (Grades 3-5)
The curriculum for the older students builds upon what has been learned. The children now memorize and sing more difficult pieces using several part harmonies. They practice sight-reading vocal music using the sol-fa syllables and perform the scale using solfege. They also learn to read, write and perform rhythmic patterns using quarter notes, half notes and whole notes. Students analyze music for dynamics and tempo. The recorder is introduced in third grade and continued through fourth. In fourth and fifth grade, students learn about the influence of various cultures and historical events on music and are able to identify musical forms from ancient music through the present as well as famous composers.
Drama Specialist
At Mulberry, children in grades 1-5 participate in drama for half the year on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm during the regular faculty/staff meeting time. During the other half of the year, children participate in community service and gardening projects. Mulberry also offers an after school drama program for children in JK-5th grades.
Mulberry's dram program is process, not product based. Students are encouraged to imagine, enact and reflect of their own experiences through theatre games and exercised. Theatre and improv games give children the opportunity to try on different character traits, act out their perceptions of the world and experience and explore stories and storytelling. Students find themselves more confident, able to speak in front of large groups and take positive risks with peers.
Drama encourages each of its participants to develop self-confidence and self-expression through risk-taking and exploration in activities that explore both real life and imaginary personal feelings and situations. Dramatic and imaginative play provides integration of a number of learning goals:
- Broadens childrens' understanding of the world around them as they experiment with different roles.
- Encourages teamwork, collaboration and respect for classmates.
- Promotes self-regulation and creative problem solving skills. Students need to coordinate multiple roles, accommodate changes in play scenarios, negotiate changes.
- Improves communication skills and active listening skills as children act out imaginary situations, roles and themes. They practice new vocabulary, articulation, projection and humor.
- Supports development of self esteem as children conquer fears and experience the thrill of being part of a cast and putting on a show for an audience.