April 2026 at GAP School!

Yellow Superstars with Emily

In the month of April, the Yellow Superstars wrapped up their last unit with a pizza party! Through our shared class goal, learners celebrated their money skills as we ate this meal together. After our celebration ended, the Superstars have been researching and investigating our next big idea: GAP-ologies!

As the Yellow Superstars studied our big idea, they investigated a very important question: what is an ology? After identifying that "-ology" means the study of something, the learners have been studying a few different ologies themselves: scatology, phytology, and lepidopterology- the study of animal scat, plants, and butterflies! This awesome big idea allows for ELA and science to go hand in hand as we investigate. While studying scat, learners from GAP School's Emerald class came in and led a lesson on matching a species to their feces! After that, each learner was assigned an animal and their scat to make a model of. While studying plants as a class, we read books and completed packets while labeling the different parts of plants.

Our class goal this term is to earn a sweet treat called a "brookie", a delicious mix of brownie and cookie baked all in one! As they work towards this goal, the learners continue to reflect on the daily expectations. With each example of a met expectation given, we are building a complete flower with each of its important parts. To earn a brookie party, we will have to grow 20 complete flowers. We are more than halfway there already! While studying butterflies, our class has read nonfiction books on the butterfly life cycle, made an artistic model of the process, and has worked hard to write and illustrate narrative stories to take home on Community Day! 

In math, we continue to practice addition and subtraction facts, and have even introduced fractions! As a class we have been hands on while learning about equal sharing. In spirit of the brookie, we have been using wood cookie manipulatives. Here, we equally share our wood cookies between two or more people. When we have an odd number of cookies, we practice how to split them into equal parts. We have also been exploring measurement by practicing using a ruler and scales to experiment with length and weight. 

Other skills learners continue to build upon are phonemic awareness, letter and number formation, sentence structure, decoding and encoding words, taking time for nature connection, and gross and fine motor development by exploring and playing games.

Red Rubies with Virginia and Sapna

April has been a fun and exciting month for the Red Rubies. It was wonderful hearing about spring breaks and having that time to rest before jumping into the end of the school year. The Reds have been doing a great job of sustaining their energy and staying engaged in learning. We are so proud of all the progress and growth they have made as individuals and as a flock. 

This month in math, we have been focusing on telling time and money. First, we learned how to tell time on an analog clock, with the short hour hand and long minute hand. After growing comfortable with clocks, we transitioned to matching clock time to digital time. Expanding on this concept, we also learned about the history of clocks through timelines and time travel. Then, by creating a schedule for our dream day, we practiced writing times (hour : minute) and learned that AM runs from midnight until lunch, and PM runs from lunch to midnight. Continuing with money concepts for "Wage Wednesday", we compared the value of money and put lettuce on the higher amount for Hercules the red-footed tortoise to gobble up. To connect math with nature, we collected items and created price tags for them to practice writing money ($dollar.cents). Finally, we imagined being customers and cashiers as we played shop with our play money to practice adding and subtracting cash. 

The Red Rubies have created a goal to earn a frozen treat party. We are earning $30 to accomplish our goal. Our guiding question is “How can serve our community to earn money?” Activities like watering plants, cleaning the trail, making kindness cards to give to people are some of the things helping us work towards our goal. We are focused on helping others, working together, and giving back to the community.

In science, we have been diving into our animal research projects. We started by learning about the six main animal groups (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and invertebrates) and different biomes. Through exploring, we found different evidences of life at different stages of the life cycle in nature, and made connections to our knowledge before and after learning. Building on these discoveries, we learned about different animal adaptations and the purpose behind them, then created our own creatures by buying adaptations and Frankenstein-ing them together. Most recently, we transitioned into learning about the food web, showing how all life is connected and gets energy from the sun. The diversity of life is resilient, connected, and sustainable.

April has been a very busy month for the Red Rubies in ELA! We finished our book study, The Tale of Despereaux, and began our last book study of the year, Because of Winn-Dixie! The learners have been very engaged and interested in our book studies, asking really thought-provoking questions about the characters, plot, and what we should learn from each story. Kate DiCamillo has a talent for introducing difficult topics to children, and it has led to some very interesting and deep conversations. We have been diving into research for our next Community Day! It has been so much fun to combine ELA and science, and they have really enjoyed learning about research. Each learner has chosen an animal and used reliable sources of information like databases, university websites, and books to write a report on their chosen animal. We are also planning on making a diorama of our animal’s habitats and displaying them at the Community Day event. We have learned so many interesting things about each of our animals, and we are excited to share them with the community!

Silver Sparrows with Furn and Elijah

The Silver Sparrows are blossoming into their best selves this spring! As a class, we have collectively taken more ownership of and responsibility for our space, our learning, and our sense of community. Our immense growth is due to, in no small part, the belief that we indeed can do hard things. 

In ELA, the Silver Sparrows have skyrocketed in their writing stamina and sense of duty to their academic time. In the culminating effort of our extended inquiry cycle on stories and societies, our investigation into myths and fables has lead us through an incredibly productive writing process. The Silvers set goals and expectations for their stories, brainstormed and mapped out their ideas onto story maps, drafted their stories, used "Tell Ask Give" (TAG) feedback methods to examine and improve their writing, and embarked on the process of final drafting. Throughout these writing processes, Silvers have been setting and reflecting on daily writing goals to help keep themselves on task and reflect on their ability to meet their own targets. During our writing times, each Silver demonstrated excellent decision-making skills in their writing and self-directed their time. We can’t wait to showcase our myths and fables for Community Day! Silvers also completed their 100 (plus!) book reading challenge and celebrated with the movie RIO. This was an awesome time to reflect on the progress we’ve made in our reading skills and how far we’ve broadened our genre-horizons.

On Fridays, we shifted our focus from geography to history. We’ve learned how to read timelines and how to think like a historian about artifacts. We will close out our year with thinking about what life was like for early settlers of America!

Throughout the month of April, Silvers explored a wide range of concepts in math! We spent time working with both analog and digital clocks, learning how to tell time, and solving elapsed time problems using open number lines. This strategy helped learners visualize time passing and approach multi-step problems with more clarity and flexibility. We also dove into measurement, exploring both metric and customary systems. Learners worked with length, mass, and capacity, and practiced converting and estimating within a system. These experiences helped strengthen their understanding of real-world measurement and gave them opportunities to apply their thinking in meaningful ways. We moved into learning area and perimeter with a focus on squares and rectangles, and then began identifying common geometric terms (lines, points, line segments, perpendicular lines, etc.). Toward the end of the month, we began exploring angles, classifying them and building a foundation for measuring, which we’ll continue developing into May!

In science, we wrapped up our study of traits, thinking deeply about the differences between inherited and acquired traits and how these characteristics help define different groups of living things. From there, we launched into our end-of-year theme: ologies, or the study of different things. April was full of curiosity as we began exploring what it means to become an expert in something. Learners brainstormed different “ologies,” asked thoughtful questions, and considered how people build deep knowledge in a field. We explored areas like primatology and behavioral ecology, and discussed how Furn researched within those fields. Learners were especially engaged in learning about real-world research and careers! From there, Silvers began choosing their own topics to study. Their interests ranged widely, from hedgehogs to REM sleep, and it has been incredible to see the enthusiasm they bring to their learning.

As a class, we co-created rubrics based on their goals and what they believe they are capable of achieving, giving them a strong sense of ownership over their work. Learners also completed research request forms, identifying the resources they needed, sharing their research questions, and reflected on where they might need support versus where they are ready to work independently. This process has encouraged both independence and self-awareness, as learners take on the role of researcher and expert! As we move into May, learners are wrapping up their research and beginning to prepare for how they will share their learning. We are so excited to see these projects come to life and to celebrate the depth of knowledge that each learner has developed.

Emerald Eagles with Lauren

In math this month, the Emeralds have been largely focusing on division work and geometry: perimeter, area, volume, circumference, angles, and much more! We’re gradually working through applying all of our volume formulas. The learners confidence with solving these problems has grown immensely!

In ELA, the Emerald Eagles are preparing presentations about a book of their choice with GAP School! Our lessons on persuasive writing techniques have shifted away from writing full-fledged essays to writing focused theses, so that there are less rushed timelines for learners to complete their research projects in science class. We're reviewing the lessons from this process and also how to apply those lessons in their persuasive book talks! 

In science, the Emeralds are honed in on their chosen ‘ology’! They are working through their sources to learn as much as they can about their topics. We’re excited to see how the projects come together from the diverse array of topics that were chosen.

The highlight of April for our Emerald Eagles was the Spring Formal. This group came together in the fall with the idea of creating a new event for GAP School. Spending time each week they carefully worked together to plan for a night that our families and alumni could enjoy. From entertainment, to food, to logistics the Emerald Eagles had a part in every step of laying the foundation for what is sure to become a new GAP School tradition.

SEL with Janelle

In SEL this month, the Yellow Superstars have been exploring ways to calm their minds when their brains and bodies feel busy. We’ve been focusing on creating a calm space in the Starship where learners can retreat to when they have big feelings, need space, or need a movement break. In order to set them up for success and make it a space that supports everyone, we have worked together to brainstorm the most supportive items in the space and then acted out scenarios and set aside time to practice using the materials/tools appropriately. Weighted stuffies, body socks, fidget rings, drawing paper, nature, and sand timers so they can return to learning after taking a 5 minute break are all incorporated into the space. 

The Red Rubies have been focused on teamwork, inclusivity, problem solving, and self advocacy this month. They continue to hone their self regulation skills through "Mindful Monday" sit spots as well as frequent group reflections after a variety of activities. These reflections range from very structured to unstructured and movement based to brain based in order to help themselves self regulate. Similarly, they are working on strengthening their ability to provide verbal feedback to each other through movement games and team building challenges. We are working on setting time expectations for learners needing space or taking a break for self regulation through the use of 5 and 10 minute timers.  

The Silver Sparrows have been reflecting on the concept of mental load and being aware of the mental load that those around them are carrying. They are also working on self regulation and what that looks like for themselves and others, knowing that all brains are different and need different things to be set up for successful learning. For example, hand held fidgets can be distracting to some and helpful for others to focus. We have found that body socks are typically a supportive and helpful tool for all to increase active participation, active listening, and focus. If you have a body sock at home and your learner requests to bring it to school, that would be a support to the classroom.  

The Emerald Eagles continue to work at guiding their peers through their favorite activities with a twist to include emotions and expand emotional knowledge. This month 4 corner soccer (which you may have tried at Community Day) and emotion journaling were shared. Learners had the opportunity to grow through giving and receiving verbal feedback. We are also working on a large emotion wheel project to broaden our personal database of a variety of emotions we don't know and synonyms for the ones we think of frequently. Curious questions and/or reflections about a variety of emotion words will continue to help them grow out of their comfort zones of only labeling "happy, sad, mad, and scared."