Mannahatta: 2nd Grade Examines Old New York

N-YHS Curator with the boys and a Lenape artifact from their collection

Boys in Grade 2 began their year-long study of the evolution of New York City with an examination of artifacts used by the Lenape tribe of early Manhattan, or Mannahatta--"land of many hills. "

Today's lesson was the first in a series of sessions conducted through our partnership with the New-York Historical Society, now in its third year. It involved the boys observing and then making inferences based on those observations about the purpose and use of a variety of artifacts. Boys worked in groups to examine the artifacts and presented their findings and reasoning to the class.

Critical analysis, our school-wide theme this year, was in abundance as the boys thoughtfully and excitedly made connections about form, function, and what they have been learning about early Manhattan life.

Our boys will have educators and curators from the N-YHS continue to visit their classrooms at specific times throughout the year, and the boys will be making several special planned visits to the Society.

This partnership with educators and curators from the N-YHS is one of several educational partnerships we have created with educational organizations, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, and Cold Spring Harbor, to name a few.

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