Southside Elementary Museums Magnet School

school website
Miami-Dade County School District
Miami, FL
Principal: Salvatore Schiavone

Southside Elementary students participate in hands-on science lab

How can you teach elementary grade students about metric measurement, the circulatory system, and pulmonary health in a way that will result in long-term retention of key concepts? The answer at Southside Elementary is object-based learning, or in this specific case, pig hearts.

At Southside teachers undergo rigorous professional development to help students make real-life connections utilizing genuine artifacts. Teachers train students to take visual inventory of an object and describe the physical characteristics of the object. Teachers guide students through thought-provoking questions that lead to connections with a vast array of social, cultural, historic, and scientific topics. This methodology promotes language development and higher-order cognition, while also making learning exciting and fun. Family income doesn’t prevent Southside students from accessing the world. Southside students are eager to come to school, learn, and grow.

The mother of a Southside student explains, “Before we came to Southside, my son did not care about school. Now he hurries in the morning to get here. He tells me, ‘I don’t want to be late!’ We’re both really happy here.”