Dear Parents,
I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at Harvest Fest. This will be the first year we’ve done the full pageant with all 8 grades! The gnomes are ready! Please make sure to dress for the weather. The fest will be held in light rain, but should it be too stormy for a fest, you will receive a cancellation email by 8:30 am.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Harvest Fest, Sat, Oct 1, 11-1 at City Garden, 920 W 19th Street
- Children must arrive by 10:45 at the corner of Peoria and 19th in order to prepare for the pageant.
- They should wear earth tones/neutral colors. I will also have large tunics for them to wear that can fit over jackets.
- The pageant begins at 11:00. Arrive early, as parking is more difficult now that our community is larger.
- Social Inclusion and the New Rites of Passage with Kim John Payne, Oct 6, 7-9 pm. Tickets available here.
- No School – Faculty Professional Development, Thurs and Fri, Oct 6 and 7 – The faculty will be doing in-service days with Kim, receiving training on social inclusion.
- No School – Oct 10
- Parent Evening, Oct 12, 7-9 pm. Have fun with your fellow 2nd grade fans! An agenda will be coming soon.
WEEK 4 HIGHLIGHTS
This was the last week of our first language arts block of the year. We’ve spent time reviewing the letters individually and also how they work together. Many in the class are not yet at ease with working with the lowercase letters or with the different vowel sounds. However, I noticed a marked difference between now and the end of last year. There is less checking on the alphabet line on the side blackboard, and letter answers come more readily. The comfort and familiarity is developing. We ended the block with talking about writing evenly. Developing well-sized, even letters when writing will be one of the main goals of the year.
We also ended this block with a form drawing consisting of two opposing forms in one drawing. We’re still working with reflections across a horizontal axis, and this new double-form will take us into the next stage of these dynamic drawings. Now that this block is over, form drawing will be moving from Morning Lesson proper to a task they do first thing before the lesson begins. We also continue to have a weekly Form Drawing class.
The tale of St George and the dragon came this week. Now that they have come the Michaelmas pageant for two years, the children were eager to hear a different tale of courage relating to this season of Michaelmas. They were literally at the edge of their seats.
Another highlight of the week was the Michaelmas Day celebration today. After morning lesson, the school convened for a day of pageant rehearsal, school beautification, park clean-up, and the much-beloved annual relay race. This class loves to take up the challenge of group work, and it was a productive and fun day.
Best,
Hannah