Dear Parents,
Happy Halloween! What a day we had yesterday! The costumes were all so lovely. Maybe you’ve heard that Halloween is a difficult teaching day because the children are so hyped up. This is somewhat true, as emotions were running high, but overall first grade had a wonderful day, from beginning to end. What a joy! It was a relaxed, fun atmosphere, and they were able to get a lot of work done in class. We couldn’t have asked for a better day in terms of weather.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- Family Hike tomorrow: All first grade families are invited to come for our first Family Hike, Sunday, Nov 1. Meet at 10:30 at Swallow Cliff Woods South in Palos for potluck treats before heading out. Ann-Marie’s email from a couple weeks ago has more details. Please email Ann-Marie so she has a head count: amvigano at yahoo.
- Day of the Dead: On Tuesday, November 3, the school will celebrate Day of the Dead. A large ofrenda will be created for the school with the help of the students. First grade’s offering will be marigolds. Please send your child to school with a marigold stem or two on Tues, Nov 3. Should you have trouble finding marigolds, any orange or golden flower would be fine. First grade will not be adding photos of those who have passed. That will be something we begin doing next year. This year is an introduction to this reverent and powerful festival. Our classroom will have our own ofrenda, without photos, and in the comfort of our own class, we will be speaking about the joyful remembering of our dead.
- Parent-Teacher Conferences: Mark your calendars for conferences, Mon, Nov 23 and Tues, Nov 24. Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4eabaf28aaf58-avellone
WEEK 8 HIGHLIGHTS:
This week was filled with Baba Yaga stories. From the image of her riding in her mortar with her knees to her chest, we got the letter B. Her hut on chicken legs became the letter H. The door of the hut was the letter D. In addition to our depictions of those images and the letter writing, we also made a moving picture of the hut, complete with an opening door. What is inside changes if you move the secret paper behind the drawing. Very exciting. This page will be bound into our Morning Lesson Letter Books at the end of the block.
After careful consideration, I have decided to abide by my original block plan of our long letter block. We will continue with our letters through December, and switch to numbers upon our return in January. This was the time I mentioned that I would reassess. The letter excitement is still acute, and I believe the class is finding strength in the known rhythm we’ve established in the way we learn our letters. Ms. Winn and I were agreeing yesterday that the students would feel cheated if we started doing something else without putting all the letters on our letter line. There is great interest in writing and drawing. Speech and sounds are alive in the room and often tested and turned over and around. There is increased confidence in writing, and improvement in the way letters are written. Though most adults form letters poorly, it is important that students learn how to write correctly. For example, letter F starts from the top, not from the bottom (a common mistake). We often say “from stars to stones and from window to door,” meaning we form the lines of letters top to bottom and left to right. There are, of course, a few exceptions, but generally, this little mantra is helping us.
While I had decided to stick with letters for now, I’m actively laying the foundations for the mathematics in our future. One of the ways I do this is to work with all of the planes of movement; left-right, up-down, front-back. Movement is so important for math, as the experience of number is all around us and most readily understandable for children through their own place in space. Right now, much of this work is couched in language arts. For example, we walk a poem, each word corresponding to a step. Then we walk backwards, saying the words backwards. This front-back experience lays the groundwork for making logical leaps in thinking in the realm of math. For example, seeing the relationship between mathematical processes (subtraction is like backwards addition). Also, our form drawings of straight lines and curves will help as much with writing numbers as it has with writing letters. It also leads us to standing forms (shapes), which will help us depict the quality of each number. Three-ness can be seen in a triangle. One-ness in a circle. But all that is for the future!
A highlight of the week happened in eurythmy class. We have been working on dance-like motions with feet and hands to a lovely Kabalevsky piano piece, developing sense of rhythm and sense of sense in space. Ms. Rohde informed us that usually students can’t do this exercise without a teacher until much later in the year, but they were able to do it without Ms. Rohde or me! I was all aglow 🙂 I’ve noticed in my work with them and also when I observed Chorus class with Mr. Garcia this week that their sense of rhythm and musical time has greatly improved recently. They are more able to sing or clap correctly as a group, instead of people going faster or slower. This also indicates an increased awareness of the group.
Overall, there is a lot of joy and enthusiasm in the classroom these days. However, I have noticed some signs of the first grade tiredness that we have talked about. Strong emotions are sometimes quicker to the surface, and there is a little bit more drama and whining. This is to be expected. I again encourage you to give your first grader a very boring and rhythmical home life as they make this transition. Early bedtimes, lots of healthy foods, and plenty of down-time go a very long way.
Warmly,
Hannah