Language Arts
Hello dear first grade families!
We are off to a great start this year. It has been such a busy couple of months!
We had four new children join the class in September. Everyone was very kind and welcoming and the group is solid and supportive of each other and getting along very well. It is a pleasure to see them together. It has been fun for me to watch new friendships forming and to see the newer children gain confidence and become comfortable.
Highlights so far this year include the harvest festival, Roxaboxen and, of course, the Halloween celebration.
We began going to Roxaboxen a few weeks into the school year. One of our parent volunteers prepared the space for the children: took apart last year’s constructions, sorted all the materials, and checked to be sure there was no poison oak. The children made signs for the houses that they wanted to build, their shops, a zoo, and a tea house. We go each Monday during second period. It is a high point of the week for many of them. Tovia and I enjoy watching them come up with different ideas, explore their space, and build and work together to bring their ideas to life.
At the Halloween celebration the children performed “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything”. They did a great job! They remembered their lines and spoke up so all could hear them. I was very proud of them! Each child chose their part and, miraculously, it worked out without any conflict. They also helped Valerie to prepare the props during art class. I’m sure that you all enjoyed the performance as much as I did. If anyone took pictures, I would love to see them.
For the harvest festival the children prepared delicious apple sauce. We spent a morning cutting apples up and adding a bit of sugar and lemon juice to them and lots of water. The apples cooked in the lunch hut and the applesauce was enjoyed by all during our festival. There was even enough left over for everyone to have the next day during lunch.
In class the children have been working on reading phonetic words, some spelling and writing. I had requests for cursive writing from some so I offer print or cursive worksheets to work on once a week. Their writing is already quite good and improving as we practice. There are several different skill levels in class and the children are grouped so that they are challenged but also set up for success. We do reading, writing and spelling practice for a little while each day. I also start each class reading aloud to them. We are fortunate to have so many books in the rug room to choose from. Subjects include seasonal happenings, stories, and some poetry. Everyone seems to really enjoy this time of the day.
Above are some pictures of the children enjoying their time in Roxaboxen.
Happy Autumn!
Warm regards, Joy
