First Grade Language Arts News
Hello dear first grade families,
It has been a while since I last wrote to you. So much has happened! We had a wonderful performance by the first graders before the winter break, several visits from parents to present family traditions and foods, a lovely Valentine’s Day celebration, and so much more.
The visits from parents have been so much fun. Pannonica and her mom, Gina, started us off by speaking about their family tradition of a feast of seven fishes. In their family, this means cioppino! Gina explained what cioppino was to the class, a traditional Italian fish stew, while Pannonica did a terrific interpretive dance of the different fishes mentioned. Then everyone got to eat some delicious baguette, Pannonica’s favorite part of the meal.
Alba’s mom, Prune, came to class and taught the children some French words and a French song. The children enjoyed learning to introduce themselves in French and pronouncing their first names in the French way. After French language lessons, Prune shared a delicious dark chocolate cake that was one of her favorites when she was a child. We sing our French songs from time to time in class still.
Most recently, My and Kyra presented some Lunar New Year traditions that they enjoy each year. Unfortunately, I was at home during this presentation as I was unwell. Tovia took pictures though and filled me in on the fun. There were several yummy snacks, Kyra and her mom wore beautiful, traditional Vietnamese clothing, and each child received a red envelope with money in it to bring good fortune in the new year. We will also be celebrating lunar new year at school next week with a dragon parade and lots of noise to scare any bad spirits away.
Thank you to the families that have shared their traditions with us. If you would like to share something from your family, please let me know. It is such fun for all of us.
I am also very glad to announce that Sachi will be joining the first grade class. All of the children are very excited to welcome her.
Finally, we had a great visit this week to the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum. We learned all about some of the animals that share this beautiful part of the world with us. We considered their habitats, adaptations to help them survive, what they ate, and how they found what they ate. Later in the week the children got a chance to create their own animals and decide habitat, adaptations, and diet for them.
In community and friendship, Joy
