First Grade Puts Their Hopes and Dreams On Display
The first graders worked hard this week to figure out what they want to get better at this year by thinking about their small and big elastics. Small elastics are things you feel you are not as good at and big elastics are things you feel you are really good at. The first graders chose a small elastic that they want to become a big elastic in first grade as their hope and dream. Each student wrote and drew their hope and dream to share with others outside our classrooms. The students will continue to work towards their hopes and dreams all throughout the year.
– Nicole Campailla-Miller and Geoffrey Fox, grade 1 teachers
Pre-kindergarten Explores Feelings and Life Cycles
In pre-kindergarten this week, we are learning about feelings. Children are learning to identify and verbalize their own feelings as well as recognize the feelings of others. This topic is one strand of our “All About Me” theme, which has the goal of building self-confidence and a sense of belonging in the classroom. In addition, we are also learning about life cycles, as we observe and compare the life cycles of monarch butterflies to that of mealworms.
– Nicole Siverls and Sharon Gillespy, pre-kindergarten teachers
PE Update: Hula Hoops Are Education In the Round
What can you do with a hula hoop? Sure, there’s the act of hula hooping, but as our students have displayed, that barely scratches the surface. We practice all kinds of hula hoop skills in physical education, including twirling hoops, rolling them, walking the dog (rolling the hoop with backspin so it returns to its owner). Younger learners use the hoops as cars to navigate an obstacle course, and older students use them as targets to practice precision passing. Hula hoops form the “ring of fire” on our wall that requires impeccable body control to get through, and all grades use hoops to work on kicking skills in the beloved game of Hula Hoop Tag. They improve our non-verbal communication as birds nests in the game of Hunter Hawks, and can be constructed to form orb-like castles for the game of Castleball. All told, these sturdy plastic circles have provided countless skill-building opportunities, infinite entertainment, and creative uses our students have discovered that we didn’t even think of. In PE, we are truly living that hoop life.
– Alex Tzelnic, physical education teacher
