January

 

In January, our block was spent preparing for our class play. One way we prepared was by the students performing lots and lots of small group skits. Not only were they fun but they were also a great way to settle into acting and get comfortable thoughtfully using actions to enhance dialogue. Our few weeks of practice flew by, allowing students to try out roles they perhaps wouldn't volunteer for, letting them step into temporarily experiencing life differently.

                                

Our play, Francis and the Wolf, was specifically written for this class and they embraced it wholeheartedly. Many students knew all the lines and everyone could speak about and act out the story with feeling.  Several students fell ill during our performance week and were missed. Others jumped right in to fill the gaps with success.

As a counterbalance to the deep group work called for during the play, we also worked with cursive, which is more internal and individual. Cursive vowels were experienced through large movements, then through practice got smaller and smaller until they fit on the chalkboard, slates, and finally onto paper. 

Similarly, both cursive and dramatic recitation work for the play called for connection and awareness in new ways and both benefitted from lots and lots of lively engaged practice. It's easy to let emotions rise to extremes while acting or have that beautifully connected and flowing writing take over, resulting in giggles that take over the lines or writing jumping off the lined paper, so practice with control was also an underlying theme this month.

             

What a great block, I'm looking forward to next year's play already!

 

Still playing

 

You might recall hearing about the importance of play when your child was in EC (if not, here's a quick refresher). It's something our Kindergarten teachers place a lot of value on for lots of good reasons. Its importance never really goes away, even for us adults, but making time for play comes in different ways in grade school. Activities like Game and Tell give students a big healthy dose of play and all the wonderful social, mental, and emotional aspects that we get to work during play too.

 

    

  

    

Working to understand new rules, negotiating, compromise,  the challenges of things going your way, the challenges of things not going your way, interpersonal relationship shifts, appreciation of another's efforts, wanting your efforts appreciated ... these are all experiences adults have to manage on a weekly basis. But practice for these life happenings is harder to construct. In the early years, children would follow behind you sweeping as you sweep, eager to wash dishes, and so excited to feed the dog, everything mundane becoming a game they imitated with their peers outside or around the house. Their life was play. Now life is broader, it offers new aspects.

These growing children are hungry to learn in less imitative ways now, which we meet during specialties and morning lessons... and yet they still want to practice playing with more grownup behaviors. So yes, let's offer that too.

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Puzzles have been a daily staple in second grade and recently the class completed a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle they've been working on since the fall. Over the past month, students focused on the most difficult part; finding a handful of pieces each day until finally, the end was in sight last Friday. Everyone gathered round to see the last piece placed and a great cheer filled the room. Pure satisfaction!