Dear Families,
January has flown by and the first and second graders have been working hard. With the start of Ski Fridays, we have made some adjustments to our daily schedule. There are many days when they no longer have choice time so that we can accomplish what needs to get done academically and socially. We are very proud of not only how they have responded to this change but how they have stepped up to the increased challenge in all areas from math to reading to writing.
In Social Studies we have used our January time to concentrate on Social Curriculum, including discussing the difference between telling and tattling as well as what makes us feel welcome or unwelcome in a new space. In addition to the class rules that we all created at the start of the year, we have added more and created a poster entitled Ways to Behave in School, in which each student illustrated and captioned their contribution(s).
We also prepared for our Lower School Assembly recognizing the theme of Courage with each student reciting a portion of Martin Luther King’s, I Have a Dream speech. This has become a tradition in 1st and 2nd grade, and each year I am moved watching them present it with such purpose and conviction. Some still photos are in the slideshow below, but Ms. Lindsay has a video as well and I will send that on as soon as I figure out how!
We will start our unit of study on Mexico next week.
In Science we have begun our penguin study. Each student has selected a penguin specie to learn about and to create a project to demonstrate what has been learned. We will be working on these projects here at school, so if your child comes home talking about a project there is no need to fear – these are in-school projects.
Finally, you may have noticed our Acts of Kindness board out in the coatroom. It is filling up with post-it’s of their descriptions of those small, but oh so important, acts of kindness that they experience during the day. Learning to recognize, appreciate and acknowledge them is a great way for them to increase them in their own behavior as well.
Looking forward to some sunshine in February,
Best,
Katharine and Kay
