One Person’s Trash is Another Person’s Treasure

In Art, students created found object collages. In honor of Earth Day, they upcycled items that would typically end up in the trash can, such as wine corks, bottle caps and nails, to create visually appealing, eclectic self-portrait collages. This really makes us think about the identity and functionality of different objects and encourages us to see and be inspired by the art that is all around us! This is something fun that you can do at home with natural found materials like tree bark, sticks and leaves, or with common household objects, fabric you no longer have a use for, or even with small toys your children don’t play with anymore!

Character Study

In both Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop, we have been focusing on characters. Using the Mr. Putter and Tabby books as a mentor texts to look closely at details about characters that authors convey in both subtle and direct ways and analyzing what the characters are trying to teach us, 1st Graders are developing their our own unique characters in their original realistic fiction stories. They used their realistic fiction writing checklist to honestly assess their writing and find ways to make it stronger. They made an effort to show, rather than tell, through techniques such as dialogue.  They inserted transition words and phrases, such as at the beginning, meanwhile, and finally into their writing, checked their spelling, and added necessary punctuation and grammar. Lastly, they made sure their endings really stayed true to the heart of their stories and that all problems were resolved at the end.

Keep On, Keepin’ On!

In Morning Meeting this week, we introduced a new social emotional concept-persistence. As we look back to the beginning of 1st Grade when we first met your children, we are reminded of how much they have grown as readers. Every time one of them told us, “I can’t read this book,” we answered with, “You can’t read this book yet, but you will be able to if you keep on practicing and using your strategies.” And you know what? Now, most of those books that were so hard at the beginning of the school year, are too easy now. What a beautiful example of persistence! Bravo, persistent scholars! Similarly, we have seen examples of this on the playground and at our swim lessons. If you find it difficult sometimes to resist the urge to rescue them when they’re dealing with frustration, know that you are not alone, but through struggle comes growth, and we have seen countless examples of that this year with this special group!

Important Dates:

Friday, April 19th-Monday, April 22nd-TCS Closed for April Break

Tuesday, April 23rd-Study Trip to see Flat Stanley at the Dock Street Theatre

Thursday, April 25th-TCS Black Tie and Blue Jeans Spring Auction 6pm

Friday, April 26th & Friday, May 3rd-remaining swim lessons

Friday, May 10th- 11:30 Dismissal

Friday, May 10th– Pass It On, 5-6pm at the Scottish Rite