Classroom Life in Pictures--Part 1 Sharing Literature

Second and third graders are in that magical epoch in which they straddle learning to read and reading to learn in preparation for the years ahead. The 2-3s are exposed to literature and have reading opportunities every day. We read to glory in or hunt down that just right story, we read to learn new things, we read to connect to and make sense of the world, we read together to coach and inspire each other, we read to discuss literary elements and learn from authors, we read to flex and build those reading muscles.

D.E.A.R.
(Drop Everything And Read). Most days, the children read to themselves during D.E.A.R, building independence and stamina with books.

READING TOGETHER
On other days the children read to each other. In this series of photos, the kids were just back from the holiday break and were sharing their current independent reads in order to pass along the enthusiasm they had for a favorite book, series, and/or author. They chose a favorite passage to read to their partner(s).

Classmates like to share good books with the kids. Teachers do too. And visitors do as well.

 

LITERATURE CIRCLES
Our circles have kicked off and we've just begun the process of sharing small group dialogues around great books. We're now talking about character development and will be analyzing how characters change through the experiences they have.

I have one picture from one circle...so far. In this pic, a student is reading a passage aloud to her peers. The kids were taking turns rereading key sections of text to the group. They were working to solidify their understanding of the main character's personality as revealed to us at the start of the book.

More peeks inside our Lit Circles will come in the weeks ahead.

We're serious about reading, but we can find the silly in it as well! ;-)

Learning About the Past

We all took so much away from last week's field trips to the Albany Heritage Visitors Center and Fort Crailo. Both experiences were chock full of information about how earlier generations lived in this area. The trip reinforced the learning that has been happening in the classroom. We launched our unit, How Our Land Changed Over Time, in the last few weeks.

We were all inspired to design creative ways to present the knowledge the children are learning. This week the kids will decide which time period they want to focus on--Native American, Dutch and colonial, or urban Albany. Once those decisions are made, the children will choose the specific topics they want to study and make plans to communicate that knowledge. The culmination will be our Show of Work after the Peace Assembly on Friday, December 19th. The excitement is just beginning!!

AT THE VISITORS CENTER

Portraying Native Americans

A Dutchman and Dutch girl

Learning about Henry Hudson's trip

A model of early Albany

 Some of us in historical dress. :-)

The kids helped to plant Red Emperor tulip bulbs for a Journey North garden at the Visitors Center. We will also plant a garden at Parker for Journey North that will track the progression of spring--along with other participating schools--across the Northern Hemisphere. We were gifted with over 20 bulbs for our school planting, as well as the individual bulbs your child brought home.

FORT CRAILO
We then headed to Fort Crailo. We went immediately down into the basement kitchen where we found a blazing fire burning in the Dutch hearth. Our educators led the children through assembling the dough for seed cakes with caraway seeds. As each ingredient was added, we learned about historical farming and food production, the global economy at the time, diets, cooking tools and eating utensils, and family chores and routines. All this was discussed as the children passed the bowl and bruised the caraway seeds, softened the butter, and added flour. 

Watching as hot coals are put on the Dutch oven

THEN IT WAS TIME TO EAT!

 

Outside Fort Crailo

The next day, Grandma Heidi came to share her passion for learning about the past by bringing in a collection of  everyday items used by settlers in our area. There were toys, headware, clothing, a replica hornbook, bellows, and many other items that brought the children closer to the Dutch and colonial period. You can see by the faces that this was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. Thank you, Heidi!!

 

We're busy and having lots of fun!