Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is someone’s whose life and teachings need to be discussed and taught all year long. January is an excellent time focus on his acts and life as his birthday, and the federal day dedicated to him approaches. Teaching a group of 6-7 years olds the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. life can be challenging. It’s so hard for them to understand why someone would just because their skin color is different. In class the emphasis has been put on Dr. King’s peaceful teachings and his Christian center way of enacting change in American. I asked the children what they could do to make the world a more peaceful place. Their answers are heartwarming and show the innocence of young children.

I also had the class write about how they would make the world a better place in their writing journals. The answers and their illustrations were just as precious. Children truly do see the world differently than grownups. What a blessing to be a part of all these children’s lives.

Every year first grade embarks on an adventure to learn about how different countries celebrate Christmas. These Christmas around the world projects are always so fun. It also helps teach the students about different cultures and opens their eyes to the largeness of our planet. Each student chooses a country from the sign up. Then they research it at home and create their board for the presentation. The most fun aspect of the projects are the hands on elements. Students have to bring a craft, food, or game that is part of the traditions from their chosen country. Some of the countries have other traditions than what Christmas looks like to us in America. It’s always very educational and exciting to learn about other peoples traditions. I’ve been doing this for six years, and I learn new things every single year.

Before Thanksgiving break, all of the lower school students participated in the Lower School Thanksgiving Parade. Since first grade recently completed a big project, we did not make floats. We did open the parade by performing the annual Turkey Pokey, it’s a bit of a tradition in my class. First grade did carry around a little flag they had made with what they were thankful for and participated the parading. The second through fourth grade students each made a float that represented something they are grateful for and on the Friday before break they paraded them around campus. It was a successful parade as family members, the preschoolers, kindergarteners, and many middle school students watched all of the lower school students march through a part of campus sharing their thankfulness. It was a typical feast, but we all gathered and shared a thankful heart with one another.

We closed out October with the annual book character day. It’s a fun tradition in Lower School where we dress up on Halloween as characters from some of our favorite books. It’s a neat way to put a spin on Halloween costumes.

One afternoon I tasked the class with making marble runs. It was their first attempt at it in these groups and while they turned out more like mazes, it was a great first try and gave them time to explore the materials. There will definitely be more attempts.

In reading groups I incorporated a new word segmenting game. It is crucial for students to learn how to break down and put together words for reading and spelling. We always tap out words on our fingers/makers before writing them. With this new approach the students had to hop out the sounds using a cut twister game. One stop was equivalent to one sound. Each group practiced using their own strip. They all hopped out each of their spelling words and had fun doing it! It was an effective way to hear every sound in the words.

A not so new activity that the children do regularly is use the build it binders to build their spelling words using legos. This helps with spelling, fine motor skills, and spatial reasoning.

It’s been fun in first, and we are just getting started!!

Last Friday, first grade students, partnered with their parents, built a model of a Mayan temple. This is such a fun project for first graders to do with their parents. In social studies we have been talking about early American civilizations, such as the Mayans. The curriculum has age appropriate engaging read alouds with illustrations that the students have enjoyed. Building a realistic model of a temple is a fun way to bring to life what we’ve been discussing in class. By learning about other cultures and civilizations the students broaden their perspectives about how other people live and feel. The weather was beautiful and no two temples look exactly alike.