Dear Third and Fourth-Grade families,
Last week, we were all enchanted at the Kingdom of Halloween. Thank you to all who were there to play, walk through the magical forest, and to those who helped to make it happen!
In our new language arts block, we concentrated on honing our decoding skills in reading by looking at the syllabication of words. When children know how to divide words into syllables, it becomes easier to tackle and successfully read unfamiliar words and put them into context. We moved from Hebrew creation stories to Native American creation stories that also tell about how the world came to be. One example, The Birth of the Niagara Falls, tells how five sisters from a mountain high in the clouds came to play around a bare cliff and dive off like birds over and over again. As the students move through the grades, they hear creation stories from cultures around the world, giving them an inner sense of the deep connections we have as human beings no matter where we are from in the world.
Fall is in full swing, and our class keeps moving. Interspersed into our school days, we did some fun movement games outdoors and indoors to integrate the students’ senses and foster social skills.
As the powers of nature have retreated into the earth and our focus shifts inwards, the class will celebrate the lantern walk on Wednesday, November 9. All students in our class are making their lanterns this week, and they practice singing the lantern walk songs or playing them on their ukuleles. While the third graders will walk the Lantern Walk for grades 1 through 3, the fourth graders will perform the lantern songs on their ukuleles together with the fifth grade. (They can have their lanterns on display as they play). Please note that the third and fourth graders need to arrive at the school at different times:
Third Grade: The Lantern Walk for grades 1 through 3 will start at 6:30 pm.
Fourth Grade: Please arrive with your child at the school at 6:00 pm, so the class can tune their ukuleles and prepare for the performance.
The lantern walk is a contemplative walk. In the darkness of November, the first to third-grade will slowly process through the candle-lit forest, singing lantern songs and holding their shining lanterns while the fourth and fifth grades play music for them. The lanterns remind us that each of us can be a light for others and share our gifts. Take your time to talk about the contemplative nature of the lantern walk before you arrive at the school, and practice singing at home. All the lantern songs are posted on the messenger for you so we can enjoy this festival singing together. Additionally, as part of our school's efforts to help others, we will collect gently used coats both at the lantern walk and at drop-off and pick-up that week. The school will donate the coats to One Warm Coat, an organization which provides coats for those who need them during the coming cold.
Reminders:
Nov. 8: NO school, teacher in-service day, Kindy Lantern Walk
Nov. 9: Grades 1-3 Lantern Walk (4th-grade students will play the ukulele with 5th grade)
Nov. 7-11: Coat drive for One Warm Coat
Nov. 14-18: Non Perishable food drive for Never Alone food pantry
Nov. 18: Half Day dismissal (12:15-30) - Thanksgiving Luncheon
Nov. 21-25 Thanksgiving Break (No School)
Warm Regards,
Gaby Farrokhi
