First Grade: October 13 - 17, 2025
Dear First Grade Families,
It was wonderful seeing so many of our families at the Kingdom of Halloween on Saturday. Hats off to all who participated in different ways: buying tickets and refreshments, enhancing the festive atmosphere with creative costumes, donating, and volunteering. The Troll Booth was seamlessly run from start to finish, and First Grade’s lanterns lent a welcome, just-spooky-enough glow in the forest. Thank you, everyone. We missed those families who were unable to attend! We are already looking forward to the next one.
Students have been having a lot of fun experimenting with consonant sounds in our current Language Arts block. From rhyming games to nonsense words, it is all about developing phonemic awareness in a way that resonates with the children to create a solid foundation in reading and writing. One such simple activity that students have enjoyed and asked for again is replacing the first letter of each name in the class with a common letter sound. Sally, Ben, and Rosy can become Lally, Len, and Losy or Tally, Ten, and Tosy. Try it at home with names or whole sentences!
In the forest last week, the class worked as a team to begin a fort building project. While immersed in the beauty and peace of the woodland, the children developed their proprioception (the body’s ability to sense its own position and movements), forged bonds, solved problems together, and used their good manners. They developed their speaking and listening skills via a “rose, thorn, bud” talk where they celebrated successes, shared the challenges of the building process or issues with the fort, and examined areas where they saw potential. They are excited to keep improving their creation.
Announcements & Reminders:
October 27: All School Meeting (Fall) 6:30 - 8:00 pm (adults only, please)
November 6: Lantern Walk 6:00 pm (Kindergarten through First Grade students, and their families)
Warmly,
Ki Michelle
