Sunday, April 26, 2009

Spring is here!

The Second Graders have been busy lately with a variety of different activities. Read on to learn more about these goings on.



A several weeks ago our entire school was fortunate to attend a professional performance of the Magic Flute at the Plymouth State University Auditorium. To prepare for this occasion, the primary student enjoyed listening to Mozart's music at lunch time the previous month. They also attended an excellent story reduction of The Magic Flute by the Lafayette First Graders. Hence, the students were already familiar with the music, characters and storyline which allowed them to more fully enjoy the performance. The following is a student journal entry

"I liked the Magic Flute because it was funny in some parts. I had to whisper, "Har, har, har", because I could not interupt them. I liked Papagano because he was soooo funny. I liked Sarastro because he could use the force like in "Star Wars". I liked Prince Tamino because he gets confused sooo many times. I even liked the 3(2) ladies and the Queen of the Night because they looked like evil birds combined with peacocks. I liked the whole play sooooo much. I was goooood.

Jack's glowing opinion was not an anomaly. The class had a great conversation about the performance once we returned to school. Thoughts about the casting, costumes and production were enthusiastically shared. It was clear this is a group of interested young performers and theater aficionados.

Luckily, we will be supporting that interest with our class's production of "Rumpus in the Rainforest" on Tuesday May 5th at 6:00. The students have been singing along to many of the songs for over a month and now have cds of the songs they will be singing in the performance for them to practice at home. For our version of costumes, we will be tie-dying t-shirts this week so remember to send in a clean, white, cotton t-shirt by Tuesday.



Another recent development has been the opportunity for second graders to read aloud to the Lafayette kindergarten class. Many students have shown an interest in sharing their reading skills with others. In order to participate, second graders need to find a partner and choose an appropriate book. This requires the pair to think about content kindergartners will like, book length and reading difficulty. Students then practice with their partners, receive feedback from an adult and finally are scheduled for a visit to the kindergarten class. This project has motivated students to think more about expression and fluency and to work cooperatively with another peer. It is also a lovely community service opportunity. This ties in nicely with the importance of building a sense of responsibility not only for ourselves but also for others who are less able around us.



Additionally, as a culminating project for our recent science unit on sound, the children were given a teamwork (homework that is partnered with a family member) assignment to create an instrument of their own. Second graders then presented these instruments to a group of their peers. They were each interviewed by a classmate while being videotaped by yet another classmate. Next, the students concurrently presented to the entire group (and the sixth graders as well!) in the MPR in a similar fashion to Project Fair. Finally, we brought our instruments back to class and had an informal "Jam Session". It was truly cacophonous!