Featured Article: A Glimpse Of The Seasons In A Waldorf
- Inspired 1st Grade
12-19-2008
By Deborah Williams, 1st Grade Teacher
Through
the dark and winter snow,
On our journey we must go.
Where, oh where in darkest night,
Can we find a warming light?
O'er mountains high and valleys low,
Ever onward we must go,
Is there a place where we can bide?
Shelter safe and warm inside?
During these cold, dark days of winter, the first graders
are feeling the seasonal shift through the imagination
and through the rhythmic work we do in circle time each
morning. This song is from a circle activity that has
grown over a couple weeks now, and the image is of children
journeying to find the light in the deep winter. During
this circle time, we have been visiting a home where a
Hanukkah celebration is occurring, then we visit an African
hut where a Kwanzaa prayer is being said, then we visit
a tipi where the earth is being honored, then finally
to a Christmas Nativity scene. The children have been
memorizing the long, complicated verse and song that accompanies
the movements, which takes us into circle dances and over
mountains high and valleys low (over chairs and under
desks.) The children at this age work so much in their
imaginations, and the work in the first grade compliments
this.
The children will be treated to a shadow puppet play this
week that offers a seasonal story called the Blizzard's
Robe. It is a wonderful time in which to see a shadow
puppet play, because it is done in complete darkness,
which resembles the world around us, and then the light
comes through and illuminates the shadows of the characters
on the screen. Traditionally, stories were told around
fire glow at these times, and the art of shadow puppetry
keeps this tradition kindled. We are looking forward to
creating our own shadow puppets to use with a new theatre
that will hopefully be funded by a Creative Classroom
Grant.
The children have also been discovering the singing sounds
of our language and alphabet...the VOWELS. What a surprise
it was to explore any word we could think of to find that
it HAS to have a vowel in it in order to be spoken or
sung! We have taken this further to introduce long and
short vowel sounds, and to do our first sentence writing
in our main lesson books. The first graders have learned
a catchy song to the tune of "BINGO" which helps
us to remember the vowels.
A parent is coming in to offer us a Hanukkah celebration
and we are having a Secret Santa celebration before we
leave for Winter Break. It is wonderful to hear all about
the homemade, handmade gifts the children are working
on. The children have also started knitting in handwork
class and some are working on their recorder cases so
that the recorders have a soft, safe home to live in once
we start recorder playing in January.
A blessed holiday season to all,
Deborah Williams
