Our Class/ 1st and 2nd grade: Activities

What happens during "Activities" and why is this time so important for the children and their learning?

A few times a week, at the end of the day, "Activities" appears on the schedule.
For most of the children, "Activities" is a treasured time. It is a time when they can choose what activity they would like to do in the room. On Friday, it reads "Activities with K-buddies". This is a chance for the 1st and 2nd graders to spend time with the Kindergarteners.

If you come into the classroom at this time of day, you may see children drawing, building with blocks or legos, reading, creating things out of paper, or playing with play dough. It might not look like there is a lot of learning going on but appearances are often deceiving.

This half hour is rich with learning.

The children often work together for for a common goal. For instance, they might use play dough to create items for a bakery or pizza shop, or construct a successful marble run out of the "Marble Works" pieces, or build a pillow fort.

During these group activities, they are learning important skills: they are collaborating, forming plans, having disputes, negotiating compromises, and designating roles.

Working in a bakery

Building a marble run

Construction a fort out of pillows, baskets, and chairs

Children explore ideas. During Activity time the children use and play with concepts they have learned at other times of the day. It maybe something they have learned at school or something they are doing at home. Some examples from this year are: the children made prizes for an auction and had elections. One child constructed a paper guitar like the one he uses in Music class. After learning about what bears need in a habitat in Science class, one child made a drawing what he imagined the habitat would look like.