Kindergarten | First Grade

The end of each school year is always full of traditions as we wrap up our time together, and this year was no different! Despite the distance between us with remote learning, first graders still wrote letters of advice to the upcoming students, made summer plans, and received memory books! Meganʼ 99 Flannery and Courtney Fleming First Grade Co-Teachers

Summer Loving

During the last week of school, first graders pondered about their upcoming summer! While summer plans typically include vacations and the excitement of summer camps, we challenged students to think of family oriented, at-home adventures like backyard camping, water play, and family bike rides. We made a video of our own families engaging in these summertime activities to help the

The Truth About First Grade

Each first grade student wrote a letter of advice, which included inside information to a current Crane kindergartner in order to ease his or her potential first grade jitters! We reminisced by taking a trip down memory lane with a video of photos from our time together. As we culminated our letter-writing unit, each first grader wrote a friendly letter entitled, The Truth About First Grade, to a kindergarten buddy. This is a longstanding first grade tradition in which the children usually read their letters while touring the kindergarteners around our room in late spring. While parts of that tradition could not be maintained this year, parents helped to make a personalized video of their child reading the letter, which we sent to each member of the kindergarten class! "You are going to have so much fun in first grade!" ― Etta "You will never forget building skyscrapers with some of your friends." ― Elle "You need to know that your teachers smile a lot." ― Willow "Remember to always be a first time listener." ― Eastan "Don't worry if the teachers' names confuse you." ― Hudson "My final advice is always be curious." ― Kian "I will catch a rainbow trout and eat it!" ― Leo

Memory Books

Traditionally, on the last day of school, first graders take home a special Memory Book full of their writing, artwork, and thematic projects from the entire school year. This year it was particularly important that we ended on a sweet note, so we hit the road and hand delivered First Grade Memory Boxes, full of workbooks, mementos, class awards, and memory books, to every student's house. At each stop we said a safe social distanced good-bye to each student who we had not seen in person for months! It was the perfect end

students start developing their own summer plans. Each student wrote a five sentence paragraph, full of descriptive adjectives outlining their summer hopes and dreams!

"I am going to the beach to body surf and swim." ― West "This summer will be different but I will still find ways to make it fun." ― Layla

ing to a very strange spring semester.

"When we get there we are going to set up for two days of camping!" ― Eloise

Throughout the second grade year, a major focus is engaging students in experiential learning. In the fall a large tent is set up in the classroom to create a cozy reading space to celebrate a favorite author, Kevin Henkes. Later, the room is transformed into a bustling downtown where student business owners open their doors to shoppers of all ages. In the winter, second grade travelers board a train and embark on a journey that takes them from coast to coast while students take on different roles, from conductor and snack purveyor to naturalist and state expert.

But not all experiential learning activities happen in the classroom. This year, over half of the second grade students joined Coyotes Outside, an afterschool outdoor explorers club. They traversed the natural spaces in the Montecito community, looked at maps, used compasses, hiked nearby trails, splashed in the streams, and built dams. They became a community of explorers, working together as a cohesive unit.

Experiential learning is embedded in the curriculum all year long. So, when we moved to remote learning in the spring, just as our Inventions Unit was to begin, we wondered how experiential learning would happen when students were at home. Could we continue to give students an opportunity to explore concepts and support Crane’s trademark teaching style of learning by doing? With a little creative thinking and student ingenuity we discovered the answer was a resounding yes!

During our morning sessions students continued to explore the world around them, ask questions, and seek solutions to problems. Their curious nature was evident as we analyzed and compared how transportation and communication inventions have changed the world. When we studied famous inventors like Thomas Edison and lesser-known ones such as Frank Epperson, the inventor of the Popsicle, many students took the opportunity to see how juice can transform into a frozen treat overnight.

We worked with students during daily conferences to guide research and model writing skills as they focused on learning more about an inventor of their choice. The students then used their breadth of knowledge to create biography posters and give presentations to the class. Inspired by the inventors they studied, our young scholars also solved problems close to their heart. In their very own maker spaces at home, many of our students sketched ideas and tinkered with materials they had on hand. Parent photographers helped document their progress and capture the magic of their child’s imagination. We then took their sketches, designs, pictures, and video explanations and made invention commercials. From a self-defense bracelet to riser blocks to help you reach things up high, student ingenuity was alive and well during remote learning.

Our setting may have changed, but opportunities for hands-on learning in our daily sessions were still present. We have been inspired to reimagine what teaching and learning can look like in the future. We are confident that teachers can successfully incorporate “learning by doing” into daily routines whether teaching happens remotely or on campus.

Chandler Hartnett Teaching Fellow Karen Ohrn Second Grade Teacher