Katherine had a day last week at school called Old School Day. Her teachers took pictures and posted a blog on the school intranet site that is password protected. I thought this was interesting and a good idea so I wanted to share with our friends and family. Below is Katherine before she left for school that day wearing her dirndl. The pictures and writing below is from the teachers blog.
The highlight of this week was, of course, Old School Day! Students and teachers wrapped up this unit by transforming the classroom and dressing up as if it were 1915. Our day began as the children lined up outside the classroom in two lines; boys and girls. With our best straight faces, Melissa and I marched them down the hall to Mr. Thompson's room where all four Grade 1 classes met for the register. The children stood in straight lines with their shoulders back, hands by their sides. Each teacher took their turn calling the names of their students.
When this was complete we headed into the atrium to meet the headmistress (Ms. Schilling) and prepare for the hand inspection. The headmistress informed the children of how lucky they are to be attending school and reminded them of the rules for being a successful student. After a few photographs we began our first lesson in the classroom. Students copied European leaders from the board onto their 'slates.' They were reminded how important penmanship is and that "Speech is silver, but SILENCE is golden!" 1O students were VERY well behaved and copied their drills with care.
During the Physical Education lesson, boys and girls were separated into two groups. They stood in straight lines and spread out in order to ensure enough space between each student. Ms. Schilling led the girls and Mr. Nichol led the boys in basic callisthenics.
After this 1O students returned to the classroom for a special treat: an art lesson! A still life composition was set up and instructions were given to the class to use a charcoal pencil to sketch the vase, top hat, lantern, and gloves onto their paper. They were then given watercolour to create depth and shading. They turned out beautifully; we may have some professional artists among us! Please stop by the classroom to take a peek!
As they finished their art lesson the children had the opportunity to play some traditional games just outside the classroom. They chose between hopscotch, marbles, skipping ropes, and hula hoops. This may have been the highlight of their day! Children from all classes continued to enjoy the hopscotch game during lunch and afternoon recesses.
Our last task for the day was weaving. The students were given black A3 paper and allowed to choose colourful strips to weave in and out. Of course we assured them that anyone who showed talent in this task may look forward to a rewarding career in basket or rug weaving! :) The final projects turned out fabulously. Again, please stop by to take a look!
Other activities this week included using base-ten blocks to subtract numbers up to 99, solving both addition and subtraction story problems, practicing mental-maths problems, and reviewing counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. In Readers' Workshop the children worked in groups to practice spelling and phonic patterns, rhyming words, vowels and digraphs (a, e, i, o, u & ch, sh, th, wh), and story comprehension through Raz Kids. In Writers' Workshop they enjoyed sharing their interviews as well as drawing and writing about their perspectives on Old School Day. It was so interesting to hear what they liked best (and least) about their experiences with school from 100 years ago!
2 comments:
That is very cool. You need to share what Katherine like the most--and least--about the day. She looks like a doll-baby!
It was funny to hear Katherine talk about the rules of the day. They were not allowed to talk unless asked a question and they could not smile. They had to sit up with correct posture all day, she did not like that at all. It was not "PE" it was "Physical Education" and they just did stretches and movements of arms, stuff like that. The class picture on the collage with the no smiles and reference to Kaiser Wilhelm is awesome.
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