Marybeth & Lora’s Class Notes

To all of those who crawl and creep…who wake at dusk and throw off sleep: welcome to the night!

The children continue their exploration of the night and all its wonders. By now, they have completed three of their four formal observations of the moon and have created animal masks inspired by the poem Welcome to the Night by Joyce Sidman.

Throughout the year, we have read multiple books by nonfiction children’s author Gail Gibbons and used her vast collection of titles for research. She is currently teaching us all about the moon—its phases, the lore surrounding it, and its impact on the tides. As we work we listen to our moon playlist, which has included classics such as Moonshadow, Blue Moon, and Moon Dance.

Our young writers are preparing to share their books with the Hampton Library as part of its Budding Authors program. They are busy revising their stories, writing their “About the Author” pages, and crafting beautiful covers for the March 31 submission deadline.

Since our last notes home, we have completed our read-aloud of Roald Dahl’s The BFG, which was a tremendous hit. We are now enjoying stories about leprechauns, spring, and the classic Jack and the Beanstalk before launching into our next chapter book.

For the second time this year, the children have filled our “Above and Beyond Jar” with cubes earned for acts of respect, kindness, and other achievements, earning themselves a big reward. They are currently in the process of deciding what that reward will be.

In a couple of weeks, we will wrap up our study of day and night and reveal the next phase of our work with cycles. For now, it remains top secret, but we can share that we are very excited—and we think the children will be too!