All the educational gurus tell us that children (and adults) are more enthusiastic, invested, and productive when they write with a specific reason and audience in mind. Last week, both the Acorns and the Oaks wrote purposefully.
Christine (lead teacher of the Acorns): The children wrote letters to a boy named Tavish who is very sick and staying in a Ronald MacDonald House in Seattle. The children know that he has an older brother and sister who are currently living with their grandparents while Tavish’s parents take turns staying with him at his temporary home. Tavish checks the mailbox daily for mail. He was disappointed, as he hadn’t received much. We each wrote a note or drew a picture to him, which will be mailed tomorrow. In explaining Tavish’s situation to the children, I remarked about how lucky we all are. We are healthy, we have a home, we’re privileged enough to be able to attend our school. The notes are sweet and genuine; I hope that Tavish feels our positive energy when he receives them.
Alicia (lead teacher of the Oaks): We read poetry, wrote poetry, began memorizing poetry, and began preparing for our Poetry Hour next week. This week, we wrote haikus, cinquains, and rhyming poems. Also, we continued to discuss what it's like to perform in front of an audience. Today I asked what is the hardest part about performing in front of an audience? Here are their answers:
O - people staring at you
M - stage fright, I feel it all the time until it's over. Ice cream helps
D - trying not to hiccup
M - I do kinda get stage fright
H- during the performance
F - I always feel like I'm gonna vomit all over the place, but it's not 3,000 people watching, so that's good.
I asked if anyone had a strategy for overcoming these difficult feelings. M suggested you imagine the audience with underwear on their heads. I suggested that that would make you laugh and you don't want to laugh during a performance. My strategy is to imagine the audience is small in size or very far away from me. We will continue to come up with ideas for strategies for performance.
Check back next week for pictures from Poetry Hour!
