Marla Jacob, Lower School Teacher
First graders are thrilled to be diving into the world of books with our new literacy program, Wit and Wisdom. After piloting the program last year, we are ready to immerse ourselves in reading and writing. Students began with an introductory module (unit) to establish solid reading routines. We studied the book Wild About Books to examine a big (essential) question: How does reading help us learn?
Students engaged in various activities, including echo reading, think-pair-share, creating tableaux, writing journal responses, defining vocabulary words, and even culminating their learning with a Socratic seminar! We have been having sophisticated conversations about books, learning, reading, and writing.
In addition to our text, we also “read” a painting, dissecting how colors, shapes, and lines evoke different feelings. Our next big essential question is: How do books change lives around the world? We are looking forward to answering this question by diving into many fiction and nonfiction texts, like Tomás and the Library Lady, Museum ABC, Green Eggs and Ham, and That Book Woman, as well as visual art.