One of the wonderful things about our charter school is our Visual/ Performing Arts focus. We not only integrate the arts into our curriculum, but we teach art for art's sake. Starting in grade 2, every class gets to perform a play. That means we get to practice being a respectful audience--a LOT! The first class play of the year was performed this week: Mr. Ruddell's 7th/8th grade class performed an original play, Deja Brew. This lovely play highlighted each student's strengths and showed how a class can really work together. We also practice writing little appreciation letters after each play--sharing our gratitude with a collaborative appreciation poster! 

Mrs. Howe taught all of the 2/3 teachers about this routine for writing and reflection: 3-3-1 writing. This weekly routine involves three components:

• Three minutes of silent reflection

• Listing three things we're grateful for

• Writing a one-page story about something positive in our lives

Because this is now an expected routine, the kids can learn to get better at something that might have been hard at first: being calm, listing gratitudes and practicing writing fluency/storytelling.

This is a peaceful time in our class each week, and it's important to learn about ourselves by focusing on the positive aspects of our lives.

We always end with author's chair--and we celebrate each person who'd like to share their writing. ❤️