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John Fiedler, Teacher
John has been at Neskowin Valley School since 2003. He received his elementary teaching credentials at mid-life, after
teaching college-level English in the Midwest. He has taught in the public schools and worked as a reporter for the
Siuslaw News in Florence, Oregon.
First- and Second-Graders: Becoming a Learning Community
In first and second grades, children begin the academic phase of their learning, building on the concrete ideas and skills
of the beginning years and moving on to more abstract and symbolic thinking. Learning to read, write and record their
observations connects them to the outside world in new and personal ways. First- and second-graders also learn to be
students in a more formal sense, as a social group and as individuals able to develop their mental lives.
Literacy Skills: Reading and Writing
Daily writing and time spent with books reading and being read to form the heart of literacy instruction for the Youngers.
Encouraging a love of books by careful selection of stories that tie into student interests and display the richness,
excitement, eccentricity and beauty of the written word is key to helping students develop motivation to read and write
themselves. Emphasis is placed on books as ways to know things, to explore other places and people, and to enjoy
internal mental delight. Students write in journals, share what they’ve written with the class, enjoy books by themselves
and with others, and experience the sharing of books in a read-aloud period with the teacher.
Some first- and second-graders already read, while others need significant help decoding words. All benefit from daily
phonics lessons that teach decoding, syllabification and basic spelling rules, plus fundamentals of writing, speaking and
penmanship. We use a version of the Riggs Institute’s literacy program called “The Writing and Spelling Road to
Reading and Thinking.”
Abstract Skills: Math and Science
Math and science provide additional opportunities to encourage student literacy, so story problems and “real life” math
and science including written answers are emphasized. Teaching math through the manipulation of objects gives first-
and second-graders the concrete forms they need to begin to think abstractly. Symbolic thinking—substituting symbols
for real objects—helps students grasp how numbers can represent reality and provides groundwork for math concepts
they’ll encounter in the higher grades. Grounding their learning in “real life” problems helps even young students
understand that math is a tool for everyday use. Emphasis is on students explaining their solutions to other students,
which promotes listening and speaking skills as well. The math program follows a model known as Cognitively Guided
Instruction.
The science curriculum invites Youngers students to operate as scientists, and encourages them to seek explanations
for the natural phenomena they experience every day. The scientific skills of prediction, observation, measurement and
record-keeping are linked to what students observe around them in the weather and physical environment. An
emphasis on interesting creatures such as insects, birds, mammals and marine animals helps tie students’ interests to
the curriculum. Another emphasis is on students beginning to theorize about physical laws behind observable
phenomena. Students encounter science as weather watchers, in natural objects brought in from outdoors, and on
regular expeditions to the creek, woods and ocean beaches nearby. We follow a two-year cycle in science study that
alternates between the biological and physical sciences.
The Arts: Art, Drama, Music and P.E.
The Youngers have art sessions once a week with art teacher Judith Schlicting. They work in a variety of art media with
assignments that develop their mechanical skills and stretch their imaginations. Art is also incorporated in their
classroom work, especially in combination with writing. Once a week students meet with music teacher Eric Simpson for
singing instruction, leading to periodic public performances. Students enjoy a weekly drama class with Judith, and use
what they learn there in the regular classroom. In recent years the Youngers have staged plays and puppet shows for
the whole school during Gather’rounds. The weekly Gather‘rounds also give students regular opportunities to sing with
others, and additional musical enrichment happens in the classroom through instruction by parent volunteers and
interaction with visiting musicians. The Youngers have physical education with teacher Marci Woodruff once a week,
emphasizing skill building for lifelong physical activities. They also learn teamwork, and find enjoyment in and
appreciation of their own and others’ skills. Swimming lessons at a local pool are offered each spring.
Integrating Curriculum
At NVS, we try hard to integrate curriculum so that one subject builds on another and so that students understand real
life doesn’t divide learning into categories. As an example, the Youngers studied marine life one recent spring,
culminating in two field trips, one to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, and the other to the tide-pools at nearby
Cape Kiwanda. Students read about marine life, painted life-sized sharks and rays in tempera, learned about individual
shark species, attended a shark lab at the aquarium, revisited their aquarium trip in math story problems the next day,
wrote about their hopes for their field trips and their actual experiences in their journals, met a diver from the aquarium,
devised an imaginary dialog between a diver and a shark, learned about the life cycle of several kinds of marine life,
and created their own ceramic tide-pools.
John has been at Neskowin Valley School since 2003. He received his elementary teaching credentials at mid-life, after
teaching college-level English in the Midwest. He has taught in the public schools and worked as a reporter for the
Siuslaw News in Florence, Oregon.
First- and Second-Graders: Becoming a Learning Community
In first and second grades, children begin the academic phase of their learning, building on the concrete ideas and skills
of the beginning years and moving on to more abstract and symbolic thinking. Learning to read, write and record their
observations connects them to the outside world in new and personal ways. First- and second-graders also learn to be
students in a more formal sense, as a social group and as individuals able to develop their mental lives.
Literacy Skills: Reading and Writing
Daily writing and time spent with books reading and being read to form the heart of literacy instruction for the Youngers.
Encouraging a love of books by careful selection of stories that tie into student interests and display the richness,
excitement, eccentricity and beauty of the written word is key to helping students develop motivation to read and write
themselves. Emphasis is placed on books as ways to know things, to explore other places and people, and to enjoy
internal mental delight. Students write in journals, share what they’ve written with the class, enjoy books by themselves
and with others, and experience the sharing of books in a read-aloud period with the teacher.
Some first- and second-graders already read, while others need significant help decoding words. All benefit from daily
phonics lessons that teach decoding, syllabification and basic spelling rules, plus fundamentals of writing, speaking and
penmanship. We use a version of the Riggs Institute’s literacy program called “The Writing and Spelling Road to
Reading and Thinking.”
Abstract Skills: Math and Science
Math and science provide additional opportunities to encourage student literacy, so story problems and “real life” math
and science including written answers are emphasized. Teaching math through the manipulation of objects gives first-
and second-graders the concrete forms they need to begin to think abstractly. Symbolic thinking—substituting symbols
for real objects—helps students grasp how numbers can represent reality and provides groundwork for math concepts
they’ll encounter in the higher grades. Grounding their learning in “real life” problems helps even young students
understand that math is a tool for everyday use. Emphasis is on students explaining their solutions to other students,
which promotes listening and speaking skills as well. The math program follows a model known as Cognitively Guided
Instruction.
The science curriculum invites Youngers students to operate as scientists, and encourages them to seek explanations
for the natural phenomena they experience every day. The scientific skills of prediction, observation, measurement and
record-keeping are linked to what students observe around them in the weather and physical environment. An
emphasis on interesting creatures such as insects, birds, mammals and marine animals helps tie students’ interests to
the curriculum. Another emphasis is on students beginning to theorize about physical laws behind observable
phenomena. Students encounter science as weather watchers, in natural objects brought in from outdoors, and on
regular expeditions to the creek, woods and ocean beaches nearby. We follow a two-year cycle in science study that
alternates between the biological and physical sciences.
The Arts: Art, Drama, Music and P.E.
The Youngers have art sessions once a week with art teacher Judith Schlicting. They work in a variety of art media with
assignments that develop their mechanical skills and stretch their imaginations. Art is also incorporated in their
classroom work, especially in combination with writing. Once a week students meet with music teacher Eric Simpson for
singing instruction, leading to periodic public performances. Students enjoy a weekly drama class with Judith, and use
what they learn there in the regular classroom. In recent years the Youngers have staged plays and puppet shows for
the whole school during Gather’rounds. The weekly Gather‘rounds also give students regular opportunities to sing with
others, and additional musical enrichment happens in the classroom through instruction by parent volunteers and
interaction with visiting musicians. The Youngers have physical education with teacher Marci Woodruff once a week,
emphasizing skill building for lifelong physical activities. They also learn teamwork, and find enjoyment in and
appreciation of their own and others’ skills. Swimming lessons at a local pool are offered each spring.
Integrating Curriculum
At NVS, we try hard to integrate curriculum so that one subject builds on another and so that students understand real
life doesn’t divide learning into categories. As an example, the Youngers studied marine life one recent spring,
culminating in two field trips, one to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, and the other to the tide-pools at nearby
Cape Kiwanda. Students read about marine life, painted life-sized sharks and rays in tempera, learned about individual
shark species, attended a shark lab at the aquarium, revisited their aquarium trip in math story problems the next day,
wrote about their hopes for their field trips and their actual experiences in their journals, met a diver from the aquarium,
devised an imaginary dialog between a diver and a shark, learned about the life cycle of several kinds of marine life,
and created their own ceramic tide-pools.
| YOUNGERS 6 to 8 year olds |
