Wednesday, July 3, 2019 - Showcasing our Strengths

Happy Wednesday! Each day we will try to highlight one of Forman Summer’s academic classes as part of this blog series.  Today we will be showcasing Ms. Lily Chen’s Writing class. According to Ms.Chen today in class students did the following: After interactive instruction on the standard writing process of Planning, Drafting, Revising, Editing, and Publishing, students in Ms. Chen's Writing class went on a 5-minute silent walk this morning from the Science Center to the bridge over the brook to search for a muse for their first writing task: "A Symbol of Me" about an element in nature that symbolizes their personality or inner strengths. Students were initially taken by surprise with this request to use their LEGS as part of planning for writing, but they soon caught the fire of enthusiasm and skipped and hopped all the way! Students then received guidance on CAST (Claim, Add-on, Support, and Tie-back) paragraph writing strategy, read a sample paragraph from Ms. Chen as a Gentle Water Warrior, and started the process of applying CAST to their draft.    

Today has been the warmest day we have had in awhile in Litchfield, peaking at around 89°F with bright sunshine.  All students were provided multiple breaks and opportunities to stay well hydrated, especially if participating in outdoor activities this afternoon.  Some of our students got to cool down a little further, traveling to Sandy Beach at Bantam Lake for a swim test. The swim test lets the Sandy Beach and Forman Summer staff know that a student is a capable-enough swimmer to travel to the dock and water slide located in the deeper parts of the lake. Congratulations to our swimmers who passed this swim test!

This blog series would also like to provide insight into the various activities our students are participating in over the course of this summer.  Ceramics is our showcase activity for the day. One ceramics group learned how to make pinch pots, including how to use coils in the process. Students also learned how to score clay, by scratching hatch marks into it, which helped them to join pieces of clay together for their creation.  In another ceramics group, students practiced using the pottery wheel to make vases, pots, etc. Over the course of the next few days,students will be allowed to use their creativity and these basics skills to construct their own works of art.

This evening, after dinner, students participated in more team-building and bonding activities in order to strengthen our community.  Lots of laughs were shared!

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