WW & 1st Year Humanities Foundations 2024-2025
Hockey
by Aveer Sood
3rd grade
"Get the puck!" "Let's go McCall!"
Parents, from the stands, and coaches,
encourage us.
I feel a big hit
as my stick slams the puck.
Every two minutes,
you get a break. I hydrate
and get ready. Two minutes later,
you're back on the ice.
Individual
by Hazel Brown
4th grade
Karate is not just defense:
it can be so fun.
When you are just starting,
you have a ghee white as milk.
High ranks' ghees
are black as night. You aren't just you --
you are strong,
brave,
and treated with
kindness.
Liquid
wet, flowy
sloshing, refreshing, cooling
ocean, river, rock, concrete
hardening, rolling, standing
hard, strong
Solid
-- Addy Archibald
Magical Meadow
by Peter Toebe
2nd grade
On a nice spring day,
there was a magical meadow.
The beauty was amazing!
I gasped in awe: the sunset --
red, orange, yellow, and pink --
filled up the sky like someone
had painted a picture.
Mud pulled me in like quicksand.
Crocs swarmed me like angry sharks.
October
by Elly Toebe
4th grade
Yellow and orange leaves
look like buckets of paint
poured down from the sky.
Fujis like sweet
fruit in a magical orchard, smell
like cinnamon.
A chilly breeze brushes my warm face.
I shiver.
Crunchy leaves crumble
under my feet.
Two Sports
by Aveer Sood
3rd grade
I play two sports: one of them is soccer, the other one is football. When I play soccer, I hear the wind or the rain. I feel the nice breeze or the cold raindrops. Tons of grass surrounds me: some white, some green, and some yellow. I also hear screaming, crying, and silence.
When I play football, my hands touch the leather, but when I play soccer, I touch nothing, as only my feet kick the soccer ball. I walk to both soccer and football practices. At football practice, the Quarterback gets the football to start a play. In a play, he either passes or runs the ball; or he can keep it.
Both sports are very fun, although you get hurt sometimes, and sometimes even break your bones. While they are similar (you can kick in both and use your hands in both) they are also different. In football, players try to score a touchdown or a field goal. A football game is not as long as a soccer match. Soccer players try to score as many goals as possible. Both sports are hard, and I like challenges.
My Trip
by Hazel Brown
4th grade
First, we had to scan our tickets at the front desk, then we went in. We bought peanuts. They had a big crunch: it tasted like caramel -- they were so good! Now I was so excited to see the animals!
I love the San Diego Zoo because they don't just take animals from the wild: they help hurt animals, then keep them. When you go, it feels like you are in the wild with the animals. It is so amazing, as you learn a lot about the animals.
We went to see the big animals, like elephants and polar bears. It was so cool. We also saw sea creatures like dolphins and sharks; there was a small pool of water that had sea creatures that you could touch! The star fish felt like a rock when you touch it. It was awesome. The San Diego Zoo was so cool!
Video Games
by Peter Toebe
2nd grade
I like Roblox because it has a game called Natural Disasters, and that game is fun. You have to try to escape natural disasters, like floods and tornadoes. One time when I was trying to survive a meteor shower, my body parts burst into flames and fell apart.
I love lots and lots of other video games like Mario Party, Minecraft, and even Fish Eater io. Lords Mobile, Dinomerge, and Animal Crossing are also fun. I discovered more games like this tank game that is so fun! I play Roblox on my iPad. Sometimes, I eat snacks.
There is this other game called Eat the World. You can destroy buildings and other things. When you eat objects, you grow bigger, and you can also upgrade your size before it says, "Tap to sell." You can also upgrade how fast you can run, and even how much you hold!
I Love Dance
by Elly Toebe
4th grade
I love dance. I have been dancing since I was three-and-a-half. I love dancing for many reasons, but one of them is that dancing brings people together.
People have been dancing for centuries. In all countries, dancing can show you are happy or sad. Dancing can even make you happy when you are sad and can help you meet people you never thought you would meet! That's why I love dance.
Dancing is mostly believing in yourself
Dancing is very hard work, and it took me years to get good at it. Also, I had dance practice almost every day of the week. But all my hard work paid off, because the dance recitals I did were so much fun! Still, I have to admit: it took me a lot of practice. I have had four different dance teachers, and they were all amazing, so now I love dance.
Dance feels like you are floating on a cloud.
To print a list of all your VOCABULARY to date, go to the 1st Year Vocabulary page OR play to study your words on Quizlet!
Please have your students read books from the 4th-6th Grade Reading List during the year.
Remember that these lists are not an indication of reading level, but are created to give students a background for their upcoming years of study at the NFS. Please do NOT have children read books from lists that are in their reading level, but above their NFS class level.
“Teaching is mostly listening, and learning is mostly telling.”
-- Deborah Meier, 1995
Cinquain
by Mary Parker (2006)
North Fork:
World History —
Continuously writing poems.
We learn without realizing:
Achievements.
Pieces now in play:
(updated 11/16/24)
Hazel
Revisions = 4/6
Edits = 0/3
Fiction: Odd
Pink poetry: Poem of Feeling; General to Specific; The Right Words
Elly
Revisions = 5/6
Edits = 0/3
Pink poetry: Poem of Feeling; General to Specific; The Right Words
Aveer
Revisions = 100%
Edits = 0/3
Pink poetry: Poem of Feeling; General to Specific; The Right Words
Peter
Revisions = 100%
Edits = 0/3
Pink poetry: Poem of Feeling; General to Specific; The Right Words
Addy
Revisions = 4/6
Edits = 0/3
Fiction: Backwards
Pink poetry: similes & metaphors; onomatopoeia; Pictures w/words; Poem of Feeling; General to Specific; The Right Words
Fibonacci Links to explore:
Numbers in Nature reveals the secrets of the Fibonacci sequence in an exhibit from the Annenberg/CPB video.
Dr. Ron Knott's website on Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section in Nature is a great place to explore the Fibonacci sequence. His site allows you to see many of the ideas we discuss in WW and continue to explore in the 1st Year Program.
See pieces written by WW students (2nd-6th graders) from 2000-2023 HERE.
See pieces written by 1st Year classes (6th & 7th graders) from 2001-2020 HERE.
