An unstrained saunter with mates

Marisa O’Neil

When you fall down, when you need to lift something heavy and when

you’re reading a tough word, it’s good to have a friend to help.

Students in Susan Shaw’s first-grade class at Woodland Elementary

School talked and read about friendship during class Monday morning.

As they sat cross-legged on a color-blocked rug, Shaw asked them to

think about different ways friends help each other.

“If something’s really heavy, they can help you carry it,”

7-year-old Reese Stalder suggested.

Shaw wrote that one down for everyone to see. Hands waved in the

air, begging to be the next to answer.

“If friends are lost, you can help them go where they were before,

like to their house, and make them happy,” 7-year-old Joseph Salas

said.

Shaw wrote that one down, too.

Next, it was time for five students to stand in front of the class

and read a story. Shaw went over a few new words that would pop up in

the story, like “saunter,” “deed” and “strained.”

When your friends help you lift something heavy, she said, you

might still strain to pick it up.

“And I think I strained my stomach muscles last week doing so many

sit-ups with you in [physical education class],” she laughed.

So the five students stood ready to read, each with a copy of the

story about a frog who helps a snake.

Reese went first, reading quietly, but finishing his section

without any hiccups.

Tristan Manning, 7, went next. Only his shock of brown hair was

visible over the top of his paper as he held it in front of his face

and read.

Reese stayed close, looking over Tristan’s shoulder at the page.

When he got stuck on “saunter,” Reese whispered the word to him.

Each successive reader got help from the previous one whenever

they faced a questionable word. And when in doubt, Reese helped out.

After the story, Shaw vowed to use the new vocabulary words in the

classroom to help the students get more familiar with them.

“Like, when we go to recess, let’s ‘saunter’ out to recess,” she

said.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Marisa O’Neil visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about her experience.