“My father can read big words too,  
Like  ‘Constantinople’ and ‘Timbuktu.’”
Dr. Seuss | Hop on Pop

A busy hum stirs across a first-grade classroom.  At one table a student enthusiastically chuckles to himself (and looks around for a friend to tell!) as he finds yet another hilarious joke in his book about woodland mammals.  Nearby another student crunches pretzels as she quietly sounds out a BOB book about kittens. Across the room another student grins ear to ear as she eagerly approaches the teacher. 

“Mrs. Gordon!  These words are CVC!  And VC!  And look at this one!” 

Indeed, I proudly nod back at her.  Each of the words on the title page contains a short vowel sound with either one or two consonants, fitting two of the patterns we have been learning in our UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) reading class.  She is decoding the words independently.   

She is reading. 

Reading! 

“Yes,” I tell her, “That’s right!  Could you please read a few pages for me so we can see if this seems like a good fit book for you today?”
She pulls up a chair and commences to read aloud. 

“Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss.

UP
PUP
Pup is up. 

CUP
PUP
Pup in cup. 

PUP
CUP
Cup on pup.” 

She is sailing right along.  We skip ahead to one of her favorite parts. 

“FATHER
MOTHER
SISTER
BROTHER 

That one is my other brother.
My brothers read a little bit.  
Little words like  

If
and
It.”

The student smiles, and we discuss the pictures.  She herself, like many TSCS classmates, has a family which includes siblings. Oh, how proud she is of her siblings  - her parents – her grandparents – aunts, uncles, cousins!  

Family plays a significant role in her life and in the lives of her classmates, who jubilantly announce upcoming family birthdays or lost teeth with shining eyes as they sit at circle time, or every day for a week that a long-anticipated family trip is about to happen.  Soon!  In five days!  Four days!  Three days! Tomorrow!!  

(“I will miss you all,” the student exclaims sincerely, “And I will think of you!  Did you know I will be gone for four whole days with my family and a kayak?!”) 

TSCS first grade is an important place to share important information, like family birthdays, lost teeth, and kayak trips of course, and to learn important information and take important steps, like reading CVC words.
And understanding number bonds and equations (part, part, whole! 3, 7, 10!  3 plus 7 equals 10!).
And that God made all creation, like woodland mammals, which have fur and drink milk and apparently inspire wonderful jokes.
And that we each can “fill up the bucket” of a friend with kind words and actions. And that,

“When we make the sign of the cross,
We remember that God is the boss.
We say, ‘Hallow my thoughts 
And cleanse my heart,
Take the heavy weight off of my shoulders.’”
Gigi Shadid | God is the Boss

And that, first grade is an important place to learn about amazing, inspiring saints, and exciting (sometimes delightful and sometimes terrible) adventures from the medieval world. Stories come to life to teach of Genghis Khan/Mongolia, Mansa Mousa/Timbuktu, Vikings/Northern Europe, and many events and people of Europe and the Middle East, including someone named Diocletian, who once divided the Roman Empire. The West got Rome, and the East got Byzantium, later called Constantinople!  

Situated at the crossroads of two continents -- two worlds!-- Constantinople has an eagle that looks to both and carries the sign of the cross.  That same eagle perches majestically on the uniforms of TSCS first graders as they march onward in wisdom, beauty, and virtue towards fulfillment of divine purpose, by God’s grace.   

The student turns the page of Hop On Pop. 

“My father can read big words too, like
Constantinople
And
Timbuktu.” 

Praise and thanks be to God, our heavenly Father, Who gave us His Word made flesh, Who dwelt among us, and that He is alive and working among us in first grade hearts and minds at The Saint Constantine School.