Let The At Home Reading Begin!!

Yesterday was a BIG day in our class!  For the first time this year, the kids chose two books from their book boxes and brought them home to read with an adult. It was so exciting to see their face light up when they knew the books that had carefully shopped for during Reading Workshop got to go home with them for the night.  Today we worked on a chart for our classroom to remind them how to care the these important books at home.  Check it out!  Enjoy reading these books with your child!

Stories are like bubbles...if we catch them on paper, they will last forever!

Today we launched our first grade writers workshop by blowing bubbles, yes, blowing bubbles!  Each child got to catch blue bubbles on a special piece of writing paper that said "Stories are like bubbles...if we catch them on paper, they will last forever!"  It was so fun to see how this analogy really clicked with my first graders and perhaps gave them a deeper meaning for why writing is SO important.  I can't wait for them to start catching their words, sentences, and stories on paper.  WE ARE AUTHORS!!!!!

Look how carefully Trisha catches the bubbles...I hope this is the care she takes in catching her stories on paper all year long!

Welcome!

As we say good bye to summer and start the new school year with excitement and anticipation, I would like to welcome you to Room 2.  This blog is still a relatively new adventure for me, so I hope to make it a fun place for families to check out the learning and fun going on in our classroom. 

I am so excited to get to know this incoming group of first graders.  I am bursting with new ideas and old favorites to make learning fun and exciting everyday in Room 2! 

Please check back often for new posts and pictures of individual student and whole class projects!

Let's have a great year!

"Raise A Reader This Summer"

Check out the link below to PBS website, full of tips and ideas to keep your child reading all summer long!

http://www.pbs.org/parents/read/

Our Grand Week!

Wow – We had a very busy week in First Grade.  Not only was our spring first grade program on Thursday evening, but the highly anticipated Grand Day was held on Friday.  Both events turned out wonderful, the kids were “Shining Stars” on the stage as they spoke and sang their way through the months of first grade, recapping some of our favorite events through song! 

Grand Day was also a HUGE success!  This is my second year in first grade and this event is one of the most special in school event for these kids.  Special thanks goes to the 3 amazing first grade teachers I work with, this event is so well planned and organized I know is their years of fine-tuning and planning that makes it so unforgettable.  The first graders taught their Guests how to sign-in on our Smart Board which is so normal to us in the classroom; I think the kids were surprised when their guests had questions about it.  Then they were off to the many different activities, giving tours of the school, showing guests many games and activities on computers and IPods, estimating the number of goldfish in the jar, writing on our “School Then” and “School Now” (WOW – have things changed J), making a May Day keepsake Flower, coffee and cookies, and so much more!  We ended the morning with another little program.  The songs were chosen to honor the special Grand Day Guests and honor them they did, brought many to tears!  Thank you to all of the guests who shared this wonderful day in our classroom.  I enjoyed meeting the Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles and of course parents who joined us as well.

Caterpillar to Chrysalis

In science we have been studying the life cycle of butterflies and moths. The little guys in the picture came via standard mail 9 days ago and have already experiences some huge changes.  They are Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars and overnight the amazing transformation for larva to pupa (caterpillar to chrysalis occured!   Talk about excitement in first grade.  Keeping the kids focused on anything but what's going on in this little cup has been a challenge!  We are learning first hand as we watch the caterpillars transform before our eyes, this afternoon the second of our quintuplet group embarked on the journey to it's next phase.  Fascinating. 

Artists in Training

Today was an exciting day in our room...Mrs. Moe was here for our final "Art Experience"  we learned about landscape drawing.  The first grade drawings are really quite amazing.  Using watercolor pencils (a special colored pencil) the artists added color to the drawings. 



In addition to landscape drawings, Mrs. Moe taught us about tinting.  We loved the rhyme that she taught us along with it "Add White, Make it Light"!

A "HUGE" thank you to the H.O.T.L. Carnival Committee for making these Art Lessons with Ms. Moe possible for us.  The kids really enjoyed it!  Thank you to everyone who supports our carnival each spring - the funds raised pay for wonderful things for our children!

Welcome!

I am embarking on a new adventure with my First Grade students...my first Blog.  I am excited to share with families a glimpse into what goes on in our first grade classroom.  I hope that families will visit frequently and gain a sense of what their children are doing everyday when they send them through the doors of H.O.T.L and into my classroom.   Please visit often to see first hand,  the learning that goes on in our first grade classroom each day.