Happy First Day of 1st Grade!

Whew!  We made it!  An earthquake, hurricane, or just plain old rain couldn't stop us from having an awesome first day!  I am so thankful I get to teach  most of the same students this year!  P.I.R.A.T.E notebooks came home today.  Don't expect to see the behavior calendar or any homework until next week. Please bring in a 4x6 family photo to add to our classroom as soon as you can!  Thanks!

These are just a few things we did the first day of school (and a few snapshots of our classroom incase you missed open house!)...



We read books by David Shannon and talked about the differences between a peace maker and a peace breaker.

In order to make our dreams and wishes for 1st grade happen, we promised to be peace makers!



 

We collected data about they ways we get home from school.



I already got my first pieces of art!  Sponge bob and Virginia Tech!  Go Hokies!

 We also enjoyed "Jitter Juice"!  Make sure to check your child's binder for the cute poem and graphing activity we did, too!



Engineering Day on the Web!

Check out Enginnering Day at Hopkins!  Be sure to look at "more photos"...there's a picture of our class.

Pictures from the zoo and other activities will be up shortly- I promise!  I've been vacationing and teaching summer school!  It's been a fun summer!

May and June Updates Are Coming!

Whew!  It's been a busy month and 1/2!  I'll be updating the blog next week with pictures and videos from Splash Day, the Zoo, Engineering Day, and other events. 

Report cards are coming home tomorrow.  Included is a summer reading log and a school supply list.  Because I was unable to have input into the first grade requests, I have included some changes I would like.  I will add them here and then do another update closer to the beginning of school.  Thank you so much for your support throughout the year.  I am looking forward to another fun filled year with my kindergarten babies! 


I am asking that you do NOT buy:

• a recipe card box
• Plastic Folders
• Gallon size bags
• Sandwich Size bags (We have plenty from this year left over)
• Brown bags
• White copy paper

I am requesting you add:

• a plastic travel soap dish. (This will be the easiest way to store word study pieces we will have weekly)
• a heavy duty (no plastic) zipper pouch that has three holes (to put in the 3 ring binder to hold word wall words and additional materials)
• make sure the 1” binder has a clear plastic pocket on the front and also pockets on the inside (This will replace the plastic take home folders and will contain behavior, homework, and additional items)
• Markers (one box and then replenish as needed)

*We will continue engineering next year. Please save plastic bottle tops, cardboard rolls, egg cartons, etc. over the summer.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Sorry for the delay in our Cinco de Mayo celebration post!  I was in Huntington, West Virginia this weekend for a college graduation! 

We made sombreros and did the Mexican Hat Dance!

 We took turns hitting the pinata!

 We enjoyed authentic Mexican cusine made by one of our amazing mothers! 

We had a fantastic day!

Preparing for DRA testing! What to expect...

Today we read the book Rosie's Walk.  The kids illustrated their own book and made two stick puppets: a hen and a fox.  We read the our books and used the puppets to practice prepositional words (over, under, through, around, etc.) 

Please have your child retell the story to you tonight without the use of the book.  We will begin DRA (reading) assessments next week. 

Farm Olympics!

On Friday afternoon the classes competed in Farm Olympics!  We had a water relay...