Exploration Stations

One of our favorite times of day is Exploration Stations. During this time students work with a partner at different stations around the room while I work on reading or writing with small groups or individuals. Stations change throughout the year. A few of the stations we have include Build and Create, computers, iPads, classroom library, math activities, listening station, reading big books, Wonder and Explore, word work, pocket chart activities and more. You will see some of these stations below.

Important Dates
8/17 The Beat begins 9:15 am
8/17 Renaissance Secondary School Information Session 6:00 pm
8/30 - 8/31 Fall Voyage - we will return around 3:45 pm or so on 8/31
9/1 Day of Rest for First Grade
9/5 No School - Labor Day
9/7 Love and Logic Class for Parents begins 6:00 pm
9/30 Boot Camp
10/3 - 10/17 Fall Break
10/19 Crew Pictures and Individual Re-Takes
11/8 No School - Professional Development for Teachers
11/14 - 11/18 Book Fair
11/23 - 11/25 Thanksgiving Break
12/19 - 1/3 Winter Break

Collaboration in Math

Yesterday, we collaborated in math. Our task was to create a design using pattern blocks. We had to create only one design with our group of 4 or 5 students and we all had to contribute to it and agree on what the design would look like. This is actually a very tough task but our crew happily rose to the challenge and worked through their different ideas.

Morning Meeting

We begin each day with a morning meeting. Morning meetings help ease us all into the day. They consist of a message about our day that we read together, a greeting, a song, sharing time and an activity. Our activity this morning was called Person to Person. We had to work with a partner and touch our knees together or our fingers together and more. Enjoy the photos of this below.

Reminders and Notes
Pictures - School Pictures are tomorrow. Our time for pictures is 12:40 pm. Order envelopes are available in the office.

Back to School Carnival is tomorrow after school.

Grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and other relatives are welcome to subscribe to our crew blog if they are interested. It is open to all.

Please have your child learn his or her student id number. It is a 6 digit number that we use to buy lunch and access computers. You can find your child's id number on the Parent Portal. I can also send it to you if you need help. They will use this number for years so investing a little time now to memorize it pays off greatly in the long run. Thanks! 

Our Self-Portraits - We used our new supplies to create these.

First Day Photos

We have had a wonderful morning. We played some games, read some books, used our new supplies, ate lunch and made new friends. What a great start to first grade! It was just a little too busy for many pictures but we got a few...

Meet Ms. Martha

Ms. Martha will be the educational assistant for our crew this year. Ms. Martha volunteered in my room last year as a parent. Her daughter, Tori, was in my crew. This means that  Ms. Martha knows a lot about first graders and how things work at our school. We are so happy that Ms. Martha is part of our crew.

Just a little note - we had to take a picture of us reading a book because Ms. Martha and I kept getting the giggles while trying to take this picture. We are going to have a great year!

Getting Ready!

School starts in three weeks and I am getting ready. Ms. Mary Beth and I went shopping for school supplies for all of the first graders yesterday. Ms. Dana and Ms. Jennifer, the second grade teachers, joined us and they shopped for the second graders. It took five carts to hold everything at that store and then we went to other stores!  As you can see in the picture below, my daughter, Abby, helped us gather items along with two of Ms. Jennifer's kids, Kelby and Keane. We are going to have a great year and I can't wait to get started! I will see you soon! (Click on the pictures for a larger view.)

We Are Crew!

Everything is piled up in the classroom for now. I will put it away later.

Message to Last Year's Crew
I am sad to say that it is time for you to unsubscribe to this blog and move on to second grade. It is very simple to unsubscribe. When you get the email from the blog, look at the bottom of that email for a little link that says "unsubscribe". Click on that link and follow the directions. You are, of course, welcome to stay subscribed if you would like. I know your child will have a great year in second grade! Keep in touch!

Memories 2015-2016

If you get this post by email you will need to go directly to the crew blog to watch this video.


 Google Photo Album - This photo album contains all of the pictures in this video. If you would like to download any to keep, please visit this link.