End of the Year (in Review)

Dear First Grade Second Grade Families,

I just wanted to thank you again for a great year!  I was overwhelmed with the wonderful gifts and even more so by the wonderful cards you wrote me!  I've already filed them away to put up on my board next year (the one next to my desk filled with love notes for when I'm having a tough day).

As your children may have told you by now, as an End-of-Year gift, I made them each their own Summer Writer's Notebook and challenged them to write me (at least) 20 different letters over the summer and bring the notebook back next fall and I'll get them a surprise!  

I'm hoping this will be a motivator to get out those pencils this summer.  Speaking of summer, I have a summer blog with suggestions on how you can avoid the summer slide (The "summer slide" is a term for what often happens after a summer 'off' from school where children come back at a lower level in the fall than when they left in the spring.

You can access that blog by clicking HERE.

I still can't believe the 2014-2015 year is over!  It is proof that "time flies when you're having fun" and we sure had a lot of fun!

I added some video links below in case you want to walk down memory lane and remember some of the neat things we did this year.  This blog will always be here if you want to look back and remember way back when your child was in first grade- trust me- you'll be amazed at how fast this time will go.

And finally, this will be my LAST blog for the school year.  If you are getting this via email, now is the time to scroll down to the bottom of that email and click "Unsubscribe" so you don't have to get my many communications next year.

Thank you again for all your support in Room 119 this year.  I had a blast! 

Have a wonderful summer,

~Mrs. D.

Do you remember Apple Day?  Click HERE.

Do you remember the Fun Run? Click HERE.

Do you remember Halloween Fun?  Click HERE.

Do you remember the Outdoor Center Field Trip?  Click HERE.

Do you remember THESE Thankful Turkeys?

Do you remember our Thanksgiving Play?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our December Holiday Party?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our 100th Day of School?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our Talent Show at WLN?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our daytime performance?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our Insect Museum?  Click HERE.

Do you remember our Recycling Project (not-a-box)?  Click HERE.

Do your remember our Field Trip to Mayberry Farms?  Click HERE.

Do you remember Field Day? Click HERE.

Do you remember First Grade Camp?  Click HERE.

Until next year...

Week 36 in Review

Greetings from Room 119 and our last FULL week of school!  This week, our learning had a twist as Room 119 was transformed into "Camp Joy" complete with tents, trees, vines, stars (for night) and of course a campfire!  We had such a fun week, but of course got in a lot of learning.  We also still lifted someone up for our last Thoughtful Thursday project of the year.  Take a moment and click HERE to see the special project we did for nine-year-old, Seth.

We celebrated a lot of learning and also celebrated Leila's "Un-Birthday!"  She was pretty excited to celebrate at Camp Joy!

Our first day, we brought in all our sleeping gear and met around the camp-fire to make up our Camp Norms (Rules we wanted as a group) and come up with a name.  Shortly thereafter, we made a big banner with our camp name on it for everyone to see!

 Mrs. D. also made us some camp journals that we worked on throughout the week complete with a pencil tied to our folders for times when we went on hikes.

While we were at camp we still did all our normal learning but it was around a campfire. We sat on our "Sit-Upons" around the fire.

In science this week, we looked at what happens when we mix liquids together.  We mixed oil and water, liquid soap and water and then (because someone suggested it) we mixed all three together!  We had great conversations about what happened and why.  We also investigated if toothpaste is a liquid or a solid (because it has properties of both).

Mrs. D. also shared a Robin's nest that was at her parents' house.  The Robins were long gone so she brought it in to show us.  We passed it around and were fascinated with how carefully it was built of mud and grasses!

 Not all of our learning occurred "in" Camp Joy.  We tried to get out for daily hikes where we read/sang songs and enjoyed the fresh air.  We loved the songs and once we learned them well were able to sing while we walked which was a lot of fun.

 Another thing we did daily was read under the stars (Christmas lights on the ceiling) to the sounds of the roaring campfire (Thank you YouTube.)

Our favorite time of the day was mail-call.  That was when Mrs. D. handed out letters from our loved ones (and if we didn't have one, we got a letter from someone at LLE).  We also had "Care Packages" that were sent in daily from families.  We LOVED the Care Packages!  Thank you again to all who sent them.

 We ended each day by writing letters home to tell our families everything we did in camp each day on special "Camp Joy" Stationery.  We sure hope that our families enjoyed our letters to them as much as we enjoyed the letters they sent to us.
Of course also had Camp Crafts.  Among them were:

Creating our own camp shirts with sharpies 

We added rubbing alcohol to them and observed a cool reaction where the colors spread out!  Our shirts turned out great!

Making bead necklaces:

Mrs. D. gave us a challenge to create a pattern for our necklaces and create a pattern more difficult than a simple ABAB pattern.  We had some really cool necklaces!  Thank you to everyone who donated beads!

Bird Feeders:

We also made bird feeders with cheerios and pipe cleaners!  They were Little Blue approved but we can also hang them on our own trees for the outdoor birds to enjoy!

 We were so excited on Thursday when we had a special visit from Vicki (last week's Thoughtful Thursday recipient).  She was so touched by our letters that she came in to read us a story.  She also brought popscicles!  We asked about her and she asked about us.  It was great meeting her!

 On Friday, our 5th Grade Buddies joined us for science!  We made OOBLECK!  It was very strange because it truly was a solid AND a liquid!  We had hoped to do the experiment outside but the rain came down so we had to quickly get back inside!

 Thankfully, the weather cleared up for our End of the Year Party.  We made pictures with glue, sand and glitter and we also had a pinata'!

It was Liam who finally cracked open the flower and we all went rushing for candy!  Afterward, we got yummy ice-cream sandwiches and enjoyed playing outside on the playground!

Mrs. D. took LOTS of pictures this week and put them all together in a video that you can see by clicking HERE.  Also, if you haven't already, please fill out an (anonymous) End-Of-The-Year survey on how YOU feel the year went.  Mrs. D. really appreciates the feedback.  It helps her to improve her craft each year!  You can click HERE to take the survey.  Thank you to all those who have already taken the survey!