Pictures!

Hello parents and students! It has been awhile since I've been able to post. I am posting pictures from our last two spirit days, Crazy Hat and Hair Day and Beaver Duck and Eagle Pride Day. 

It is sad for me to write this but I need to make this our last post this year. This year has brought on different experiences than in the past and it has become too difficult for me to post regularly. I apologize for this. Thanks for your understanding. Please enjoy the photos! 

Pumpkin Patch!

1 week ago we went to the pumpkin patch. I tried to post pictures last week but due to technical difficulties and time constraints I am now finally posting them! We had some amazing weather and the kids had so much fun!

Exploring Our "Adopted" Tree

This week we began a unit on Trees. We will study trees over the next 2 weeks as well. On Tuesday we went out to observe our tree. This tree is right outside our classroom, too! Check out these curious, excited first graders as they made observations of the tree.

Sheila Rae The Brave Maps

We are half way through an author study on Kevin Henkes. This past week we spent some time working on these fun maps after reading the story, Sheila Rae The Brave by Kevin Henkes. Sheila Rae is a brave girl who gets lost one day on her way home. Luckily her little sister was following her and helped her get home showing she could be brave too. The girls made many stops along the way, some very imaginative ones too. The students drew maps from school to home to show how Sheila Rae got home.

1st Day Highlights!

Wow! "What a long day!" Most kids said today somewhere between 10:00am and 3:35pm at dismissal. This transition between kindergarten and first grade is always so hard for these sweet 6 year olds. I was quite pleased with how they did today! At the end of the day I asked students to tell me what they wanted me to write about their favorite parts of the day. Here they are:

"Recess"
"Lunch"
"My favorite part was lunch."
"Snack"
"I like cubbies."
"My favorite thing is recess."
"My favorite thing is lunch."
"Read"
"I liked math."
"I love eating lunch."
"I like doing the calendar."
"I like everything."
"I liked lunch."
"I liked doing lunch."
"I liked free choice."
"I like eating at school."
"Recess"
"I like the cafeteria."

Their favorite parts mostly consisted of eating, but that's ok with me as I like eating and think it's important! It will be fun to see how favorite highlights soon become reading, writing, math, friends, science etc. It won't be long! Thanks for sharing your precious children with me each day. I just know we're off to a great start for a wonderful year! - Mrs. Bowers

Room 4 is ready for it's stars!

** This was scheduled to post on August 28th, but due to technology issues it didn't. So sorry!

In just a few hours the school will be open for family visitation night! I'm filled with excitement to meet my new students for this year. I just know we are going to have an awesome year! The fist step is always getting our classroom and supplies ready to go. So here are some pictures of our room this year! (It will look so much better filled with students learning and having fun!)

Sharing With Next Years 1st Graders

I cannot believe that in just 2 more school days our school year wraps up. This school year has been a fantastic one. 

Just 11 months ago I decided to start a class blog not knowing how it would go this year. I wondered if I would be able to keep up with it, if the students would like it, if the parents would look at it and so much more. This blog has been a wonderful experience for all involved. I have had fun showing off my students and their creativity and hard work. The students have learned a lot and have enjoyed sharing it. I love when they say, "Take pictures so we can put this on the blog!" Parents have enjoyed seeing snapshots of what happens in our class each week and have enjoyed sharing it with family and friends near and far. I will definitely continue the blog next year with my next group of students. 

I asked the students to think about what they would like to share with next years group of 1st graders. They had some wonderful ideas, some of which they chose to share and others which were only shared verbally. They created the video below, which I will share with next years group of students. As a teacher of course I wish they would share things like, "math is fun!" "I love reading groups!" "You will learn a lot." Etc. 

However, this is their work and their video. These were the things they wanted to share about and will probably be loved and cherished by next years students more than what I could've said. Enjoy this precious video!

Walking Field Trip

On Thursday as a culmination to our map unit, we took a walking field trip around our town. We highlighted our route on our maps before leaving so we could follow along as we walked. We stopped by the fire station, library, post office, city hall, our gazebo and the museum. At the fire station the wonderful firefighters had their water hoses out in a fun maze for us to walk through. At the library we heard a story acted out with puppets by the librarian called the Spider and The Fly. At the post office we mailed letters we had written to our friends in the envelopes we had addressed. At city hall we met the city manager, took a tour and received a sweet little goody bag. At the gazebo we enjoyed our sack lunches. At the museum we enjoyed a popsicle treat, walked through several parts of the museum and asked questions. The students were so well behaved and had a wonderful time!

Wallaby Visit

This past week a teacher from our middle school brought over her wallaby for a visit. The kids were very excited and enjoyed seeing an unfamiliar animal. Check out the cute pictures!