Goodbye Friends

First grade sure was easy!

Dear First Grade Families,

It's finally here-summer! Today, I give you back the same child from the fall a few inches taller, a few months wiser, and much more mature. Although this growth would have happened anyway, it has been my pleasure to watch them develop every day. They are all readers, writers, and mathematicians, and I am overwhelmingly proud of each and every one of them.

One last thank you to all the boys and girls for their continuous hard work this school year. Thank you also to the parents for your support and encouragement from home, as well as, all our faithful blog followers. We loved all the times you visited our classroom as guests, mystery readers, volunteers or helpers.

Enjoy your days at the beach and nights by the BBQ. Don't forget to post your summer adventures on our summer padlet or send me an email jklipfel@middletonps.org with what you are up. I love nothing more than getting notes and postcards too! This summer, encourage your student to join the library's summer reading program. Trips to the library on those rainy days can be a great way to spend time-you might just see me there. Don't forget, our blog and Symbaloo are always there with great links to learning. Do a little bit of practice with words or numbers every day. Your children love to learn – they'll surprise you.

We have truly lived, loved, laughed, and learned together this year. I wish it could continue but each and every one of you is ready for next year. Remember, I will always be interested in your child's future, wherever they go, whatever they do. Their joys and sorrows I will always be happy to share, so please make sure to keep me in the loop for many years to come and who knows maybe you will see me again in 4th grade. Until we meet again!

Love always,
Miss Klipfel

Hello 1st Graders                                                           Goodbye My Good Friends

Monkey Day

Marvelous Monkey Day was a magnificent hit in first grade. Today we met Margaret and H. A. Rey the author and illustrators of the Curious George Series.

Curious George and our monkey friends from home helped us do our school work all day. Our monkeys joined us for a most delicious snack break. I couldn't resist making a few banana phone calls. Another part of monkey day included brainstorming things we are curious about and using crazy Curious George hands to help us practice telling time.

In reading, 1st graders learned the story behind the creation of the Curious George stories. Curious George began as a character in Margaret and H.A. Rey's french book titled Raffy and the Nine Monkeys. We practiced drawing George step by step and I LOVE how different all the monkeys look.

Writer's Workshop had 1st graders transforming themselves into curious little monkeys. Imagination and creativity shined through as these monkeys came to life.

1st graders get an ape-plus for today! Check out all our monkey photos:

“George can do what kids can’t do. He can paint a room from the inside. He can hang from a kite in the sky. He can let the animals out of their pens on the farm. He can do all these naughty things that kids would like to do.” -Margret Rey

Tide Pool Boogie

Thank you to everyone who could attend our Tide Pool Boogie this morning. As you can tell 1st graders have learned so much about tide pool creatures. They worked very hard learning all of the songs, poems and hand motions.

We also loved having you back in our classroom for our Author Share. The boys and girls have been working hard since September to become better writers and were extremely proud to share that with you today. It is always a treat as a student, teacher or parent to see the growth since the beginning of the school year. In the words of a first grader, "Look how I used to spell that!"

Check out our favorite first grade memories video:

Nonfiction

During reading and writing we have been busy exploring nonfiction books. These books have special features that inform, tell or explain new information to us. The table of contents, real life photographs, labels, captions, bold print, maps, and glossaries all help us understand the information we're learning.

After all our learning about nonfiction texts and tidepool creatures we decided to give it a try ourselves. We researched and wrote our very own nonfiction books! Check out our fabulous published books:

 

Make sure to keep looking for these text features while reading at home. Remember, reading is thinking!

Tide Pools

The BIG day finally arrived! Today we suited up and headed out to Odiorne Point in Rye, NH. 1st graders had a blast exploring the rocky shore and seeing first hand everything we've been learning. Thank you to all the chaperones who were able to join us today on our excursion. Our little scientists did an excellent job sharing all their sea creature knowledge. I'm happy to report we all looked adorable in our tie dye and made it back to school with smiles on our faces. Enjoy our tide pool slideshow:

p.s I am collecting pictures for a slideshow so please email me the great snapshots you took today. Thanks in advance!