Fancy Day

Fancy Friday which quickly turned into Tre Magnifique Fancy Tuesday due to our snow days, was one exquisite (that's a fancy word for great) day!  I was genuinely disappointed when we didn't have school on Friday and then again on Monday postponing our Fancy Day.  Our anticipation has been building for this stupendous day and let me just say it was well worth the wait today to see all the 1st graders dressed in their imaginative posh outfits.  Of course, I couldn't resist dressing in my most elegant clothes too.

Students were thrilled (that's even more excited then excited) to complete fancy activities throughout the day. 1st graders read Fancy Nancy books, went on a fancy word hunt, read poems on fuschia paper and used elegant vocabulary; looking exquisite while doing it all. Snack time was transformed (that's a fancy word for changed) into a Tea Party, using our imagination of course. 

We also learned about Jane O'Connor and Robin Glasser the author and illustrator of the Fancy Nancy series. A large part of 1st graders Writer's Workshop is focusing on using word choice in our writing pieces. Our Fancy Word Wall will help 1st grade writers' pieces sparkle and dazzle. We have already added a huge amount of fancy words to our wall. Keep your ears and eyes open for 1st graders using them while speaking and writing.

To end our fabulous Fancy Day, we had a little soiree with the rest of the first grade. Students paired up to finish the day with some phenomenal reading.

1st graders (and their teacher) had a splendiferous Fancy Day learning and working, with our pinkies up!

Common Core State Standard L.1.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring adjectives.

Dear Crayons

With an idea inspired by Mrs. Scharffenberg and a book borrowed from Mrs. Higgins, Klipfel & Kids imaginations were swirling.  After reading the adorable book The Day the Crayon's quit, 1st graders were charged with the task of providing their opinion about which crayon in the box is their favorite and giving reasons why.  First, we used the writing style of our story to write letters to our favorite crayon colors.

Afterwards, 1st graders digitally published their writing.  Each student was responsible for their own page of the book.  Students first illustrated in Drawing Box, put that illustration into Book Creator, typed their letter, picked their font, positioned their writing and illustration and even recorded their own voice on their page.  Needless to say I was very impressed!

You may download our book on any electronic device to add to your digital library or you can view our book as a PDF for reading or printing on a computer.

Option 1: Add our class crayon book to your digital library (for iPad or tablet reading).
Click on the link: Dear Crayons
Then click on Download.
Click Open in iBooks.

Option 2: Read our class book in PDF form by clicking here.