Spring Hair Cuts

Our little eggheads received a fresh haircut from their student parents before going home from the weekend. They looked so adorable. AND the students did really well on their "Season: Spring" assessment. We are getting so ready for 2nd grade. What do you think your egghead needs to keep its "hair" growing? Will it last long enough to need another trimming?

Plant a Seed of Cooperation

How exciting! One first grade reading group performed a readers' theater skit they helped to write for the 3rd grade today. It is all about the parts of the plant, their functions, and how they must cooperate in order to grow healthy and strong to reach their full potential (a flower that produces seeds for future plants). I had a great time working with this group and I'm proud of their growth and performance. If you saw it or performed in it, "What do you think?"

Growing Eggheads

What wonderful news! The eggheads in the window growing grass-hair are not the only ones in room 104. You all did a wonderful job on your plant studies assessment. I am very proud of you. Almost everyone had 100% on their test of the plant parts, needs, functions, and contributions. What do you think was the most helpful or exciting part of our study? Was it the plant part tasting party? Could it be the experiments and the hands-on-activities? Was it the personal commitment and investment that drove your interest as you prepared the Readers' Theater script and rehearse? Now the trick is to remember it for the 3rd grade SOL test so Mrs. Hardin will see that you know your stuff. Congratulations! (Now, I'm going to go have a coffee ice cream milkshake made from the coffee bean grown on a plant.)

Leprechaun Stories

Those tricky, little leprechauns have been up to no good again. What wonderful stories you all have told this week. Here are some of my favorites leprechaun tricks from your writing: stealing shoes, riding the dog, eating a hole in the chocolate cake, and putting mom's wallet in the mailbox. I must say you were diligent in your pursuit of the leprechaun's gold. I have never heard so many traps go "SNAP" in first grade papers. It is ashame it was just and story so that nobody came away with a pot of shiny gold. If you caught a leprechaun, what would you do with it? Do you really think you could trick it into giving you its gold? They are very tricky creatures.

Cinderella at Kellam

We really enjoyed Kellam HS's presentation of Cinderella. Our favorite character was Cinderella, of course. She was kind, polite, pretty, and she wore beautiful dresses. We liked the prince, the king, and the fairy godmother, too. The funniest parts were when the mean step sisters were pushed down by the stepmom as she tried to put her foot in the glass slipper and when the maiden kicked the prince's servant because the glass slipper didn't fit her foot. The special effects like the disco ball lights and the glow-in-the-dark floating dress were intriguing. The scenery was spectacular and the pumpkin coach was sweet. Connor would tell you that dancing with his sister during the intermission was the best part. If you haven't seen the Kellam production of Cinderella, it is playing this weekend and next. The fairy godmother said that dreaming and wishing aren't enough on their own, but magic isn't needed, just action. What do you think about that?

Thank You

I want to thank all of my students for helping me to prepare the Virginia State Reading Conference Readers' Theater presentation. Your videos of our readers' theater presentations in the classroom were adorable and helped us to show teachers from around the state that readers' theater can be a fun and successful tool for teaching young children to read fluently (smoothly) and with expression (emotion). I hope you all enjoyed the process so far as much as I have enjoyed watching you grow with it. We will be doing more readers' theater and trying new things. At the conference, I discovered a few interesting things that we can add to our presentations. What would you like to add to our readers theater presentations?

Worms at Work

We now have a vermicomposter in room 104 with worms at work composting food waste for our 1st grade garden. We are so excited we want to sneek a peek everyday at what those worms are up to, but we know we shouldn't so we don't. I bet it would make a great story, if we let our imaginations take over and visualize those worms at work. Can you picture them in you head at a all-you-can-eat buffet or a backyard family reunion? Give it a try and see what you come up with in your imagination.

Dr. Seuss's Birthday

There is nothing like the first week of March when we celebrate the contributes of Dr. Seuss. All those stories keep us busy, but in a creative way. This week, we are thinking about imaginary animals, making up rhyming words, and having fun in a world outside the ordinary. It is a good thing for us that Dr. Seuss was a diligent man. Why do you think Dr. Seuss wrote about such strange and amazing characters?