Week 2 is done...

Phew! We made it through our first full week. I’m sending home some tired children.  I love the enthusiasm of this class! They are loving learning some new, silly songs, and they beg to have more and more stories read to them. They’ve done a great job of learning new names, new routines etc. This week they have been writing and reading every day, begun the math program and completed several Social Studies tasks about themselves. You can see their work on the walls next Wednesday night when you come for the Parent Night. 

In Grade 1 we learn increase our reading stamina. To do that, we read quietly for longer and longer periods each day. This week, they also chose 'book nooks' which are quiet areas in the room to sit and read for 15 minutes. They do this very happily - and I love the quiet time too!!

Happy Birthday – this week we celebrated 3 birthdays! Amanda turned  6 in July, Jemma turned 6 on Wednesday, and Samantha turned 7 yesterday. As you will see in these photos, some children had a lot of fun with Jemma's chocolate-frosted cupcakes...

Guess who likes chocolate frosting?

Happy birthday Amanda! 

We put a candle on top of Samantha's birthday popsicles!

You can see lots more photos of our week, in several different albums if you click here.
Thanks for giving me such fun kids to teach!!
Debbie

Run, run as fast as you can (but not in the school hallways!)

Wow- our first week of school is finished!  The students are figuring out our routines and finding all the different classrooms for their special activities.  They have been very enthusiastic about all our activities. Thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm for school.  I am having a great time with this class and look forward to getting to know them (and you) even better.

In the homework pouch you will find a Me Bag and instructions for what to do with it. Please make sure your child brings the Me Bag back to school on Monday morning. You will also find a ‘Grade One’ pencil present from Ms Lyn and myself – in recognition of the children doing a great job during their first week of being First Graders!

Mr Hoss, our principal reads a clue to us.

GINGERBREAD MAN 

On Friday afternoon we had a huge surprise. At the end of the Gingerbread Man book there was a envelope that said "READ ME." In it was a clue of where the Gingerbread Man had run away to. We chased that naughty guy all over the place: to the bathrooms, computer room, the library, counselor's office, nurses' office, and principal's office. At each place, we found another clue from the Gingerbread Man. We wanted to "Run, run as fast as we could..." but we remembered the rules and walked quietly in the hallways. Some children were sure they saw his footprints on the ground, while others said they saw him running away around the corner. The final clue took us back to the classroom where we found a Gingerbread Man on each desk! Most children ate his legs first so he couldn't run away again!! It was a fun way for us to find our way around the school. You can see photos of it here.

Mr Palmer, our librarian, reads a clue and complains about Gingerbread crumbs in his library...

Kind regards,

Debbie Woodfield

A great start to our year!

Kai and Erica arriving at school

Our first day of school was wonderful! I met everyone as they arrived at school. Some looked nervous at first, but they were soon smiling when they found me. After unpacking and introducing ourselves we had a quick assembly with all 276 First Grade children.  Later, I read "Don't Eat the Teacher"  to the class, and they wrote speech bubbles to go with the story.
Lunch time went smoothly for my class. Ms. Lyn had sorted all the lunch orders out, and the SASCards worked perfectly.
After lunch we did some math then everyone had a chance to play with equipment in the room. Soon it was time for afternoon snack, science lab then home. Many children are looking very tired - but so am I!
You can see more photos of our day if you click here
Thanks for having your children so well prepared for their first day.

Our first assembly.