Hello!

Wow!  What a busy week we've had!  Practicing for our play, hosting our Mystery Reader, making shell observations in STEM, visiting the Children's Museum and enjoying Field Day...whew!

Next week we'll prepare for our Learning Celebration, work on our memory books, learn about the Windham Public Library's Summer Reading program, and celebrate our first grade year on Friday!  We hope you will be able to attend!

Thank you to our volunteers for the field trip and Field Day! :)

Ms. Kris Grant, former Windham PE teacher and 

WPS Assistant Principal, was our Mystery Reader!

We had a blast at the Children's Museum!

What a beautiful day for Field Day!

Have a fantastic weekend!  My niece is graduating from high school and I will be spending time here at school, but I am hoping to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather forecast!  I hope you get to relax and recharge too. :)

Becca

Happy June (almost)!

I just can't believe how quickly this year has flown by!  We've been very busy during this short week -practicing for our play, finishing up assessments, and completing our ocean animal research.  Our field trip will be next Thursday, and Field Day on Friday will round out our week.

Mr. Bill Hansen, the RSU#14 Facilities Director, was our 

Mystery Reader last week!

Miss Hayden Thomas, a senior at Freeport High School, spent the month of May 

in our classroom for her senior capstone project!  She will be majoring in 

Elementary Education when she starts college this fall.

The book order should be here next week!

Green folders are due on Monday.

Sharing will be next Friday, June 7.

The Learning Celebration will be on Friday, June 14 at 2PM in the cafeteria.  We'll be performing our class play and showing our Ocean Animal research and related work.

Have a great weekend!

Becca

Hello!
      I think the "April" showers decided to be fashionably late this year!  Hopefully we'll get some sunny days soon!
      We've been busy here in first grade!  We had a blast at our Race for the Community and then the Community Day assembly, went up to the Art Show and saw our pieces on display, learned more about careers in Junior Achievement, and had a lesson about Optimism with Mrs. Patch!  We also started our Ocean Life unit and have been working with nonfiction texts.  Rehearsals for our play have started, too.  Lots going on!
       Thank you to everyone who has returned their field trip permission slips!  I attached the slip to the group email in case your family needs another copy.  If we could get those back on Monday, that would be great, as the office needs to write a check to the Museum.  Thanks! I am also sending home a form for chaperones that needs to be turned in if you plan to dismiss your child from the Museum. Kids participating in the field trip must travel to the museum on the bus to be considered present.
       Thank you as well for helping your child find a plain black, long-sleeved shirt and black pants for the show!  Those are due at school on June 10. Sweats/tees/leggings are perfectly fine. :)
        Be sure to check out our other Upcoming Events!
        Have a great weekend! My play is in its second weekend, so I will be busy with that and the Maine Education Association Representative Assembly. I hope you get to enjoy some fun too. 🙂

 

Race for the Community!

The first graders at WPS raised almost $2K for the Windham Fire Department!

(Sorry for the terrible pic-I took it on my phone :/ )

We were proud to see our polar bears in the Art Show!

Hello!

I hope the kids had a great vacation!  We came back from our break ready to learn about fractions, take our fiction writing even further, and begin our Ocean Life unit.  We also started being able to earn "Bee Tickets" for quality work and outstanding citizenship!  

We had some special guests this week!  

We played a fun game about Needs and Wants with Mrs. Stephen during Junior Achievement!

Firefighter/Paramedic Mike read us a story!

Kathy from the MSSPA came to talk with us about caring for animals, both at our house and at the Society:

We began learning about fractions in Math!

Next week will be the WPS BOGO Book Fair!  There is a flyer in this week's Eagle News.

The WPS Color Run will take place on Sunday!

There is a permission slip for our June 6 field trip to the Children's Museum.  If you or another adult from your family plan to chaperone, please be sure to submit a volunteer form ASAP (if you haven't already completed one for this school year).

We'll also be planning a First Grade Field Day for June 7 (rain date: June 1-I'll send more info as soon as we have sorted out details.

Be sure to check out the blog for more upcoming events!

Have a great weekend!  I'm rehearsing and building sets for the play, doing some yard work (finally!), and planning for the last 35 days of first grade!  

Becca

Happy Vacation, everyone!

We had a number of fun activities this week-STEM, Mrs. Becker's visit to talk with us about weather and the water cycle, Pajama Day, reading and watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...on top of the unexpected return of snow, it was a pretty exciting week!

When we return from break-on Earth Day!-we'll be learning about the environment and ecology.  Then, our last big thematic unit of the year will be Ocean Life!  We're really excited to do some work with both fiction and nonfiction!

Mrs. Becker helped us make clouds and snow during her visit!

Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events-there are many exciting things happening in our classroom and school in the coming weeks!

I wish all my young friends a wonderful vacation!  I've traveled a lot in the last few months, so I'm looking forward to spending some time at home, with one quick to trip to Augusta on Wednesday to meet with legislators and educators from across the state.  I hope you all get to have some quality time and fun together too.

:)

Becca

Hello, everyone!

Spring is trying to arrive-hopefully we'll have some warmer temperatures to prove it soon! :)  We had a great week here in first grade as we worked on measurement, writing realistic fiction, reading and thinking about springtime and caring for the Earth, and doing a STEM experiment to help us learn about how sap flows in maple trees.

Mrs. Burns was our Mystery Reader!

We had our first Junior Achievement lesson!

We wrote some great lab reports about our STEM activity!  Check them out in our Eagle News!

We really enjoyed attending the Kinderconzert on Tuesday!  

The featured instruments were the woodwinds.

Our calendar is starting to fill up as the end of first grade approaches.  Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events here on the blog!

Mrs. Stephen, former WPS principal, will be joining us on Fridays for the next few weeks for Junior Achievement!

Book orders have been submitted! :) We will have one more book order in May.

Just a reminder-there is no school on Friday, April 12th-it is a teacher work day.

Our first Mileage Club run will be on Thursday, weather permitting.  Please help us remember to wear shoes that are good for walking and running on the track.

It looks like the weather will be nice this weekend!  My daughter, who teaches biology, and I will be  attending a teachers' conference tomorrow.  I also have some spring DIY projects I need to finish before vacation.  I hope you all have a fun and productive weekend too!

:)

Becca

Hello!  Welcome to April (almost)!

     We finished out March with a new writing focus (Realistic Fiction), a new math unit (Measurement) new reading levels for several of us, and other fun activities!

Thank you for being a terrific audience for our concert on Monday!  I included photos of both the rehearsal and the performance, as a few friends had commitments elsewhere Monday evening:

          

Our STEM activity this week: thinking about how much condensation a cloud can hold before precipitation happens.  We put 10 drops of "condensation" in the first cup, 15 in the second, and 20 in the third.  The 2nd and 3rd cups showed "precipitation" right away, but amazingly our first cup STILL hasn't "rained"-since 11:55 Wednesday morning!

We were excited to have Mr. Howell, Assistant Superintendent, return as our Mystery Reader!  He was our first guest reader this year and has been hoping to come back and see how much we've grown and learned!

We are enjoying our new Realistic Fiction writing focus!

We'll be walking up to the High School on Tuesday morning to see the PSO Kinderconzert!  Please help us wear appropriate shoes for a walk.

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, April 12-it is a teacher work day.

Green homework folders with menus and calendars are due on Monday.
Reading folders and books are due on Monday.
Eagle News is due on Monday.
Library books are due on Thursday.

Thank you also for sending a snack, or helping your child remember to bring one every day, including any needed utensils. :)

The current last day of school is Monday, June 17th.

Be sure to check the Upcoming Events, especially as we move toward the end of the year...things will be very busy at school and at home, I'm sure!

Enjoy your weekend!  I have to be in Augusta tomorrow and most of Sunday for the MEA Board of Directors, but am hoping to squeeze in some spring cleaning and time with family and friends.  I hope you have a great time, whatever your plans!

Becca