A Visit From Lilly

Friday was not just any other ordinary day. Parker's mom, Mrs. Rossignol came to our class with props and costumes for students to act out the Kevin Henkes story, "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse." We have been working on retelling in our writing, and what a fun way to be able to remember all the events in a story. As if role playing a story wasn't spectacular enough, Mrs. Rossignol made special arrangements for the main character to make an appearance in our class. That's right, "LILLY" was in the house. Well, if you know anything about Lilly, she didn't just want Mrs. Rossignol to show her around by holding her tail, she wanted to get up close and personal. So, Lilly jumped to the floor, and what a show-off she was, running all around the room. We had it all under control, and I kept my eyes on that cute little mouse, as I was standing on the table. What can I say, it's never dull in first grade. Thank you so Mrs. Rossignol for making our Friday, truly exciting.

A New Arrival!

Happy Birthday Irelyn Ryan Timmons!

Born Monday, March 2, 2009, 11:59 am

6 lbs, 15 oz. - 20 inches long

Woo hoo!

Mrs. Timmons Surprise Baby Shower

Did your child tell you about our exciting surprise baby shower for Mrs. Timmons on Friday? You could say that we 'KNOCKED' her socks off. We had to get Mrs. Timmons out of the room for about fifteen minutes to get everything prepared. Once she came in the room, we all yelled, "Surprise!!!!" Then, each child shared some words that described Mrs. Timmons. Of course, we had to sing her a song that we had made up. Then, we SHOWERED her with cards, gifts, and so much love. Finally, we ate some delicious cake.

WE were so amazed at the outpouring of gifts and donations from all of YOU. Also, an extra special 'Thanks' to Donna Powell and Gina Allmond for all of their help in making the shower a huge success.

Here's our song we wrote for Mrs. Timmons.

Mrs. Timmons, We Love You!
(to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Mrs. Timmons, we love you,
We will miss you, this is true.
While you're home, make sure you rest,
We all promise to do our best,
Mrs. Timmons, we love you,
We will miss you, this is true.
Baby Irelyn and Kallyn too,
Will keep you busy as we do,
Mrs. Timmons, we love you,
We will miss you, this is true.
Time will pass by oh, so fast,
In a blink, you're back in class,
Mrs. Timmons, we love you,
We will miss you, this is true!

Schema Activated

Our T. D. class is always amazing me. We've been talking about how good readers will make predictions, ask questions, activate schema or use their background knowledge to make connections. I was reading a wonderful book called Jin Woo, by Eve Bunting. It was about a boy whose parents were about to adopt a baby boy from Korea. In this story, the family is eating at a restaurant the night before they are going to go to the airport to pick up their new baby boy from another country. While the students were looking at the picture, Sarah's face lit up, and she began waving her hand for me to call on her. I knew she couldn't wait until I read the page, so when I called on her to share, she exclaimed, "The words on the window in that restaurant are Korean, and it says noodles." She then told us that she can speak and read in Korean. Her schema was activated, and by using her background knowledge she was able to enlighten us, and help us to better understand the text. We all come to school each day with so many different experiences about places we've been, things we've done, and none of us have the same experiences.

Kevin Henkes Author Study

The TD's proudly present the beginning of the Kevin Henkes author study. This particular author study is a read-aloud study filled with delightful and relatable stories written by Mr. Henkes. We will read and reread stories to offer the students an opportunity to get a true sense of the author and his work. We will teach the children how to think and discuss “across” several books. The children will learn the importance of making connections to stories, how to compare and contrast story elements, how to retell a story and how to shape and record a variety of responses to the literature they are read. As our readers master the basics of this genre we will branch off into other creative avenues including timelines, murals, stories written through the eyes of the story character, student altered character adventures and story endings. So ask your child about Kevin Henkes and his world of wondrous mice!

2nd Nine Weeks Awards

Thank you so much to the parents who came on Thursday to help us celebrate our 2nd Nine Weeks Awards, and... thank you to the parents who came on Friday. Because of a change in dates, both Thursday and Friday went out as dates for our Awards. Thanks to the parents for their patience on Thursday as we got ready when we realized the mistake and to those who came on Friday.

We are so very proud of our students this nine weeks. They are doing hard work and exceeding every goal. Special congratulations to our four Soaring Eagles above and to everyone of our special award winners below!

Hey Canada, We Have Questions!

The TD’s are so excited about our new blogging friends in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada. With this excitement come lots of questions. Our tenacious 1st graders would like to know what the weather is like this time of year in Regina? Jacksonville’s average for February is 67 degrees Fahrenheit, but we’re thinking it may be a little colder in Regina. On a more urgent note, the TD’s would like to know what Canadians eat. Some of our favorites are spaghetti, macaroni and cheese and chocolate pudding, with the latter getting the most votes. I have to say, I voted for the chocolate pudding too! Our final question for this week is what does Regina look like? We would love to see some pictures to help us get a better idea of where you live. We look forward to hearing from you!