We had a wonderful time celebrating the number 100 with lots of fun activities!  Everyone came to school with a decorated shirt, and 100 items of a snack food.  With the snacks, we made a recipe of Monster Mix.  The recipe for Monster Mix is to stir together snacks in quantities of 100, scoop out helpings to hungry first graders, and enjoy!  We read 100 Day books, sang a song, practiced a poem, and counted all day.  We even strung 100 Fruit Loops onto a 100th Day necklace.  Everyone went home happy and tired . . . especially the teacher!

We are eagerly looking forward to our field trip to the Pride of the Wapsi pumpkin patch in Long Grove, IA.    Remember to send a sack lunch and a beverage for the trip on Monday, October 19th.  Our first order of business will be to eat our lunches at picnic tables outdoors when we arrive.  Then we will get busy learning about pumpkins and how they grow!  While we are there, we will learn about the importance of bees in producing a field full of pumpkins.  They have a bee colony that we can observe from the safe side of some plexiglass.  Everyone will board a trailer pulled by a tractor and we’ll head out to the pumpkin patch!  The trip wouldn’t be complete without a small sugar pie pumpkin for each child to take home.  Please keep your fingers crossed for some good weather, and help your child dress appropriately for this day spent outdoors.  It will be a fun day of learning!

This week there is time set aside for parent/teacher conferences.  Please check your child’s boomerang folder (I send it home–it gets emptied and comes right back!) for the conference schedule.  If you can’t find the scheduled date and time, Mrs. Melcher has a copy of it in our office.  Please call Southwest School at 945-0699 if you need to check your time or make a change.  I look forward to talking with you about your child’s progress in first grade!

We have been studying the life cycle of the butterfly.  We especially had fun going outside and acting out the life cycle!  We started as little eggs on a leaf.  Next we chewed our way out of the egg and were young caterpillars.  We crawled and chewed on imaginary leaves!  Soon it was time to make a chrysalis for our big change.  When we emerged as butterflies, our wings were damp and wrinkled.  We let them dry before flying off to find some nectar to drink with our long, straw-like tongues.  With winter coming, it was time to migrate to a warmer place.  Off we flew!

“I’m a little butterfly,  come on . . . let’s go,

I’m on my way to Mexico!”

Our school year has officially begun!  During our first week, we read about the Gingerbread Man and chased him around the school.  We read many versions of this story:  The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Girl, and even stories where the main character is an ice cube or an apple pie being chased.  We are learning new routines and are practicing familiar school rules.  Our class rules are:

1.  Be quiet when someone is talking.

2.  Listen.

3.  Follow directions.

4.  Be kind.

We are working hard to put these rules into action for a happy classroom and a positive learning environment.

Welcome to Mrs. Strafford’s First Grade Blog!

This is where you can find out what we are doing in our classroom.  I would also like to use this space to post photographs of my students working hard once we get in the swing of things!  For now, check some of the pages listed on the right hand side.  Most of the pages are written to provide parents with information about our first grade curriculum.  The page titled “Educational Links to Explore” is designed for students to click on internet sites that are kid friendly.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Please visit again soon!

Mrs. Strafford