Today is the 100th day of school...however, since we are in 1st grade, we do not celebrate it. The big party will be tomorrow for the 101st day of school! The students will be turned in to dalmations through the creation of dog ears to wear on our heads and we'll watch 101 Dalmations while eating Oreo cookies. We'll also write 101 words, do 101 math problems and write what life will be like when we are 101 years old! It is, if you have not noticed, Valentine's Day, also. So, opening our cards and eating candy will also be part of our day. How can life get better in first grade?

It has been a long and busy week. We are just finishing up our penguin research project that has been amazing but very time consuming. The stomach flu and 5th disease has also hit our classroom and add to that our 1st grade music program which is coming up next week and I feel like I don't have time to even breath!
We met with our 3rd grade buddy class today to decorate our Valentine boxes for next week. However, we have yet to finish our Valentine present for our mom's and dad's. I took a photo of the kiddos holding a sign that said "I Love You to Pieces". This will be put in a paper frame that we glue puzzle pieces on to the top of it. I'll download a photo when they are done. They turn out super cute but I'm running out of time. Good thing we have until next Tuesday.
Speaking of Tuesday, since we are in 1st grade, we made the decision a couple of years ago not to celebrate the 100th day of school since they celebrate it in a BIG way in kindergarten. So, we celebrate the 101st day of school! We turn the students into dalmation dogs, watch 101 Dalmations (makes for some great work and assessment time) and do a bunch of 101 activities. It will be a busy, but fun day. More details will be coming...

I have finally done it! I created a blog that is not run through my school district. I have become addicted to first grade blogs, second grade blogs, third grade blogs, cooking blogs, etc. etc. etc. I'm hoping to share some fun and AMAZING things that happen in my classroom. Come along for the journey...get it...Journey? I was looking for a fun photo of a little kid with a backpack and found this...nothing like going back to the 80's. Oh well... you're still welcome to join me on my journey!

25 Poems

We are on number 2 of our quest to write 25 different kinds on poems. I found a list of poems on a pinterest site. Our first poem was an acrostic using our first names. From then on, my students have been writing acrostic poems in their writing journals so I figured it was time to start working on poem #2. Our current poem was a Fill-In for Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. They turned out amazing well after I explained time after time that they could not use Roses for Red or Violets for Blue. Stay tuned to our next poem...
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