Final post...

Thank you, dear parents, for allowing me to teach your beautiful children this year.  It was an honor to be their first grade teacher.  All of these wonderful souls were excited to learn, to laugh and to love every day.  Thank you for all the thoughtful cards, the class gift cards to amazing restaurants, flowers and the delicious treats.  What a treat!  I will miss you all!

As you look forward to this summer, please consider keeping your 1st grader engaged in learning:

• PLAY OUTSIDE EVERY DAY (or as much as possible).  Build things outside, dig in the dirt, encourage pretend play, go fishing, take bike rides...rich experiences give your children important knowledge--authentic learning experiences (they will also have things to write about next year)!
• READ EVERY DAY.  Please read, read, read.  Read to your child.  Have them read to you.  Visit the library.  Schulers Book Store on 28th Street has a fantastic used book section.
• CONSIDER TRIP JOURNALS.  If you go on a short or long trip this summer, take a notebook, pen and scotch tape along.  They can write about what they are going to do, what they've done, write poems, tape in momentos and write information about their adventures (think captains, zoom ins, labels).  
• PLAY BOARD GAMES, CARD GAMES, ANY GAMES!  Games are the gateway to fun math.  They will be using their math skills without even knowing it. 
• WRITE ME (and others) A LETTER!

On June 12th, report cards will be available online via Skyward!

Have a safe, fantastic summer.  We will see you around the neighborhood!

What fun our 1st graders had getting ready for our First Grade Finale this week (and nervous and excited and proud)!  I hope you were able to enjoy this fun afternoon.  Big thanks to Vicki, Dani and Lexi's mom, for helping with make-up!  Please post videos and pictures on our Shutterfly account for all that were not able to make it (link to Shutterfly is on the front of the blog--left hand side).

Today, your 1st grader is bringing home 4 major items:  First grade picnic invitation (next Thursday), Spanish folder, Poetry notebook and pumpkin plant :-).  The Spanish folder should be returned on MONDAY.  The poetry notebook and pumpkin plant can find a permanent spot at home.  I will try to send home a few things each day so the last day does not create a monster of a backpack.   On that note, please remind your child to bring home items that have been stored in their locker that they do not need (extra clothes, old mittens, etc).  They will need their gym shoes one last time on Wednesday.  Any extra school supplies that your child has at school can be donated to another GR school if you would like.  Please see the Wealthy newsletter for more details.  I will send home all personal school supplies with them on Thursday of next week.

Monday is our field trip to the library after lunch.  They MAY bring their library cards to the library to check out a book.  If they forget, they just need to tell the librarian their name and birthday and they will be able to check out a book as well.  If you sent in the form, your child will receive a new library card that day!

Thursday will be our first grade picnic!  Please see the invitation that your child is bringing home today for more details.

Enjoy this last weekend of 1st grade!

What a fantastic day for field day!  I'm sure your 1st grader came home EXHAUSTED and hopefully full of fun memories from the day.  :)  Thank you to all the parents that helped at stations this morning, it went very smoothly!

Thank you, thank you, thank you (again and again) to all parents that have helped during the school day, at special events, field trips and parties.  Your help is tremendous, greatly appreciated and never over-looked.

As we look forward to the final two (?!) weeks of school, here's what you need to know:

Next FRIDAY (May 29th) is our FIRST GRADE FINALE.  You are invited to come watch from 2:15-3:15 in Pioneer Auditorium.  We've been working hard on the play The Three Nanny Goats Gruff, with story and songs written by our own Mrs. Sawade!  There will be acting, videos of book reviews & interviews and interruptions during the play with wonderful fun facts/opinions/stories.  We do this not only because it is FUN and EXCITING, but it allows our first graders to show off their talents.  We are building self-confidence while reviewing all of the skills we have learned over the year.

FROM OUR EGR SCHOOLS FOUNDATION:
EGRNOW is finishing up on May 31st.  As of last week, we've had roughly 400 homes donate (out of 3,000) toward saving vital programs for our schools.  If you haven't had a chance to donate, please consider by visiting EGRSF's website: http://egrsf.org/.  To date we have:  401 supporters and $137,900 in support of our school programs.  YOUR DONATION WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Support EGRNOW!  This campaign will provide funds to continue programs in our schools like: 

 Reading Support
 Elementary Specials; Art, Music, PE
 High School Guidance
 Elementary World Language
 Middle School Intervention Specialist
 Middle & High School support classes and labs

Our goal is to have all EGRPS community members be 100% ALL IN! Donations of any amount are accepted and encouraged.  Please give in the most meaningful way you can.  Show your support of our students and our schools by donating today or you can TEXT your pledge today!  Text to 41444 - Text the message “NOW”  - Then click on the link to complete your pledge.  Our goal is to have all donations received by May 31 in order to impact the deficit for the 2015-2016 budget which will be finalized on June 15 at the Board of Education meeting.

PLEASE READ ABOUT OUR FINAL WEEK BELOW:

On MONDAY, June 1st, we will be walking to the library after lunch.  I have turned in your forms to the library and they will be processing them and handing out library cards to our students.  I'm not quite sure if they will be able to check out books that day, so I will get back to you on this (so if your child already has a library card, they might be able to bring it that day).  I will let you know next week!

On TUESDAY, June 2nd and WEDNESDAY, June 3rd, I have been presented a wonderful opportunity as a parent (but sadly, it requires me to be away from our wonderful 1st graders).  I am able to accompany my 4th grader to Mackinac Island for their 4th grade trip those two days.  As you might already know, this special 4th grade trip (also taken by Wealthy Elementary students) is an incredibly unique opportunity for those kiddos.  It is so unfortunate that it has to be the last week of school :(,  but the best news is that Theresa Sherman will be our guest teacher.  She has been wonderful as our guest teacher the last few days that I have been working on assessments with your children and I know our 1st grade friends feel so comfortable with her and will have fun with the special treats/projects I have planned for those two days :-).

On THURSDAY, June 4th, is our FIRST GRADE PICNIC.  You are invited to come walk with us (11am) or meet us at John Collins Park (11:30am).  Your child will need a sack lunch that day.  Your child will be placed in a small group with a few students from our class and they will eat together, have an "action" scavenger hunt to figure out and then have a popsicle treat.  We will be returning back to school around 12:30.

On FRIDAY, June 5th, it is our last day at school!  We have a half day that will finish at 11:30am. It is so hard to believe.  I will really miss these wonderful, kind souls.

You have made this year so wonderful.  It has been such a privilege to teach your child (children).  I look forward to watching your little humans continue to grow both intellectually and socially.  My hope is that they continue to wonder, play, experiment and live out their lives loudly and proudly.

Wow, what a wonderful week!  Thank you so much for all the warm appreciation...from the super star door to the flowers to the smile-enhancing sweet notes...I am overwhelmed with your kindness, effort and support.  Thank you so much for allowing me to teach your beautiful kiddos this year.  It's been my pleasure.

Coming up next week:  Wizard Walk (1:30pm) and Family Fun Night (5:00pm), both on May 14th!  Please dress your child for the weather, WEARING WALKING SHOES (no flip-flops please!).  We've got miles to go before we sleep...

We are excitedly anticipating the emergence of butterflies from chrysalises (I looked this up--yes, that is the plural form).  It has been such a fantastic learning experience to see this transformation first hand.  We LOVE science!

Math has also been a treat as we dive into geometry, both 3D shapes (this week) and 2D shapes (next week).  Not only are we identifying shapes, but we are looking deeper into how shapes can make new shapes and how to break down a larger shape into smaller ones.  There is quite a lot of spatial evaluation going on!  Don't forget that the packets I send home that begin the next unit are for your home use only.  You do not need to send these back in!

We are reading, reading, reading up a storm and writing, writing, writing our series of realistic fiction books...what a fun way to finish first grade!

And finally...a special shout out to the moms this weekend.  Take a moment to really watch your children.  Look at the goodness, listen to the laughter, feel the warmth of those snuggles, remember all the moments of growth and recognize the unique importance of each of your children.  You have survived through tough times, the struggles and arguments, the late nights and interrupted sleeps (I'm right there with you!). The bright side:  your kiddos come to school ready to learn each day, healthy, happy to be with friends, loving every story read to them, succeeding in life.  You've built that foundation from the very beginning.  You've done a wonderful job!  Happy Mother's Day!

I know you have been begging for more things to add to your May calendar :-) so without further ado...please read through our calendar of events to keep afloat on all the exciting opportunities your 1st grader has these last two months.  I know this is a busy, busy time (speaking for experience...we need about 40 days in May instead of the mere 31 to fit all our school & family activities), but if you are like me, knowing ahead of time and planning it out helps just a little.  Mark your calendars:

Tuesday, May 5th...VOTE!  Please discuss the power of voting with your child and this important civic privilege.  If you have a chance to bring your children to the polls before or after school, it's an educational experience they will not forget.  This Tuesday, there will be two votes impacting our city and/or public schools.  Your vote is important.  Please vote.

Thursday, May 14th...Wizard Walk (1:30pm)...our only fundraiser of the year.  We will walk (wearing running shoes!!) about a mile with Wizard pride.

Thursday, May 14th...Family Fun Night (5:00pm)...come join in the fun with all your child's friends with games, prizes and food.  

The week of May 18-22...is our last week for parent volunteers...a HUGE THANK YOU to all that have helped with our literacy centers, library and math centers.  You have made an amazing difference in the lives of our children.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Friday, May 22nd...Field Day (8:30-11:30am)...group games and fun all morning long!  Parents will be invited to help with stations around the playground.  

Friday, May 29th...First Grade Finale (2:15-3:15pm)...you are invited to come share our excitement and celebration of 1st grade!  On Monday, May 8th, we will begin working with all our 1st graders on creating a a special finish to the year by showing off our writing, speaking, listening and creative abilities.  More information will be coming home about this soon, but I wanted to give you a heads up on the date/time if you would like to join us that afternoon in Pioneer Auditorium!

Sunday, May 31st...EGRNOW deadline.  Please read the information coming home each week in the Wealthy Wizard about EGRNOW and letters from our school board.  Being a parent in the district, the teacher representative on the EGR Schools Foundation Board and a teacher in our schools, I have a vested interest in the many facets of our education system--just like you.  If you would like more information or have questions, I'd be happy to chat sometime!  

Monday, June 1st (12:30-2:00pm)...all first grades will be walking to our East Grand Rapids Public Library to get the summer scoop on the KDL summer reading program, information about signing up for library cards and have a chance to investigate our beautiful public library.   

Thursday, June 4th...First Grade Picnic (11:15-12:30pm)...you are invited to join us at John Collins Park for our annual first grade picnic!  Everyone will need to bring a sack lunch that day.  We will walk down to the park, play fun games and enjoy a picnic with friends.  More information about this will be coming closer to that time.  

Great days are ahead! :-)

                        -shel silverstein

Butterflies and quail eggs and Painted Ladies, oh my!

We have entered the animal zone!  Our beginning week of our new science unit, An Animal's Life, was a very busy one indeed.  First, thank you to all of our volunteers that made Meijer Gardens a very successful, educational and fun experience for all our 1st graders.  It was a great way to peak our interest in butterflies and nature!  We will be learning more about survival skills of animals, life cycles, food chains, and the connection of young to old animals.  Blake brought in quail eggs to show and we also received our Painted Lady caterpillars.  We are hoping to watch them form their pupas in 12-18 days and then emerge as butterflies!

**We will still continue to grow our class terrarium.  If your child would like to dig this weekend, please let them investigate the small little creatures of the earth!  They may bring in 1-2 in a small container that we will add to our habitat.

In math, we've been working with measurement and time (hour and half hour) and now we will investigate how to manage measurement data through different kinds of graphs (pictograph, bar graphs and tally charts).

In writing, we are so excited to begin our new unit on realistic fiction!  On Thursday, we picked our own character names, places and came up with adventures/problems for their stories.  We will be continuing these stories and more as we move into May.

In reading workshop, we've been reflecting on our reading, making sure we retelling stories with detail and rereading to build stronger comprehension.  We've been discussing verbs and how they change depending on when you tell something has happened (practicing using -ed at the end of the verb for many words).  Onto adjectives next week!

I hope you have a fantastic (WARMER) weekend!

Welcome Spring!

We had a fun week back, measuring wind with our wind socks, making clouds in a bottle and wrapping up our weather unit in science.  Next week, we kick off our science unit on life cycles (of animals & plants) with our field trip to Meijer Gardens Monday morning!  We will meet our volunteer parent helpers at MG around 9am at the overhang outside the building and return back to Wealthy before lunch.  

We are also finishing up our opinion writing this week and look forward to getting into realistic fiction for the rest of the year...

Thank you for your support in returning the math homework this week.  They are feeling quite "old" bringing home this extra work :).  Please let me know how this is working for you at home.  As an advocate of play for 1st graders, I want this to be a positive and productive experience without over-riding OUTSIDE free choice playtime at home.  These math pages should only take around 10-15 minutes of time to finish.  If it consistently takes longer, please let me know--just simply write it down on the returned math pages.

Enjoy this beautiful April weekend!