Question Day

Every year, toward the beginning of the school year, I take some time out of one day to let the kids ask me questions. I spend so much of the first couple of weeks learning about the kids' personalities, what they like, what they don't like, and their families. This is the time for the kids to learn a little bit of information about me. I always have the questions about what my favorites are: favorite color, favorite food, favorite sport, favorite favorite dessert, favorite animal, and any other favorite thing you can think of (one year, I was asked my favorite kind of salad dressing). Then I get the questions about my life: am I married, do I have kids, when is your birthday, what do you do when you go home, what is your "real" name (because Mrs. Kappel is my fake name), and anything outside of school. Last, there are the questions about our school days: what do I like teaching the best, what do I do when the kids are in their specials, what do the teachers talk about in the teachers lounge, what is my favorite kids book, and anything else school related. I always love hearing the questions the kids come up with; they are very insightful. The questions allow the kids to learn more about me; however, I end up learning a lot about them in the process.

Taylor's Birthday

We celebrated Taylor's 7th birthday yesterday. She brought in the book Fancy Nancy: Fancy Day in Room 1-A by Jane O'Connor. I love Fancy Nancy books because it has such great vocabulary. The students love hearing the new and different words and learning what they mean. This book is also an "I Can Read" book, so the kids should be able to read it by themselves without much trouble. The class really enjoyed listening to the book and learning some new words.

Magazine Sale

Yesterday, we had the presentation for the annual magazine sale. The kids had a great time listening to the music and seeing all of the different prizes that they an earn. The magazine sale is by far, the school's biggest fundraiser. It makes up about 67% of the PTO budget. Proceeds from the magazine sale help pay for many things such as technology in the classroom, field trips, school programs, teacher workshops, and May Day. We will have a variety of prize days and special activities going on during the magazine sale. Our goal this year is to raise $70,000. I hope we can make it.

Birthday Book

Yesterday, we celebrated Andrew's birthday with another book. He brought Lunch Bunnies by Kathryn Lasky. The book was wonderful for the beginning of the year and the sometimes intimidating lunchroom. The main character, Clyde, is very worried about going through the lunch line, not tripping, not dropping his tray, and talking to the lunch ladies. It was a good reassurance for the kids that there are lots of people there to help when needed.

New School Year

The new school year has gotten off to a great start. My students are catching on quickly about how to go about our daily routines and the different ways we do things here in first grade. We have started off the school year talking about the Olympics. On Wednesday, we made maps to show where the Olympics were taking place. Yesterday, we made Olympic torches. Today, we will be making Olympic flags.

Yesterday, we celebrated Lily's birthday. She turned seven. She brought her birthday book and we shared it with the class. She brought Strawberry Shortcake: School Friends. It was a cute book about being friends and helping friends.

Here are some pictures of our Olympic torches. Enjoy!