All Flat First Graders have returned

All of our Flat First Graders have returned from their adventures, and oh goodness did they all have a great time.  Here's the last bunch that returned:

Flat Nathan returned from a visit to his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins in Phoenix, Arizona.  He had lots of fun swimming in the warm weather.

Flat Lauren returned from a trip to her Aunt and Uncle in Grand Meadow, Minnesota.  She got to spend some time on their farm.

Flat Evan returned from a fun trip to Mesa, Arizona.  He  enjoyed the warm and sunny weather on his adventures.

Flat Delanie just returned from warm and sunny Pensacola, Florida where she visited her cousin.  She had a great time visiting a bunch of local restaurants and enjoying some southern food.

Flat Aubrey returned from a trip to her Aunt and Uncle's in Grand Rapids, Michigan.   She got to hear the beautiful music of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Flat Joanna returned from a fun trip to Orlando, Florida.  She got to visit Downtown Disney!

Our class story - a shared writing experience

Here's the story we wrote together as a class this week.  We followed the yellow brick road to make sure our story had all the necessary elements: a title, characters, setting, problem, and solution.  Hope you enjoy it!

The Football Problem

     Once there was a boy named Aaron Rodgers.  He really wanted to be on the Green Bay Packers team but he didn’t have enough money to join the team.  So he asked Bob his coach, “How much money does it cost to be on the football team?”  His coach said, “It costs $200.” So Aaron Rodgers went home and asked his parents if he could do chores and earn money.  He helped other people, took out the garbarge, did the laundry and vacuumed the house.  Then he earned the $200.  Aaron Rodgers went to Lambeau Field and paid his coach, Bob.  Now he was on the team.  The day after he had a game and he was the quarterback.  He liked his position.  Then it was time for the Superbowl. Aaron Rodgers’s team won and then they had a party at Pizza Hut and he got to keep the trophy. 

More Flat First Graders Return

We get mail every day... and we just can't wait to see which Flat First Graders have returned from their adventures.  Here's some of the most recent characters who have arrived back home...

Flat Tayor returned from a great visit to her aunt and uncle in Marco Island, Florida.  She had a great time at the beach playing in the sand. 

Flat Alex returned from a visit to his sister in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a lot of fun visiting Churchill Downs where horses race in the Kentucky Derby.  

Flat Zane had a great visit with his aunt and uncle in Neenah, Wisconsin.  He visited a chocolate shoppe and returned with a box for all of us to share. 

Flat Ben arrived back home after an awesome visit to see his aunt and uncle in Camden, Arkansas.  Ben's uncle works for a railroad company so he got check out a train engine and caboose.

Flat Kiley arrived back from Pearland, Texas.  She had a great visit with some friends who took her to the NASA Space Center. 

Flat Brady arrived back after a great visit to see his cousins in Metairie, Louisiana. Brady got to visit the Superdome where the New Orleans Saints play.  

Flat First Graders Return

It's been an exciting couple of days in our classroom as a number of our Flat First Graders have returned from their adventures.  It has been fun to read about where they went and see pictures of what they did.

Here's who's back so far...

Flat Brooke returned from a trip to her Grandparents in Walworth, Wisconsin.  She got to visit the grade school and high school where her dad went to school.

Flat Isabella returned from a visit to her cousin in Brighton, Colorado.  Isabella went swimming while on her trip.

Flat Owen visited his cousin in Elgin, Illinois.  On his adventure he visited Chicago and also got a haircut.

Flat Logan returned from a visit to his grandparents in Illinois City, Illinois. He had fun visiting the fire station in this small town.

Flat Mike returned from a visit to Biloxi, Mississippi.  He had lots of fun visiting the marina.

Flat Mason returned form a visit to some family members in Watertown, Wisconsin. He had fun feeding the ducks, which were as big as he was!

Flat Maddi returned from a visit to her grandparents in Gordonville, Pennsylvania. She had lots of fun visiting a donut shop called the Fractured Prune.

Flat Mitchell returned from his visit to his cousins in Watertown, Wisconsin.  Mitchell had fun playing basketball during his visit.

Flat Christina had a fun trip to Watersmeet, Michigan.  She had some fun with her Grandma who created a Flat Christina Story with pictures for her.

Flat Connor visited a former Friess Lake family who now live in Enfield, New Hampshire.  Connor had lots of fun visiting the bridge that connects Vermont and New Hampshire and he also visited Darmouth College.

Flat Petyon returned from quite the adventure with his Grandpa.  His Grandpa drives a truck so Peyton was able to visit many different states - Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland (just to name a few).   :)

Flat Cayden returned from Rio Rancho, New Mexico.  He had a lot of fun learning about New Mexico and its culture.

We can't wait to see who returns next!

Pop Rockin' Fun

We've completed our Pop Rockin' fun... and boy oh boy was it fun!  You can check out our special display in the hallway outside our classroom.  Here's a few pictures of some of our projects.

Again, many thanks to W. Abby Mullins for the project idea.

What was inside the bag?

POP ROCKS!

The first graders were so excited for me to reveal what was inside the gift bag we described yesterday.  Inside was a fun treat we all enjoyed... Pop Rocks.  As we opened our packets, we used our senses to make some observations.  What did they look like and smell like?  

Then we put our taste buds to work.  What did those Pop Rocks taste like and sound like?  

As we made our observations, I wrote the many adjectives the students came up with to describe our Pop Rocks experience. 

The students then completed their own charts to describe our fun experience today.

We had a great time with our Pop Rocks descriptive writing today.  We'll continue to talk about our experience more on Thursday and Friday. We'll be writing similes and also writing complete sentences using the adjectives and descriptive verbs we've talked about.

(Many thanks to W. Abby Mullins for this great activity.)

Descriptive Writing

This week we'll be working on descriptive writing.  I introduced the students to our topic today by showing them a decorative bag with a surprise inside.  Our first job was to use adjectives to describe the bag... and boy oh boy did we come up with a fantastic list.  Tomorrow, I'll reveal what's inside the bag and we'll continue our descriptive writing activities.