Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?

For Seuss Day, our cafeteria staff provides a breakfast of...you guessed it...green eggs and ham. And yes, Sam, most really do seem to like it.

The Seuss hair was great fun...it added yet a little more character to the already overflowing personalities in our room:)

For snack, we had Beezlenut Splash and Green Egg pretzels.....

And students made up their own rhyming versions of "There's a Wocket in my Pocket"...such as this cofa on the sofa!

We interviewed each other to find out which Seuss books were the favorites.

and we also graphed the findings.

And to back up a couple of weeks to Valentine's Day, let me just tell you that these kids have this special day all figured out.  Everybody gets cards, everybody gets candy, and everybody has a good time. And I feel happy indeed to know that when I go to work, despite anything else, I do feel LOVED by this little bunch of sweethearts. I appreciate all the sweet cards, flowers, candy, hugs and "I love you's"! It was truly a fun day, full of caring. They all made boxes to hold their valentines...all original, just like them.

(His shirt says "Most Eligible Bachelor"....love it:)

I feel lucky to face these sweet smiles every day, along with sincere hugs and raw enthusiasm, not just for learning but for just about everything...We got new desks in our classroom and one would have thought we had all won new cars! Every holiday is a reason to celebrate, every loose tooth, every AR goal, or sight word list passed...so many things to be happy about every day. It's a nosiy place, but it's a happy place and I am glad to be a part of it.

First Grade Cool Cats and the Superstar

 

You probably already know this, but I used to be a superstar.  I sang, I danced, I spoke in funny accents and read books like this one in my very best character voices. And one day, as I was reading "Pete the Cat...Rocking in My School Shoes", we got the great idea to act it out...to sing and dance and maybe even audition for the school talent show.  We soon realized we might need a guitar. And this superstar doesn't play guitar. But one of my students said "My uncle plays guitar!" And so it began...

Dan, Dan the Guitar Man!

From the time Dan Smith walked through our classroom door, Mrs. Raby's stardom was out. Because not only was he rocking a guitar, he is also really good. And he is GREAT with kids. And funny. And he uses a calm voice and the kiddos listen to him and his guitar. And I'm not jealous in the least, (well, maybe just a little) because my firsties had a great experience on stage and off.  They learned about teamwork and presentation, rhythm and rhyme, plus they had a good experience being on stage and telling a fun story through drama, song and dance. They also learned that performing requires a lot of practice, and sometimes a lot of patience.

 These are a few photos taken as we practiced in our classroom.  Above is our narrator, who did SUCH a great job reading the story, one of several by Eric Litwin.  To the left is our rhythmic tambourine player/dancer.

The Cool Cats were divided into three groups, the library, the lunchroom, and the playground. They each acted out parts of the school as the story was read and they were just so stinking cute in their little cat ears and whiskers.  I hope to get the video of the talent show uploaded so all of you who missed it live can see how fun it was.

"Here comes Pete, strolling down the street...rocking red shoes on his four furry feet."

The photo below was taken prior to dress rehearsal with the Cool Cats and the Superstar with the guitar....you can check out his website here ...Daniel Justin Smith. He does some kid shows but he is also a talented singer/songwriter for the tall people too.  I think you will enjoy pausing to take a listen and to read about his musical background, because he truly is impressive.

Again, I say thanks for taking the time to share the love of music and entertainment with the kiddos.

And one day I'm going to learn to play guitar!

Gingerbread houses

     It had been my intention to write a light hearted post describing all the fun things my class did last week.  After Friday's shooting in Connecticut, my mindset is totally different.  My heart goes out to all of the families involved, the school, and community. Let's all love the children in our lives with our whole hearts.

Here are the pictures of my precious first graders and families as we worked on gingerbread houses last week.

                                                                 

                                                                     Sneaky elf..........

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Peace to all this Christmas......