Zoo Trip, End of Year & Summer Reading

We had a blast at Sioux Falls Zoo! Please ask your child what he/she learned at the zoo.



This year we shared many learning opportunities with Mrs. Cavin's class in Atlanta, Georgia. Here are our final collaboration projects. Enjoy!






We have accomplished so much this year!  I am so very proud of every one of my students for working hard to get to where we are today, and we have had a lot of fun along the way.  I would like to thank all of the families for your support and for sharing your child with me.

The students are so excited about summer!  I hate to burst their bubbles, but I am stressing the importance of reading over the summer.  I would like to share this info-graphic about reading. As you can see, reading everyday makes so much difference in children's lives.

Your child learned so much this year.  Please have him/her keep reading!  Here are fun ways to promote summer reading.

http://www.spiritlake.lib.ia.us/patrons/children2/children

I'm happy to inform you that your student has access to hundreds of eBooks using the school's

subscription to www.raz-kids.com. Children can read and listen to books on Raz-Kids and even

record themselves reading. Afterwards they can take a quiz to check for comprehension.

To access your child's assignment, log in at www.raz-kids.com/login/ldegroot0 using the

information below:

Teacher Username: ldegroot0

**NO Password needed

Your child can also keep blogging at http://kidblog.org/MrsDeGrootsClass2013-2014/ 

**Password is abc

Spring Music Concert

Here are some photos from the music concert. What a wonderful concert it was!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, May 14 --- R.I.F. (Reading Is Fundamental) Celebration

Tuesday, May 20 --- Zoo Trip 

Friday, May 23 --- Last Day of School

Happy Mother's Day to you all! 

Week 32

"My Father's Dragon" Book Club

We spent past two weeks reading a chapter book called "My Father's Dragon" by Ruth Stiles Gannet. We were joined by many other first grade classes in the U.S. and Canada via Twitter. We read a chapter each day then shared our predictions, visualization, our thoughts and asked some questions. We enjoyed corresponding with other classes. Please ask your child about the story and favorite part of the book! If you would like to see our book club conversation, please search #1bc14 or you can view our tweet feed in the sidebar. Here is a map of classes that participated. (It was created by Mr. Kagei from Illinois.)

May Events & Water Helpers

Poetry Party

Thank you for coming to the poetry party. Everyone did a fantastic job performing their parts!

The Spice of Life

Kids Rule!

Snack Time

Senses Alive


Play Time


Big Fat Hen


No Fear


Happy Birthday to You

Week 28 & 29

St. Patrick's Day

We had fun participating a global project counting Lucky Charm cereal charms. We shared our predictions with Mrs. Malchow's class in Wisconsin via Twitter. Later we shared the results with them on a Skype call.  Our class findings were; 1) We had more clovers than any other shapes (91). 2) Mrs. Malchow's class had more charms in their box even though we had the same size of box. 3) Ten frames were good tools to count the charms. 

283 classes, 5366 students in the U.S. and Canada participated in this project. Here is the result.

Community Comparison

Our learning buddies, Mrs. Langus's first graders in Portland, Oregon were learning about communities just like us. We decided to ask about each other's community via Twitter. Here are some questions and answers.

After corresponding we came to a conclusion that we live in a rural community and Mrs. Langhus's class live in an urban community. We also enjoyed "visiting" their community on Google Earth. Please check your child's blog to see their comparing and contrasting.

http://kidblog.org/MrsDeGrootsClass2013-2014/

Also please stay tuned for the poems that we wrote about our community!

Rock Unit

We will be learning about rocks next few weeks. Please help your child find a rock outside. We talked about "just right" rock to bring to school:)

Charles Vigdal came to teach us about rocks & minerals and different kids of rocks. We are ready to think and learn like geologists! 

Please Mark Your Calendar!

We will have a poetry party on Wednesday, April 16 from 10:30-11:00. Parents, siblings and grandparents are invited!!

April Water Helper Calendar

Week 26 & 27

R.I.F.

(Reading is Fundamental)

Here are some pictures from our R.I.F. celebration. We had a lot of fun with stuffed bear friends!

Global Read Aloud Day

March 5th was Global Read Aloud Day. We had fun reading "Three Little Pigs" with Mrs. Langhus's class in Oregon.

Community Mural

For social studies we created a community that we would like to live in. We brainstormed what this community should have. We all worked together well! We also added augmented reality to our mural. If you would like to try it out, please feel free to stop by!

Upcoming Events

Parent/Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, March 18 & Thursday, March 20

NO SCHOOL on Friday, March 21

Early Dismissal @1:45 on Wednesday, March 26

Water Helper

Alex

Week 25

Presidents

We learned a lot about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I was excited to read the bog posts this week. Many chose to write about what they learned about the past presidents. Please make sure to check out your child's blog.

http://kidblog.org/MrsDeGrootsClass2013-2014

Number Talks

We have been on Twitter to talk about numbers with other first grade classes. Please check out the Twitter feeds on the right. I love the way everyone is challenging themselves and explaining their thinking. Great job!

World Read Aloud Day

Wednesday, March 5 is World's Read Aloud Day! If you would like to come to our classroom to read one of your favorite children's books, please let me know. Skype call is also an option! 

March Calendar