Hello Friends and Families! 
I know its only been a little over a week since we were all together as a class, but I miss you all already! Our last day was full of fun! From the anticipation of the party, the gift's, the summer bag, the concert, and finally our last hugs and goodbyes! Our day was a whirlwind! 
We had a very successful end of the year party! We owe HUGE thanks to Mrs. Zwilling, Mrs. Slominski, Mrs. Doty, Mrs. Pitteroff, Mrs. Pinnell, Mrs. Grove, Mrs. Jantonio, and Miss Frazier who donated their time in managing our party. Of Course, all of you who sent in the yummy food, your donations made a huge difference for our kids! From water balloon T-ball, to noodle hockey, to sand art, the party was a smash! 

Summer Bag-
On the last day of school your first grader brought home a decorated white bag  and several sheets of paper. These papers have summer fun ideas either typed out or hidden in the QR code! Your first grader knows how to scan the QR code (just download a QR code reader on your tablet) or type in the address on the card. Either way you'll end up with a fun and exciting adventure on your hands! Please, note the kids became very savvy with technology this year and should be able to do all these things independently. Links shared are kid friendly and all You tube links were sent via safe link so you can feel confident allowing them to explore while you make dinner or other daily chores! 
The items on the sheet are made to be cut into individual cards. Once they're cut apart, place them all in the bag and each day grab one card to keep you brain charged! We don't want any learning to drip out, as Justin said, "That's the saddest thing I ever heard of, all our learning dripping out of our brains." 

No matter how you do it, keep them reading and writing for fun and with purpose! We DID LOTS of things to fire them up for summer, keep it going strong! 

• Join the summer reading program (we want to win the trophy!)
• Read, Read, Read!
• Write in notebook or blog, or both!
• Comment of friends blogs
• Summer Bag fun
• Explore our web page
• Read, Read, Read! 
• Write, Write, Write!
• Look for math all around you! 
• Explore new topics
• Visit a new library
• Visit a fun book store
• Read outside
• Read IN the pool
• Read in bed
• Read a breakfast
• Read, Read, Read! 
• Go for a nature walk, what's new? 
• Face time a friend and read together
• Visit the Little Free Library in Lakewood
• Call a school friend for a trip to the library! 

We were deep in our wonderings about the relationship between additional and subtraction. Friends who saw the similarities tried to convince those who did not. Those who saw the differences set out to prove they were indeed different! The debated raged on. Then, just like that we got this tweet-

We are THRILLED to announce that on Thursday May 28, 2015 we will celebrate as OUR wonder will be the "Daily Wonder!"  Please visit out wonder on Thursday, May 26, 2015!

Mrs. VanDerwater  and Poem Farm
Tuesday we had the opportunity to Skype with poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (Amy LV).  Amy LV is a wonderful resource to students and teachers who enjoy learning, reading and writing poetry. Hopefully your young poet has already shared the Poem Farm with you and you have seen for yourself her A-Maz-ing work! Maybe your poet has already shared with you, WE were FEATURED on Poem Farm on Day 8! 


Students wrote questions for Amy about writing poetry.  Amy asked students read their questions and she talked about her thinking as a writer.  
Here's what we learned:

• Poets get ideas by paying attention to the world, memories and in books. 
• Poets write ideas down so they can remember them and make them bigger.
• Have someone read your poem to you to see if sounds the way you want it to sound.
• Poems are packed with feelings and you should write what you feel. 
• Talking with other writers can help you think about your ideas.  

• Some poetry can rhyme, but it doesn't have to rhyme.  This is the poets choice.

Since our Skype visit we have shared several Tweets with Mrs VanDerwater browse the feed on the right hand side of the page for full details. 
We will Skpe with Mrs. VanDerwater 2 more times!

We are beginning to talk about games, foods, TV shows, clothing and sports that were popular when you (and maybe your parents) were kids! The kids love looking back at pictures from the past and comparing "then and now."  We invite you to sit down with your first grader and visit the VoiceThread below.  Talk about your memories before you were a parent or grandparent.  We love learning from you and invite you to share family photos, letters, artifacts and books to help us learn more. You can add photos to the VT below and comment to tell us more. If your comfortable, you could even send your artifacts to school to share with us! 

We learned how to keep math organized by using a friendly number like ten. Being organized helps you remember your numbers.