First day of school

We had a great first day of school! We figured we would start the year out right with a good book, so as a class, we chose to read "Ramona Quimby, Age 8," as our first read aloud. Mrs. Clark, who will be working with our class, LOVES to read children's books and does the best voices, so she also read a funny book about Cookie Monster.

Throughout the day, we spent a lot of time practicing our rules and routines. Today, we talked about what it means to be respectful in our classroom, such as listening politely, waiting to talk until we have permission, sharing materials, and using kind words. We will continue to practice these rules in the upcoming days.

We also did a lot of getting to know you activities. We decorated the first letter of our first name with pictures that describe us, and we wrote a description of ourselves for each letter of our name. For a math practice, we made bar graphs to show when everybody's birthdays are. It was exciting to learn that Isaiah's birthday is...tomorrow!

We also got to spend some time with our class pet. We went over the rules for having Bailey out, and everybody got a chance to pet her. The kids also got to meet our newest addition, our Black Bear Hamster. Her name is Rita Book (get it? Rita Book??). She's still adjusting to life in a classroom, so she mostly stayed in her cage today.

I hope everybody at home is settling back into the school routine. I know going to sleep early and getting back on schedule can be hard, but hopefully we can all make a smooth transition.