What's the Buzz?

Hi Everyone!

Today is my last full day with my little first graders. Its been a crazy year but I will miss these little ones. They have grown up so much since they first walked through my door back in August. I am excited and thankful that I will get to see them next year and watch as they continue to grow.

During the last week of school we do a lot of special projects and writing activities to close out the year. We visit both second grade classrooms so that our kids can see what their rooms will be like next year and to get to know the teachers better. We do a lot of craft/lessons so that I can still teach a few things without them realizing they are still working and learning.

 One of these projects is our gift to the kindergarten students when they come to visit our rooms. We make a book for them. We call it, What's the Buzz in First Grade. They have to write about all their favorite activities or parts of first grade. We then turn it into a cute mini book and they read it to the kindergarten kids when they visit. It allows our kids to show off their reading and writing skills a little which makes them feel awesome and it gets the kindergarteners excited about coming to first grade.

As a teacher these are fun to read to see what activities or events had the most impact on their little memories. Reading through mine I can see that our pioneer day had a huge impact. I think all but a few mentioned that in their writing. It helps us as we plan activities for next year.

It is a really quick and fun project. The kids love making the bee for the front cover. The template that we made to go along with the project is simple and quick and does not require a lot of paper. The writing paper was created with some clip art from Krista Wallden. It only takes us about two hours from start to finish.

Hope you all have a wonderful end to your school year!!