"Ms. Carlberg, the days just fly by faster and faster! Make it stop!"

I couldn't agree any more with the kiddo and his above comment. I absolutely can not believe that it's April already. However, if you were to visit our classroom and see our kids, you would definitely know it! We are getting so smart! I am amazed everyday by the problem solving skills, communication skills, and friendship that are flourishing in our classroom.

We have been busy at work this week working with the letter Y (did you know that it has several sounds?! Did you know that we know what the word 'several' means?! I'm not kidding, we're brilliant!) We learned strategies for reading words with Y's and figuring out which Y sound they have. In math we have been using base ten blocks to show numbers so that we can learn about the tens and ones place. We are also using <,>, and = with numbers as we compare them. Today we started to learn about turn around facts. (4+6=10, 6+4=10) As we were using our ten frames to write these facts, I was astonished at the wide variety of problem solving I saw. Some kids were counting in two's, some were regrouping to make "easy numbers" as we call them, some were using what we know about doubles to add. WOW! I wish you could see it!

We are thrilled to announce that we now have living creatures in our classroom! We are starting our spring science unit that is focused around insects. (Don't panic families, no insects will be coming home for "pets") The purpose of this unit is to explore insects and learn how they work together to help other animals and humans. Today our mealworms arrived and we absolutely loved studying them.

Heaven wasn't too crazy about them...and that's
ok too!

Here's what we noticed about the mealworms:
 -They have long bodies, but only a couple legs near their front.
 - They don't bite or sting you.
 - They dig in sawdust.
 - They move a lot!
 - They have two eyes.
 - They tickle your hands when they crawl on you.
 - "They are the best animals in the whole world!"

This week we have also been learning the difference between tattling and reporting. We learned that tattling is telling an adult to get someone in trouble. Reporting is telling an adult because someone is going to be hurt or is being hurt. We made a T-Chart showing some examples of each and then discussed what we can say if we need to report or solve a problem ourselves. Check out our chart!

We will continue to work on using calm voices when we say "Please stop." or "I don't like it when...". When discussing this concept, one student said it best: "We just need to use peace. I know we all can do it, so let's just do it!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

"I know you had to go with the other first grade teachers to learn, but don't ever leave us again. Ever. Ever. Ever!"

It has been a busy week full of leprechaun surpises, absent teachers, and soggy, wet days! On Monday and Tuesday, all of the first grade teachers were at a diversity training which was informative and useful but, given the above comment, I think it was a little stressful for the kiddos. Before we get to this week, I want to share some pictures we took on Thursday that shows the havoc that Fionn the leprechaun created in our classroom in honor of St. Patrick's Day. We had been learning about the holiday and the tiny, mischevious creatures all week and the kids were desperately hoping that Fionn would show up. Well, sure enough, Thursday morning (Fionn must have known that we didn't have school on Friday) as we were coming into our classroom we saw tiny green footprints... Fionn worked in our classroom all day making messes and tricking us. I wish you could have seen the surprise and wonder on the kiddos' faces! It was absolutely heartwarming to watch them all day and listen to their predictions about what was going to happen next. We worked our hardest to find him but to no avail. We only found the messes he left!

Heaven is cleaning up our homework basket
that was tipped over.

Check out those footprints!

We were a little excited...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We didn't know that leprechauns could climb!

We took a bathroom break and came back to find
our tables and chairs in a pile!

This week we read the book, It's Hard Being Five and even though none of us are five, we worked hard to identify what's hard in first grade. Did you know that first grade is tough? We concluded that some of the tricky things are: not having free choice everyday, sitting still on the carpet, using self-control, walking in the hallway, and coming in from recess. After talking about the tricky things, we discussed how smart and caring we are and talked about how we can use these in our classroom. Here were are drawing pictures of the tricky things.

Connor showing that playing with others is hard.

Nekon showing that it's tricky sitting on the carpet.

Abby showing it's tricky playing with friends.
Brandon showing how tricky it is to walk in the halls.

"FINALLY! My wildest dreams are coming true!"

My poor internet connection at my house has prevented the upload of these fantastic pictures from the fire station. The above quote is from a kiddo when he found out that he was going to sit in a fire truck. Enjoy these pictures; they definitely speak for themselves!

Kayden and Josiah enjoying the fire station.

Kasey jumping out of the beloved fire truck.

Wesley: "I need more practice before I become
a firefighter because I'm a little scared to
jump down."

Here are a few kiddos with Firefighter Dan
practicing "Stop, Drop, Roll"

This is Nekon's face as soon as he walked into the
garage where the fire trucks are.

Look at how intently they are listening....

A firefighter showing us what he looks like in all of his
gear. It was fascinating to learn what it all does.

Did you know the different color helmets denote different ranks?
We didn't!

Look at that beautiful ladder truck!

Connor, Charlene, Abby, and Brandon in the truck.

Josiah, Christopher, and Destiny in the truck.



Before we went to the fire station we wrote about what we wanted to be when we grew up. We talked about how we can use what we know in first grade to help us when we grow up. It was inspiring to hear the kiddos talk about their dreams and even more powerful to watch them connect those dreams with what we are doing in our classroom. After we returned from the fire department however, most dreams had changed...we now want to be fire fighters!

"I'm thankful for Officer Joe and you Ms. C because you both keep us safe from robbers."

I'm not sure how common robbers are in first grade, but it's nice to know that we are appreciated! Officer Joe finally made it to our classroom and quickly became the source of giggles, information, awe, and inspiration. There are about 15 out of 20 kiddos who are now going to become police officers when they grow up. Officer Joe graciously answered our many, and sometimes intricate questions, explained how he uses his tools, and through the book, Officer Buckle and Gloria explained the importance of rules in our classroom, home, and community. He even said he would be back in April with his police car! Check out our pictures!

Telling us about himself and his job.

Answering the many, many, many questions.

Reading Officer Buckle and Gloria.

Explaining each of his tools on his belt.

Look at how enthralled Connor and Kayden are...

This is completely unrelated to Officer Joe, but check out how Connor came into our classroom this morning... I'd say he was a little warm. (I laughed to the point of tears, and hope that you are too!)