| "There are no hands so small, that they cannot make a difference in the world."
Dear Busy Bee Families,
Well here we are, the last newsletter of the year! While this has been where our journey was headed
all year; it is bittersweet. Thank you for joining us on Wednesday; what a wonderful celebration for
the children. I know you are as proud as I am of all their accomplishments. I think it was important to
end this year of hard work with a celebration. They did not "simply" get where they are today. A lot
of effort, energy, hard work, and dedication on their part went into their achievements. Again, I want
to thank each one of you for being such an important part of this year. Your support of both the
children and myself, made it all possible.
I am so happy that you enjoyed the slide show; even with our technical difficulties I think it was a
perfect way to sum up what the year was all about. We learned a lot, made many friends, and became
a family. We definitely achieved our goal...to make learning fun! The smiles of the children in those
pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words! Mr. Bee, Zachary, and Elyse enjoyed being with us
on Wednesday, happy to meet the children and put names with faces. It gave them a better chance to
understand why the end of the year is so difficult for me...farewells are never easy, especially when
someone has tugged at your heartstrings for so long!!
We had a wonderful last week in the Hive. In addition to all our celebrations and fun learning
challenges, we were treated to ice cream with Father Bob. It brought back the happy memories of the
first trip over to the ice cream shop in September. We also enjoyed the extra recess he treated us to
on Friday!!
As I said the zoo was awesome. We had a terrific time. The weather, once again, was picture perfect
and fun was had by all, including the teacher and chaperones!
So what happens in the Hive for the last few days?...We still have a number of items to bring home
so I will do my best to divide it between Monday and Tuesday so their backpacks are not overloaded.
Monday we will be enjoying Field Day. The remainder of the day will be spent cleaning, packing, and
enjoying some fun read alouds and each other's company.
Tuesday we will celebrate our last Mass of the year together. We will then come back to the Hive to
do our final cleaning and packing. Since we are still fortunate enough to have the Smart board, we
will be sharing some final learning games.
Just a few recommendations for the summer based on the classes' performance on yearend
assessments...I would spend time periodically reviewing math facts during the break. As I have
mentioned before, automaticity is the key to their future success and ease in doing math in the
future. Read, read, read...those new reading skills will still need a workout during the summer. Make
sure they have a chance to pick out books that they like and can enjoy...it doesn't hurt to let them
read below their current level. In fact reading a few books, that they enjoy, that are below level just
helps build fluency and their confidence. They will realize how much easier and quicker they read
these books each time they pick up a book.
We spent last week finishing up our lessons in all areas. The busy bees took the end of year
assessment in language arts. We enjoyed working on our independent work as well. The children
enjoy the bingo learning games. They especially enjoy the I SPY versions. Word games are also fun.
The dollar store and Educational Warehouse has a clear cube with little letter cubes inside. Shake,
write down the letters and then see how many words you can build. It's like a pocket version of
Boggle. They also enjoy word searches and cross word puzzles. For a fun way to practice using
nouns, adjectives, and verbs; there are primary grade versions of the Mad Libs that the older
children like to do. These are usually with coloring books and puzzle books in the children sections
of the bookstores. As I mentioned at Moving Up Night when you were getting ready to venture into
first grade, Barnes and Noble has it's own book line called Flash Kids; it is great for flashcards and
skill specific activity books. They are great for the summer because the pages have just enough for a
little daily practice. They range in price from $2.95 to $3.95 each. A great investment for the
summer and beyond!
We shared the adventures of our FLAT BUSY BEES. We have a few more to share this week. WOW this
is the first year the Flat Busy Bees traveled so far around the world; Ireland, Sweden, Italy, France! I
wish I was a Flat Busy Bee!!
We have enjoyed learning about the Fruits of the Spirit. The children will be bringing home their
packet for these.
We have been using many different manipulatives and independent activities to practice our problem
solving and math facts; the children did a great job with these. You might want to consider some fun
learning games (Borders and Barnes and Nobles has some great selections).
Some fun ways to "bee busy" during the summer; especially on rainy days...check with the library
and local bookstores about storyhours and activities. Also, Educational Warehouse (off of Exit 8 by
Stop and Shop and Morning Star Christian Book Store)offers a number of free arts and crafts
activities. Michael's Arts and Crafts also offers a number of summer classes. Here are a few websites
the children might enjoy over the summer...
Harcourtschool.com Funbrain.com Primarygames.com Starfall.com
The children will be bringing home packets of workbook pages; these are for summer practice only;
these do not need to be returned.
Last week I sent home their dry erase board and marker. These are great for practicing in the car!
The other very important tool that came home last week was the "Words I Use When I Write" book.
This is very handy and helpful when they are writing. In fact, I have talked with the second grade
teachers and they will be seeing a similar tool in second grade next year; so using these over the
summer will help them keep the use of this resource fresh for second grade.
Please keep your second grader writing over the summer. They have become very creative writers
and keeping a journal of summer activities and adventures is a fun and enjoyable way of keeping
those skills current. Also writing letters or postcards to family and friends is another way to work on
their writing skills, not only their D'Nealian handwriting skills, but also their grammar and creative
writing skills. Picture journals, like the draw and write tablet we used this year is a good format. They
get to illustrate their writing and they are not daunted by a full page of lines to fill in.
Well I tried to avoid it, but I guess this is it! Thank you for bearing with me each week...the quotes,
the poems, the sometimes silly stories. What can I say, with a class like this I could write a book...it
might not be a best seller, but I know it would put smiles on your face and tears in your eyes just like
this class has done for me the whole year through!
It has been a gift to me to be able to share each school day with your child. We have learned a lot
from each other. We had many giggles through the year as well...like when Mrs. Bee squeaked the
chalk or pressed so hard it snapped in half while she was writing on the board. Also, the times Mrs.
Bee let the answer slip or gave a big hint, by accident, while giving directions or answering a
question! While some of our learning wasn't the traditional sitting in our seats writing in workbooks,
it was the times we were explorers, scientists, puzzle builders, community designers, flat busy bees,
poets, artists, game show contestants, baseball players, and had the opportunity to wear many
different hats that gave us the best opportunities to not only learn new things, but put into practice
all the skills we learned during the year! The children definitely lived up to their label of "Busy Bees".
As my favorite artist, Mary Englebreit says, "It's Good to Be Queen!", especially with a group like this!
I have been given bees of just about every form this year; I will treasure each one as well as every
memory! I have LOVED being your child's first grade teacher! You have been a great support system;
kind, encouraging, and generous with your donations and words and for that I am truly and eternally
grateful.
Have a wonderful summer. May God be with you on all your journeys, whether they be short or long.
God's Peace!
Mrs. Bee
| |
