I know I have said it before in emails and in person but I just can’t thank you all enough for such a great year. While it was a difficult year personally, this truly was one of the best years in my teaching career. Our crew of kids and parents were fantastic. Thanks for all of the help, support, gifts and thoughtful notes. They really mean a lot to me. The bowl that you all made for me was especially touching since I learned that you all made special trips to Highlands Ranch just to have your child add his or her part to the bowl. I will always treasure it. Have a great summer and enjoy your wonderful children. Here are a few pictures of the crew on the last day of school in the shirts that we signed. (A few of us wanted to wait to wear the shirt.)

Here are two more resources that I found for summer reading ideas that I thought you might be interested in. The first one is an article that appeared in the Knoxville News-Sentinel and quotes a well-known literacy professor, Richard Allington. I am a huge “fan” of his work. The second is from a well respected site for teachers called, “Read • Write •Think”. It is their collection of ideas and activities for parents to use.

A Need to Read: What Parents Can Do to Encourage Summer Reading

Read • Write • Think Learning Beyond the Classroom

Here is a slide show of photos from our guest speaker this morning. The topic of his talk was “Habitats of the World”.

Here’s a copy of today’s crew news. Click on the image for a full-size version. (On some web browsers, you’ll need to click again on the resulting image for the full-size version.)

Here’s a copy of today’s crew news. Click on the image for a full-size version. (On some web browsers, you’ll need to click again on the resulting image for the full-size version.)

To accompany the Crew News articles this week I’m writing this post with popular links that the kids could use for fun and practice this summer. This way you will be able to click directly on the link and not have to retype the web address. You will not want to use these right away since everyone will be ready for a break (an upcoming Crew News will be on this topic) but by mid to late summer these might be just what you are looking for. Other ideas are on the math and literacy pages of our crew website.

Phone Stories
Starfall
Tumblebooks–eBooks for Kids
Tumblebooks are animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they’ll love.
TumbleBooks are created by adding animation, sound, music and narration to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you.

Everyday Math online games – free version

Math Mahjong

Everyday Math games – not on the computer #1

Everyday Math games – not on the computer #2
National Geographic Kids Magazine – Creature Feature

We also heard all about the public libraries summer reading program this morning at our All School Meeting. You might want to ask your child about it or check it out on your next trip to the library.

Here’s a copy of today’s crew news. Click on the image for a full-size version. (On some web browsers, you’ll need to click again on the resulting image for the full-size version.)

Here’s a copy of today’s crew news. Click on the image for a full-size version. (On some web browsers, you’ll need to click again on the resulting image for the full-size version.)

Math Literature for Grades 1-3

Do Anytime Activities for First Grade

Summer Activities for Math

Here’s a copy of today’s crew news. Click on the image for a full-size version. (On some web browsers, you’ll need to click again on the resulting image for the full-size version.)