March Students of the Month

I've gotten a little behind on blog posts this month! Here are our March Students of the Month. A little late, but congratulations, just the same!

Great job, Madison and Nick! Keep up the good work.

Scroll on for pictures of our fantastic concert!

First Grade Concert

The big day of our concert finally arrived! We have been practicing for weeks, and we were all so excited to perform for our friends and families!

We met ahead of time in Mrs. Ebeling's room. It was hard to wait quietly until everyone arrived.
We each got a red, white, or blue necklace to wear to go along with this year's "Celebrate America" theme. Finally, it was time to line up and walk back-stage to the risers.

It's almost time to start, and we're ready!

Some of us had flags to hold and wave during the songs.

We wore cowboy hats and bandanas, too.

It was hard to wait while Mr. Koven was talking.

Is it time yet??

Finally, the curtain opened! Don't our t-shirts look great?

OK, here we go...

Abby, Kaitlin, Grant, and Madison had to introduce one of the songs.

Elizabeth and Sam were speakers, too.

Whew! It's all over! We waved and bowed at the very end when the audience clapped for us. The whole show was very fun, and we did an awesome job! Our teachers were sooooo proud of us!
If you would like to purchase a DVD of the whole concert, you can order one for $7.00. Get your orders in as soon as possible. Forms were available at the concert, or contact me at school and I will send you one.

Thanks for coming to the show!

Science in the Toy Box

We have been working on Physical Science during the last few weeks, and we've learned a lot about Matter, Sound, and Movement. To show the effect of gravity on an object, the kids have been constructing various slides, and then watching marbles roll downhill.

The marbles move faster with a little push.

There's no way the marbles move uphill, though, even with a push!


The steeper the hill, the faster the ride!
(Is that the sun shining in the window?? We haven't seen much of that this spring!)


We've also been learning about balance, and if things crash, they fall down, not up, due to gravity. These wooden totem blocks are very tricky to stack.

These two worked extremely hard following a stacking suggestion on the can, and they did it!


Wow! These blocks have been around for a long time, and I think this is the first time anyone in my class has been able to do this! Way to go, boys! I'm really impressed with your patience and eye-hand coordination! It's WAY harder than it looks!
The kids have been very interested in all of our activities and experiments during these units. Thanks for your help with the homework assignments!

Trip to Write On

Since the spring of 1989, the first graders from our school have been designing class t-shirts. My collection of shirts includes the names of every child I have had in my class for the last 20 years! It's quite a sight when I hang them all up outside our classroom. After making the design, we then go on a short trip to Write On, a local graphic design, printing and embroidering company, to see how our original artwork is transferred to our shirts. Owners Peggy and Don do a great job of setting up the tour, and their employees are very patient with the endless questions from curious first graders.

This year, we started the tour with a welcome from Peggy as she showed us some of the products that Write On can make, including mugs, mouse pads, shirts, hats, jackets, sweatshirts, photo enlargements, buttons, stickers, key chains, and more. Then we divided up into four groups to rotate through the various work stations.

The kids listened very carefully to everything Don and Peggy told us, and they were very excited to start our tour.

We saw a huge sewing machine that could sew many items at one time. It was very loud when it operated at top speed!

The needles could go fast or slow.

This machine was sewing a design on jackets.

Next, we saw some of the many designs that have been used over the years.

This machine was sewing a design for Fil-Mor Trucking.

We learned that computers are very important. All of the artwork is generated by a graphic designer who works with a special computer program. The designs are put on discs, which are then put into the drive of the sewing machines. The information on the discs tells the machines what color of thread to use, and what design to make - amazing!

The kids in each group got to choose clip art to make a picture on the computer.

The finished pictures were sent to the printer and are now hanging in our classroom.

Then we saw how designs are put on mugs. The mug got really hot!

It really sizzled when put into the water to cool it off!

Then the design was peeled off - pretty neat, huh?

Next, we went to the vinyl department where we saw how they make banners and signs for trucks.

The kids helped design a silly smile face, and then everyone got a sticker and a transfer.

Finally, we got to see our design being transferred to our t-shirts. Most of them were already done, but several shirts were left to demonstrate the heat transfer process. Our design looked really weird because all the printing was backwards before it was transferred.

First, the shirt was pre-heated, and then the transfer was placed on the shirt and a large piece of teflon was placed over it.

Into the machine it went, where it was heated for 15 seconds. There was a loud "whoooooooshing" sound when it was done.

The transfer was peeled off and...

There, all finished, and it isn't backwards anymore! Looks good!
Don met with us again at the end of our tour, he gave us a treat, and then we headed back to school, just in time for playtime and lunch. One of the kids summed it all up:
"That was the best trip ever!"
Thanks, Write On, for our awesome t-shirts and another great trip!

And here we all are in our brand new shirts! We will be wearing these shirts for our spring concert, class trip, and Phy. Ed. Fun Day. It's really easy to tell where each first grader belongs since each class has a different color. We'll look like a giant rainbow on the stage for our concert!

The kids just couldn't resist doing a "goofy face" picture.

What a crew!

February Students of the Month

Congratulations to Trenton and Madalynn for being February Students of the Month!

Awesome job, kids!

Is it really spring?? And will it last??

Today was a beautiful day! And who would believe that just one week ago, the kids were inside all day due to below zero temps and WAY below zero windchills!

Look! No STUFF!! Everyone was SO excited to be able to play outside today without all that heavy winter clothing!

The pictures below speak for themselves.

Although it was warm today, please listen to forecasts and send children with appropriate outdoor clothing, including a warm jacket for before-school playtime and a sweatshirt for noon recess. With this crazy Minnesota March weather, I wouldn't be surprised if we have a snow day next week!