Thankful for First Graders!

I am so thankful for being able to educate our fantastic first graders! They are so amazing, and I love spending time with them. Last week we spent some time learning about the Mayflower, pilgrims, Native Americans - including Squanto, and Massasoit - the leader of the Wampanoag tribe. We talked about how life was hard for the Pilgrims - the long voyage and the rough winters, and how much they needed the Native Americans to teach them how to plant crops, and build homes. We discussed themes of friendship/family, helpfulness/teamwork, and being thankful.

Our first graders had an opportunity to share what they are thankful for through discussions, on their writing prompt "I am thankful for....", as well as on our Forest View 'thankful' tree. We took time to acknowledge that no matter how much we have, we always have at least a little something that we can give to those in greater need. Our students definitely showed that they care about others in need by bringing in canned/boxed food to contribute to Thanksgiving baskets for families. We enjoyed seeing all the collections during our all-school Thanksgiving assembly - complete with music, poems, silly turkey dances, and celebrating togetherness as a Forest View family!

THANK YOU to our families that helped make our First Grade Thanksgiving Feast a success!! We had SO MUCH FUN tasting foods that may have been served at the First Thanksgiving (corn & fish, for example), as well as more modern foods - such as cranberries and pumpkin pie! I cannot believe how much salmon this class ate - and liked! This class by far was the bravest for trying the fish, and so many of them liked it that we actually ran out! We could not have done this without all of the families that contributed not only food items, but their time to come in and help set up, serve food, clean up, and even stay afterward to offer more assistance on holiday projects!

A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO: Rex's parents - Sheena and Ben Balcom, as well as Reed's mom - Laney Plotniciewicz for coming in to help! To all of our parents that provided table settings, food, pies, milk, and more----THANK YOU! We served lunch to 52 little pilgrims and Native Americans that feasted for about an hour! There is a lot to be learned from not only reenacting a part of our history, but by also just being present in the moment. Unplugged, we were highly tuned into nice table conversations - applying turn taking etiquette in conversations, practicing table manners - so many pleases and thank-you's and even lots of nice requests for more helpings of food! Since we enjoyed a long recess before the lunch, and we were not on a time schedule of being in the cafeteria during lunch, we didn't have to rush! We all fully enjoyed each others company - all children and adults in the room - and had a most memorable time together! Also, they were just the cutest in their little Thanksgiving hats!

I hope that you have had a most enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend with your family and friends! I hope that everyone is rested, relaxed, and ready to gear up for another great week! I have lots of fun and lots of learning planned for our little scholars, and I am looking forward to another great week! I can't wait to see everyone on Monday morning!!