With Love and Gratitude

Dear Students and Families~
Thank you all so much for attending our recent Author Share and celebrating your child's successes in writing this year. I am very grateful for your support both in the classroom and at home with words of praise and encouragement as your children took risks, gained confidence and in the end developed a passion for writing. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with your children and I will treasure the memories made this year.

Thank you so much for your words of praise, I felt like a rock star each time I was asked to take a photo with your child. I absolutely L-O-V-E-D the children's responses in the video and I look forward to watching it over and over again whenever I feel blue. Thank you to Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Shugrue for their masterful surprise. I am very grateful to the many Topsfield families I've had the privilege to work with these nearly thirty years, but I can honestly say there is something special about my group this year. It has been an extraordinary year for me, and I hope for your child as well. I have enjoyed every minute of this year, the giggles, the "aha" moments and even the tears, because it gave me an opportunity to give your child a hug.

Thank you for the gorgeous perennials, they've already found a home in my garden and I look forward to each blossom in the coming weeks. A special thank you to Mrs. Holland for remembering our conversation when I hadn't, and to Mrs. Lull for helping to coordinate such a special surprise with my student's "butterfly thumbprints." I hadn't even realized until the end of the day that my "Little Birdie Schoolhouse" was an actual birdhouse. So from the bottom of my heart, know that your child will always hold a special place in my heart and I will treasure the memories we made together.
With love and gratitude,
Lena Madden

SPRING MAY HAVE SPRUNG...BUT OUR WORK IS NOT YET DONE

Reading is contagious in our classroom as you can see from the number of students who have signed up for Book Talks this week. After your child reads a book ask them to consider signing up to present a short 1-3 minute Book Talk or Book Commercial. Students have been well prepared for their "talks"and have received amazing glows and just a few suggestive grows.

Here are a few comments from this week's presenters.

Timmy wants us to remember that Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye has many funny parts and he recommends this book to anyone who likes fantasy books. It was funny when Geronimo fell overboard the ship and when he returned Trap jumped up and down on his stomach and yelled, 

"HE'S ALIVE...HE'S ALIVE!"

Vincenzo wants us to remember in the book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck that Roderick threw Greg's goldfish out the window, he's a mean brother! Vincenzo recommends this book because it is funny.

MacLean wants us to remember that in her book, Who Was Alexander Graham Bell? that AGB invented a metal detector and had a chance to locate the bullet in President Garfield. Unfortunately his machine failed because the bed was made of metal and Bell's machine didn't work properly.

Dante wants us to remember that Junie B. Jones hides herself well in small crevices, like when she hid in a tight shelf because she didn't want to get on the bus. So read Junie B. Jones and the Smelly Bus.

Ben wants us to remember that Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is really funny, especially when Sweetie, the dog jumped in Greg's bed. Ben recommends this realistic fiction story to anyone who's looking for a book with a sense of humor.

Emma shared a biography Who Was Albert Einstein? and wants us to know that he went to high school when he was only 10 years old. Emma recommends this book to anyone who wants to learn why Albert Einstein was so famous.

Look at our our upcoming Book Talks next week.

Under the Sea

We have become expert marine biologists and researched the most interesting facts about our ocean animals. Listen carefully so you can learn about the amazing adaptations that allow these ocean creatures to survive in their habitats.

Please click on the arrow below to see and hear all we have learned.

Reading Buddies

The children earned a special reward in class after demonstrating GRIT to show their best work! This month we have emphasized the importance of  "TEAMWORK" by demonstrating Random Acts of Kindness to one another. It made sense to celebrate with one of our favorite activities, so we had a READ-IN.

Sharing books with our 1st Grade Reading Buddies in Ms. Sideri's Class was a blast.

The Whimpy Kid series has become a favorite in our classroom and Ciaran & Timmy take turns reading to Axel.

Charlie and Madelyn share a giggle while reading "The Fox in the Dark."

The children read for about forty-five minutes and were all so engaged in their books that you could hear a pin drop. They then shared their books with one another. Many students had signed up to give a "Book Talk" or Book Commercial and it wasn't long before children were trading books to read them on their own

Charlotte took the opportunity to share what she's learned about ocean animals with Rosalie.

Ben is proud to share his book with his Reading Buddy, Will.

 Our love for reading has become contagious and I couldn't be prouder of my students for taking risks in their reading by trying different genres and more challenging text.

Katie and Belle took turns reading to  Emma from Ms. Siders's class.

At the end of the day we invited our First Grade Buddies from Ms. Sideri's class and read a picture book to one another. We felt like leaders in our classroom and at the end the day we were surprised by our "Mystery Reader, Mr. Zamagni who read a book about Babe Ruth. All in all we had a wonderful day of reading fascinating books to ourselves, to our Reading Buddies and had several books read to us. If only we could spend every week with a scheduled Read-In??

Kristina was very proud to read to her brother, JJ in our classroom bathtub.

Our Marble Jar is Full!

Dear Families~

The children have filled the Marble Jar and have earned a special classroom reward, This Friday, June 3rd we will be hosting a READ-IN and PAJAMA DAY. Your children may choose to wear their pjs/bathrobes/slippers to school or comfortable clothing would also be just fine. Please remember to send your child's sneakers since we have gym that afternoon. 

We have invited our first grade Reading Buddies to join us and are looking forward to sharing  a picture book or two with our reading friends. Your children are encouraged to bring several books from home, an extra snack (NO NUTS please) and drink to school so that we'll have enough energy and enthusiasm to sustain us. Please do not send stuffed animals, blankets or pillows.

Thank you so much for supporting our life-long love for learning,

Mrs. Madden