Merry Christmas!!

Yummy food, gifts, and art.....it was a great day First Grade!

McWane Center!

Our trip to McWane Center was fun! Thanks to all chaperones for making this a great trip!

2nd Six Weeks Awards Day

Our first attempt at an Awards Day was so special. Thanks to the many parents who helped by sending suggestions. Thanks to the many parents who attended the ceremony. Special thanks to the kids for working hard, encouraging each other, and congratulating each other. What a WONDERFUL group!



Good Citizenship Award Winners will be class leader two days in a row!











100/A+ Conduct grade for the whole six weeks! Each girl recieved a homework pass!





Winners of the Grace Awards: You don't have to do anything to get this award. Mrs. R. gives it to you because she loves you! Grace Awards include an "I Love You" certificate, a hug, and a bandana.









A and A/B Honor Roll awards are ribbons and Dominoes Pizza coupons.

Perfect Attendance-Each received an M&M for every day present at school!

THS Barnyard!!!!

What barnyard has a turtle, two ferrets, and a California King Snake?
The THS Barnyard!

It was cold, but we had fun riding the horses, petting the puppies, and noticing the similarities and differences between the Mallard Duck and the chickens.

Alabama-Auburn Reading Contest

Mrs. Cheri Ford, our Kindergarten teachers, and several Graham students created this great piece of art to remind us to read our 8 books for the Alabama-Auburn Reading Contest. This is a state-wide contest with tickets to the BIG GAME as a prize to some lucky reader. There is a prize for the best artwork in this contest. Good Luck Mrs. Ford! It's GREAT!!!

Meet Mike Thayler!

Mike Thayler, author of The Black Lagoon series, visited Graham.

He taught us to play a new word game. Look for a word inside a word and make a riddle from it.

We'll try this in class one day and put a book together!

RED RIBBON WEEK!!!!!

Braden's New Wheels!

Check out Braden's new wheels! The new wagon arrived this week and Mrs. Rigdon decorated it with Lightning MacQueen stickers. He even has an Alabama sticker on the front. (Of course Mrs. Roberson wants equal space for an Auburn sticker!) Here is Braden and two of his helpers: Joey and Keyshawn.

Homecoming Princesses!

These sweethearts are all dressed up for Homecoming.

Homecoming!

Our count was 9 Graham Alumni at the THS pep rally this morning! Members of the THS Band, Danceline, and the THS Cheerleaders treated us to a great start today! They cheered and played while we watched and clapped.

Great New Class!!!!

Look at this great new class!!! I already love all 20 of them! Here are pictures from our first day together!

Generous Guest Reader!

Armstrong, LLC generously gives each Graham First Grader a book each year. That's Mr. Jim Armstrong reading The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Mr. Armstrong is responsible for the recent uplift to Graham's front yard so this book is just right for him to read and give to us.

Parents: Summer is a fun time and is a necessary break for us all. HOWEVER, most children return to school reading on a LOWER level than they did when they left for the summer. This will not happen if your child continues to read a little each day of the summer. Our book from Mr. Armstrong is a good one to read several times. PLEASE take your child to the Public Library often this summer. Read to your child and let your child read to you. It WILL lmake a difference next year!

Thanks again Mr. Armstrong! You are a model for us with your generosity and service to our Community!

Guest Authors

Mrs. Armstrong brought her very talented 8th graders to share their own historical fiction books about famous women in history. Those 8th grade authors were so good that we thought they were in college!!! Thanks Mrs. Armstrong!

Let's Help!!!!!

Let's help out tornado victims in our state! I have a personal contact with a school in Tuscaloosa. University Place Elementary was so damaged by the tornado that students will finish the year in an old school building that has been closed for some time.

These students and teachers need school supplies! Let's donate crayons, pencils, paper, notebooks, pencil sharpeners, rulers, scissors, glue sticks, construction paper, backpacks, pens, folders, etc. to help get them going again. They want to start school next Monday.

We don't have much time on this one......I need all donations by Wednesday in order to get them to Tuscaloosa.

I've got the greatest group of parents ever who read this blog and I know you won't let me down on this! I really want to show these kids and teachers that there are people who care about them. Help me get the word out and help me by bringing in donations!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

High Tea

We celebrated the wedding of Prince William and Kate by dressing up and enjoying High Tea, English Style. Ladies wore their best dress and shoes and some even had hats or gloves on! Gentlemen wore ties and hats, too! We were lucky to have our very own Prince William (Aiden) and Prince Harry (Sam) look-alikes! We used our BEST manners and enjoyed our tea and "biscuits" on Mrs. R.'s china. We even poured our tea from her silver tea pot! AND we learned a little bit about England, too. Thanks parents for helping us dress the part. It was the most fun!

Authors' Day!!!

By now, you have probably seen and read your child's book! Every one of them was precious. Each child wrote their own story and illustrated it. I helped with spelling and grammar rules, but the story was theirs!

Matt Burgess visited us on Thursday! He is a real author who attended Graham as a child. His book, Skylar and George Washington, may be purchased by going to the website listed on the little card I sent home Friday. If you use the code on that card, he will take $2.00 off the original price AND ALSO donate $2.00 to Graham! That is unheard of in the publishing world! Please support this ex-student and our school by visiting the website and ordering the book. He read it to us and we LOVED the story! We also met Skylar (his dog) and got to pet her. She performs great tricks.