A Couple of Final Mysteries

Last Wednesday, we enjoyed TWO pop-up Mysteries.  See if you can guess who our first special guest was:

• I was a "new" teacher this year.
• I coach soccer.
• Once upon a time, I used to have a pierced eyebrow.
• I write a blog about the Baltimore Ravens that has been featured in the Baltimore Sun as well as some other sports' websites.
• My significant other teaches at Friends School, I have two kids that go to FS, and two cats that stay home.

Can you figure out THIS mystery?  It was a little tricky for the friends in 1A too, but we were super excited to see Mr. Hanes waiting for us outside.

Mr. Hanes shared one of his favorite books titled, You Are Special by Max Lucado.

This is such a great book and we all enjoyed the message!

Thank you, Mr. Hanes!

Later that same day, we had another mystery to solve.  This one was much easier.........

• I have worked at Friends School for 9 years.
• I work in the Upper School building.
• I live near the school.
• I have a child in 1st grade.
• Some mornings you will see me in the carpool line.

Have you figured this one out?  Our room was a little bit of a mess, by the afternoon on Wednesday, so we ventured over to Mr. Micciche's office.  Instead of reading to us, Mr. Micciche listened to a few first graders who had stories of their own to tell.  

 Mr. Micciche also shared a bit of Make Way for Ducklings that his son, Peter, recited when he was three.  We stopped by the library to find this book and read it the next day in our classroom.

Thanks for sharing your time with us, Mr. Micciche, and for listening to our stories!

Thank you to everyone who was a Mystery Reader in our classroom this year.  It was such a fun activity!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream.........

For another Mystery Reader with ICE CREAM!!!!

See if you know who our Mystery Reader was:
1.  I have lived in 9 different cities.
2.  I can't wait to go to the beach this summer.
3.  I love watching my children play sports.
4.  My favorite color is purple.
5.  I was born on Thanksgiving.

Do you know who this ice cream making Mystery Reader is................

It's Dylan's mom, Mrs. B!  

Mrs. B just got a new ice cream maker and wanted to make ice cream with 1A!  We all helped with the ingredients and toppings.  

After our ice cream was churning and freezing, we enjoyed an ice cream story titled The Ice Cream King.

 Then it was time to create a spectacular sundae! YUM!

It sure was delicious!

Thank you, Mrs. B! This was the perfect way to wrap up our family Mystery Readers for the year.  Thank you to all of our 1A families for their support with this activity this year.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

First graders, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?  Post a comment to share with all of us.

A Tricky Mystery

Another pop-up Mystery Reader stopped by for a visit today!  Can you guess who THIS is?

1. My favorite stories to read when I was in firs grade and lived in PA were fairy tales.
2. When I got older,  I loved reading the book Caddie Woodlawn and the Nancy Drew series while my 4 brothers read the Hardy Boys.
3. I read aloud to my 3 children every night and now I get to read to my granddaughter, Rebecca, who is 1 year old.
4. When I taught 4th grade at Friends, my favorite part of the day was reading aloud to my students.
5. The best part of now teaching kindergarten is sharing the joy of reading with children who are just learning to read.

Do you know who this is........ We had to review the last clue a couple of times before some 1A friends identified this as their former kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Morrissey!

Mrs. Morrissey read the book Probuditi by Chris Van Alsburg.

It was a great story with an ending that raised a few eyebrows.....hmmmm.....!

Thank you, Mrs. Morrissey!  We enjoyed having you in our classroom and thank you for sharing one of your favorite books with us and a few stories from your childhood.

Mystery, Mystery

We had a pop up Mystery Reader today (and will enjoy a few more of these in the coming days).  Let's see if you can figure out this mystery:
1.  I am a mom with two sons.
2.  I love birds.
3.  My favorite birds are ravens and orioles.
4.  My favorite president is Teddy Roosevelt.
5.  My hair is spiked up!

The students in 1A were a bit perplexed by these clues......... I reminded them that Mystery Readers aren't always family members and could be other community members...... like former teachers!!

This sealed it for many and they knew one of their Pre Primary teachers, Mrs. Fluery, was coming to read to us.

Mrs. Fluery shared the story Kali's Song by Jeanette Winter.  She told us it was one of her favorites!

Thank you, Mrs. Fluery for being our pop up Mystery Reader today! It was great to have you in our classroom and we really enjoyed the book you brought to share.

First grade friends, we just might have a few more of these pop up Mystery Readers scheduled for the days ahead (or final days..... booooo!).  Who would you like to have come and read to us?  Post a comment to share with all of us!

Top Secret Mystery!

We enjoyed a second Mystery Reader visit last week.  Here were our clues as we tried to figure out this next mystery........
1.  I love art and being creative.
2.  I have long blonde hair.
3.  I moved to Maryland 6 years ago.
4.  I used to teach preschool and taught someone in this class.
5.  I recently had a baby girl!

That last clue confirmed it for sure....... Miss Angela, Eva's babysitter was our next Mystery Reader!

Miss Angela read a book we enjoyed at the beginning of the year titled, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  by Carol McCloud.  

This book explains that everyone has an invisible bucket.  The key to filling your own bucket is to fill someone else's!  We've worked hard to be bucket fillers in room 230 all year long.  Hearing this book again was a great refresher.  

After reading the story, Miss Angela told us she had buckets for each of us and 14 slips of paper.  Our task was to write something kind about each of our classmates and ourself and put them in each other's buckets.  Eva helped to pass out the buckets and we got to work being bucket fillers!

Thanks, Miss Angela, for a great Mystery Reader Visit!  

First graders, how has someone filled your bucket lately or how have you filled someone else's bucket? Post a comment to share with all of us.  

We only have a few more Mystery Readers to go...... Where has our year gone!?

A Mystery in 1A!

We always get so excited when our Mystery Reader envelope appears in our classroom.  When we saw it hanging in our room last week, the children quickly pointed it out to me!

Our clues for this Mystery Reader were:

• I have brown hair.
• I have 2 kid.
• I am a teacher.  

Many of our friends in 1A was SURE this was their own teacher after this clue.  They concluded that Disco was my second kid!

• One of my favorite foods is tacos.
• I LOVE to play Just Dance 2014 with my babes!!

Some of the kids have figured out that there's only a few families who haven't surprised us as Mystery Readers thus far.  Francis concluded it had to be his mom or Dylan's, but Dylan said it couldn't be his since his mom. isn't a teacher.  This sealed it and Francis was quite sure his mom would be our reader.  

He was correct..... however he didn't know his younger sister, Felice,  would also show up to share some time in our room!  

Ms. S read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf:

Many friends in 1A seem to agree that the Wolf's point of view might actually be the REAL point of view!  

Ms. S also read The 3 Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz:

After listening to these versions of the familiar story, we enjoyed some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies..... YUM!  It was another fabulous Mystery Reader visit! 

First Graders, which 3 little pig story do you like best?  Post a comment to share with all of us.  

Hmmm...... It's a Mystery!

Our little blog has been feeling neglected!  Sorry!  It's been a busy few weeks with Spring Break and getting back into the groove of things after break.

On the Friday before Spring Break, we enjoyed a visit from yet another Mystery Reader............The clues we were given were:
1.  I am a Mommy.
2.  I have dark long hair.
3.  I love to read.
4.  I have 3 children at Friends School.
5.  I love music especially Bob Marley (so does Miss Muntean!).

Hmmmmm......... Who could this be?  This Mystery was solved by a few in our class and Hannah knew for sure it could only be her Mom, Mrs. D!

Mrs. D read several books to us including The Leprechaun's Gold, Crazy Hair, and Hooray for Reading Day!

It was another fantastic Mystery Reader visit!  Thank you, Mrs. D!

A Mystery from Down Under

We were super excited to reveal another set of Mystery Reader clues this past week.  The students in 1A are getting good at figuring these mysteries out!  Here were our clues:

• I have one son and one daughter.
• My birthday is in February.
• My favorite food is hamburgers.
• I really like watching and playing soccer.
• I am from New Zealand.  

That last clue sealed it FOR SURE and Lily and her classmates knew without a doubt that our Mystery Reader was her Dad, Mr. A!  

Mr. A shared a book from his childhood, that he's also shared with Lily and her brother, titled Miss Twiggley's Tree by Dorothea Warren Fox.  This book might be one that I share in Meeting for Worship coming up soon as it's filled with excellent messages that connect beautifully to Quakerism.  

After reading the story, Mr. A taught us a little about his country, New Zealand.  We learned some of the important facts and how to count to ten in Maori, one of the official languages of New Zealand.   

We also learned about their national symbol- The Kiwi Bird!

We even got to make a Kiwi Bird of our very own.  I'm convinced Mr. A would make an excellent teacher as organized as he was with our supplies!

Our finished birds:

It was another wonderful Mystery Reader Visit!  Thank you, Mr. A!

First graders, did you name your Kiwi?  Post a comment to share with all of us to tell us your Kiwi's name or your favorite part of this Mystery Reader visit.