Welcome back y’all! We had an ‘udderly’ wonderful week back-to-school. On the first day, real Florida farmers stopped by for a visit. They came along with a petting zoo of farm animals, a mule-pulled wagon, tractors, a watermelon patch, and seeds to help us start our garden. We even had a Beekeeper stop by with an enclosed beehive for our little farmers to observe honeybees hard at work. For our grand finale, we learned a new song about ‘all those little fluff
balls’ followed by a read aloud of These Florida Farms written by Gary Seamans and illustrated by Mike Wright. All of these activities were made possible for us to explore and enjoy thanks to some of the folks at the University of Florida, the Florida Farm Bureau and our amazing Chets Creek fairies. Yee Haw!
As the week continued, we practiced our rituals and routines. We even wrote our class promise for a successful year. 
Also, we began tilling the land for a plentiful harvest by assessing students with our Math and Reading Diagnostic assessments, Florida Assessment for Instruction and Reading (F.A.I.R.) and Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). These evaluations will continue this week and the results are used to help guide instructions.
Check out a few pictures below for a glimpse of some of the things we did this week.
My First Grade Farmers remember to only write your initials when leaving a comment.
"Cultivating a Community of Excellence"
