FROM VIRGINIA

  Today was an exciting day for the first grade kids in Room 30. Froggy, our mascot visitor from Virginia,      arrived to spend time in the warm, warm sun.  He was certainly entertained by all of the kids and was "hoppy" to get so many hugs.

                 First, I visited our library after morning meeting.  I was a bit nervous with their school mascot, a cougar.  My fear was ended when I saw the teacher with the camera.  Boy, you know I am a big "ham."  I  love to have my picture taken. Look at me!  Wow! This is sure an interesting place. Look at this strange fellow I met.  He did not have much to say but he was happy to see a new face in the library. Sure are a lot of friendly people at Palm Lane School.  

                             Our Morning Tour of Palm Lane School

               I got to ride on the teacher's shoulders.  I loved the view when the kids took me on a tour of the school.

    Here I am starting the day with the kids in Phoenix.  We sang a lot of songs, did calendar activities, and read a story. The teacher also reads from a Junie B. Jones book.  I laughed so hard at that story my insides jiggled.  The kids sure did keep me busy.  I will teach you all the "Tony Chestnut" song when I come back to Virginia. Oh, I am learning a lot of words in Spanish, too.  Ole!

             This is me.  I got to be one of the Morning Meeting leaders.  This teacher even has a pointer that looks like me.  It is a frog.

          Look at me!  I am holding a fly swatter to catch some dinner.  I also helped the kids point to the words for the winter interactive writing project.  They talk about snow but most of the kids have never seen snow! 

          What an exciting first day!  I will write more about my adventures here.  This week we have to find a gingerbread man.  I really do not know why he would run away from such nice kids.  They are a "huggy" bunch!

         I miss you.. but you have Dolly the Fox from Phoenix to keep you busy.  I bet she is having as much fun in Virginia as I am in first grade in Phoenix, Arizona. 

                                    Love to you,

                                       Froggy.

Well, another day in Room 30.  This was an exciting time.  The kids had a holiday party.  The teachers also had some fun and food.  I almost fell into the "salsa".  It was so good to eat and "picante" (hot).  

   Today I helped the kids publish their winter poems.  There are some really good authors in this class.  We went to the principal's office and read our poems to him. He thought I was so cute.  The kids wanted a picture of me with him.  This is me with Mr. Mauran, the principal at Palm Lane.  

   Art class was fun today, too.  The art teacher let me make a special Christmas decoration. I had help with the scissors, too.

The kids are gone now.  I have the entire classroom to myself. Today was the last day of school for the winter vacation.  The kids will return on January 7, 2002.  I hope all of my friends in Virginia have a happy holiday.  

                                  Love,

                                               Froggy

                      January Days With Froggy

  Hello!

     After a bit of a rest for the holidays, we started a very busy schedule. On January 16, 2002, we went on a field trip to the Stuffington Bear Factory.  I made a journal of my adventures that will be returned with me.  Here are some pictures of my adventure and my new bear friend, Ba-Ba-Lu.

                                        Here We Are!!!

           Here we are at the Stuffington Bear Factory.  We learned how they created teddy bears using special materials, eyes, noses, and decorations.  In this room, there were many stuffed critters.  I got to make a paper bag puppet with the kids.  We sure are great bear designers!  I was also careful not to get lost.  There was a group of friendly frogs but the snake was a bit scary. 

                                       Making Puppets                  Stuffington Friends

                                          Learning about Animals

   Here we are in another room.  In this room we played a game called Jeopardy.  The questions were difficult but Froggy was able to help the class with the answers.  We learned many things about animals, different kinds of bears, and other wild animals.  Did you know that teddy bears are named after President Teddy Roosevelt?  

        Here we are in the factory room. The rolls of material for the stuffed animals are very big.  The fabric felt smooth and fluffy.  Parts of the teddy bear are cut with a special cutting machine.  This machine can cut hundreds of teddy bear parts at one time!  I was very careful to look and not touch.

       The next room is the stuffing room.  This is a big, noisy stuffing machine.  The teddy bears get their stuffing when the machine blows stuffing into the last opening in the bear. Hang on to that bear!  This one flew across the room!  We laughed to see a flying bear.

MAKING OUR CLASS BEAR

    This is the moment we all waited for.. making our very own class bear. We voted on the white bear and then took turns at the stuffing machine.  The noise from the machine made me nervous so I watched from the teacher's shoulders.  After each student had a turn pushing the air pedal, our bear was sewned with a special needle and thread.  Don't worry, it did not hurt at all.  Our new bear was born.              

                                  Brushing & Combing         Splish, Splash, In the Bath

        Good grooming is important for bears, too.  When bears are all put together they need to be combed and brushed.  This makes their fur fluffy and takes away the dust.  Then, Stuffington bears get a special bath.  They do not use water.. just air.  Just like Froggy, people baths are not for us.  I sat under the air bath with Ba-Ba-Lu... AH!!!!!!

                            Back To School

   After lunch,  we made a thumb-print vest for our new bear, Ba-Ba-Lu.  He received his official Stuffington birth certificate.  We are so proud of our class bear.  

    The field trip was interesting and exciting. On the way home, many of us slept on the bus.  I rested with my new bear friend.  We learned so many things that our brains were just stuffed!  What a lucky frog I am to meet so many interesting people and "critters" at the factory.

    Well, my Virginia friends.  It is about time for me to leave Phoenix, Arizona and meet new friends in Maine.  The teacher will be sending me with some great pictures and treasures from Palm Lane School and this wonderful first grade class.  Maybe when the teacher visits Virginia in March she will be able to meet all of my Virginia friends.  

                                             Love,

                                                                        Froggy