Elle's 1st grade year

I have so much I want to document about Elle's 1st grade year. She had the BEST teacher! Ms. Todd is incredible - a teacher who loves, inspires, cares, is genuinely interested, extremely patient, and made it a truly magical year for Elle.  She has a gift for making everything so magical. Every lesson, activity, project, and holiday was well thought out and tied in perfectly to what they were learning. I know a lot of teachers, and Ms Todd is one of a kind. Elle never wanted to miss a minute of class time. I feel so lucky that Elle got to learn from the best this past school year! 

This writing assignment from back to school night summed up Elle's heart so well:

A closer look . . . 

This year they studied plants, made plant projects, grew their own beanstalk, and performed Jack and the Beanstalk play. 

Elle was a cook with her buddy Heidi. They were adorable and did a fabulous job!

Elle's castle:

Elle's giant is the green one:

I had the privilege of helping with reading every Tuesday morning (until James was born - I only helped one more time after his arrival). It was amazing to see Elle go from a level F at the start of 1st grade and ended with being able to comprehend levels N-P. She reads constantly and loves it which is so awesome to see. 

At the end of the year Ms Todd gave each student a little plaque unique to each child. I was so touched by this and how perfectly it represented Elle's talents and nterests:

She also gave them a special bag full of magical things to help them feel confident moving onto 2nd grade! This was a year never to forget!