Apples Abound!

Today first grade celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday! We talked about the life of Johnny Appleseed and discussed different ways we use apples. We then joined our friends in Room 101 to make some homemade applesauce. The students really enjoyed this treat. Here are some pictures of a apple projects that we have worked on. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. It is hard to believe that we have completed one month of school already. Time sure does fly by when you are having fun!

Smile!

Greetings! I must say that everyone looked so beautiful and handsome for picture day today. I can't wait to see the class picture!

Things slowed down a bit for us today. In reading, we read a story about a fox and her kit. The students really enjoyed learning about foxes. In Math, we used a new manipulative called a wrap-up to practice counting to 23. It took us awhile to get the hang of it, but once we did, we had fun using the wrap-ups. 

Tomorrow first grade will celebrate Johnny Appleseed. I wonder what fun will be in store for us. 

Another Busy Day!

Today was another busy day in first grade. We again went to Mass and Adoration in observance of our 40 Hours Devotion. First grade also had Computer and Music class today. 

In between all that, we learned a lot. In Reading, we learned how to read words with the ending -ing, and we also practiced our sight words. In Math, we counted seeds from apples and used our results to create a pictograph. Here is a picture of our graph. 

Just a few reminders about tomorrow. Tomorrow is Picture Day. I am so excited to see everyone all dressed up tomorrow. If you wish to order pictures, please return the picture envelope tomorrow to school. Also, tomorrow night is our author presentation. Diane Shore will be back to share more exciting stories with us. I hope to see you there. 

Author! Author!

What a busy start to the week! We began by going to Mass for our 40 Hours devotion. I must say that I love hearing the children sing and pray to God.

We then went to see the author Diane Z. Shore's presentation. She did a fabulous job reading with the kids and emphasizing the importance of never giving up on your goals. Parents please remember that she will return to Holy Name School on Wednesday evening for a special presentation. The program begins at 6:00 in the cafeteria. She will also have her books available for sale and will autograph them too. I hope to see you there.

In between all that we did manage to learn about the inflected ending -s and how to find the main idea in a story. One thing that I have learned about busy days is that they go fast.

Friday of Fun

Today can best be described as a Friday of fun! We really enjoyed our Peacemaker Assembly. We were visited by some superheroes including Kid Kindness, Sergeant Stand-Up, and Incredible Includer. They reminded us what it means to be a peacemaker and how we can be peacemakers. 

The first grade also had fun in science class. We learned about insects and their body parts. Then, working in groups we used clay to make a model of an insect. Check out some of our creations! 

Finally, we had an awesome time in Art class where we used paint for the first time this year. We made apple baskets by stamping apples. Check back next week for some pictures of our creations! Have a great weekend!

Happy Thursday!

Greetings! First grade had an awesome day of learning. We again worked in our literacy centers where we practiced our phonics skills, sight words, and wrote sentences. It is amazing to see them becoming fluent readers and writers! The highlight of our day had to be gym class. It was just the perfect fall day for class outside. If we could we would have stayed there all afternoon. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We have Mass, the Peacekeeper Assembly, Library, Art, and so much more. Please remember to return library books to school tomorrow!

"We've learned so much today!"

That is what one student told me as we were getting ready to go home today, and that student really hit the nail on the head. We did learn so much today! The highlight of our day came during Social Studies class when we talked about community helpers. Using our SMART board and a PowerPoint slide show, the students were given a clue about a community helper and they had to guess who the community helper was. We all enjoyed going up to the SMART board  to see if we were right. We just never knew there were so many helpers in our community. 

A Rainy Tuesday!

Greetings from First Grade! We did not let the rain dampen our excitement for learning today. In Reading, we learned about plurals and practiced our sight words. Please remember to review these sight words daily with your child. 

This week we began our talk on how to be peacemakers in our classroom, in school, and at home. We talked about things bullies do, how bullies make others feel, and what we should do if we are bullied or we see someone else being bullied. With all this talk, first grade promised not to be bullies but to be peacemakers! 

Magnificent Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We were quite busy in first grade today. We learned the short o sound and practiced reading short o words. We also used geoboards in Math class which we used to make shapes and identify the inside and outside of shapes. Finally, we worked in our literacy centers which always proves to be a fun time of learning.

Fantastic Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! We had a busy yet fun day in first grade. We visited the library for the first time. Our librarian reminded us how to treat books and then we got to pick out a book to take home and read. Just a quick note about the library books, all library books need to be returned to school by next Friday. 

In Religion class, we have been talking about the Blessed Trinity. Today, we made a triangle ornament with the names of the three persons in the Blessed Trinity. Here is a picture of our craft. 

In Art class, we made fall trees by cutting apart pieces of orange, yellow, and red construction paper and gluing them onto trees. I think they turned out fabulous. The students were so creative with this project. Here are pictures of their artwork. 

What a Beautiful Day!

What a beautiful day it was outside today! I just love seeing the sun shining and the beautiful blue sky. The students really enjoyed themselves outside during gym class. It was very tough to come inside. 

Today the Officer Phil program was presented to the students. With the help of a little magic and a visit from Cosmo, the puppet, the students were reminded of safety rules including what to do when a stranger approaches them and how to be safe when playing outside. They really enjoyed the show. A big thank you goes out to you the parents because this program was funded through the Home and School Association. Thank you for your continued support. 

Mid-Week Happiness

I wish to begin today by thanking you all so much for coming to the Open House tonight. I loved meeting with all of you, talking to you, and hearing your feedback. I hope you enjoyed seeing the classroom, and if I you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask. 

Now onto our school day . . . Today in first grade we read a funny story about a pig who ate too much and got sick. The end of the story really made us laugh. In Math class, we acted out 'some, some more' stories and 'some, some went away' stories. To end our day, we completed a Who am I? writing prompt where we wrote things about ourselves. The catch is our name is not on the paper, so others have to guess who we are. After they guess, they can lift the page to see a self portrait of ourselves. It was a fun way to end the day! 

Terrific Tuesday!

  What a busy yet terrific day we had in first grade. Our day began with our magazine assembly. We all enjoyed seeing the cool prizes we get if we sell magazines and said that we would do our best to participate in this fundraiser. 
  Also today we began something new during the Math Meeting. Each day one student will be the 'Student of the Day.' This student will help during the meeting, be line leader, and messenger. That student will also receive a giant homework chart to take home. We all are anxiously awaiting our turn. 
  I do hope to see everyone at Open House tomorrow night. The Home and School meeting begins at 6:30 and open house will follow that. See you then!

Happy Monday!

Today was a great day of learning in first grade. We practiced reading words with short i, distinguished the difference between realism and fantasy, and wrote our new Spelling words. In between all that learning, first grade also went to Guidance and Computer class. Mondays are certainly not boring in first grade!

Hoot! Hoot!

Happy Friday, everyone! I just cannot believe how fast the week went. Today we had our Opening School Mass with Msgr. First grade also created bar graphs in Math class. We dropped dot cubes and colored the appropriate square on our graph. It was neat to see all the different results. We ended our day with Art class. This week we made owls. Here is a picture of our creations. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! 

A Hoppin' Day

Today was a hoppin' day in first grade. Today was the first day that we worked in literacy centers. We enjoyed practicing our sight words, writing about animals, and reading with the teacher. First grade also played a new game called SPARKLE in Spelling day. We are all ready for our test tomorrow. Finally, we took advantage of another sunny, hot day to play outside during gym class. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Tomorrow we have our opening Mass and another fantastic art project planned. It will hopefully be a great day to end the week! 

Fun in First

What a great day we had in first grade. So many of the children told me at the end of the day what fun they had today. We read our first story in Reading class today. Hopefully you will enjoy the story tonight when they read it to you. In Math, we practiced distinguishing our left from our right. The highlight of this was when we did the 'Hokey Pokey.' Even with the warm classroom, we still had fun and left with smiles on our faces. 

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Things are off to a great start this week. Today we worked on the sound for ck, identified differences between circles and squares, and practiced writing sentences. We also had our first Spanish and Computer class. Hopefully it will not be so hot tomorrow.