Sweet Friday!

What a way to end the week! We had an awesome day learning new things, reviewing things, and making things! The new learning came in Language Arts where we learned to put words in ABC order. We also spent time reviewing our phonics sounds and sight words in Language Arts.  

First grade had fun making several things today. In Religion, we made an Advent wreath. Each week the students are encouraged to color a flame above each candle as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth. During Art, we made gingerbread men. Didn't they turn out adorable! 

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend! 

Reading, Math, and a Little Exercise

Today was yet another exciting day in first grade. In Language Arts, we read Life in the Forest. This story is about different animals that in live the forest and what these animals eat. While reading this story, we learned the importance of reading captions. 

We learned some new Math facts today: the subtracting zero facts and subtracting a number from itself facts. As we used pennies to solve the problems, the students quickly discovered how easy these facts are. 

The highlight of the day was gym class. We played an exciting game called "I Want a Home." The students were tired and sweaty by the end of the class. There smiles on their faces as we left the gym told me that  they really enjoyed exercising today. 

A Day of Learning and a Little Shopping, too

Today was a successful day in first grade. We had a successful trip to the Secret Santa shop where everyone was able to buy some items for their family members and get them wrapped. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered. Without you, this shop would not be possible. 

After our shopping was complete it was time to learn. We began our discussion about Advent today in Religion class. In Language Arts, we practiced reading words with the inflected ending -ed; we also practiced reading our sight words. Finally, in Math, we discovered how to tell time to the hour. 

Welcome Back!

Today was a good day back from Thanksgiving break. We started off a bit sluggish but quickly awoke as we learned new and exciting things. In Language Arts we learned how to decode and read long u and long e words. We also talked about the author's purpose for writing a story. In Math class we learned how to count by 2's. 

Just a reminder that the students will be visiting the Secret Santa shop tomorrow. If you wish, please send in money with your child. Money should be sent in either an envelope or change purse. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It is hard to believe that it is already Thanksgiving. Where does the time go? To get us ready for all of the good food we will enjoy tomorrow, the first grade students created a bar graph of their favorite Thanksgiving foods. As you can see in the picture below, most students like mashed potatoes while few students like stuffing. 

We also read two Thanksgiving books. One was This is the Feast by Diane Shore, the author who visited us earlier this year. We also read Who Will Carve the Turkey This Thanksgiving by Jerry Pallatta. After reading this book, we wrote who could carve the turkey but what would happen if they did. All of our ideas will be put together into a classroom book. 

Let me take this time to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you enjoy your time with your family and friends and all of the food you will eat. I'll see everyone next Tuesday. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Day!

The theme of the day in first grade today was turkey day! We did many fun things with turkeys today. In Language Arts, we created word family turkeys. The students enjoyed coming up with words in the -ake, -ine, and -one families. 

We then read the book Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano. In this hilarious story, turkey tries to disguise himself from Farmer Jake. After reading it, we recalled all of the disguises Turkey tried and even created a disguise for him. 

Our finally turkey project was making a turkey using a coffee filter. The students colored the coffee filter and then I sprayed it with water causing the colors to bleed together. We then glued the turkey along with a Thanksgiving poem onto a sheet of construction paper. Here are pictures of the final product. 

Just to let you know that our day was not all turkey themed. We did learn how to count dimes in Math class. 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is an early dismissal day. Dismissal time is 12:30. 

Pilgrim Life

As we continue our discussion about Thanksgiving, today we talked about pilgrim life. We read Samuel Eaton's Day and Sarah Morton's Day.  These books looked at the daily life of a young pilgrim boy and girl. We then created lists of the things each one did. We used those lists to create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the daily life of a boy and girl pilgrim. 

Next it was time for our creative juices to flow. We made a self portrait of ourselves either as a boy or girl pilgrim. Finally, we finished the sentence "If I was a Pilgrim boy/girl, I would . . ." Those pilgrims were so cute. Here are some finished projects. 

Mayflower Day!

Today was Mayflower Day in first grade. For the next several days, first grade will be learning about the first Thanksgiving. So today, we started at the beginning. We read On the Mayflower and then wrote facts about what we learned from the book. We "stuck" our facts on a giant Mayflower ship. Then using those facts, we created our own Mayflower book to share with our families over the holiday. I think they turned out amazing. Here is a picture of our giant Mayflower with facts on it and a picture of a finished book. 

Our Thanksgiving theme continued in Art class where we made turkeys. The students had the option of using either a pattern or their foot for the body. The feathers are the children's hands. Here are pictures of the finished projects. 

Don't be fooled but we did not do Thanksgiving projects all day. In Science we talked about different habitats around the world and the plants and animals that we find in them.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! 

A Happy Day

Today was a very happy day in first grade. We had our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon. Our table looked super cute with our turkeys. The students also received a colorful placemat which added some festive flare to the table. As for the meal, it was delicious. They also enjoyed the special treat of popcorn with their meal. 

Besides, the luncheon, we did do learning today. In Math, we learned some new facts. We solved subtracting 1 facts. We discovered that subtracting 1 is just like counting backwards. 

Crafty Kind of Day

Today was another exciting day in first grade. We used our scissors and glue to create many things. In Religion, we colored a picture of a vine, and on each leaf wrote the name of one person who helps us grow closer to Jesus. 

In Social Studies, we talked about different American symbols. To help us remember them, we created our very own flip book. The students wrote the name of a symbol a drew a picture of it on each page. I thought they turned out amazing! Here is a sample picture. 

We did take a break to make the decorations for our Thanksgiving table. Don't these turkeys look adorable? 

A Great Day of Learning

Today was a great day of learning in first grade! We read a wonderful story in Language Arts about how dinosaurs worked together to save a baby dinosaur. One student remarked that that was 'an awesome story.' I hope you enjoyed the story tonight. 

In Math class, we used our pattern blocks to cover designs. We had to cover the same design in four different ways. It was neat watching the students solve how to arrange the blocks to cover the designs. 

Tomorrow should be just as exciting as we get ready for our Thanksgiving Luncheon on Thursday. 

Contraction Central

What a great day we had to end the week! In Language Arts, we talked about contractions. We learned how to spell contractions with the words not, am, and will; we then practiced reading contractions. Here is a picture of a sorting activity we did with the contractions.

The highlight of the day for the students came during gym class. We played a game called 'Good Ship Spark.' The students would perform various exercises like skipping or doing sit ups when a command when shouted. Smiles were abound! 

I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for conferences. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday. 

On the 7th Day of November

We had a very busy learning day in first grade today. In Language Arts, we continued our study of the long vowels by learning how to read long o words. We also talked about sequence and how to write days, months, and holidays correctly. 

In Math, we learned some more addition facts. Today, it was the adding 0 facts. The students quickly discovered how easy these facts are. 

Finally, in Social Studies, we talked about heroes. We learned what a hero is and discovered some of America's heroes including Sacajawea, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King, Jr. We then talked about our own heroes. 

Just a reminder that our Spelling test is tomorrow because of no school on Friday. We will also have gym class tomorrow. 

Election Day

Happy Election Day! The first grade held their own kind of election today. No, we did not vote for president, but we did vote for what prize we would like to earn if we can move all the beans from one jar to the next. Each student was given a ballot and asked to pick between either extra play time or show and tell. After everyone voted, the votes were counted, and show and tell was the winner. 

To practice our sight words, the first grade played tic-tac-toe today. Everyone created their own unique game board. Then, they were put into partners where they tried to get three in a row by reading the words correctly. I think everyone will agree that this activity was a lot of fun. 

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! It is hard to believe that we are beginning our first full week in November. Where have the past two months gone?

Today, we spent some time reviewing long a and long i. We are getting used to long vowels. We also reread our story Who Works Here? I hoped you enjoyed hearing all about community helpers tonight. 

In Religion, we talked about the different seasons in the Church year and made a poster to help us remember them. We learned about what happens during each season and the colors we see in each one. 

Just a reminder . . . tomorrow is a jean day for the students. This was earned by the students  because we collected over 700 box tops during the first marking period. Thank you to everyone who sent in box tops and please remember to keep sending them in!

On the 2nd Day of November

Happy Friday! The biggest excitement of our day came at the end when we were packing up. We saw snow flurries in the air. The children were all excited. (I was happy that they were not sticking to the ground.)

Today, we read our story called Who Work Here? where we learned about jobs in the communities. We also talked about living and nonliving things in Science class. The students were asked to sort pictures based on whether it was a living things or a nonliving thing. 

For art today, we made Indian corn using paint. The students used both sponges and their fingers to create their picture. Here are some examples of their masterpieces. 

Have a great weekend!

All Saints' Day

What a beautiful day we had today in first grade. The children came bouncing into the classroom so excited for the prayer service. Instead of answering the usual question when is lunch, I kept answering when is the prayer service. I loved seeing their enthusiasm. 

I hope all of you enjoyed the prayer service. Thank you to all of you for helping with the costumes. The students looked amazing around the altar. They stood their so proud as their saints names were announced. It was really neat to see. 

Even with all the excitement surrounding the day, we did manage to learn some new concepts today. We learned the sounds wh and ch make in a word. We also practiced our new sight words and fit in a game of SPARKLE to review our Spelling words. Just a reminder that we do have a Spelling test tomorrow. 

Have a great night!