It was a hoppin' day in first grade. We had Spanish, Computers, and Music class today. The students really enjoyed all three of their special classes today.
While in our classroom, we were busy discovering new things. We learned how to read and spell words with inflected endings when their is a final e. We learned that sometimes you have to drop the e before adding an ending. We also practiced our sight words.
We began Math class by reviewing our subtraction facts. We then learned some new subtraction facts: the difference of one facts. The students quickly discovered that the answer to all of these facts is one.
Here are pictures of the butterflies that we made in Art class last Friday!
Greetings! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! First grade was again quite busy today learning new things.
We practiced decoding and reading words with the vowel sound in book. The students did a great job using their letter tiles to spell these words. We also worked on comparing and contrasting. Today we compared/contrasted flying squirrels and fox squirrels. Finally, in Language Arts, we reviewed how sentences begin and end.
In Math class, we talked about geometric solids particularly cylinders and cubes. We talked about the number of faces on a cube and how a cylinder can roll if it is on its side.
All in all today was a great day in first grade.
Today was both an exciting and yet sad day in first grade. This morning we left our ladybugs go free. We went to the Butterfly Garden to release them. Although we enjoyed them very much, we know that they are better free then inside a container.
Today was a typical Friday for first grade. We wrapped up our Language Arts story by taking our test. We learned how to solve a problem by acting it out and guessing and checking in Math class. During Religion class, we began to learn the Act of Contrition.
Science class was fun today as we learned that objects are moved by either a push or a pull. Working in groups, students designed a maze using objects found in a classroom. Then, each student was able to move a ping pong ball through it using a straw. Everyone had fun doing that!
In Art class today, we created butterflies. They are currently drying on our desks, so I'll have pictures next week.
I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
What a lovely day it was. This afternoon first grade was treated to a fabulous concert performed by our very own Holy Name band members. The students did a fantastic job playing their songs, and the eighth grade show was out of this world. We are truly blessed to have so much talent at Holy Name.
Before the concert, it was business as usual in first grade. We continued talking about forgiveness in Religion class. We reviewed our sight words and phonics skills in Language Arts. We also continued writing our how to booklet on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
After the show, we studied about ladybugs. We learn that ladybugs shed their skin and are not born with their dots. We also discovered that they have to let their wings dry before flying and taste awful to birds. We then looked at the ladybugs in our classroom and found out that they have 6 legs and 3 body parts. Tomorrow we will release our ladybugs to the wild.
Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today proved to be yet another busy day in first grade.
In Religion, we read the story of the Forgiving Father, also known as the Prodigal Son story. We talked about the story and the lesson that Jesus wanted us to learn that God is always forgiving and loving. We then created stick puppets to act out the story.
During Language Arts class today we read Mole and the Baby Bird. In this story a Mole takes in a wild bird for a pet bu soon learns that the bird does not make a good pet and needs to be free.
In Math class we learned how to measure and draw line segments using centimeters.
We ended our day with Social Studies class where we learned the difference between needs and wants. Needs are things that we must have; wants are things we would like to have. I told them to keep this in mind the next time they go shopping.
The best part of the day was our new little visitors. We have ladybugs in our classroom. Over the next couple of days we will be studying about them and then releasing them into the wild.
Greetings! Today was an excellent day in first grade. We finished our Religion chapter Jesus being called the Light of the World. We finalized our discussion by talking about how we could bring light to others and how we could be peacemakers. We even drew ourselves making a loving decision.
In Language Arts, we discovered how to blend and read VCV words. They were a bit tricky for us at first but the more we practiced reading them, the better we got. Before we knew it, we were reading them without any problems. We also practiced our sight words today.
In Math class, we created a graph showing the vegetables we like. We them looked at the graph and wrote our observations. As you can see below most of us like green beans, and mushrooms was the least liked.
Just a reminder that we will have gym class tomorrow!
Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. First grade was off to a busy start today. We learned to blend, read, and spell words with the vowel diphthong ou. We also talked about sequencing events in a story and about exclamations. Now when we see an exclamation sentence, we know that we have to read it with excitement.
We had a special presenter today who talked to us about saving money. We learned that the safest place to keep money is in a bank. We also discovered some neat facts about how money is recycled.
To celebrate Earth Day, the students heard the story The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. We then talked about ways to help the Earth. We discussed reusing, recycling, and reducing. We then made an adorable craft where we glued pictures of ourselves with Lorax mustaches on a marble-art painted Earth. They were just adorable.
Here is a picture of the birdies we made last Friday in Art.
Happy Friday! I just can't believe how fast the week went. We had a great day in first grade wrapping up a fantastic week of learning. We wrapped up our story Tippy-Toe Chick, Go! by taking our test and reviewing our sight words and phonics skills practiced this week.
In Math, we learned how to round to the nearest multiple of 10. We looked at numbers on a number line and decided which multiple of ten a number was closer to.
In Science, we wrapped up our unit of sound, heat, and light. Next our focus switches to forces of motion.
We ended our day with Art class. Today we made birds in a nest. I'll post pictures on Monday once I have them displayed in the hallway.
Have a wonderful weekend!
What a crazy day! The students absolutely loved their crazy hair day. I want to thank you for taking some time to help make this day special for them. I loved seeing all of the colors and crazy dos. I'm sure they really appreciated your help in making their hair crazy.
Our crazy hair day made us crazy for learning. We did some reviewing in Language Arts by reviewing our sight words, suffixes, and vowels in moon. Math class was fun learning how to count dimes, nickels, and pennies. The students really listened and did quite well with this concept.
We did finish our Social Studies circle books today. I am disappointed in myself because I forgot to take pictures of them before sending them home. I hope you like them.
This week in Religion class we have been talking about how Jesus is the Light of the World. We also have been discussing how we can be the light of the world. The students came up with helping others, sharing, being nice, and loving everyone. To help us remember to share His light, the students passed around a flashlight (standing for a candle) and said to each other remember to be light for others. May we always remember to walk in Jesus' light.
In other news, we read our story today called Tippy-toe Chick, Go! about a little chick who cleverly solves a problem. The students enjoyed how that little chick tricked the big mean dog. In Math class we learned for new addition facts: 3+8, 4+8, 5+8, and 6+8. We will continue to practice these facts along with the facts we have learned.
We wrapped up our Social Studies unit on geography today by creating a little booklet about me in the world. We start out small and then grow saying that we live in a town, in a state, in a country, and on Earth. We aren't quite finished with them, but we will finish them tomorrow.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is gym day. It is also crazy hair day.
Today was an exciting day in first grade. The students had Spanish, Computers, and Music class. With the older students taking the IOWA tests last week, we missed these classes, so today was quite thrilling for them.
Even though it might seem like the students were hardly in the classroom, that was not the case. In Language Arts, we discovered how to blend and read words that end with a consonant plus le. We also practiced our sight words and wrote some command sentences.
In Math, we learned how to add three single digit numbers. To do this we circle two numbers and add them together. We then add the third number to get our final answer. We will keep practicing this new skill all week.
Here is a picture that I promised from our Art class on Friday. I hope you enjoy!
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. We were quite busy in first grade today. In Language Arts, we learned how to read and spell words with ow. We also reviewed character, setting, and plot. In addition we learned that a command is a sentence that tells us to do something. In Math, we learned how to show various dollar amounts using various bills. The students loved shopping with the pretend bills.
Our highlight today was the Smokey the Bear presentation. We learned about forest fire prevention. We now know that we should never play with matches and keep an eye on our campfire. It is also a good idea to keep a bucket of water nearby in case the fire grows too big. We were thrilled to shake Smokey the Bear's hand.
Greetings, everyone! I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Sorry this is getting up late. I got tied up doing some spring cleaning. It feels so good to have things organized.
Friday was a great day in first grade. The students really enjoyed our show and tell. They loved sharing their treasures and I loved seeing them. Our treasures ranged from a signed baseball, hockey mask, rocks, pictures, rosary beads, and stuffed animals.
With it being Friday, we had science class where we talked about heat. We learned about objects that give off heat and what objects hold more heat.
We ended our day with Art class where we made a flower garden. The students painted the flower stems, clouds, and sun. For the flowers themselves we glued cupcake liners on top of the stems. I'll share pictures of their gardens on Monday.
Enjoy your weekend!
It is so hard to believe that the week is almost over. This week has gone really fast. We continued our talk about Baptism in Religion class today. We learned the meaning behind the white garment we wear (we are followers of Jesus) and the candle we receive (walk in the Light of Christ).
In Language Arts, we played tic-tac-toe to review our sight words. We partner read Henry and Mudge and reviewed details from the story by completing a story flag. We also worked in our literacy centers.
In Math class we learned the difference between cones and spheres.
At the end of the day, we learned about the United States' neighbors: Canada and Mexico. We talked about how in all three countries people have jobs and that children go to school. We also discussed differences between the places including different languages spoken and holidays celebrated.
The highlight of the day was gym class. We went outside and played and enjoyed the warm weather. It was such a gorgeous day today and I am glad we were able to enjoy it.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is our treasure show and tell.
Happy Wednesday everyone! Today was quite an exciting day in first grade. In Religion class, we have been talking about the sacrament of Baptism. Today we learned what actions and words are said during Baptism. To help with our understanding, we dramatized it using a baby doll and bucket of water. The students enjoyed seeing it and had many questions about their own Baptisms.
In Language Arts class we read Henry and Mudge and Mrs. Hopper's House. The students really enjoyed this story with these two beloved characters. Before reading we reviewed reading words with -ly and -ful and practiced our sight words.
In Math class, we learned four new addition facts: 5+3, 6+3, 7+4, and 7+5.
To end our day, we worked on a special project. We made the table decorations for the home and School Breakfast on Sunday. Hopefully you will be able to come to the breakfast to see our butterfly decorations.
Just a reminder that we have gym class tomorrow!
First grade is totally enjoying the sunshine. We are loving the fact that we can play outside in the morning and play on the playground at recess.
Aside from enjoying the sunshine, first grade is enjoying learning new things. Today in Language Arts we practiced reading words with the vowels oo as in moon. We also practiced reading our sight words and writing sentences with adjectives that compare. During the writing portion of class, we wrote about spring. The goal was to use our five senses and write sentences about what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel in spring.
In Math class we talked about capacity today. We filled a pint, quart, and gallon containers with water to see how many cups are in each.
Have a great night!
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and was able to enjoy the sunshine. We loved seeing the sun shine into our classroom this morning. It was much appreciated and missed.
First grade is off to a great start this week. In Language Arts class we discovered how to read and spell words with suffixes -ly and -ful. We also talked about cause and effect in a story.
In Math class we explored the concept of division by learning to share "candies" fairly. The students did a great job at sharing various amounts of "candies" with various numbers of children.
As an extra to Language Arts class today we read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Afterwards students worked in groups to sequence events from the story. They then wrote about and illustrated what it would rain in the town of Chewandswallow. As you can imagine, the students really used their imaginations.
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a fantastic week just like we did in first grade.
During Language Arts class, we created adjective flowers. The students traced and cut out flower petals and then glued them around a circle to create a flower. On each petal they had to write an adjective that describes flowers. I thought this was the perfect learning activity to review adjectives as well as create a little spring.
In Math class today we discussed the comparison symbols: =, <, >. We used our crayons to practice making the symbols before actually writing them on paper. I taught the students that the open end is like an alligator's mouth and is always open to the bigger number.
In Science class we talked about light. We discovered that a shadow is made when something blocks the light. Students were put into pairs and given a flashlight. They had to find some object in the room and draw its shadow. As you can probably imagine, the students enjoyed this activity.
To end the day, we had Art class. This week we created sheep. Instead of using cotton balls, we used popcorn for the sheep's wool. Aren't they cute?
Have a great weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!
Greetings! Today was a great day in first grade. We continued to talk about the Easter story in Religion class. We made Resurrection scenes with each picture saying 'He is Risen!' The students did a great job decorating them. Have a look:
The students really enjoyed working in the literacy centers today. Their favorite was probably the Word Work center where they got to play tic-tac-toe. In order to put a piece on the game board, they first had to read a word correctly. I saw a lot of smiles coming from that center.
In Math class, we used pattern blocks to identify one half, one third, and one sixth of an object.
The highlight of the day was gym class. Today we practiced throwing and catching bean bags. We then put our aiming skills to the test by trying to get the bean bags into a hula hoop.
Have a great night!
Good evening, everyone! First grade had quite a productive day. We began by reviewing the events of Holy Week which led into our discussion of Easter. We then read the Easter story and talked about how Jesus is risen among us.
During Language Arts class we reviewed compound words and vowels ei, ue, and ui. We then read our story Peter's Chair which is about a boy who is not so sure he likes his new little sister. Many of the students could relate to this story which added to their enjoyment factor.
In Math we continued to practice our adding 9 facts.
As promised here is a picture of the stained glass crosses they made last week. I also added a photo of the giant cross bulletin board which is made out of puzzle pieces that the students decorated.
Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday and that the Easter bunny was good to you! The students were quite excited to tell me about their Easter especially where some of their baskets were hidden and what the Easter bunny gave them. I loved hearing their stories.
We hopped right back to where we left off last week. We learned how to read words with the vowels ui, ew, and ue and practiced our sight words. We also continued studying adjectives for how many. In addition, we began writing a paragraph about the zoo.
In Math class we learned the adding 9 facts. To solve these facts we first learned to add 10 to the smaller number and then subtract one.
First grade had a very special presentation today. Sam, the Portage bus driver, came to read us the story I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by. Dr. Seuss. After the story he rode a unicycle for us just like one of the characters did in the story. The students really enjoyed Sam today.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is a Box Tops Jean Day. Because we collected over 700 box tops, students can dress down tomorrow!
