A Snowy Friday!

Today marked the end of yet another week. This truly was the first really bad week of winter, but we made it. Hopefully, the worst is behind us. We had a busy Friday in first grade. 

We wrapped up our story in Language Arts class. We reviewed endings -es and r-controlled -or words. We also practiced reading our sight words. We took our test on the story. Finally, we reviewed verbs that don't end in -s by using those verbs correctly in sentences. 

With Monday being Groundhog Day, we talked about what it means if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not. We then predicted whether he would see his shadow or not. It was a close call, but the majority of students think he will see his shadow on Monday meaning six more weeks of winter. Here is our graph: 

In Math class, we used pattern blocks to determine the area of figures. First we learned that the area of a yellow pattern block is either 2 red blocks, 3 blue blocks, or 6 green blocks. We then used the pattern blocks to determine the area of different figures on a worksheet. 

For Science class today, we began our study for Dental Health month. We talked about the importance of eating healthy foods to keep our teeth healthy and strong. 

Finally, in Art class today we made penguins. They are adorable: 

Have a great weekend. Stay warm! 

Teacher Appreciation Day!

Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a good week despite the cold and snow. It always seems to snow during Catholic School's Week and this year is no exception. Despite the early dismissal today, first grade was busy learning this morning. 

In Religion class, we talked about how Jesus calls each of us to serve one another. We talked about different ways to serve at home and at school. 

During Language Arts class, we worked in our literacy centers. We then partner read our story Jan's New Home and talked about how Jan's feelings changed throughout the story. Finally, we reviewed verbs that don't end in -s. 

I am ending this post with a huge THANK YOU! Thank you for all of the kind notes. They are truly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to have your children draw pictures and write kind words. Those brought tears to my eyes. I truly look forward to working with the children each day and helping them grow in learning. Thank you for all of your support. 

Enjoy the snow! 

Student Appreciation Day!

Happy Student Appreciation Day! The students were quite excited about a day to honor them. They loved their dress down day and other surprises that came today! 

In Religion class, we talked about how the pope is the leader of the bishops. We learned our pope's name (Pope Francis) and took a virtual tour of the Vatican. 

During Language Arts class, we reviewed final -ng and -nk words along with compound words. We also practiced reading our sight words. In addition, we choral read our story Jan's New Home and reviewed the details in the story. Finally, we worked in literacy centers. For some added fun, we read Snowmen All Year and wrote about what we would do if a snowman was with us all year. 

In Math class today, we again practiced adding two two-digit numbers using dimes and pennies. The students are doing great with this skill. 

For gym class today, we again played kickball. They are doing so well at kicking a ball and running the bases. Today it was great to see their sportsmanship; they all cheered each other on. 

In Social Studies class today, we identified the countries that are our neighbors. We learned that Canada is our neighbor to the north and that Mexico is our neighbor to the south. 

Have a great night! 

Parent Appreciation Day!

Happy Parent Appreciation Day! It was so nice to see so many parents at lunch today. The students loved eating with you! Thank you for all that you do for your children.

It was a bit of a crazy day in first grade. We were not used to eating so early. Once we got back in the classroom, we were off and learning.

In Language Arts class, we reviewed endings -es and r-controlled -or words as well as our sight words. We then read our story Jan's New Home. They really were able to connect with how the character was feeling throughout the story.

In Math class today, we continued practicing adding two two-digit numbers using dimes and pennies. The students are doing really well learning this concept. We will continue to practice this tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Student Appreciation Day. It is a jean day. Have a great night!

Could This Day Get Any Better?

Could this day get any better? That is what one student exclaimed as we started working on another project. To them, it was a craft project. To me, it was a learning activity. Oh the fun we had today!

We began our day as usual with Religion class. Today we talked about how the Apostles picked men called bishops to be the leaders of the church. We learned that Bishop Mark is our bishop and that he leads the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. 

In Language Arts class today, we learned our new sight words. Please practice these words over the weekend. We also reviewed verbs  that don't end in -s by using them in sentences. For writing today, we wrote why we love Holy Name School. You will be able to read them tomorrow. Finally, we reviewed r-controlled -or words. We listed a whole bunch of words on the board. After reading them, we picked our six favorite words and wrote them on popcorn kernels and made a bucket of popcorn. Aren't they yummy?

In Math class today, we practiced solving a problem by drawing a picture. We then completed a winter graphing activity. We surveyed the class to see who liked various winter activities and tallied the results. We then counted the tally marks and colored a bar graph to show the results. Finally we analyzed the results. Here is a picture of the activity:

Finally, we ended the day with an Art project. It was hard to do plan an art project for this week, so we did one anyways. I just love these Eskimos!

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend!

Admiring the Snow!

Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a nice day. The children were so funny today. On our way to gym class, they all had to stop and look out and admire the snow. I think many wished we would have went out and played in it! 

In Religion class today, we learned that Peter was chosen by Jesus to be the leader of the Apostles. We will soon be learning about the leadership of the church including the roles of bishops and the pope. 

During Language Arts class, we blended and read r-controlled -or words. We discovered that r is such a bossy letter! We also worked in our literacy centers and continued identifying the sentences of paragraphs. 

In Math class today, we used dimes and pennies to solve double digit addition problems. We will be continuing to practice this skill next week. 

For gym class today, we learned how to play kickball. They enjoyed running the bases!

And finally for Social Studies, we talked about where we live. We identified the continent, country, and state where we live and created a flipchart to help us remember! 

Have a warm night!

"It Feels Like Monday"

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. As we were moving through our day, one student said to me "It feels like Monday, Miss Chalich." It did feel like a Monday but once we got started, we were off and learning! 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on the Holy Spirit helping the church to grow. We wrote prayers to the Holy Spirit asking the Holy Spirit to help us with something. They are hanging in the classroom for you to see on Friday. 

During Language Arts class, we blended and read final -es words. We remembered that when reading a word with an ending, we read the base word, then the ending, and then put it all together. We also talked about the theme of a story as well as verbs that don't end in -s. We worked in our literacy centers. Finally, we talked about paragraphs. We learned about the different sentences in a paragraph. We will soon be writing our very own paragraphs! 

In Math class today, we drew line segments using rulers. It took us a bit to hold the ruler steady, but once we did, we found drawing line segments easy. 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym class day! 

Snowman!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a nice day to end their week. We had a busy day to end our week in first grade. 

We began our day by going to Mass. Fr. Brian reminded us to always pray to God especially when we are sick and to trust in him. 

In Language Arts class we wrapped up our story Ruby in Her Own Time by reviewing phonics skills and details from the story. We reviewed final -ng, -nk words and compounds words as well as the vowel sounds of y and long vowel CV words. We partner read our story to build our fluency and then completed a picture walk page before taking the test on our story. Finally we reviewed vowels that end in -s by using them in sentences. Yesterday we created cupcakes with compound words. The look delicious: 

In Math class today, we practiced counting by 5's to 50. We then learned how to draw tally marks. We practiced making tally marks for various numbers. 

In Science class today, we learned about myPlate (the new version of the food pyramid). We talked about the different food groups and identified foods in each group. Students then drew pictures of foods in each food group. 

Finally, it was time for Art. Today we made snowmen using doilies. Don't they melt your heart? 

Just a reminder that we do not have school on Monday. Have a weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Reading and Baking!

Happy Thursday! Today was another exciting day of learning in first grade! 

In Religion class, we talked about how the Holy Spirit helps us to act as Jesus taught us. We talked about sharing Jesus' Light and Love with others. 

During Language Arts class, we reviewed final -ng and -nk words, compound words, and sight words. We read our story Ruby in Her Own Time. The students enjoyed reading about Ruby and seeing how she did things when she was ready. We also practiced identifying sentences with verbs with a final -s. Finally, we talked about synonyms, two words that mean the same thing. We generated a list of synonyms for the word big. We then put those words on 'synonym' rolls. Aren't these yummy?

In Math class today, we continued to practice the subtracting 2 facts. Today we used a wrap-up to help us do this. 

Finally, tonight, I want to share pictures from the projects we did yesterday. The first one is of our writing project on how to blow a bubble. These are absolutely adorable. The second picture shows our project from our talk on Martin Luther King. We wrote about how to be peacemakers in the world. Enjoy! 

Dancing Fun!

Today was a fantastic day in first grade. As can be expected for a Wednesday, Gym class was the highlight!

We began our day with Religion. Today we talked about how the Holy Spirit helped the church to grow. We learned that the first members talked to others about Jesus which helped the church to grow. 

During Language Arts class, we blended and read compound words. We also practiced our sight words. Please continue to practice these words nightly! In addition we talked about verbs that end in -s. Finally, we wrote the steps in how to blow a bubble. 

In Math class today, we learned the subtracting 2 facts. We used linking cubes to help us find the answers. 

For Gym class today, we danced to some classic party songs like  YMCA, The Chicken Dance, and Hokey Pokey. We also danced to some less popular and more kid friendly songs Tony Chestnut and Green Jelly Bean. Everyone had fun today! 

Finally, in Social Studies we talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about his dream for peace in the world. We then talked about how we can be peacemakers today. 

A Fast Day

Greetings! I hope everyone had a great day. Our day was quite busy. As one student said at the end of the day, I can't believe it is time to go home already! 

We began our day by attending Eucharistic Adoration. It is always nice to begin the day in prayer with Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we blended and read final -ng and -nk words. We also talked about the plot of the story. It didn't take us long to discover that we have been talking about the plot of the story since the beginning of the year! Finally, we learned about verbs that end in -s. 

During Math class today, we practiced dividing a square in half. We folded the squares top to bottom to get two rectangles and diagonally to get two triangles. After cutting the shapes in half, we used those pieces to make a design. The students were quite creative with their designs! 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym class! Have a great night!

On the 12th of January!

Welcome Back! I hope everyone enjoyed the snow day on Friday. My dog was quite happy with the snow day. She and I snuggled on the couch for a bit. 

We had an awesome start to our week. In Religion class today, we talked about what they first Church members did together. We discovered that they did they same things we do with our families. 

In Language Arts class we wrapped up our story An Egg is An Egg. We reviewed the vowel sounds of y, long vowels CV, and our sight words. We also took a test on the story. In addition, we practiced finding action verbs in sentences. Last week, we designed ourselves as action heroes; today we wrote action words around us describing what we can do. Finally, we worked in literacy centers. 

During Math class we practiced identifying ordinal position to the 26th. We used the alphabet to do this. After giving each letter a number, we used the numbers to help decode words. The students loved this! 

Have a great night! 

Brrrr!

Brrr. . . it is cold outside! I hope everyone was able to stay warm today. Hopefully this cold spell won't last long. 

The two hour delay could not stop us from learning! In Language Arts class, we reviewed long e: ee and VCCV syllable words. We also practiced our sight words. In addition, we partner read our story and completed a puzzle piece project where we wrote a sentence telling how things change. We used examples from our story to help us. Finally, we practiced identify verbs in sentences. 

During Math class today, we added two two-digit numbers. We used dimes and pennies to help us do this. First, we showed the first amount (i.e. 51 cents) and then added a second amount to the first (i.e. 35 cents). Next we sorted the dimes and pennies and counted how much money we had all together. The students did great learning this skill. 

Have a great night! 

Burning with Excitement!

Happy Wednesday! I hope you were able to stay warm today. We were quite warm in our classroom, burning with excitement as we learned new things. 

In Religion class today, we learned how the Church began on Pentecost. We read about how the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, went out telling others about the Good News of Jesus. 

During Language Arts class, we reviewed the vowel sounds of y, long vowels CV, and our sight words. We then read our story An Egg is An Egg where we read about changes all around us. Next, we wrote the final steps in building a snowman. Finally, we talked about antonyms. After giving examples of words that are antonyms, students worked in groups playing a matching game. They matched up words that are antonyms. 

In Math class today, we covered a design using pattern blocks. Then we sorted them and then colored a graph to show how many of each shape we used. Finally, we answered questions about our graphs. 

For gym class today the students competed in various relay races. They were quite excited to have gym class today. 

Finally, in Social Studies class, we talked about the differences between cities, suburbs, and towns. 

Have a warm night! 

A Fabulous Day

Hello! I hope everyone had a good day. We had another great day of learning in first grade! 

In Religion class today, we talked about the Three Kings. Years ago, today was the day we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany before it was moved to a weekend celebration. Today we read a story about the Three Kings following the star to Bethlehem and we talked about the gifts they gave Jesus. The students then illustrated the kings bringing gifts to Jesus. 

During Language Arts class, we blended and read long vowel CV words. The students loved at how easy these words were. While practicing reading these words, we sorted words based on the long vowel sound. Here is our chart: 

 We then practiced our sight words before working in our literacy centers. In addition, we reviewed action verbs today. We generated a list of action words and then one-by-one students picked a word and acted it out. They loved this. 

In Math class today, we learned about pairs. We put pennies into pairs and then practiced counting how many we had. 

Just a reminder that we will have gym class tomorrow!

Have a good night! Stay warm!

Happy 2015!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a joyous holiday and enjoyed the two week break. The students were so excited to share what Santa had brought them. I loved hearing everything. 

We had an awesome start to the week. We celebrated Mass this morning with Msgr. Lockard. Today's Mass was for the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. We were reminded to respect Jesus' name. 

In Language Arts today, we learned the vowel sounds of y. We practiced blending, reading, and spelling these words. We also compared and contrasted characters in a story. In addition, we learned about action verbs. We listened to the "Verb Rap Song" which told us that an action verb is a word we do; the students loved the song. Finally, we wrote the first two steps in building a snowman. 

Spelling class met Math class today. We practiced spelling the number words to 10. We did this by playing a version of Hangman. As can be guessed, the students loved this game. 

Have a great night!