It is hard to believe but we actually had five days of school this week! I was so excited to have a full week with the students. Let's hope this trend continues!
We began our day by going to Mass. Today we heard Jesus telling his disciples to forgive others. Msgr. Lockard reminded us that we need to forgive not only our brothers and sisters but our friends.
In Language Arts class, we finished our story Where Are My Animal Friends?. We reviewed comparative endings and -dge words. We also practiced our sight words. We then took our test on our story. In addition, we reviewed contractions for not by writing contractions with not. Finally, we wrote the concluding sentence in our paragraph on why we love the beach.
During Math class today, we practiced adding two two-digit numbers with regrouping using dimes and pennies. We showed each number using dimes and pennies and then combined all of the dimes and all of the pennies. If we had 10 or more pennies, we traded those pennies for a dime.
Science class was loads of fun today. In honor of Dr. Seuss, whose birthday is next week, we kicked started our celebration by reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck. After reading the story, we got to feel Oobleck. Oobleck is made from combining cornstarch and water; the substance is both a solid and a liquid. The students loved feeling it and were quite excited to take some home. Here is our bowl of Oobleck:
Our Art was Dr. Seuss themed too. We made a Cat in a Hat. I'll post pictures of them next week.
We will continue our celebration of Dr. Seuss on Monday. It will be a fantastic day!
Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a good week. We had a great day of learning in first grade.
During Religion class, we wrapped up our study of Lent. We also reviewed how priests serve the church. We drew a picture of priests helping those in need.
In Language Arts class today, we reviewed r-controlled er, ir, ur words, contractions, and our sight words. We read our story in groups today, and everyone had the chance to play a character in the story. After reading, we recalled the sequence of events in the story. Next, we reviewed contractions for not and practiced writing them. Then we wrote the final two detail sentences in our paragraph on why we love the beach. Finally, we worked in literacy centers. As you can see, it was quite a busy day in Language Arts class.
For Math today we practiced trading pennies for dimes. For every ten pennies, we replaced the pennies with a dime. Tomorrow we will begin adding two two-digit numbers with regrouping using dimes and pennies to help us.
There will certainly be excitement in first grade tomorrow.
It was so nice to have a full day of school. Both the kids and I miss when we are not here learning together. The day was full of all sorts of learning.
In Religion class, we reviewed the season of Lent. We again talked about the three facets of Lent (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving). In class, we will be adding colored squares of paper to white crosses when we show that we are fantastic first graders. Our goal for Lent is to grow closer to God through kind acts. I'll post pictures soon of our crosses.
During Language Arts class, we reviewed comparative endings, -dge words, and our sight words. We then read our story Where Are My Animal Friends?. This is a unique story for us in that it is a play. We all had a chance to be a character in the story. We then spent time writing. We wrote the first detail sentence in our paragraph on why we love the beach. We also wrote about ways to keep our teeth healthy. We added lips and teeth to our writing to make a poster.
For Gym class today, we played a class favorite: "Alligator, Alligator." Our hearts were beating fast by the time class was over.
In Math class today, we used pictures of pennies to show various numbers. We also identified the place values of numbers. Students are able to look at the number 42 and see that it is 4 groups of 10 and 2 extra ones.
We ended our day with Social Studies. We read the story Me on the Map and then reviewed places were we lived. We started with the planet, went to the continent, then to the country, next to the state, then to the city, and finally to our house. We are in the process of making a circle book to show all of these places.
Have a great night!
Today was back to normal in the sense that we were back in our classroom. Many thanks go out to all who helped solve the heating issues so quickly. It was not quite a normal day in the sense that we came two hours late. Spring will eventually come.
In Language Arts class, we learned to blend and read words with -dge. We also practiced our sight words as well as practiced writing contractions for not. Finally, we wrote the topic sentence in our new paragraph; we are writing about the beach this week.
During Math class, we counted a large group of objects. To do this, students put objects into groups of 10 and then counted by tens and ones to find the total number.
We ended the day by praying the Stations of the Cross.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym day!!
Welcome back! I don't know about you but I was ready to get back to school today. I definitely had cabin fever.
Today was a bit of a throw back day to learning of years gone by. The students experienced a one classroom school but with many teachers. One thing we learn in education is adaptability and that is what we did today. Despite being in the cafeteria, we had one great day of learning!
In Religion class, we talked about the Stations of the Cross. We went through each Station and talked about it. This was in preparation for tomorrow; we will be praying the Stations of the Cross tomorrow at 2:00.
In Language Arts class, we blended and read words with comparative endings -er and -est. We learned that -er compares two things and that -est compares three or more things. After practicing reading words, we drew pictures that corresponded to big, bigger, and biggest; the students did great with their pictures. In addition to learning about comparative endings, we talked about the sequence in a story and practiced writing contractions for not.
During Math class today we learned about congruent shapes which are shapes that are the same size and the same shape. We used our geoboards to make congruent shapes.
As you can see, we accomplished many things today. I'm sure this will be one day they will not forget!
Today was quite a day. It was a busy day for us in first grade despite of the early dismissal. We were able to get a Math lesson in today. We identified how many more on a bar graph. We first acted out stories by having various numbers of boys and girls line up and then identifying how many more were in line. Next, we used linking cubes to do the same thing. Finally, we made a bar graph of the number of children in our families.
We did take a break from Math to attend Mass for Ash Wednesday. We listened to Msgr. Lockard tell us not to boast when we are praying, fasting, and almsgiving this Lent. We were quite excited to receive ashes today. I loved their excitement as we got our ashes.
Have a good night and stay warm!
Happy Valentine's Day! I know I am a few days late but this weather has been so crazy. I hope everyone had a warm weekend. All we can do is keep thinking spring!
In Religion class today, we talked about Lent. We talked about the season itself, how it begins on Ash Wednesday, and the three facets of Lent (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving). We made a giant prayer and almsgiving chain that we will be using in our classroom throughout Lent. We then made a Lenten calendar that you can do with your child throughout the season.
In Language Arts class, we wrapped up the story I'm a Caterpillar. We reviewed r-controlled er, ir, and ur words, contractions, and our sight words. We choral read our story before taking a test on it. We also reviewed helping verbs and practiced using them in sentences. Finally, we worked in our literacy centers.
For a little extra work, we looked at the life of George Washington. We completed a Scholastic News magazine on him and read a biography about him. Next, we wrote facts we learned about his life and added them around a craft of Washington.
Then, it was time to celebrate Valentine's Day. We had lots of fun partying and learning. We used candy hearts to complete a graph. Each student was given a cup of hearts and had to graph them. After graphing them, they colored in their graphs and then answered questions about their graph. Here is a sample graph:
Next, we completed a science experiment using candy hearts. We predicted and then experimented with whether the hearts would sink or float; they sank. Next we let hearts sit in water, soda, and vinegar to see what would happen.
For the party part, students played roll-a-love-bug and then passed out their Valentine cards. Their bags were quite full by the time they were done.
Have a great night. Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym class!
Greetings! It is hard to believe that today is already Thursday. This week is just flying by. I know that the students really enjoyed everything we did yesterday on the 100th day of school. It took us a little bit to get going this morning.
We wrapped up our chapter about the parish in Religion class today. We discussed the key terms we have been talking about (parish, pastor, and worship) and illustrated some things we do with our parish family.
In Language Arts class today, we reviewed our sight words, inflected endings, and r-controlled -ar words. We partner read our story and recalled events in the life cycle of the butterfly. We then used different pasta noodles to make a diagram of the life cycle of the butterfly. This activity is one of my favorites that I do each year.
After that we worked in our literacy centers. We also reviewed helping verbs by using them correctly in sentences and wrote the concluding sentence on our paragraph on why we love the beach.
During Math class today, we practiced adding two two-digit numbers without using dimes and pennies. It took a bit of practice to do this but after some practice, we got very good at adding.
We wrapped up the day with Social Studies class. In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, we read a story about him and then wrote some facts that we learned. We added the facts to a little craft. Happy Birthday, President Lincoln!
I am posting pictures of the 100th day designs the students did. Thank you so much for taking the time to help your child make a design. They turned out awesome. I am always impressed with the creativity!
Happy 100th Day of School! We had an awesome day celebrating this special milestone in first grade. We mixed it with learning and fun!
In Religion class we talked about how our parish helps others. We learned that when we collect food or clothes or donate money that we are helping those in need.
During Language Arts class, we reviewed our sight words, r-controlled er, ir, and ur words, and contractions. We then read our story I'm a Caterpillar where we learned about the life cycle of the butterfly. We enjoyed learning all about caterpillars and butterflies today.
For gym class today, we practiced kicking a ball with a partner. We started by kicking and stopping the ball and then kept the ball moving. We really worked on coordination. In honor of the 100th days of school we did 100 exercises to end gym class. We did 10 jumping jacks, 10 touch toes, 10 hopping on one foot, 10 sit ups, 10 push ups, 10 shoulder shrugs, 10 arm twirls, 10 jumping up and down, 10 touch toes, and 10 jumping jacks.
In Math class today, we practiced the doubles plus 1 facts using a wrap-up. We will be practicing these facts daily with our fact practice paper starting tomorrow.
We had a fantastic time with our 100th day of school activities. We made a self portrait of ourselves when we are 100 and wrote about what we will be doing. We worked in groups to make a design using 100 objects. Students created a design using either 100 Army men, 100 pattern blocks, 100 linking cubes, or 100 cups. Finally, students were given the digits 1-0-0 and asked to create a design with them. Creativity was flowing with this project. Below are pictures from all of our activities. Enjoy!
Happy 99th day of school. I should mention now that the students are really excited for tomorrow. They know it will be a special day!
Today was another fabulous day in first grade. In Religion class, we talked about how the pastor is the leader of the parish. We also talked about all of the things that a pastor does to lead a parish.
In Language Arts class, we blended and read contractions. Today we learned the contractions 's (is), 've (have), and 're (are). As we were reading them today, we sorted them based on the contractions. Here is how our chart turned out.
We also practiced our sight words. In addition, we identified helping verbs in sentences and wrote the detail sentences for our paragraph on why we love the zoo. Finally, we worked in our literacy centers. We really missed these centers.
In Math class we continue to practice the double plus 1 facts. Today, we worked with a partner to play Concentration. Students had to match a problem to the answer. They had so much fun playing this game.
The excitement is building for tomorrow . . .
Happy Monday! It was so nice to have school on a Monday. This was the first time in three weeks we were in school on a Monday. And today was an awesome learning day in first grade.
In Religion class, we talked about how our parish worships God. We learned that when we worship God, we praise and thank him.
During Language Arts class, we blended and read r-controlled er, ir, and ur words. We discovered that these words are easy to read but tricky to spell. We also talked about drawing conclusions when we read. In addition, we talked about the helping verbs am, is, are, was, and were. Finally, we wrote the topic sentence for our new paragraph this week; we are writing about why we love the zoo.
In Math class, we continue to practice our doubles plus 1 facts. Today we played a game called Match-Up. Using special fact cards, students matched up the problems with the answers. We are slowly learning these facts.
Have a great night!
Happy Friday! We had a fabulous day in first grade day. The students worked so hard and were so focused all day. We accomplished a lot and had fun at the same time.
In Language Arts, we wrapped up the story Frog and Toad. We reviewed inflected endings and w-controlled -or and -ar words. We practiced reading our sight words. We also partner read the story and wrote sentences telling what happened in the beginning. middle, and end of the story. In addition, we practiced using verbs for now and the past in sentences. Finally, we wrote the concluding sentence on our paragraph about why we love camping.
During Math class, we solved a problem by acting it out and guessing and checking. We used pennies to act out the problem and find the answer.
In Science class today, we watched a movie about the importance of brushing our teeth. During the movie, the boy finds out why we need to brush our teeth at least twice a day. After the movie, we did an experiment. Students, working with a partner, were given a hard-boiled egg that was soaking in Coke. They were also given a toothbrush with toothpaste. Working together, they brushed the egg clean. Students saw the importance of brushing our teeth.
Finally, we had Art class. Our focus today switched to Valentine's Day. We made mice using hearts.
I am also posting a picture of the pirates we made. Each pirate is holding a scroll with r-controlled -ar words. Aaarghh!
Have a great weekend!
Today was yet another exciting day in first grade. We are liking the idea of having a full day. Hopefully, we will have another full day tomorrow!
In Religion class, we talked about how our parish is like a family. We said that a parish family prays together, works together, and play together.
During Language Arts class, we reviewed inflected endings and r-controlled -ar words. We also practiced reading our sight words. Finally, we were ready to read our story Frog and Toad Together. We just loved this story. We could not stop laughing at Toad. I hope you enjoyed the story tonight. After reading the story, we practiced using verbs for the past and now in sentences. We also wrote the detail sentences in our paragraph on why we love camping.
In Math class today, we again worked with the doubles plus 1 facts. Today we wrote answers for these facts on our fact cards.
Tomorrow looks to be a busy day to end the week!
Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week and is staying warm! We had a great day of learning in first grade. It was nice to have a full day of school.
In Religion class, we wrapped up our chapter on the leaders of the church. We drew how bishops and popes lead and care for the church.
During Language Arts class, we learned how to blend and read r-controlled -ar words. We also practiced our sight words. In addition we continued to practice identifying verbs for now and the past. Finally, we wrote the topic sentence for our first paragraph. We are writing why we love camping.
For gym class today, we again teamed up with Room 101 and played kickball. We are getting so good at this game!
During Math class, we practiced identifying doubles plus 1 facts. We also learned the strategy to solve these facts: double the smaller number and add 1.
Finally, for Social Studies we wrapped up our unit on geography. We also celebrated Groundhog's Day. Students created a groundhog poster and illustrated something they do in winter and something they do in spring.
Have a great night!
Happy belated Groundhog Day! I feel like this week is starting to turn into last week with all of the delays and cancellations. It seems just like the movie!
Like always, today was filled with learning. In honor of the feast of St. Blaise we had our throats blessed this morning.
In Language Arts, we blended and read words with inflected endings. We then practiced spelling these words especially when we need to double the last letter before adding the ending. We also talked about the plot of the story and verbs for now and the past.
Our story this week has the beloved characters of Frog and Toad. Today, we looked at the difference between frogs and toads. We learned that frogs and toads have long sticky tongues, bulging eyes, and are more active at night. Frog have smooth skin, long legs, and live near water. Toads have bumpy skin, short legs, and live on land.
In Math class today, we began our study of the doubles plus 1 facts. We used linking cubes to help us find the answers. We will continue to practice these facts all week.
Remember tomorrow is gym day!
