Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings, everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! First grade is quite excited for the holiday. At times, it was hard to contain our excitement in class this week. 

In Religion, we talked about the season of Advent. We learned that it is a time of waiting and preparing for Jesus' birth. We discussed the importance of the Advent wreath and which color candle we light each week. To help us celebrate the season of Advent at home, we made our own Advent wreath. We used our handprints for the greenery and added the candles. Students are encouraged to glue a candle flame each week during the season. Here is one Advent wreath: 

On Wednesday we gathered for our school's Thanksgiving Mass. This was also the last Mass Fr. Brian will celebrate with us before he moves to his new parish. We enjoyed his classroom visits and stories. We will continue to pray for him as he promised to continue to pray for us. 

During Language Arts class this week, we wrapped up our story Life in the Forest. Not only did we review long u, long e, and inflected words but we also reviewed long o words and contractions. We partner read our story to help us build fluency and wrote facts we learned from the story to help us build our comprehension skills. In addition, we identified more than one noun in a sentence. Finally, we finished writing about the steps in brushing our teeth. 

In Math class this week we learned new subtraction facts: subtracting a number from itself and subtracting 0 from a number. We discovered that these a easy facts for us to remember. We also talked about volume of a container. We filled four containers with water, talked about its capacity, and then ordered the containers from smallest to largest. 

In between all that work, we took time this week to talk about Thanksgiving and completed several activities. We created a story booklet about the First Thanksgiving. After reading This is the Feast we compared and contrasted the First Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving today. We then wrote and illustrated our very own I'm Thankful booklet where we listed various things and people we are thankful for. We ended our week by reading Turkey Trouble and discussing all of the disguises Turkey tries to avoid being Thanksgiving dinner. 

I want to take this time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. Enjoy your turkey and all the good food that comes with it. God Bless!

~Miss Chalich 

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving!

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. We had a good, busy week in first grade this past week. 

In Religion class this week we began by talking about Jesus being called the Good Shepherd. We learned that he is called this because he watches over us and protects us. Next we read about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We read about how the people laid palm branches and shouted Hosanna. Then, we talked about how Jesus taught in the Temple in Jerusalem. Finally, we read about Jesus dying and rising to new life. In the midst of all this learning we went to Adoration on Tuesday. It is always nice to spend some quiet time with Jesus. 

Language Arts class was busy this week. On Monday and Tuesday, we wrapped up our story The Big Circle. We reviewed our phonics skills (long o and contractions) and our sight words. We partner our story which helped us build our fluency skills and then sequenced the events in the story which helped us build our comprehension skills. Finally we practiced writing days, months, and holidays correctly. 

Our focused then switched to a new story for the remaining of the week. We learned to blend and read long u, long e, and inflected ending -ed words. We also practiced our sight words. On Friday, we read our story Life in the Forest and talked about the author's purpose for writing it. In addition to the reading, we identified one and more than one noun. We also continued practicing writing steps in a process. We finished writing about how to make a PBJ sandwich and began writing how to brush our teeth. 

During Math class this week, we learned and practiced several new skills. First, we learned how to count dimes. We put dimes on a mat and then practiced counting how much money we had. Next, we learned how to count by 2's. Then, we practiced telling and showing time to the hour. Finally, we solved a problem by drawing a picture. 

We participated in many Thanksgiving activities this week. On Wednesday, we had our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon. The students loved decorating the table, eating turkey with friends, and watching the 5th grade play. We also learned about Pilgrim life this week. We read stories about life as a pilgrim boy and girl. We compared life then to life today and made pilgrim people. Here's a picture of them. 

In Science class this week, we wrapped up our study of living and nonliving things by reviewing what we learned. 

Finally, it was time for Art class. In celebration of Thanksgiving and all of the food we are going to eat, we made a piece of pumpkin pie. Students cut brown and orange construction paper into mosaic pieces and glued them onto a paper plate. We added cotton balls for the whip cream. They look delicious! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

A Different Week!

Greetings! I hope everyone had a great week! It was a different week for us in first grade. We are not used to having two days off in the middle of the week. 

In Religion class this week, we learned that Jesus taught his followers how to pray and taught them the Our Father. We then took a deeper look at the Our Father and talked about what we are saying as we pray the prayer. 

During Language Arts this week, we learned how to blend and read long o words. We also learned to read and spell contractions. While doing this, we sorted words based on their contractions. Here is how our word sort turned out: 

Also during Language Arts, we talked about sequence. We know it is important to retell a story by putting the events in the correct order. After discussing and practicing all of these skills it was time to put them to the test as we read The Big Circle. The students just loved this story about dinosaurs; they waited all week to read it! You will be able to hear it on Monday night. I hope you enjoy it as much as they did. 

In addition to practicing all of these reading skills, we also learned and practiced new grammar and writing skills. We practiced writing days, months, and holidays correctly. We also began learning how to write steps in a process. Our first task is writing how to make a PBJ sandwich. 

We worked on two new skills in Math class this week. First we practiced counting by 10's to one hundred. Next, we learned the subtracting 1 facts. We will continue to practice these new skills daily in Math class. 

Our focus for Social Studies this week was Thanksgiving. We read On the Mayflower and talked about the Pilgrims' journey aboard the Mayflower. With the new facts we learned, the students created their very own Mayflower books to share with you. 

In Science class, we explored habitats around the world. We looked at oceans, forests, and deserts and talked about the plants and animals that live there. 

Finally, it was time for Art class. We made turkey centerpieces for our Thanksgiving luncheon next Wednesday. Here are pictures of our turkey centerpieces and the turkeys we made last week: 

Have a fantastic weekend! 

The First Week of November!

Greetings! It is hard to believe that we have completed the first week of November. Time is moving right along. We had a busy week learning new reading and math skills as well as learning about Jesus. The children were quite tired leaving school today. 

In Religion class this week, we reviewed Ordinary Time. We discussed the color of this season and special feasts days that occur during it. Our focused then switched to Jesus calling his disciples. We read the story of Jesus calling Andrew and Peter. We also talked about how his followers knew he is the Son of God especially after he calmed the stormy sea. 

In Language Arts, we practiced new phonics and reading skills. Our story this week was called Who Works Here?; it detailed the workers who work in a community. To read this story, we learned how to blend and read long o words and words with the digraphs wh, ch, and tch. We also learned and practiced new sight words. Our skill focus this week was on author's purpose. We talked about how authors write to entertain or inform a reader. During the Grammar portion this week, we practiced writing special titles correctly. By Friday, we knew that both the title and name receive capital letters. For writing this week, the students wrote a three part sentence adding in adjectives. I am so impressed at how far their writing has come! 

We began Math class this week by using a balance to weigh objects. To help us weigh these objects, we used pennies. We found that we needed the most pennies for the eraser and the fewest pennies for the pencil. Our focused then switched to learning new facts: the adding 0 facts. We found these facts really easy to learn. Next, we used pattern blocks to cover a design. After covering the design, we learned how to trace and color the pattern blocks. We will be using these designs in a sorting activity next week. Finally, we learned how to solve a problem using logical reasoning. 

With the sun shining and warm weather in the air, we took gym class outside on Thursday. It was just too nice to stay in and so hard to come back inside. In Social Studies this week, we talked about mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes. I love their excitement at learning about all of these landforms. In Science class we talked about the difference between living and nonliving things. Students worked in groups to sort pictures based on whether they were living or nonliving things. 

Finally, it was time for Art class. We made turkeys today. I'll post pictures next week after I hang them up. They turned out so nice. 

Have a wonderful weekend! I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences on Tuesday! 

All Saints' Day and Halloween!

Greetings! We had a busy yet fun and exciting week in first grade. On Thursday, we dressed up as our patron saint for the All Saints' Day prayer service. The students looked so beautiful in their outfits. Thank you for taking the time to put costumes together for them. 

Our week ended with the celebration of Halloween. We dressed up in our costumes, paraded on stage in the cafeteria, and then returned to the classroom to have our Halloween party. There we played a minute-to-win-it game with cotton balls, hid a pumpkin for others to find, played a Halloween version of Head-Bands, and pinned the nose on the jack-o-lantern. We had so much fun Friday afternoon. 

This week was also Red Ribbon Week. Throughout the week, we talked about the importance of saying no to drugs. We also looked at ways to keep our bodies healthy. 

But, in addition to all of the fun activities at the end of the week, we worked hard learning new things and practicing skills we learned. In Religion, we talked about the seasons of the church year. We looked briefly at each season and talked about it and the colors for each season. 

In Language Arts class, we continued to practice reading long a and c/s/ and g/j/ words as well as our sight words. We read The Farmer in the Hat. As we read this story, we worked on finding cause and effect examples in it. We also practiced sequencing events in the story. In addition, we continued to practice writing proper nouns correctly. For writing this week, we wrote about the monster we created. It was great seeing the students use their creativity as they wrote. 

During Math class this week, we learned and practiced new addition facts: the adding 1 facts. We first used linking cubes to help us find the answers. We then practiced these facts using a wrap-up. In addition, we created a bar graph by sorting pattern blocks according to color; we then answered questions about our graphs. Finally, we used linking cubes to help us measure objects including our pencils, crayons, and reading anthology. We will soon be using rulers to help us measure. 

In Science this week, we wrapped up our unit on animals by taking a test. For Art class, we used our handprints to make a vampire. They look scary. 

Have a wonderful weekend! Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour!