Merry Christmas! This week was full of Christmas activities.
In Religion class our focus was the Christmas story. We read and discussed the story. We then made our own manger scene. The students did such a wonderful job coloring, cutting, and putting their scene together. Here are a few examples of how they turned out:
We ended the week by finishing a candy cane ornament. We turned the candy cane upside down and learned about the legend of the candy cane. They turned out great. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.
In Language Arts this week we read three Christmas stories. We read How Santa Got His Job. After reading it, we put in order the different jobs Santa had and identified the different characters in the story. Next we read The Polar Express. After reading this story, we sequenced the events in it and then made Christmas bells. Joyful noise could be heard throughout the primary floor. Finally, we read The Gingerbread Man. We then completed a paper where we drew ourselves as gingerbread boys and girls, drew our house, and wrote what we would run away from.
During Math class this week, we learned how to measure using nonstandard units. To measure different objects, we used linking cubes. We will soon be using rulers to measure things.
Before we knew it, it was time to go home for the week. I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2016!
~Miss Chalich
Greetings on this snowy day! I will say that I missed the cold weather and snow; now it feels like Christmas. We had a busy week in first grade. The students are getting excited for Christmas. I love seeing their excitement this time of year.
In Religion class this week we learned about the early church. We talked about how the church began on Pentecost and grew with the help of the Holy Spirit. We also discussed things the early church members did together like pray, eat, and share. It did not take us long to see that they did the same things we do today with our families.
Language Arts class was full of learning and practicing this week. We practiced reading our sight words, words with the vowel sounds of y, and CV words. We reviewed reading long e: e, ee words and VCCV words. We put our decoding skills to the test as we read An Egg is An Egg. While reading this story, we discussed how things change over time. In addition to all that reading, we talked about action verbs in Grammar. We practiced identifying verbs in sentences. We even created our own Action Hero and wrote action verbs to describe what our hero does. During Writing class this week, we wrote the steps in decorating a tree.
With Christmas just around the corner, we have taken a break from our reading anthology to read Christmas stories. On Thursday, we read Santa's Stuck. After reading this funny story about Santa getting stuck in a chimney, we wrote about what we would do if Santa was stuck in our chimney. We then added a few pieces to create a craft project. On Friday, we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We then illustrate a way we would make the Grinch grin. Here are pictures from our projects:
Math class was full of learning this week. We began the week by learning new math facts: the adding 2 facts. We discovered that adding 2 to a number is just like skip counting. To help us solve these facts, we used linking cubes to complete our fact cards. We then practiced these facts using a wrap-up.
For Gym class this week, we went back to the gym. We talked about eating healthy foods. The students were divided into teams. Each team was given a hoop full of healthy foods (bean bags) and unhealthy foods (small balls). Their job was to trade an unhealthy food for a healthy food. They enjoyed this activity. In Social Studies, we talked about natural resources.
On Friday afternoon, we attended the Handbell Concert. The students did a beautiful job playing Christmas music. After the show, we returned for Art class. This week, we made Santa Claus. Have a look:
I hope everyone has a nice weekend. See you next week!
Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather. It is so hard to believe that it is December and Christmas is only two weeks away. This was the first time that I ever was able to have Gym class outside in December. It was just too nice on Thursday to stay inside.
We did and learned many things in Religion class this week. We began the week by watching a video on the life of St. Nicholas. On Tuesday, we went to Mass in honor of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. We then spent the rest of the week talking about Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' followers.
Language Arts was quite busy this week too. We finished one story and began another one. At the beginning of the week, we reviewed long vowels: e, ee and syllables VCCV. We read and discussed Honey Bees; the students loved reading and learning about bees. Finally, we practiced finding nouns in sentences. At the end of the week, we practiced new phonics skills. We learned how to blend and decode words with the vowel sounds of y and CV words. We also practiced comparing and contrasting while reading. Our focused also switched in Grammar; we began our study of verbs. This week we are exploring action verbs. For writing this week, we wrote the steps in planting a seed.
During Math class this week, we practiced drawing lines of symmetry and identifying one half of a whole. We also practiced counting by odd numbers; we do this everyday as part of our math meeting. Then we learned how to number a clockface and show time on a clock. We ended the week by solving a problem by looking for a pattern.
In Science this week, we talked about solids, liquids, and gases. We sorted objects based on their state of matter.
We ended the week with a fun Art period. We decorated a classroom Christmas tree. We then made a Christmas tree using strips of green paper. To add some sparkle to our tree, we added white dots of paint to make it look like snow.
Below are pictures from this week. The first two are from art class: one are the peppermints we made last week and one is of the Christmas trees. The third picture is from phonics class. As we were practicing reading CV words, students were given a word and they sorted the words based on the vowel sound.
Enjoy your week!
Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving with your families and friends. The students were quite excited on Tuesday to tell me all about their holiday. They also enjoyed shopping at the Secret Santa shop. They always enjoy buying gifts for their families to put under the tree.
In Religion this week, we reviewed the season of Advent. Each morning we read part of the Christmas story and add a symbol around our manger bulletin board. We also draw a slip of paper which has a kind act written on it. We then focus on doing that kind deed throughout the day. In addition to that, we talked about how Jesus visited his followers after he rose from the dead and how he promised to send the Holy Spirit to help them.
During Language Arts class this week, we worked on several skills. We learned to blend and read long e: e, ee words and VCCV words. We also learned new sight words. Our reading strategy this week is compare and contrast. We worked on this skill by comparing/contrasting ants and bees and ants and people. We will continue working on this skill next week. We are coming to the end of our study of nouns. This week we are putting everything we learned about nouns to the test by finding nouns in sentences. Finally in writing we are writing the steps in planting a seed.
In Math class this week, we focused on several new skills. First we learned to identify the even numbers to 20. Each morning we practice counting by 2's to 20. Next, we identified numbers on the 100 number chart. We then stretched that skill by identify numbers one more, one less than a given number. Then, we learned to count dimes and pennies together. Finally, we talked about symmetry. We made a tree that had a line of symmetry.
For gym class this week, we played with the parachute. The students enjoyed running under it! In Social Studies, we reviewed various landforms by creating a shape book and identifying each one. During Science class, we discussed grouping objects by various properties. We grouped objects by size, color, and use. We then did an experiment to help us group objects based on whether they float or sank.
Our Art project this week focused on Christmas. We made a Christmas candy using our handprints and a paper plate. I'll post pictures next week of the finished project.
Have a wonderful weekend!
