Greetings! It is hard to believe that another month has come and gone. There are only two months left of first grade!
In Religion class today we explored what it means when we say that Jesus is the Light of the World. We came to the conclusion that just like light helps us, Jesus is always there to help and guide us.
We ended another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read r-controlled -er, -ir, and -ur words, read and defined words with the inflectional ending -er, and wrote sentences using our sight words. We then partner read Kitten's First Full Moon and a story from our decodable reader. We also read a nonfiction piece about the moon. We ended class by taking our weekly assessment and identifying adjectives in sentences.
Because of Stations this afternoon, we moved art class to this morning. We created an Easter bunny using marshmallows. Don't they look cute:
In Math class today we continued to solve addition and subtraction word problems. We are getting good at identifying what we know and what we need to find out. We also used our critical thinking skills to solve problems.
We ended our day by praying the Stations of the Cross.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Greetings! Happy Opening Day of Baseball! As some of you might know, I am a huge baseball fan. I will watch any game on any day. Yes, I am a proud Pirates fan always hoping that one day we will be celebrating in November. Maybe this will be the year!
We began our day with Religion class. Today we wrapped up our chapter on Baptism. This afternoon we had our show and tell event. Everyone enjoyed sharing something special from their Baptism. I loved seeing everything. Thank you for taking the time to help with this special event!
We had quite a busy day in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary. Next we blend and read r-controlled -or words and words with the inflectional ending -er. After that we reviewed our sight words and vocabulary words and talked about the intensity of words. Then our focused switched. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. After that, we read Kitten's First Full Moon. This story made the students laugh. After reading the story we completed pages in our close reading companion. We ended the morning by reviewing adjectives. Today the students wrote sentences using numbers as adjectives. They rolled a die and then wrote about what they had of that number.
For gym class today, we headed outside. They so enjoyed being able to run around and release some of the energy they have pent up.
In Math class today we worked on solving addition and subtraction word problems. They key is to identify whether the numbers are parts or a whole before solving it. We did well with this.
We ended our day with Science class. Today we continued our discussion of sound. We learned that sounds are made when something vibrates and that sounds can be high or low. We then listened to different sounds and sorted them by whether they are high or low sounds.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is library. Let's Go Bucs!
Greetings! Happy Wednesday! It sure felt good to be back today. I attended a math training yesterday with the second grade teachers. Even though I did learn a lot at the training, I did miss being with the students. However, I heard they had a great day without me!
We began our day with Religion. We continued our talk on Baptism. We discussed all what is said, done, and given at a Baptism. After that, we role played a Baptism. Don't forget that tomorrow is our show and tell event.
We began Language Arts by working in our literacy centers to build our fluency and comprehension. Then we reread A Bird Named Fern and wrote cause and effect examples from the story. We ended our morning by reading our decodable reader and answering questions about the events in the story.
This afternoon in Language Arts we reviewed adjectives. We finished sentences by writing a color and then noun. We also worked at identifying adjectives in sentences.
In Math class today we learned how to add three one-digit numbers. We learned to circle two numbers, add them, then add the remaining answer. The students had no problems with this.
We ended the day by finishing up our Social Studies lesson from Monday. We reviewed needs and wants by sorting pictures into the correct category.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is our Penny Challenge Jean Day! We will also have Gym! It will be an exciting day!
Greetings! Happy Monday! It is hard to believe that we are in the last week of March. Where has the time gone?
We began our week with Religion. Today we learned that water is an important symbol of Baptism and that we received God's grace when we were baptized.
We began Language Arts class by working in our literacy centers. Then we began a new week of learning. We learned our oral vocabulary words (observe, vast, certain, remained, and thoughtful). Next we worked on making predictions as we listened to a folktale of how the sun and moon came to be in the sky. After that we learned how to blend and read r-controlled er, ir, ur, and or words. Following that we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words. Then it was time to put everything we learned to work. We read a fantasy story called A Bird Name Fern.
This afternoon we learned about adjectives. We learned that they describe nouns and can be colors, shapes, size, and describing words. To help us, we did an activity where the students ate a slice of an apple and wrote adjectives to describe it.
In Math class today we continued to practice subtraction with regrouping. We are getting the hang of it. The key take away from today is that the larger number needs to be on top. If it is, then we do not need to regroup.
Because of Stations on Friday, we had our Social Studies class for the week today. (Science will be moved to Thursday). Today we learned the difference between needs and wants.
Enjoy your night!
Greetings! Happy Thursday (and Friday for the students)! We had a fun, busy day in first grade to wrap up our week.
We began our day with Religion. Today we began our chapter on Baptism. We learned that when we were baptized we became members of the church. We also learned that Baptism is the first sacrament we received.
We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read r-controlled -ar words, word irregular plurals when given the singular form, and used our vocabulary words in sentences. Following that we wrote sentences using our sight words. Our focus then switched to building our fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets and A Lost Button. After we completed pages in our close reading companion. We ended class by taking our weekly assessment and using joining words in sentences.
After all of that work, it was time to get creative. We wrote about what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch in spring. We added flowers around our writing. The hallway looks quite springy now!
We started Gym class outside, but we came in shortly because of the rain. We then headed to the gym where we got into the spirit of March Madness. We worked on our dribbling skills.
In Math class we continue to practice subtracting with regrouping. We need to remember to subtract the ten when we regroup. Practice will make perfect!
We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we wrapped up our chapter on Geography. Next week we will begin our economics chapter.
Have a great weekend!
Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week. It is hard to believe that we only have one more day in our school week!
We began our day with Religion class. Today we wrapped up our chapter on the sacraments. We reviewed what they are, who gave them to us, and what their names are. Next we will take a closer look at the sacrament of Baptism.
In Language Arts today, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and read r-controlled ar words. We also reviewed irregular plurals by playing a matching game. Each student was given a card. To make a match, the students had to find the person with singular/plural of their word. The students loved that. After that we reviewed our sight words and vocabulary words. Then our focused switched to reading. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets before reading and discussing A Lost Button. This story features the beloved characters of Frog and Toad. The students really enjoyed this story.
In Math class today, we learned how to subtract with regrouping. We began by exploring this concept using our base ten blocks where we traded a ten for ten ones. We then switched to paper. We will practice more of these problems tomorrow.
We ended our day by praying the Stations of the Cross.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym day; don't forget your sneakers. We will also have our Spelling test tomorrow since there is no school on Friday.
Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the sunshine!
We began our day by attending Eucharistic Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying to Jesus asking him to help those who need our prayers especially the sick and asking him to help us have a good day.
We began Language Arts by again working in our literacy centers to build our fluency and comprehension skills. We then jumped back into our week of learning. We answered questions using our oral vocabulary words. We then used our letter tiles to spell and read r-controlled -ar words. Following that we talked about irregular plurals. Next we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning by rereading A Barn Full of Hats and writing about the point of view from different characters.
This afternoon in Language Arts we partner read our decodable reader and answered questions about the story. We also practiced using the joining words in sentences. Finally, we finished our persuasive paragraph on why we love the beach.
We continued to practice subtraction today in Math. The students had no difficulties subtracting two two-digit numbers without regrouping. Tomorrow we will learn how to regroup when subtracting.
Have a great night!
Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patrick's Day weekend!
We began our day with Religion class. Today we reviewed the Seven Sacraments by creating a cross. On the cross, we pasted symbols for each of the sacraments.
We began Language Arts class by working in our literacy centers to build our fluency and comprehension skills. After that, we jumped into our week of learning. We learned our new oral vocabulary words (distinguish, classify, entire, organize, and startled). We then worked on making predictions as we listened to the classic story "Goldilocks"; the students really enjoyed hearing this story again. Next, we learned how to blend and read r-controlled -ar words; as we said today we can talk like a pirate! Following that we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words. We ended the morning by reading a fantasy story about farm animals titled A Barn Full of Hats.
This afternoon in Language Arts we applied what we learned this morning by creating a pirate. On the pirate's scroll we wrote r-controlled ar words. Here are some of our pirates.
After that we learned when to use the following joining words in sentences: and, but, or, so, and because. We ended the day by writing the topic sentence and first detail sentence in our paragraph on why we love the beach.
In Math class today, we switched our focus to subtraction. Today we used our base ten blocks to explore how to solve two two-digit subtraction without regrouping. We will move to paper tomorrow!
Have a great night!
Greetings! Happy Friday! What another beautiful day today! It was a bit windy though, but it was nice to see the sun shining.
We began our day with Mass. Today Msgr. Lockard reminded us about the importance of forgiving others not just with our families but also with our friends.
We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read long e words spelled with -y and -ey, read compound words, and used our vocabulary words in sentences. We then wrote sentences using our sight words, took our weekly assessment, and identified adverbs that tell when in sentences.
We continued to practice adding with regrouping in Math. The students are doing so well with this; I am quite proud of them. Next week we will practice subtraction with and without regrouping.
We began a new unit in Science class today. Our focus today was sound. We talked about how sounds can be loud and soft. The students worked in groups to sort pictures based on whether they make a loud or soft sound.
We wrapped up our week with Art class. Today we made a Shamrock Man. The students enjoyed making them dance when we were finished!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Greetings on this beautiful almost spring day. Just feeling the sun and warm breeze brought a smile to my face. I sure hope this is a sign of things to come!
In Religion class today we learned the names of the Seven Sacraments. As we learned each name, we discussed what happens during that sacrament.
We began Language Arts class by reviewing our oral vocabulary words. Next, we practiced reading long e words and compound words. After that we reviewed our sight words and vocabulary words. Then our focused switched to reading. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets and partner read Koko and Penny. The students are still fascinated by that story. Then we read a nonfiction story about saving gorillas and completed pages in our close reading companion.
For Gym class today we headed outside to the parking lot. We enjoyed the sunshine and being able to burn some of that energy stored up over the long winter.
In Math class today we practiced adding two two-digit numbers with regrouping. We solved problems on our whiteboards before moving to our workbook. The students did great with this especially with remembering to add the number we regrouped.
We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we learned the names of the our neighbors: Canada and Mexico. We labeled them on a map. We also talked about how their are similarities and differences between the countries.
Tomorrow will be a busy day to end the week. We have Mass, Library, and Art plus our weekly assessments. Get some rest!
Greetings on this Wednesday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week.
We began our Wednesday with Religion class. Today we talked about how Jesus gave us the Seven Sacraments. We also learned the the sacraments are special signs of God's life and love.
We began Language Arts class by reviewing our oral vocabulary words. Next, we practiced reading long e words spelled -ey and -y and compound words. Then we reviewed our sight words. After that we practiced using our vocabulary words in sentences. With our review and practice complete, it was time to focus on reading. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklet. We then read Koko and Penny, a nonfiction story about a zookeeper training a gorilla. The students just loved this true story. Following that we completed pages in our close reading companion.
This afternoon in Language Arts we reviewed using commas in a series. We wrote the final detail sentence and concluding sentence for our persuasive paragraph on why we love the zoo. Finally, we worked in groups to construct compound words. Students had to match halves of Easter eggs to build the words.
In Math class today we learned how to add with regrouping. We began by solving problems using our base ten blocks. When we had more than 10 ones we regrouped them for a ten. We then transitioned to paper. We will continue this tomorrow.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym day. Don't forget your sneakers.
Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Did we all enjoy the sunshine today?
We began our day with Religion class. Today we talked about how we celebrate God's love. We do this when we gather with our parish family to worship God. When we pray, sing, and listen to his word, we are showing our love to God. We also learned that the words Alleluia and Amen are special words of praise.
We began our Language Arts class by working in our literacy centers. We then jumped into our week of learning. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words by answering questions using the words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read long e words spelled -ey or -y. After that we learned how to blend and read compound words. Following that we used our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences.
This afternoon we reread From Puppy to Guide Dog and wrote the sequence of how a puppy becomes a guide dog. After that we read our decodable reader and sequenced events in that story. Then we practiced using adverbs that tell when in sentences. Finally, we wrote the first two detailed sentences in our paragraph on why we love the zoo.
Because we did not have Computer class today, we did some fun St. Patrick's Day writing. The students had to create a "Wanted" poster for a leprechaun. They drew a picture of the leprechaun and then wrote three descriptive sentences about him. They did a great job with this!
In Math class today we continued to practice how to add two two-digit numbers without regrouping. We are doing a much better job at remembering to begin with the ones. Tomorrow we will learn how to regroup.
Have a great night!
Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather yesterday! Just seeing the sun made me smile. Spring is coming!
We began our day with Religion class. Today we talked about ways Jesus celebrated God's love.
We began Language Arts class by working in our literacy centers to build our fluency and comprehension skills. We then began a new week of learning. We learned five new oral vocabulary words (career, soothe, remarkable, advice, and trust). We then worked on visualizing as we read a story about a dog trainer in China. After that we learned how to blend and decode long e words spelled with final -ey and -y. Next we learned our sight words and vocabulary words. We ended the morning by reading From Puppy to Guide Dog, a nonfiction story about guide dogs.
This afternoon we identified adverbs that tell when in sentences. We also wrote the topic sentence to our paragraph on why we love the zoo.
In Math class today we practiced adding two two-digit numbers without regrouping. The students did quite well with this. The key is to remember to add the ones first and then the tens.
Because we did not have Music class today, we watched a video on the life of St. Patrick. We talked about what made him a saint and how we can live like him.
Have a great night!
Greetings! Happy Friday! It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone. It was also nice to have another normal week of school with no disruptions.
We began our day with Religion class. Today we looked at and discussed Stations 8-14. The students then had time to color their Stations booklets.
We wrapped up another week in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read long i words, spelled and read words with inflectional endings when the y is changed to i, and used our vocabulary words in sentences. We then wrote sentences using our sight words, took our weekly assessment, and reviewed using see and saw in sentences. Finally, for writing, we wrote about what pet we would take to the Amazing Pet Show. The students were quite creative in their selections.
Because of Stations this afternoon, we moved Art class to the morning. This week we made leprechauns. They look amazing. I can't wait to hang them for all to see. Here is a picture of two of them:
In Math class today we began a new chapter. This chapter focuses on addition and subtraction. Today we learned how to add two two-digit numbers without regrouping. We first explored this with base ten blocks and then switched to just paper. We will continue to practice this on Monday.
We ended the day by going to church to pray the Stations of the Cross. The students did a very good job following along in their books as we walked the road to Calvary with Jesus.
As promised, here is a picture of our Dr. Seuss writing from this week:
Have an awesome weekend! Enjoy the warmer weather!
Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a terrific day!
In Religion class today we began learning about the Stations of the Cross. We looked at the first seven stations and discussed each one of them. The students then began to color their own station booklets that they will use as we pray the Stations during Lent.
We began Language Arts class by reviewing our oral vocabulary words. Next we practiced reading words with long i and spelling words with inflectional endings when the y is changed to an i. After that we reviewed our sight words by reading the word wall. Then we practiced using context clues to determine the meaning of a word in a sentence. Then our focused switched to reading. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets and Hi! Fly Guy. We ended the morning by reading a nonfiction piece about insects and completing pages in our close reading companion.
For Gym class today we did various exercises. Each student rolled two dice. The first number told us which exercise we would do (jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, toe touches, hops, or squats), and the second number would tell us how many to do. The students loved this especially when they got to do push-ups.
In Math class today we wrapped up our chapter on the numbers to 40 by taking our chapter test. Tomorrow we will begin learning how to add two two-digit numbers without regrouping.
We ended today with Science class. We continued to explore our five senses, and today we did an experiment that required us to use all of them. We wrote about what we saw, heard, smelled, touched, and tasted as we popped and ate popcorn. Needless to say this was a great way to end our day.
Just a reminder that we have library tomorrow. We will also be going to Stations. Have a great night!
Greetings! Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. For the next 40 days may we all take time to grow closer to God.
In observance of Ash Wednesday, we went to church for a prayer service and distribution of ashes. Msgr. Lockard reminded us that sometimes it is better to subtract things and distractions in our lives in order to build a stronger relationship with God.
In Language Arts today we worked on a few writing projects. Today we wrote about why we are lucky. We wrote about what we can do, what we have, and what makes us special. We then took our writing to make a shamrock.
Then we worked on a Dr. Seuss project that we did not have time for last week. We read the classic book The Cat in the Hat. Afterwards we wrote about what we would do if Thing 1 and Thing 2 came to our house. We added Thing 1 and Thing 2 to our writing. They look adorable. I'll post pictures of both projects tomorrow.
In Math class today we reviewed the numbers to 40. We practiced writing the numbers, identifying the place value, counting forwards and backwards, and finishing number patterns. We are ready for our test tomorrow.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is Gym class. Don't forget your sneakers!
Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a good and warm day. I will admit that even though it is cold outside, it didn't bother me today. I guess I am just getting used to it. I'm not sure that is a good thing, though.
In Religion class today we continued our talk about Lent. We reviewed the facets of Lent and talked about what we can do to grow closer to God. We then created our prayer hands. On the hands we wrote a prayer that we can pray each day during Lent.
Language Arts was lots of fun today. They waited a long time to read our story for the week and were not disappointed with it. But, we had some learning and practicing to do before we got there. We began class by working in our literacy centers. Then we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read long i words, add inflectional endings on to words that end with y, and read our sight words and vocabulary words. After that we talked about using context clues to find the meaning of unknown words in sentences. Next we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. Then, after weeks of waiting, it was time to read Hi! Fly Guy. The students loved this story laughing as they read. I just loved hearing their enthusiasm as they read.
This afternoon in Language Arts we completed pages in our close reading companion and practiced underlining titles of books in sentences.
In Math class today we used our thinking caps to solve problems. We had to put number cards together to make a number that fit a clue. We also had to look for a pattern to solve a problem.
Then, because of no Computers today, we finished part of our Science lesson from Friday. We reviewed our five senses and sorted pictures based on which sense they described.
We also had our Social Studies class for the week. Today we learned what continent we live on, the name of our country, and the name of our state. We created a flipbook to help us remember.
Have a great night!
Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great start to their week! We sure did in first grade.
We began our day with Religion. Today we talked about the season of Lent. We learned that Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and that on this day we will receive ashes. We also talked about the three facets of Lent: pray, fasting, and almsgiving. For each one we gave examples of things we can do to grow closer to God in Lent.
We began Language Arts class by working in our literacy centers. Then we jumped into our week of learning. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words by answering questions using the words. Next we worked on visualizing as we read about insects that hide to protect themselves. Then we used our letter tiles to spell and read long i words. After that we learned how to add inflectional endings on the end of words that end in y. To add -ed or -es, we must first change the y to an i and then add the ending. We ended the morning by using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences.
This afternoon we reread Creep Low, Fly High and wrote about the different character's point of view. We then read our decodable reader and answered questions about that story. Finally we practiced using see and saw in sentences.
In Math class today we reviewed adding and subtracting 2 or 3 from a number. We also worked on completing number patterns. The students have a great number sense!
Now for some pictures. Here is a picture of Friday's art project. I am also including a picture of or class collage that took third place at the Diocesan Art Show. Look how nice the ribbon goes with it!
Greetings! Happy Friday! It was really nice to have a full week of school with no disruptions due to weather. Let's hope we can continue that next week!
Today marked the end of Read Across America Week. To celebrate the students wore hats in school, which they loved. Thank you to all who participated in the various activities this week. We'll do it again next year!
We began our day by going to Mass. Today we sat with our Faith Families at Mass. We also welcomed our family members to sit with us. Today, Msgr. Lockard reminded us that God has given us many friends including Jesus.
In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, we read The Sneetches in Language Arts class. We then wrote about what makes us special. We added that to a craft.
In Math class we identified 2 more, 3 more, 2 less, and 3 less than a number. We also practiced idenitfying the greater and least number in a set as well as putting numbers in order from least to greatest and greatest to least.
Science class was loads of fun today. We began talking about our five senses. What a better way to do that than to make a Mr. Potato Head. After doing that, we labeled the parts that help us see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. We will continue our discussion of the five senses next week. Here is a picture of a Mr. Potato Head:
Finally it was time for Art class. Today we made a rainbow coming out of a pot of gold. The students cut pieces of paper to create the rainbow. After their rainbow was finished, they added gold coins to their pot. I added some glitter to the coins after school. I'll post pictures of them on Monday once everything has dried.
Have a wonderful weekend!
