99 Days!

 Greetings! Today was another exciting day in first grade. The excitement is building for tomorrow. 

In Religion today, we talked about how Jesus called the 12 Apostles. We talked about how the Apostles carried on Jesus' message after he went to Heaven. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday. We also used our letter tiles to spell and read long e words. In addition, we learned how to read words with the prefixes un-, re-, and pre- and to define them. To help us build our comprehension skills, we read our decodable reader and wrote about its main idea and key details. Finally, we learned how to use has and have in sentences. 

This afternoon, in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Day, we watched The Peanuts Movie. We also enjoyed some popcorn as we watched it. 

Here is a picture from our cocoa comparison project we did yesterday in Math class. 

Have a great night! 

Catholic Schools Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! This will be an exciting week in school. We are celebrating Catholic School's Week. We will also be celebrating the 100th Day of School and Groundhog Day! Let the fun begin! 

In Religion class today we talked about how Jesus welcomed and blessed the children. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about how animals help each other. We began by learning our new oral vocabulary words (behavior, beneficial, dominant, endangered, and instinct). After that, we worked on answering questions about a text as we read about how certain animals work together to survive. Following that, we learned how to blend and read long e words spelled, e, ee, ea, and ie. Next, we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words. Finally, we practiced our new skills as we read A Team of Fish, a nonfiction piece about animals working together. 

In Math class today, we worked on several skills. We ordered numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least. We also compared numbers using > and <. For some added fun, we created two hot chocolate mugs. In each mug, we showed a number using base ten blocks. Then we compared the numbers. The students really enjoyed it. 

To get ready to celebrate the 100th Day of School on Wednesday, we created a necklace using 100 beads today. We are very excited to wear them on Wednesday. 

Have a great night! 

March of the Penguins!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end the week. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to us about the kingdom of God. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read long a words, put words into ABC order, and wrote sentences using our sight words. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we read a short nonfiction piece about bats and then completed pages in our close reading companion. We ended class by taking our weekly assessment and using the verbs was and were in sentences. 

In Math class today we practiced finding 2 more and 2 less than a number. The students loved using their new number chart to help them solve the problems. 

Our Science class today was devoted to penguins. We talked about how penguins stay warm. 

Finally, after a hard day of work, it was time for Art class. We made penguins using the water bottles you sent in. We stuffed them with cotton balls, and then added wings, feet, hat, eyes, beak, and bowtie. Aren't they cute? 

Have a great weekend! 

Back At It!

 Greetings! Welcome back! I hope everyone had a safe day yesterday. Thank you so much for making our remote learning day a success! 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on young Jesus. We reviewed how Jesus obeyed his parents and helped Joseph. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read long a words, put words into ABC order, and practiced our sight words. We then worked on our fluency and comprehension as we read How Bat Got Its Wings, a folktale about how bat received his wings. After reading the story, we sequenced its events. We also practiced using was and were in sentences. 

In Math class today, we compared two groups of objects. We began by identifying the number of objects in each group. Next, we identified how many more/fewer were in a group. 

We ended our day with some Penguin fun. Today, we looked at the life cycle of a penguin. We watched a video of a baby penguin hatching. We all agree they are so cute. 

Have a great night! 

Place Value Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is doing well on this eve before yet another winter storm. I don't know about you, but it seems that we are getting more ice events lately. I would rather have the snow or rain. 

We began our day by going to Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying with Jesus this morning, a perfect way to start our day. 

We continued with our learning in Language Arts today. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday by answering questions using the words. We then used our letter tiles to spell and read long a words spelled ai or ay. After that, we learned how to put words into ABC order when they all begin with the same letter; we look at the second letter. Following that, we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on comprehension; this week we are working on sequencing. We reread A Tale of a Tail and sequenced the events in that story. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using was and were in sentences. 

In Math class today, we focused on place value. We used our place value blocks to show various numbers to 40. We identified the number of tens and ones and wrote addition sentences for the numbers. 

We ended our day with some penguin fun. Today we looked at where various penguins lived. We looked at different pictures of the penguins and watched a live webcam from the Pittsburgh Zoo. 

Have a great night and day tomorrow. Stay safe. See you on Thursday! 

The Start of Penguin Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice weekend! 

In Religion class today we talked about the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. We talked about how he was called 'rabbi' because he taught others about God. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading folktales about how animals got certain features. We began by learning five new oral vocabulary words (determined, predicament, relief, appearance, and feature). After that we worked on retelling as we heard the story about how elephant got its trunk. Following that, we learned how to blend and read long a words spelled ai and ay. Then, we learned our new sight words plus two vocabulary words. We ended the morning practicing all of our skills as we read A Tale of a Tail, a story about how beaver got its flat tail. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using was and were in sentences. 

In Math class today, we practiced counting to 40. The students completed a write the room activity where they walked around the room, found a card, and counted the objects on the card. They love write the room activities. 

We ended our day with a kickoff to our Penguin week celebration. Today, we learned why penguins are birds even though they do not fly. We also talked about the special features of penguins. 

Have a great night! 

Snow Much Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a nice day to end their week. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to us about the importance of getting away and spending time in prayer. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read oo and u words and words with inflectional endings. We wrote sentences using our sight words and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on the numbers to 20. We looked at the numbers 21-40 and drew pictures for each number, dividing them into tens and ones. We also practiced counting a set by grouping into to 10s and then counting on. 

In Science class, we talked about the word illumination and how light illuminates objects. 

We ended our week with Art class. Today we made a snowman looking out a window. They turned out cute! 

And here is a picture of our snowflake writing from earlier in the week. 

Have a great weekend! 

A Rainy Day!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had an enjoyable day! 

In Religion class today, we listened to the story of young Jesus teaching in the Temple. We also talked about how Jesus obeyed his parents and how we need to obey our parents too. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and practiced reading oo and u words along with words with inflectional endings. To practice our sight words, we played "Don't Build a Snowman"; the students were very good at guessing their sight words. No snowman was built. To help us build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about the different food groups. We ended class by writing contractions with the word not. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on addition and subtraction strategies to 20. Tomorrow we will begin looking at the numbers to 40. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about natural resources. 

Have a great night! 

Creative Writing in Winter!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a nice week. 

In Religion today, we talked about Jesus as a young boy. We talked about how he helped Mary and Joseph and how he did some of the things we do today. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words. We also practiced reading words with oo and u and our sight words. In addition, we practiced spelling and reading words with inflected endings when the final letter is doubled. After that, we focused on fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read From Cows to You. After reading that story we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on sequencing how we get milk. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing contractions for not. We also did some creative writing as we wrote about what we would like to fall from the sky like snowflakes. We are in the process of adding our writing to a craft. 

In Math class today, we reviewed adding and subtracting within 20. Tomorrow we will take our chapter test. 

Have a great night! 

Sequencing Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. 

In Religion class today, we talked about St. Joseph. We talked about how he loved and cared for Mary and Jesus. We also talked about how he made things out of wood and how Jesus helped him. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words we learned last week and then learned three new words (delighted, enormous, responsibility). After that we worked on retelling as we read a fable. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with oo and u. Following that, we learned that some words require us to double the final letter before adding -ed and -ing. Then, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focused on comprehension; this week we are focusing on sequence. We reread A Look at Breakfast and sequenced how bread, grape jam, and orange juice is made. We also sequenced the events in our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing contractions for not. We also became our final how-to writing piece. We brainstormed a list of things we know how to do. 

In Math class, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. I loved watching the students think as they solved the problems. 

Have a great night! 

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Thank you so much for all of your help yesterday to make the remote learning day such a success. I do think the children enjoyed being back in the classroom today. 

In Religion class we talked about how Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus had to go to Egypt. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about how we get our food. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (delicious and nutritious). Then we worked on rereading as we read a nonfiction story about fun food facts. Next, we learned how to blend and read words with oo and u, words like cook and put. Following that, we learned our new sight words. After that we read A Look at Breakfast where we put our new skills to work. We ended the morning by reviewing how to write contractions with the word not. 

In Math class today, we continued to solve addition and subtraction word problems. The students loved them today because I used their names in the problems. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. We reviewed what his dream was and talked about our dreams. We wrote about our dreams and added it to a craft. Here they are: 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Word Problem Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is doing well. 

In Religion class today, we reviewed how we can bring gifts to Jesus. Anytime we pray or do something kind, we should offer it up to Jesus. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences. To help us review long vowel and CVCe words, we played Stinky Feet. This game is a favorite among the students as each word is worth a certain amount of points. The catch is that they don't know the point value until the word is read. After our game, we wrote sentences using our sight words. We also took our weekly assessment. To end the morning, we wrote the steps in how to build a snowman. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving real world addition and subtraction problems. The students were so excited to solve them! 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is a Remote Learning Day. See you on Thursday! 

Snowflake Art!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend. 

In Religion class today, we continued to look at the story of the three Wise Men. Today we talked about what gifts we could bring to baby Jesus. 

We continued on with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read long vowel words, CVCe syllable words, and our sight words. To help us build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about the history of transportation. After reading that story, we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on main idea and sequence. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we reviewed and practiced using the verbs is and are in sentences. 

In Math class today, we reviewed subtracting within 20. We practiced solving problems with a partner. 

Here is a picture from our snowflake Art project on Friday! Enjoy! 

Have a great night! 

Warming Up with Winter!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a nice day to end the first week of 2023. 

At Mass today, Fr. Brian reminded us of our Baptismal call. He talked to us about always staying close to Jesus. 

We began Language Arts by partner reading a story from our decodable reader booklets. After that we practiced using the verbs is and are in sentences and using commas when writing a date. Following that, we practiced building long vowel words. Students worked in a group. They took turns rolling dice trying to build a long vowel word. Even though not many words were built, they did an excellent job of recognizing real and make believe words. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we did some winter writing. We wrote about how we stay warm in winter. We added it to a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. 

In Math class today, we learned how to determine if a number sentence was true or false. We learned to break the number sentence into two smaller parts, solve them, and then decide if it is true or false. 

In Science class, we began our unit on light. We learned that light helps us to see things clearly. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we painted a snowflake. I'll post pictures once all of the paint has dried. 

Here is a picture from our New Year's writing we did earlier in the week. 

Have a great weekend! 

Life Long Ago!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine today! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how we can still visit Jesus just like the wise men did all those years ago. Every time we go to church or Adoration, we visit Jesus. And, every time we pray at home we visit Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words. We also segmented words into sounds. Following that, we practiced reading long vowel words and CVCe syllable words and our sight words. After that, we focused on our fluency and comprehension. We read Life Long Ago, a nonfiction story about life in the past and life today. After reading the story, we compared and contrasted life long ago and life today. 

In Math class today, we looked at how subtraction and addition are related. We reviewed fact families and used a fact family sentence to help us solve related addition and subtraction problems. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about landforms and different bodies of water. We learned about lakes, plains, and mountains. 

Have a great night! 

Subtraction Strategies!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a good first week of 2023. 

In Religion class today, we read the story of the Three Wise Men visiting baby Jesus. We talked about how they followed the star to Bethlehem and how they brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday and then learned three new words (entertainment, future, and present). After that we practiced reading long o, u, and e words by using our letter tiles to spell words. Following that, we learned how to blend and read CVCe syllable words, words like awake, and cupcake. Next, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended the morning working on our comprehension skills; this week we are comparing and contrasting. We reread Life at Home and compared/contrasted life long ago and now. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon we practiced using is and are in sentences. We also wrote the steps in making hot chocolate. 

In Math class today, we subtracting by grouping into 10s and 1s. It took time to get use to this strategy, but we did get the hang of it. Remember, students can use any strategy to complete the homework. 

Have a great night! 

Welcome 2023!

 Greetings! Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing break. It was great hearing about all the gifts Santa brought the children today. I was picturing Christmas morning at each house. 

We started our day by attending Adoration. We spent some quiet time with Jesus. It was a great way to quick off the new year. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts today; this week we will be reading about life long ago. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (century and past). Next we worked on retelling as we read The Last Train. Following that, we learned how to blend and read long o, u, and e words. After that we learned our new sight words. We ended our morning by reading Life Long Ago which helped us practice our new skills. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we learned when to use the verbs is and are in sentences. We also wrote about something we hope to do in 2023. We are in the process of adding that to a craft. 

In Math class today, we started learning strategies to solve subtraction problems. Today, we learned how to subtract by counting backwards. Like we did with addition, we will be learning several strategies we can use to subtract. The children will be encouraged to pick the strategy they like best to solve subtraction problems. 

Have a great night!