The End of September!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end the week. It is hard to believe that today was the last school day in September. That was one fast month! 

At Mass today, we celebrated the feast day of the archangels: Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael. We know that we can turn to them to ask them to help protect us. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read short o words, put words into ABC order, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice subtraction. Today, we used a number line to help us count back. 

In Science class, we talked about how animals camouflage to help protect themselves. The students had to find moths camouflaged on trees. Some were easier to find than others. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we created a fall silhouette. We painted the background red, orange, and yellow. On Monday, we will add the tree. I'll post pictures then. 

Here is a picture from the fall writing we did on Wednesday. 

Have a great weekend! 

Community Helpers!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a great day. It is hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday. 

In Religion class today we talked about how God created us body and soul. We talked about how our soul helps us to know, love, and serve God. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. Today, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, spelled and read short o words, and put words into ABC order. We also partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. In addition we read a poem and completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on finding details in the poem. Finally, we practiced identifying questions and statements. 

In Math class today, we learned how to subtract by counting up. Again, this is just another strategy we can use to subtract. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about community helpers. We identified lots of people who help us in our community. 

Have a great night! 

Learning Subtraction!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine today. 

In Religion class today we talked about how God gave us eyes, ears, noses, hands, and mouths to experience his creation. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read short o words and our sight words, and put words into ABC order. To help build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Friends, a nonfiction story about two friends and what they do. After reading this story, we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on finding details in the story. Finally, we practiced identifying statements and questions. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we focused on our writing. We wrote about what leaves have, what leaves are, and what leaves can do. We added our writing to an activity. 

In Math class today, our focused switched to subtraction. We will be learning several subtraction strategies over the next few days. Today, we learned how to subtract by taking away and counting back. 

Have a great night! 

Reading with Friends!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice day. I don't know about you but I am missing the sunshine. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on God creating the world. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday and then learned three new words (chore, cooperate, and deliver). After that we worked on answering questions from a text as we read a nonfiction piece about children's games. Following that we used our letter tiles to spell and read short o words. Then, we learned how to put words into ABC order. Next, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on comprehension; this week we are finding key details in sentences. We reread our story from yesterday and wrote details about what friends do together. After reading our decodable reader, we answered questions about details from the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced identifying questions and statements. We also wrote a sentence making sure to include a naming part and action part. 

In Math class today, we reviewed writing sentences for addition stories. Tomorrow we will start to learn subtraction strategies. 

Have a great night! 

Celebrating God's Creation!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend despite the dreary weather. 

In Religion class today, we reviewed the creation story and talked about the difference between what was created by God and what was made by man. We also talked about angels and how they are with us and help guide us. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about friends. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (cooperate and relationship). We then worked on answering questions from a text as we read Friends All Around. Following that, we learned how to blend and read short o words. Next, we learned and practiced our new sight words. Finally, we put our new skills to work as we read Toss! Kick! Hop!, a nonfiction story about how kids move. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we learned the difference between statements and questions. When given a sentence, we identified which punctuation mark to place at the end. We also wrote a sentence for a picture making sure to include the who and what for the picture. 

In Math class, we worked on solving real world addition problems. The children did a great job being able to solve the problem using a number bond and writing a number sentence. 

Have a great night! 

A First Grade Tradition!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was another fun day celebrating apples in first grade. It was the traditional applesauce making day! Before church, we added apples, sugar, water, and cinnamon to a slow cooker, turned it on, and let it bake. 

At Mass today, Fr. Brian reminded us that we should not be scared of things and full rely on God to protect us. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read l-blend words and plurals, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice telling an addition story for a picture. The students are doing great at telling the story and writing the corresponding number bond and addition sentence to go with it. 

Our Science class today centered around apples. We did an experiment to see what type of liquid would best keep an apple from turning brown. We put an apple into water, vinegar, and lemon juice and discovered that lemon juice was the best. Here are before and after pictures of our Science experiment today. 

Apples were also the theme in Art class. We made smiley apples today. The students decided on what color apple they wanted and then added the face. 

After a day of hard work and waiting, it was finally time to eat our applesauce. The students really enjoyed it. 

Have a great weekend! 

Celebrating Johnny Appleseed!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone was able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day. It was hard to come in from recess. 

In Religion class we continued to talk about the creation story. We made a mobile to help us remember what God created on each day. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, spelled and read l-blend words, used plurals in sentences, and read our sight words. We also partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. In addition to that, we read a short nonfiction piece about what pets need. After reading it we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on key details. We ended the morning by identifying statements. 

In Math class today, we practiced telling addition stories for a picture. We used our linking cubes to help us show and tell the story.

In Social Studies today, we read about Johnny Appleseed. We were very excited to learn that he helped plant apple trees here long ago. After learning about him, we wrote 3 facts and added it to a craft. 

Have a great night!

Apple Life Cycle!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful day and enjoyed the sunshine! 

In Religion class today, we discussed the creation story. We watched a short video about God creating the world and then sequenced what he created each day. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and read l-blend words, plurals, and our sight words. To help build our fluency, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Flip. After reading this story, we wrote about the details from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We ended the morning by writing statements correctly. 

In Math class today, we reviewed ways to add. The students worked with a partner practicing solving addition facts. 

We ended our day with Apple Week Fun! Today, we learned how an apple grows from a seed to an apple. We created a wheel to help us remember. 

Have a great night! 

Parts of an Apple!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a terrific day! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how God is everywhere, all powerful, knows everything, and is all good. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words from yesterday and learned three more oral vocabulary words (companion, popular, and groom). We then worked on visualizing as we read a nonfiction piece about pets. Next, we practiced segmenting words into sounds using our sound boxes. After that, we used our letter tiles to spell and read l-blend words. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning by focusing on our comprehension skills; this week we are working on finding key details in the story. We reread A Pig for Cliff and wrote details from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We then read our decodable reader and answered questions about its details. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced identifying statements. 

In Math class today, we learned how to count on to find the answer to an addition problem. We used our linking cubes to help practice this skill. 

We ended our day with Apple Fun! Today, we created a diagram to show the parts of an apple. We also took our writing from yesterday and added it to a craft. 

Have a great evening! 

Welcome to Apple Week!

 Greetings! Welcome to Apple Week in First Grade. All week we will be having fun with apples and learning about them. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on heaven is our home. We reviewed that God lives in Heaven and that one day we will live there too. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about pets. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (care and train). We then worked on visualizing as we read Cool Dog, School Dog. Following that, we learned how to blend and read l-blend words, words like blob, class, flag, glass, plan, and slam. After that, we learned and practiced reading our new sight words. We ended the morning reading A Pig for Cliff. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned that statements are telling sentences that begin with a capital letter and end with a period. 

In Math class today, we had a special presenter teach the lesson; she is one of the authors of the math series. She taught us how to write a number bond and addition sentence for a picture. The key for us is to look at the picture before writing. 

We ended our day with Apple fun. Today, we celebrated the various kinds of apples. Students got to sample a red, green, and yellow apple. Each then voted on their favorite one. We made a graph of our favorites. We then wrote why we liked the one we did.

Have a great night! 

Falling for Number Bonds!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end the week. We had a busy but fun learning day in first grade. 

At Mass this morning, we welcomed Fr. Nale. He went over the seven sorrows of Mary. 

We wrapped up our second week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read short i words and words with final double consonants, and wrote sentences using our sight words. Finally, we took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class, we continued learning about number bonds. We reviewed how to find the whole when given the two parts, how to find the two parts when given the whole, and how to find the missing part when given the whole and one part. We then had some fun creating our own number bond. The students created their own number bond and then showed it by creating a paper chain. They turned out awesome! 

In Science class, we talked about how animal parts care for their young. We watched videos showing how ducks care for their young, how birds feed the babies, how cats clean each other, how opossums carry their babies, and how shrews march in a line. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today we created a leaf silhouette using scrapbook paper. They will look festive in our room next week. 

Here is a picture from the own writing we did on Wednesday. 

Have a great weekend! 

More Fun With Number Bonds!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a great day! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Heaven is here with us as we celebrate Mass. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words. We also wrote and read short i words and words with final double consonants. Next, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece comparing and contrasting country life to city life. After reading that story, we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on key details about city life and country life. Finally, we wrote sentences using correct word order. 

In Math class, we continued our learning with number bonds. We practiced finding the parts when given the whole. We also found the whole when given the two parts. We used our linking cubes to help us. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about jobs people have. 

Number Bonds!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great day! 

In Religion class today, we practiced making the Sign of the Cross. We also talked about how the cross is a reminder for us that because Jesus died on the cross we will one day get to be with him in Heaven. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We practiced using our oral vocabulary words in sentences, segmented words into sounds, read short i words, words with final double consonants, and our sight words. We then switched our focus to building our fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Go, Pip! After reading that story, we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on finding key details in the story. We ended class by writing sentences in correct word order. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we worked on our writing skills. We wrote about what we would do if we were an owl. We added that to a craft. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on number bonds. We learned that a number bond has two parts: a whole and its parts. We used linking cubes to break a whole into its parts. We will continue our work with number bonds tomorrow. 

Just a reminder that the students must wear jeans and an appropriate shirt to school tomorrow. Have a great night! 

Unscrambling Sentences!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone enjoyed their day! It was a beautiful day outside. 

For Religion today, we headed over to church for Adoration. This was our first time ever going to Adoration. So, we sat in the cry room to learn about Adoration. We talked about how Jesus is present in the Eucharist on the altar. We talked about when we are at Adoration we give thanks to God and pray for people. We look forward to going to Adoration this year. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words from yesterday and then learned three new words (bored, feast, and scurried). We then worked on visualizing as we listened to the fable "City Mouse, Country Mouse". Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read short i words. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with the double final consonants like hill, miss, jazz, and mitt. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread Six Kids and wrote details from the story. We then read our decodable reader and circled pictures depicting key details from that story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced putting sentences in correct word order. We did an activity on Seesaw. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test. We will start learning about number bonds tomorrow. 

Here is a picture of the owls we made on Friday. 

Have a great night! 

Believing in Ourselves!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had a good start to the week in first grade. 

Our Religion class today centered around being peacekeepers and believing in the power of yet. We met as a floor to discuss what it means to be a peacekeeper. We also talked about believing in ourselves and not giving up. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about where we live. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (city and country). We then worked on visualizing as we read Alicia's Happy Day. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with short i. Next, we learned our new sight words. It was time to put all our learning together as we read Six Kids. This fantasy story help us to read short i words and our sight words. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced writing sentences in correct word order. We took a scrambled up sentence and rearranged the words to put it in correct order. 

In Math class today we reviewed concepts related with the numbers to 10. We will be taking our chapter test tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

A Day of Firsts!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end their week. We had a day of firsts in first grade. 

At Mass today, we celebrated the birthday of Mary. We sang a beautiful song to her. 

We wrapped up our first week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences. We wrote sentences using our sight words. And, we took our first weekly assessment. I am so proud with how well they did. They listened well and did awesome work. 

In Math class today, we used our thinking caps and critical thinking skills to solve problems. We will be wrapping up this chapter next week. 

Science class was lots of fun today. We talked about how different animals have different body parts to help them. After our discussion, the students got into groups of 4. They were each given a bent straw and cup to resemble different beaks on birds. Using each 'beak', they had to pick up food (macaroni). We talked about which beak was best. Then, we added rocks (beans) to the food and tried to pick up food without getting rocks. We learned that the pincher beak was best for this. We had lots of fun learning how animals use their body parts to survive. 

We finished our day with Art. Today, we painted for the first time. We made an owl. We need to add a few pieces on Monday once the paint dries. 

Have a great weekend! 

Learning About Rules!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! We had a great day of learning in school today! 

In Religion class, we talked about how one day we will get to live with God in Heaven. We used St. Terese the Little Flower as our guide. We learned about how she spent her days in prayer praying to live in Heaven one day. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, used our whiteboards to spell and read short a words, practiced using words with the inflectional ending -s in sentences, and reviewed our sight words. To help build our fluency, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about school rules and completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on key details. Finally, we practiced writing sentences with a capital letter and a period. 

In Math class today, we reviewed number patterns. 

In Social Studies class, we continued talking about rules. We learned that we have rules to keep us safe. 

Have a great night! 

A Warm Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone was able to stay cool today. We were very thankful for the air conditioning put in several years ago. 

In Religion class today we talked about how Heaven is where we find God and how Heaven is the most beautiful place. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts today. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, used sound boxes to segment words into sounds, read short a words, words with inflectional ending -s, and our sight words. We then switched our focus to fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Nat and Sam. After reading this story, we wrote details from it. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we sorted examples into sentences or not sentences. We also wrote in our journal. 

In Math class today, we looked at number patterns. We used our linking cubes to build numbers patterns to 10. 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is a shorts jean day. Have a great night! 

Happy Labor Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on God is our Father. We reviewed how God made us, loves us, and gives us what we need. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned last week and learned three new words (common, object, recognize). We then used our letter tiles to spell and read short a words. After that we learned how to blend and read words with the inflectional ending -s. Following that we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focusing on fluency and comprehension. We reread Jack Can and wrote about the details in the story. We then read our decodable reader and drew a detail from the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing sentences. We are remembering to begin each sentence with a capital letter, end it with a period, and check to see if it makes sense. 

In Math class today, we practiced identifying one more and one less than a number. We used our linking cubes to help us. 

Here is a picture from the pencil men we made in Art on Friday. 

Have a great night! 

Hello, September!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great first full week of school. We are getting into our routines and excited about learning new things. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian reminded us about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

We continued with our first grade learning in Language Arts. We practiced reading and spelling short a words. We also practiced our sight words. To help us build our fluency we read Can Jack?. Finally, we learned that all sentences have capital letters, periods, and are a complete thought. 

In Math class today, we practiced using the words more, fewer, and same. The students worked in pairs to practice these words. 

In Science class, we talked about the traits of animals. We looked at the traits of a baby animal to help identify its parents. The students loved explaining which baby went with which parent. 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we created a pencil person. I'll post pictures next week. 

Here is a picture from last Friday's art. 

Have a great weekend. See you on Tuesday!