Fall Trees!

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

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to us about turning to the saints and asking them to help us when we need it. 

After Mass, some of our fifth grade friends came to join us. We began our time together by reading Ten Apples Up on Top. Then, working in groups the students built a tower to hold an apple. They used wooden blocks, linking cubes, pipe cleaners, cups, Play-doh, and other classroom materials. It was great seeing everyone work together and smiling. 

After fifth grade left, we wrapped up our week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences and wrote sentences using our sight words. We also took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving real world addition problems. The students are really doing well with addition. On Monday, we will begin learning subtraction strategies. 

In Science class today, we talked about why animals camouflage. We practiced finding moths hidden on trees and designed our own moth to camouflage on something in our classroom. 

We ended our day with Art. Today we painted fall trees using forks. The students really enjoyed painting. I look forward to painting with them again. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

The Creation Story!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Today was a good day in first grade. The children were filled with lots of excitement. 

In Religion class today, we reviewed the creation story. We created a mobile to help us remember what God created on each day. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read words with l-blends, plurals, and 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 story about caring for pets and then completed pages in our Reading/Writing workshop book that focused on key details. Finally, we practiced identifying statements and questions. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving real world addition problems. The key today was finding the parts in story and then finding the answer. We also began using XtraMath. We will be visiting this website daily to practice our Math facts. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we learned about community helpers. We read a story and watched a video about various community helpers. We then spent time naming community helpers. 

Have a great night! 

Writing and Walking in Math!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! As sad as it was not to see the sun shining today, it was nice to hear some rain. 

In Religion class today, we read the creation story. We talked about how God created everything and spent time talking about what God created each day. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read words with l-blends, with plural -s, and our sight words. To help us build our fluency skills, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Flip, a fantasy story about a pet dinosaur who went to school. After reading that story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on character, setting, and event. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing statements and questions. 

For Gym class today, we headed to the gym and played Good Ship Spark. I would give a command and the students performed an action for it. Movements included sit ups, skipping, running, and freezing. They really enjoyed this. 

In Math class today, we did a write the room activity. The students walked around the room looking for addition pictures. Once they found a picture, they wrote the number sentence for the picture. 

Have a great night! 

Addition Story Writing!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! 

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

We continued our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday and then learned three new words (companion, popular, and groom). Next, we worked on visualizing as we read a nonfiction piece about pets. Following that, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with l-blends. After that, we learned how to read plurals and use plurals in sentences. Then, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on our comprehension skills. This week we are focusing on character, setting, and events. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced identifying statements and questions. We also continued to build our sentence writing skills as we wrote a sentence describing a picture. 

In Math class today, we wrote addition sentences for a picture. We looked at a picture and told a story about the picture. We then used the story to help us write sentences. 

Have a great night! 

Reading Words with Blends!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing weekend! I had one student comment to me this morning that they were so glad that the weekend was only two days long. They were so excited to come back to school and learn! 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on heaven. 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. After that, we learned how to blend and read words with l-blends, words like blip, clip, flag, glad, plan, and slam. Following that, we learned our new sight words (be, come, good, pull). 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we put our new skills to work as we read A Pig for Cliff. We also talked about the difference between statements and questions. Finally, we practiced writing a sentence. We looked at a picture and wrote a sentence describing what was happening in it. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice our addition strategies. We used dominoes to fill in a number bond and write the addition sentences that went along with it. 

Have a great night! 

Fall Gnomes!

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

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian asked us to pray for all vocations, especially those to the priesthood and religious life. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences and wrote sentences using our sight words. We also took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice our addition strategies. Today, we used number lines to help us add. We are getting much better with adding. 

In Science class today, we talked about how adult animals take care of their babies. We also talked about how adults look different than their babies. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we made a fall gnome holding a pumpkin. They turned out cute. 

Here is a picture from our fall writing activity from yesterday. 

Have a great weekend!  

Adding with Dice!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about the Mass, specifically how a bit of Heaven is at Mass with us. 

We continued our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words and reading short i words, words with double final consonants, and our sight words. After a trip to the library. We worked on our fluency and comprehension skills. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a fiction piece about a girl's surprise. After reading that story, we completed pages in our reading/writing companion that focused on key details. We ended our morning by practicing writing sentences using correct word order. 

In Math class today, we began to learn addition strategies. We began by using number bonds to add. When given the two parts, we know that we need to add to find the whole. To help us learn how to add using number bonds, we completed an activity with dice. The students rolled two dice and filled in the parts of a number bond. They then counted the dots to find the whole. Using those numbers, they wrote the number sentence. We really enjoyed this activity. 

In Social Studies class, we talked about rules and why we have them. We also talked about the season of fall. We talked and wrote about what we like best about fall. We added that to a craft. I'll post pictures tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

Being Peacekeepers!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! It was another gorgeous day outside. It was hard to come in from recess. 

In Religion class today, we practiced praying and making the Sign of the Cross. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and read short i words, words with final double consonants, and our sight words. To help build our reading fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Go, Pip! After reading that story, we we completed pages in our workbook that focused on characterization. Finally, we practiced unscrambling sentences and put the words into correct word order. 

This afternoon we had our annual Peacekeeper Program. We talked about what it means to be a peacekeeper and what it means to be a bully. We read the story Coat of Many Colors and talked about how Dolly never gave up when others put her down. We also talked about never giving up and keep encouraging others to reach their goals. 

In Math class today, we continued our work with number bonds. We used paper strips to make a number bond. We started by writing the whole and breaking it into parts. We used those parts to build our number chain. We are slowly getting the hang of number bonds. 

Have a great night! 

Picture Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone was able to enjoy this splendid September day! The students looked great today for picture day. I can't wait to see them! 

We began our day by attending Adoration. This was our first time going to Adoration. Because it was our first time, we went to the cry room. There we were able to see Jesus on the altar and talk about what Adoration is and how we pray during Adoration. We look forward to continue going to Adoration this year. 

We continued our learning in Language Arts. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday and then learned three new words (scurried, feast, bored). We then worked on visualizing as we read "City Mouse, Country Mouse". Following that we used our letter tiles to spell and read short i words. After that, we learned how to read words with final double consonants, words like kiss, mitt, jazz, hill. Then, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focusing on our comprehension skills. We reread Six Kids. We then talked about what made this story a fantasy. We also talked about the characters including how they look, what they were doing, and how they felt. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced writing sentences using correct word order. When given a sentence all mixed up, the students had to unscramble it so that it made sense. 

We continued with our learning of number bonds in Math today. We reviewed how to find the parts when given a whole, how to find the whole when given the parts, and how to find a part when given the whole and part. We used our linking cubes to help us. 

Have a great night! 

Number Bond Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice weekend! We are off to a great start this week in first grade! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how one day we will get to be with God in heaven. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading stories 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 short i words. We ended our morning by learning our new sight words: down, out, up, very. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we read Six Kids which helped us practice our new phonics skill along with helping us recognize our sight words. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on number bonds. We began by exploring the concept of whole and part. Once we got that down, we built a giant number bond using hula hoops and practiced breaking a whole into parts and joining parts to make a whole. Then, we practiced making number bonds with linking cubes. We will continue to practice with number bonds tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

Our First Tests!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end this first week of September. It was a gorgeous day outside! 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian encouraged us to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. 

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. The students did great with writing sentences and the test. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on the numbers to 10. Again, they did a great job at listening and thinking during the test. Next week, we will begin learning about number bonds. 

In Science class, we continued our discussion on animal features and how they help them. We looked at a variety of animals and discussed the features those animals use to protect themselves and survive. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we made an owl. We used pieces of torn paper to glue to an owl's body to make it look fluffy. We then added eyes, a beak, claws, and wings. They look great! 

Here are pictures from today's Art class and last week's Art class. 

Have a great weekend! 

The Three P's: Prayer, People, Peace

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Today was a busy and exciting day in first grade. 

We began our day by going over to church for a visit with Fr. David Michael Moses. He talked to us about our vocation and always remembering the three P's: prayer (talk to God every day), people (talk to the people in our lives), and peace (be at peace with our decisions). 

We came back to the classroom and started into our Language Arts lessons for the day. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words and answering questions using the words. Next, we used our whiteboards and markers to spell and read short a words. To review our sight words, the students had to guess letters in a word before a leaf man was drawn. They really enjoyed this. We ended our morning by reviewing sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we read a nonfiction piece about school rules and talked about why we have rules. 

In Math class, we reviewed the numbers to 10. Tomorrow we will take our chapter test. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about jobs we do and how they help other people. 

Have a great night! 

A Wonderful Wednesday!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone's week is going well. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Heaven is the most beautiful place and how God lives there. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading short a words, words with inflectional ending -s, and our sight words. We also spent time working on our fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Nat and Sam. After reading this story, we wrote about Nat and how he felt at different points in the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we worked on writing. He took a fragment and expanded it to make a complete sentence. 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. We sorted numbers and made patterns. 

Just a reminder that library is tomorrow. Please remember to return your book! 

Have a great night! 

Happy September!

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

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on God creating us. We reviewed how God created us because he loves us and how He gives us everything we need. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing the oral vocabulary words we learned last week and then learned three new words (common, object, recognize). We then worked on visualizing as we read a nonfiction piece about schools around the world. After that, we used letter tabs to spell and read short a words. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with the inflectional ending -s. Next, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Finally, we worked on our comprehension skills. We reread Jack Can and talked about what makes the story a realistic story and talked about the characters in the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced sorting sentences from those that are not sentences. 

In Math class today, we worked with number patterns. We worked on identifying the missing numbers in a sequence. 

Have a great night! 

Pencil People!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! It was another exciting day in first grade. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to use about always be prepared for Jesus' coming. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed short a by matching pictures with words. We also practiced reading our sight words in sentences Finally, we read Jack Can. As we read the story, we identified short a words and our sight words. We also talked about how the characters felt in the story. 

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

In Science class, we talked about how different animal features help them survive.

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we made pencil people. I'll post pictures next week! 

Have a wonderful weekend!  

First Grade Reading!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Today was a busy day in first grade. I hope everyone made it home safely in the rain. 

In Religion class, we talked about how prayer is talking to and listening to God. 

We began our first week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading stories about what we do in school. We began by learning two oral vocabulary words (learn and subjects). We then worked on visualizing as we read This School Year Will Be the Best. Following that, we learned how to blend and read short a words. Finally, we learned our new sight words (does, not, school, what). 

In Math class today, we continued to practice comparing numbers. Pairs of students were given a set of picture cards. Taking turns, one student would select two cards and compare the amount of objects by stating I have more          than           or I have fewer           than           . 

We had our first Social Studies class of the year. Today we talked about our families. We talked about our brothers and sisters, our pets, and what we like to do with our families. 

Have a great night. 

Ending Our Review!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful day! 

In Religion class today, we talked about spending time thanking God for all that he has given us. We talked about how we can just say 'thank you' to God or we can say a special prayer like the "Our Father". 

We wrapped up our review in Language Arts today. We reviewed the letters u, g, w, x, v, q, j, y, z. We also practiced the words she, with, for, and, have, see, said, was. We also read a nonfiction story about what we do in school. After reading the story, we wrote two examples from it that could really happen. Tomorrow, we will begin learning first grade reading! 

In Math class today, we practiced identifying which number in a set was greater and which one was less. We used our linking cubes to build towers to help us compare the numbers. 

Excitement was abound at the end of the day. The students were quite excited to bring their Chromebooks home. Please remember to charge them nightly! 

Have a great night! 

Reviewing our Letters!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how God created everything we need from food, to plants, to our parents, to supplies to build our house. 

We continued with our review in Language Arts. Today we reviewed the letters d, h, e, b, l, k, and ck. We also practiced the following sight words: where, here, play, the, we, are, me. We will wrap up our review tomorrow. 

In between the reviewing, we took time to meet another character. Yesterday, we met Good Gorilla and talked about making good choices. Today, we met Listening Llama and talked about what good listeners do. 

We also logged into our Chromebooks today. We are getting better at logging in using the capital letters. 

In Math class, we explored the words more and fewer. We used our linking cubes to show more or less than a number. We then colored two trains and identified which one had more and which one had fewer. 

Have a great night! 

Our First Full Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the time off. 

We began our day with Religion class. Today we talked about how God is our Father. 

We continued our review in Language Arts. Today, we reviewed the letters n, r, i, c, f, and o. We also reviewed the words go, a, has, this, is, my, look, little. We also talked about the difference between real and fantasy. We listened to "Jack and the Beanstalk" and discussed what makes this story a fantasy. 

In Math class, we reviewed the numbers to 10. We played Memory. Pairs of students worked together to match a number with its written form. 

We ended our day by using our brand new Chromebooks. We talked about how we store them and how we care for them. We then practiced logging into them. The students were quite excited to be using them. 

Have a great night! 

The Second Day!

 Greeting! Today was a fabulous second day of school! 

We began our day with Mass. Fr. Brian reminded us to turn to Jesus this school year. He also offered a special blessing for us. 

After Mass, we began our Language Arts class. This will be a big year in terms of reading growth. We began by reviewing the letters s, m, a, p, and t. We also reviewed the sight words I, he, can do, you, like. We also worked on our comprehension skills. We listened to the poem "1, 2, Buckle My Shoe". Afterwards, we drew pictures to show the order of what happens in the poem. Our review of the alphabet and sight words learned in kindergarten will continue next week. 

Over the course of the next week, we will be talking about classroom expectation. Each one will introduce us to a character. We will read a story and talk about what the behavior means. Today, we met Respectful Rooster. We talked about what it means to be respectful. 

In Math class today, we continued to work with the numbers to 10. Today, we practiced counting backwards. 

We had our first Science lesson of the year. Today, we talked about how animal traits help us identify which animal it is. We looked at pictures of baby birds and helped identify its parent by looking closely at its traits. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we created a school bus. The children did an excellent job at listening while we assembled our project. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Welcome to First Grade!

 Greetings! Welcome to First Grade! Today was an exciting start to the school year. 

Thank you for taking time to visit our classroom blog. I will update the blog daily to let you know about all the learning that took place. When applicable, I will also post pictures. 

We began our day by unpacking and organizing all of our supplies. Thank you for sending in everything. I really appreciate it! 

After that, we had our first Math Meeting of the year. Every day, we will review concepts related to the calendar, to place value, to graphing, and much more. 

Next, we read The Pigeon Has to Go To School. After reading the story, we talked about why we have to go to school. We did a little writing project to go along with it. 

Following that, we played musical chairs. When the music stopped, the friend left standing answered a question about themselves. We talked about what we did this summer, what we like about school, and what our favorite foods our. 

We finished our morning by reading We Don't Eat Our Classmates. We talked about how we treat each other in the classroom. We spent time drawing a way that we treat our friends. 

After lunch and recess, we went to Spanish class. We then went over to church to review church manners. We are excited for our first Mass tomorrow. 

We ended our day with some Math. We practiced counting to 10 and using linking cubes to show various numbers. 

Hope everyone had a great day. Have a wonderful night! 

Popcorn and a Movie!

 Greetings! Happy last full day of first grade. We had lots of fun cleaning and packing things away today. 

We began our day with our Annual Awards Ceremony. It was great to recognize the students for all of their hard work this year. They have grown so much! 

We came back to the classroom and had our final Math Meeting of the year. Then it was off to Music class. After that, it was time to clean. We emptied our desks and cubbies and helped clean away the dust bunnies. These students are great cleaners! 

After that work, it was time for some Popcorn Day fun. We sampled butter, cheddar, caramel, and kettle corn. The students voted on their favorites. We created a bar graph and answered questions about it. 

This afternoon the students enjoyed watching A Bug's Life and eating some more popcorn. 

I want to thank everyone who took time to read the classroom blog each day. I hope you found it beneficial to see what we did each day. Thank you so much for making this a fantastic year. I hope everyone has a wonderful summer. See you in August. 

~Miss Chalich

Popsicle Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! Today was a refreshing day in first grade. It was Popsicle Day! 

In Religion class today, we talked about the Blessed Trinity. We talked about how all Three Persons are equal. 

We finished our first grade memory book today. The students were excited to take them home and share them with you tonight. 

We wrapped up our Science lesson from yesterday by reviewing the needs of plants. 

We had our final Social Studies lesson of the year. Today we talked about different American symbols. We created a booklet that showcased 6 American symbols. 

After all that, it was time for Popsicle Fun! We began by learning how popsicles were invented. Did you know that an 11 year old boy invented the first popsicle? After that, we sorted facts and opinions about popsicles. Then, we reviewed place value concepts by creating a popsicle placemat. Finally, we drew a popsicle. 

This afternoon we had our ABC Celebration fun by exchanging autographs. The students signed their names on a picture frame. Once everyone signed the picture frames, I added a class picture for all to enjoy. 

We ended our day with board games. The students really enjoyed playing games with their friends. I loved seeing and learning new board games. Thank you for sending in the games. After we played the games, the students enjoyed their popsicle. It was another great day in first grade. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Watermelon Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Today was another exciting day in first grade! It was Watermelon Day! 

We began our day by going to Adoration. We spent quiet time with Jesus, praying to him, and asking him for a blessed summer. Please remember that Adoration continues during the summer months. Students are encouraged to visit the church on Tuesday mornings to spend some time with Jesus. 

We continued to work on our first grade memory book. Today, we wrote about what we liked to do at recess, what our favorite lunch was, and who are friends are. 

Our writing today had the students give suggestions on what I should do this summer. The students thought I should take a road trip, go to the beach, watch my nephew, and cut the grass. 

Our Watermelon Day festivities began with us learning about watermelons. We created a diagram showing the life cycle of the watermelon and a diagram showing the parts of the watermelon. We then sampled watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew melon. We voted on our favorite melon and created a picture graph. Finally, we answered questions about our graph. 

In Math class today, we practiced telling time to the nearest 5 minutes. We are getting ready for second grade math. 

We had our final Science lesson of the year. Today, we talked about why plants need sun and water to grow. 

We ended our day with some relay race fun; they got rained out last week. We teamed up with our 6th and 7th grade friends for our races. 

Have a great night! 

Our Final Week!

 Greetings! Welcome to the last week of first grade! It is going to be one exciting week! 

We began our day with Religion. Today, we talked about the Blessed Trinity. We learned that there are Three Persons in one God. To help us remember the Three Persons, we created a triangle ornament. I always love how this turns out. 

In Language Arts class, we began our First Grade Memory Book. We took time to write about things we have learned this year. 

We spent the rest of the morning having Lemonade Day Fun! First, we identified words as either a noun, verb, or adjective. Then, we wrote the steps in making lemonade. Finally, we sampled yellow and pink lemonade, voted for our favorite, and created a picture graph to show our favorite. After creating the graph, we answered questions about it. 

In Math class today, we reviewed adding and subtracting with and without regrouping. The students did a write the room activity to review this skill. 

Then, it was time for a summer writing project. The students wrote about what they plan to do this summer. We added it to a craft. 

And here is a picture from our final Art project on Friday! 

Have a marvelous night! 

A Day at the Beach!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a fantastic day to end their week. It is hard to believe that there is only one week of school left. 

At Mass today, Fr. Brian talked to us about loving God. 

We wrapped up our final week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear words and r-controlled syllable words. We wrote sentences using our sight words and took our weekly assessment. To help build our comprehension skills, we read a nonfiction piece about the 13 colonies and completed pages in our close reading companion. We also partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. Finally, we practiced finding adverbs that tell how in sentences. 

In Math class, we took our chapter test on money. Please remember to practice math facts over the summer! 

In Science class, we looked at how trees are able to stay in the ground during wind and rain. We learned that the roots, branches, and leaves help with this. 

We ended our day with our final Art class of the year. Today, we created a beach scene complete with sand and seashells. Once everything dries, I will post pictures. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

A Beary Special Day!

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

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on the Holy Spirit coming to the Apostles. We reviewed the events of Pentecost and what the Apostles did once they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and practiced reading r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear words, r-controlled syllable words, and our sight words. To build our fluency and comprehension, we read a nonfiction story called Happy Birthday USA where we learned about America's birthday. After reading the story, we wrote about the author's purpose. Finally, we practiced writing abbreviations correctly. 

In Math class today we reviewed money. We practiced counting a collection of coins, showing money amounts in various ways, and solving problems. Tomorrow we will take our chapter test. 

This afternoon we had a beary special event. Our ABC Celebration called for the students to bring in a favorite stuffed friend. With our furry friends, we had a tea party complete with gummy bears, Teddy grahams, and iced tea. We all had lots of fun! 

Have a great night! 

Gifts of the Holy Spirit!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. We created a poster to help us remember them. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by answering questions using our oral vocabulary words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear. Then, we learned how to blend and read words with a r-controlled syllable. Following that, we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on our fluency and comprehension; this week we are focusing on author's purpose. We reviewed the three different reasons why an author writes a story. We then reread our story from yesterday and wrote about the author's purpose. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using adverbs that tell how in sentences. We also wrote a narrative paragraph. I just loved reading them. They have grown so much in writing. They began barely able to write a sentence and now they are writing paragraphs! 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. The students did quite well reasoning what they know and what they needed to find out. 

For our ABC Celebration today, we had a special show and tell event. I loved seeing all of the special objects. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Fiesta Time!

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

In Religion class today, we began by reviewing the events of Pentecost. We talked about how the Apostles felt before the Holy Spirit came and how they felt after the Holy Spirit came. We then talked about the different symbols for the Holy Spirit. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about holidays. We began by learning our five new oral vocabulary words (display, pride, design, purpose, represent). We then worked on retelling as we read about the American flag. Following that we learned how to blend and read words with -air, -are, and -ear. Next, we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words. We put all our new learning together as we read Share the Harvest and Give Thanks. We ended the morning learning about adverbs that tell how. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice adding and subtracting money amounts. We practiced selecting items from a picture and adding them to find the cost and subtracting to find the change. 

We ended our day with our fiesta! We had so much fun breaking open a pinata and getting sprinkled with confetti eggs. I just loved seeing their smiles. 

Have a great night! 

Crowning Mary!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! 

In Religion class today, Fr. Brian came over and talked to the students about Baptism. We had a mock baptism as he explained using the holy oils, water, and words said during a Baptism. 

We wrapped up our week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read words with three letter blends, read and spelled words with inflectional endings, and wrote sentences using our sight words. We also worked on our fluency by partner reading a story in our decodable reader booklets. In addition, we read a nonfiction piece about origami and completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on main idea. Finally, we took our weekly assessment and practiced using the pronouns I and me in sentences. 

In Math class today, we practiced adding and subtracting money amounts. We add when we want to find the total. We subtract when we need to find out how much change we are getting. 

This afternoon we attended our annual May Crowning. We honor Mary as our Mother. The second grade led us in this prayer service and looked beautiful and handsome in their First Communion attire. 

For our ABC Celebration today, the students got to ask me questions. Some of them were trivia and some were wanting to know about things I like. 

Have a marvelous night! 

Hawk Walk 2024!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was an exciting day. It was our annual Hawk Walk Day! 

Before we participated in the festivities, we took our Spelling test, had our Math Meeting, and went to church. At Mass today, Fr. Brian reminded us about how Jesus is still present with us. 

Then, it was time for our Hawk Walk. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this year, but that did not dampen our spirits. We took a walk around the school. We played games in the cafeteria, got tattoos, jumped in a bounce house, played games in the gym, and ate popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy. We had a great day! Thanks to all of the parents who helped make this day such a success. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms. Enjoy your day! 

Have a great weekend! 

Origami Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Today was a busy day in first grade. 

Today was Ascension Thursday, so we headed to church this morning. Today, Fr. Brian talked to us about Jesus still being here with us in the Eucharist. 

After Mass and a trip to the library, it was time to dive into Language Arts. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading words with three letter blends, our sight words, and our vocabulary words. We also practiced spelling and reading words with inflectional endings. To help build our fluency and comprehension, we read Lissy's Friends. After reading the story, we wrote about its theme. Finally, we practiced using I and me in sentences. 

This afternoon we were treated to the annual 8th grade talent show. We enjoyed all of the skits and hard work put into making this show. 

After the show, we had Math class. Today, we practiced counting a collection of coins with friends. 

Finally, it was time for our ABC Celebration. Today, we learned about origami and made a dog by folding paper. We really enjoyed it! 

As promised, here are pictures of our caterpillars and butterflies we made in Art class. Enjoy! 

Please remember that our Hawk Walk is tomorrow. Pray for no rain! Have a great night! 

Special Science Class!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about Pentecost. We learned that this is the day the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles. We learned that they heard a strong when, saw flames of fire above their heads, and were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

In Language Arts class, we practiced using our oral vocabulary words by answering questions with them. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read three letter blend words. Following that, we reviewed inflectional endings with three letter blend words. Then, we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on comprehension; this week we are focusing on theme. We reread A Spring Birthday and wrote about its theme. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using I and me in sentences. We also wrote a narrative paragraph about a day we spent with our mom. 

In Math class today, we used our coins to show various money amounts. The students are getting really good at counting coins. 

We had a special Science class today. We started our unit on plants. We talked about the parts of plants and how seedlings have some characteristics of the adult plants. We used our detective eyes to match seedlings with adult plants. 

Have a great night! 

Music Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great day! We were back to a normal day of learning in first grade. 

In Religion class, we wrapped up our chapter on Jesus' Ascension into Heaven and on his giving the Apostles their Great Commission. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about family traditions. We began by learning our five new oral vocabulary words (effort, tradition, ancient, drama, and movement). We then worked on visualizing as we read about different ethnic dances. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with three letter blends. Then, we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words. After all that, it was time to put everything together; we read A Spring Birthday. After reading our story, we learned how to use I and me in sentences and wrote a narrative paragraph about our field trip yesterday. 

In Math class today, we learned how to count a collection of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. We used our coins in class to help us count. 

For our ABC Celebration today, Mr. Neff joined us with his guitar. We enjoyed singing songs with him. 

Have a great night! 

Field Trip Day!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Today was an exciting day in first grade. It was Field Trip day! We took the learning outside the classroom walls! 

We headed to Discovery Space in State College for a day of hands-on learning. This science based children's museum was wonderful. The students got to build a roller coaster, create a tornado, dig for fossils, build Lego cars and race them, make music, and so much more. 

I loved watching the students problem solve and use their creativity today. I also loved seeing all of the smiles. It was a wonderful day. I'm sure they will sleep well tonight. 

Have a great night! 

Butterfly Art!

 Greetings! I hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start. We had a great day yesterday to wrap up another week of learning. 

At Mass, Fr. Brian talked to us about how we know that God truly exists. We also welcomed the four new priests to our diocese. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences. We participated in a write the room activity to review silent letter words. We also wrote sentences using our sight words and took our weekly assessment. Finally, we wrote a narrative paragraph about a day at recess. 

In Math class, we learned about the quarter. We practiced exchanging a quarter for different coins. 

In Science class, we talked about how the stars can guide us at night. We learned about the Big Dipper and how we can find the North Star if we find the Big Dipper. 

Finally, it was time for Art class. Today, we made a butterfly. We painted a paper towel roll for the middle. Then, we painted the wings of our butterfly. I'll post pictures next week. 

Have a great rest of your weekend! 

Coin Counters!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great week. We sure are in first grade! 

In Religion today, we talked about how we can wait for Jesus' second coming. We talked about how we can be kind to others, pray, and attend Mass. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and read silent letter words and compound words. To help build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about stormy weather; after reading that we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced finding special pronouns in sentences. 

In Math class today, we reviewed how to count a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. The students completed a write the room activity where they walked around the room, found a card, and counted the coins on it. 

We finished our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about how goods get to market. We also talked about what laws are and who makes them. 

Thank you so much for sending in the jokes today. We have some future comedians! 

Have a great night! 

Ink Writing Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! Happy May! It is hard to believe that we are entering the final month of the school year. Wow, did that go fast! 

In Religion class today, we talked about Jesus' Ascension into heaven. We talked about how he ascended both body and soul and how he promised to send the Holy Spirit to his Apostles. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read words with silent letters, compound words, and our sight words. We also learned about similes and wrote similes using the color of the rainbow. Then our focus switched to fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Rain School. After reading this story we wrote cause and effect examples from it. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced adding commas in a letter and identifying special pronouns. 

In Math class today, we used our coins to show various amounts. The students were given an amount and used their coins to show various ways on making it. 

Thank you for sending in the ink pens today. We had fun writing with them. Don't forget your joke for tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Money Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the sunshine today. It was hard to come in from recess today. 

We began our day by attending Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying to Jesus and praying the rosary. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by answering questions using our oral vocabulary words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with the silent letters kn, gn, and wr. Then, we practiced reading and defining compound words. Following that, we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning focused on comprehension; this week we are practicing cause and effect. We reread Wrapped in Ice and wrote cause and effect examples from the story. We then read our decodable reader and identified whether a sentence was a cause or effect. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned about special pronouns, words like anybody, anyone, everyone, everything, nothing, somebody. We practiced using them in sentences. 

In Math class, we practiced counting a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. The students enjoyed using the coins to practice counting money. 

Have a great night! 

Pictionary Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone is doing well. It was good to be back today! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Jesus spent 40 days with his Apostles after he rose from the dead. He prepared them to go out and baptize people. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading stories about different types of weather. We began by learning our five new oral vocabulary words (cycle, predict, creative, frigid, and scorching). After that we worked on visualizing as we heard a story about Paul Bunyan. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with silent letters kn, gn, and wr. We ended our morning learning our new sight words and vocabulary words. 

This afternoon, we read Wrapped in Ice, which helped us practice the skills we learned this morning. We also practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. 

We began a new chapter in Math class today; this chapter focuses on money. Today, we identified the penny, nickel, and dime. We talked about how much each one is worth. We then practiced counting the coins separately. Tomorrow, we will combine them and count them. 

For our ABC Celebration today, we took a break from learning and played Pictionary. The students are very good at this game and had fun drawing on the board. 

Have a great night! 

Dance Celebration!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a great day and dodged the raindrops today. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on Jesus beginning the church. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read words with the vowel variants a, al, au, augh, and aw, vowel team syllable words, and our sight words. We also spent time today learning about antonyms. To practice identifying antonyms, the students went fishing. The used a "fishing pole" to catch antonym pairs. 

After our antonyms practice, we spent time working on our fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Meet Rosina from our literature anthology. After reading this story, we wrote about the author's purpose for writing it. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. We also spent time developing our writing skills. We read Owl Moon and used that story as a guide to write a personal narrative paragraph. We also did some creative writing. We pretended we were a bug and wrote about what we would do, what we have, and what we can do. We added a bug craft to our writing. 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems with graphs. I was amazed at how well the children could explain their thinking today. 

We ended our day with our ABC Celebration. Today, we had a dance party, dancing to classic hits like the Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, and YMCA. 

Have a great night! 

Helping Earth!

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

In Religion class today, we reviewed the Apostolic succession. We talked about how Jesus is the leader of the church, how the pope is the visual leader of the church, and how the bishops carry on the work of the Apostles. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by answering questions using our oral vocabulary words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read vowel variant au, al, a, augh, and aw words. Following that, we learned how to blend and read vowel team syllable words. Then, we practiced using our sight words and vocabulary words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on building our comprehension; this week we are focusing on author's purpose. We made a pie to help us learn the three reasons why an author writes a story: P (persuade), I (inform), E (entertain). Using that knowledge we reread our story from yesterday and talked about why the author wrote it. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice making tally graphs and picture graphs. Today, we pulled a colored linking cube from a bag and recorded the color using a tally mark. We repeated this 12 times. Using our tally chart data, we made a picture graph. Then, we noted observations about our graph. We are really enjoying graphs! 

For our ABC celebration today, we focused on crafts. We made a Lorax Earth and wrote about a way we can help our planet. 

Have a terrific night! 

The Marks of the Church!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Happy Earth Day! I hope everyone had a great start to their week. 

In Religion class today, we learned about the four marks of the church. We learned that the church is one (there is only one church), holy (created by Jesus), Catholic (universal), and Apostolic (teachings have been passed down for centuries). We created a poster to help us remember them. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about people who help us. We began by learning our five new oral vocabulary words (inspire, distance, swiftly, decision, and respect). We then worked on rereading for details as we listened to a folktale about how the moon was put in the sky. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with the vowel variant au, a, al, aw, and augh. Next, we learned our new sight words and vocabulary words for the week. Then it was time to practice our skills as we read All Kinds of Helpers. We finished the morning by learning about possessive pronouns. 

In honor of Earth Day, we read The Lorax and talked about ways to help the Earth. We sorted examples based on whether they help the Earth or not. We glue them on a trunk of a Truffula tree. We will continue our Earth Day celebration tomorrow. 

In Math class today, we learned how to make a tally graph. We first illustrated our favorite sport. Then, we sorted our pictures. We counted each group and made tally marks showing how many liked each sport. Using our tally graph, we made a picture graph to show our data. Finally, we answered questions based on our data. 

We ended our day with our ABC Celebration. Today, we played BINGO while sitting on our beach towels. We had lots of fun! 

Have a marvelous night! 

ABC Celebration!

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

At Mass today, we heard about the importance of the Eucharist. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. We even had time to play "Stinky Feet"; the students love cleaning the feet by correctly reading the words and scoring points. I was amazed at how fast they read the words. 

In Math class today, we continued to focus on picture graphs. Today, we made our own picture graph. Each student was given a bag of linking cubes. They took one cube out of the bag and graphed their result; they each got to do this 10 times. When everyone was finished, we spent time talking about our data. 

In Science class today, we talked about why we can't see the stars during the day time. We made a star gazer cup and used our flashlights to project the Big Dipper. Then a partner used his/her flashlight as the sun. We observed what happens when the sun comes up and goes down. 

Thank you to everyone who made paper airplanes today. The students had fun launching them inside and outside today. Our ABC Celebration continues next week. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we painted a caterpillar on a leaf using paper towel rolls. The students did such a nice job with this. I'll be posting pictures next week once the paint has dried. 

Here are pictures from the tulips we made last week. They look so pretty in our classroom! 

Have a great weekend! 

Picture Graphs!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how Jesus works through the Pope and priests to help the church grow and teach others about Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read words with oo, u, u_e, ew, ue, ui, and ou along with words with suffixes. We also practiced identifying synonyms; we generated a list of synonyms for the word big. We then wrote 4 of them on cinnamon rolls. To help us build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader. We also read a nonfiction piece about how people worked together to make the world better. After reading that piece we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced using pronouns in sentences. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on graphs. Today, we focused on picture graphs. We looked at picture graphs and answered questions about them. We then created our very own picture graph on our favorite fruit. The students did a great job with this! 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about how a factory is one place where goods are made. We also talked about how people work in a factory to earn money. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Pronoun Patch!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful day and was able to dodge the raindrops. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Jesus chose Peter to be the leader of the Apostles and how Peter became the first Pope. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read words with oo, u, u_e, ew, ui, ue, and ou and words with the suffixes -ful and -less. We also practiced reading our sight words and vocabulary words. We spent some time today learning about synonyms. We played a game where the students had to quickly find the synonym to a given word; the students loved this. We also spent time today working on our fluency and comprehension skills. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklet. We also read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. After reading the story we wrote about its theme and completed pages in our close reading companion which focused on key details from the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using pronouns in sentences. We also created a pronoun flower. We wrote the pronouns and examples of a noun that a pronoun could take the place of. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on adding and subtracting with and without regrouping. Tomorrow we will begin our chapter on graphs. 

Have a great night!