Filling Our Buckets!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a nice day. 

Because of our special guests tomorrow, we had our weekly Mass today. Fr. Brian reminded us to call upon Jesus and Mary. We also prayed a special prayer for our country. 

After Mass, we held our annual Peacekeeper Program. Today, we talked about filling one another's invisible bucket. We talked about different ways to show kindness. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and practiced reading short i words and words with final double consonants. To help us build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a story about a girl in the city. Finally, we practiced writing sentences in correct word order. 

This afternoon we worked on our writing skills. We wrote about what we like to do in the fall and added it to a craft. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice writing addition sentences for pictures. 

We ended our day with Gym class. We enjoyed our time playing and running in the sun. 

Here are some pictures from our latest Art projects. 

Have a great night! 

Literacy Centers!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how Heaven comes to earth each time we celebrate Mass and go to Adoration. 

We began Language Arts by working in our literacy centers. Students rotated between phonics practice, sight word practice, and fluency practice. They loved each station and had fun working on building their reading skills. 

After that, we dove into our Language Arts learning. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading short i words and words that end in double consonants, and read our sight words. To help us build our fluency, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklet. We also read Go, Pip. After reading this story, we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on characterization. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing sentences in correct word order. 

In Math class today, we practiced writing addition sentences by looking at a picture and telling the number story. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Our First Adoration!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful early fall day today! 

Today marked another first in first grade. We went to Adoration for the first time. Because it was our first time at Adoration, we went to the cry room so that we could talk about what Adoration is and how we pray during Adoration. After talking about it, we spent some quiet time with Jesus. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday, and then learned three more new words (bored, feast, scurried). Next, we worked on visualization as we listened to "City Mouse, Country Mouse." Following that, we used our letter tiles to spell and read short i words. Then, we practiced reading words with double final consonants, words like miss, hill, mitt, and jazz. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focusing on our comprehension skills. We reread Six Kids. We then wrote about what could not happen in real life and about the characters. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced writing sentences in correct word order. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on addition. We introduced addition sentences today. 

Have a great night! 

Unscrambling Sentences!

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

We began our day with Religion. Today we practiced making the Sign of the Cross. We also talked about how the Sign of the Cross is a reminder to us that Jesus opened the gates of heaven when he died on the cross. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about where we live. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (city and country). Next, we read Alicia's Happy Day and visualized the events in the story. Following that, we learned how to blend and read short i words. After that, we learned our new sight words (down, out, up, very). We ended our morning by reading Six Kids which helped us practice reading short i words and our sight words in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we talked about making sure our sentences had correct word order. The students enjoyed unscrambling sentences and writing them with correct word order. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on the numbers to 10. Tomorrow we will begin our chapter on adding to 10. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about being helpers in our families and in our classroom. We listed all kinds of jobs we can do to help our families and our classroom. 

Have a wonderful night! 

A Day of Firsts!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was a day of firsts in first grade. 

At Mass this morning, we remembered St. Mother Teresa. We also celebrated First Friday and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

We wrapped up our first week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences and practiced reading short a words and words that end in -s. We then wrote sentences using our sight words. Finally, we took our first weekly assessment of the year. After lunch we had our first Spelling test! 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. The children did a great job of listening and were easily able to draw more or less than a number. 

In Science class today, we talked about animal traits. We talked about how some babies look like both parents. Using a penny, we drew traits of a puppy based on whether we dropped a heads or a tails. It took a bit of listening to do this, but they had fun. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today was our first painting day of the year. We sponge painted an owl. We will need to finish it on Monday once the paint dries. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Seesaw Practice!

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

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

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced spelling and reading short a words and words that end in -s, and practiced our sight words. To help build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about why we have rules. Finally, we reviewed sentences. We practiced sorting examples into whether they were sentences or not. We also practiced writing sentences with capital letters and periods. 

In Math class today, we reviewed the numbers to 10. We practiced counting, identifying more or less than a number, and comparing numbers. 

We ended our day with some tablet time. We logged into Seesaw and practiced typing and moving objects. 

Don't forget library is tomorrow. Have a great night! 

Fun in the Sun!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week and is enjoying the weather. It was so hard to come inside today. 

In Religion class, we talked about heaven. We talked about how God lives there and how it is more beautiful than anything we have ever seen. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and practiced reading short a words and words ending in -s. We also practiced reading our sight words. To help us build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Nat and Sam. After reading that story, we wrote about the characters and how they felt. 

With the weather being so nice today, we headed outside today for an early Gym class. We wanted to soak up the sun as long as we could. We will have our Music class tomorrow. 

In Math class today, we continued working with number bonds. We practiced splitting a whole into two parts. We also practiced finding a part when given the whole and the other part. 

Have a great night! 

Number Bonds!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. It seems that many enjoyed going to the fair. 

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

We began our Language Arts class by reviewing the oral vocabulary words we learned last week and then learned three new words (common, object, and recognize). We then worked on visualizing as we read a nonfiction piece about schools around the world. Following that, we used our letter folders to build and spell short a words; the students loved using them. After that, we learned how to blend and read words with the ending -s. We ended our morning by practicing using our sight words in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we reread Jack Can. We then wrote about the characters in the story and what they did. 

In Math class today, we learned about number bonds. We looked at a picture and told an addition story for it. We then broke the whole into two smaller parts. We will continue our work with number bonds tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

Pencil People!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a fantastic day to end our first full week of school! 

At Mass this morning, we remembered John the Baptist. 

We continued with our first grade learning in Language Arts. We reviewed short a words by matching words to pictures. We also practiced our sight words. Then it was time to read Jack Can. Here we practiced reading short a words and our sight words in sentences. Finally, we talked about what makes a good sentence (capital letter, makes sense, period) and practiced telling what is a sentence. 

In Math class today, we practiced finding 1 less than a number. We also practiced showing how we know this. 

We had our first Science class today. We really enjoyed it! Today, we talked about animal traits. We looked at the traits of baby animals to help match them to the adults. 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we created a pencil person. They are going to look great in our classroom! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Beginning to Learn to Read!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about prayer. We learned that prayer is talking to and listening to God. We also talked about how God wanted to hear from us each and every day. 

We began our first week of learning in Language Arts; the children are so excited to begin to learn how to read. 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. After that, we practiced blending and reading short a words. Finally, we learned our new sight words (does, not, school, what). 

In Math class today, we learned how to find 1 more than a number. We enjoyed pulling a number cards from a bag and writing the number that is 1 more than it. 

For Gym today, we headed outside. It was great running around the playground with friends. 

We ended our day with Technology. Today, we practiced logging into our Chromebooks and completing a Seesaw activity. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Wrapping Up Our Review!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week and the early fall weather. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how we need to thank God for the gifts he has given us. We also reviewed the Our Father. 

We wrapped up our review of the letters and sight words today. We reviewed u, g, w, x, v, q, j, y, and z. We also practiced reading the words and, have, see, said, was, she, with, for. After all of this, we are ready to begin first grade reading tomorrow! 

We finished up our discussion of what it means to be a fantastic first grader. Today, we talked about the difference between tattling and telling. 

In Math class today, we practiced identifying the greater or less number in a set. The students enjoyed using their whiteboards for this. 

Have a great night! 

Continuing Our Review!

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

In Religion class today we talked about the gifts God created. We talked about how God created us because he loves us. 

We continued with our review of the alphabet today. Today we reviewed the letters d, h, e, b, l, k, and ck. We also practiced the words where, here, play, the, we, are, and me. 

We also continued to talk about what it means to be a fantastic first grader. Today, we talked about what not to do instead of shouting out. 

In Math class today, we practiced identifying how many more we had when we compared two numbers. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about our families and what we like to do with our families. 

Have a great night! 

Our First Full Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Today was a great start to our first full week of school. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how God is our Father who is in Heaven. 

We continued our review of the letters and their sounds. Today, we focused on n, r, i, c, f, o. We also practiced reading the following sight words: go, a, has, this is, my, little, look. 

This afternoon we read Only One Me. We talked about how each one of us is unique and special. We wrote about things we like. We are adding it to a craft. 

We did take time today to continue our talk about what it means to be fantastic first graders. Today, we focused on what good listeners do. 

In Math class today, we used our linking cubes to compare two numbers. We identified them when they were the same or when a group had more or fewer. 

Have a great night! 

What a Start!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end the week! We are loving First Grade! 

Today, we had our first Mass of the year. Fr. Brian talked to us about turning to Mary when things get tough. We also celebrated Mary being crown by Jesus as Queen of Heaven and Earth. 

We began our kindergarten review today. We reviewed the following letters and their sounds: s, m, a, p, t. We also reviewed 6 of the sight words we learned in kindergarten: I, like, do, to, you, he, and can. 

We continued to talk about what makes us fantastic first graders. Today we talked about good choices we can make. 

In Math class, we practiced counting from 0-10 and from 10-0. 

We ended our day with our first Art class of the year. Today, we created a name crayon. The students did very well listening and following directions to put their crayon together. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Back in Action!

 Greetings! Welcome to First Grade! I am so excited that you have taken the time to read our classroom blog. I will post nightly on the daily happenings in our classroom. I hope you enjoy reading what we learned during our day. 

We began our day by unpacking and creating a first grade crown. 

Then, we read You're Finally Here. We then wrote about what we did over the summer instead of coming to school. 

After that, we had our first Math Meeting. Every day, we will gather to review concepts related to the calendar, place value, graphing, and counting money. 

We finished our morning by reading The Pigeon Has to Go to School. We wrote about what we hope to learn this year. 

This afternoon we practiced writing our numbers and counting to 10. We visited church to review how we go to church. Finally, we took time to learn what it means to be respectful. 

Have a great night! 

And Then There Was One

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! It is hard to believe that today was our last full day of first grade. We had lots of fun today! 

We began our day with Religion. Today, we reviewed the events of Pentecost and talked about different symbols of the Holy Spirit. 

Then, we had our last theme day of the year. Today we celebrated popcorn! We learned how popcorn comes to be. We practice reading words with digraphs. Then, we wrote about what we are looking forward to learning in second grade. Finally, it was time to taste test popcorn. The students sampled butter, cheese, caramel, and kettle popcorn. We voted on our favorite and answered questions about our graph. 

This afternoon, we relaxed and watched Big Hero 6. It was a great way to end a great year. 

I wish to thank all of you for taking the time to read our classroom blog. It has been a joy working with this group of students. They have grown so much. May you all have a wonderful summer. See you in the fall! 

~Miss Chalich 

Popsicle Day!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was a great day to end what has been a fabulous week! 

At Mass today, Fr. Brian gave thanks for a great school year. He also reminded us that summer is not a time to take a vacation from God. 

After Mass, it was time for us to celebrate popsicles. We began by learning about how popsicles were invented. Then, we sorted sentences about popsicles based on whether they were a fact or opinion. After that, we wrote about what made this a "cool" school year. Following that, the students selected a number and then spelled out the number, wrote it in expanded form, and drew a picture of it. Finally, the students drew their own popsicle. 

In Math today, we continued to practice solving money word problems. Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts over the summer. 

In Science class, we talked about what a plant needs to survive. 

In Art class, we made a popsicle using tissue paper. 

And, after all of the hard work, we ended our day with a popsicle treat! 

Have a wonderful weekend! See you on Tuesday! 

Awards Day and Stuffed Animal Day!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Today was an exciting day in first grade. It was Awards Day and Stuffed Animal Day! 

We began our day with our Awards Program. The students were quite excited to be recognized for all of their hard work. I am so proud of how hard they have worked this year. 

We came back to our classroom and began our day of learning and fun. In Religion class, we learned about Pentecost. We talked about how the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles. 

Then, it was time for some stuffed animal fun! We began by writing about our stuffed friend. We added a page topper to our writing. Next, we became detectives and used our inferencing skills to find out which bear stole the honey. Then, we graphed gummy bears and discussed the data on our graphs. Finally, we colored various patterns. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving real world money problems. This was a great opportunity to review adding and subtracting with and without regrouping. 

In Science class today, we learned about the parts of a plant and why they help a plant survive. 

We ended our day with a special picnic completed with Teddy Grahams, gummy bears, and iced tea. We enjoyed the special treats with all of our friends. 

Have a great night! 

Watermelon Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! Today was another great and fun day in first grade! It was Watermelon Day! 

In Religion class today, we talked about how we can prepare for Jesus' second coming. We talked about praying, going to Mass, serving others, and being kind to one another. 

We really enjoyed our Watermelon Day fun! We began by learning about the life cycle of a watermelon. Next, we talked about the different parts of a watermelon. Following that, we read The Watermelon Seed and wrote about the problem and how it was solved. Finally, we created a giant watermelon by weaving strips of paper. We took our time and they turned out great! 

This afternoon, after all of our hard work, we got to enjoy a piece of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew melon. We then created a graph to show our favorite melon. 

In Math class today, we reviewed counting quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. 

We ended our day with our Summer Countdown. Today, Mr. Neff joined us for a music sing-a-long. 

Have a great night! 

Lemonade Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Today was Lemonade Day in first grade. We celebrated all things lemon! 

In Religion class today, we talked about Jesus going up to Heaven. We learned that this is called the Ascension. We also talked about how Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. 

In Math class today, we again used our coins to show various money amounts. The students are doing a great job at using a variety of coins to show the amounts. 

Then, it was time for some lemon fun! We began by doing a math write-the-room activity. The students walked around and identified the various shapes on cards. Next, the students worked in groups to sort words based on whether they were real words or not. Following that, we learned about the life cycle of lemons. After all of that work, it was time to sample some lemonade. The students tried both regular lemonade and pink lemonade. We voted for our favorite, and pink lemonade won. Finally, we wrote the steps in making lemonade. 

We ended our day with our "Up to the Challenge" game break. The students enjoyed playing the various board and card games. I added a few games to my list. Thank you for sending in the games. 

Have a great night! 

Beach Day Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! It is hard to believe that we are entering our final full week of the year. We are going to have a great week reviewing what we learned and having fun along the way. 

In Religion class today, we talked about Jesus' Great Commission to his Apostles: to go and baptize people. We also reviewed the sacrament of Baptism. 

Each day this week will have a theme. Today's theme was Beach Day! The majority of our learning centered about beach themes. We read the story There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell. After reading the story, we sequenced the objects she ate. We then sorted beach-theme words based on whether they named a noun, verb, or adjective. Following that, we worked in centers where we added the correct punctuation to sentences, identified the number of syllables in words, and found 10 more and 10 less than a number. We ended our morning by water coloring bookmarks. 

In Math class today, we reviewed counting a collection of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. We then used our coins to show various money amounts. 

After Math, it was time to return to Beach Day fun! We completed a write-the-room activity that helped us review telling time and adding and subtracting. We then wrote about what we like to do in the summer. Finally, we sprawled out on beach towels, donned our shades, and read a book! 

Have a great night! 

Fun in the Sun!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end the week. It is hard to believe that we only have one more full week of school left. 

At Mass today, Fr. Brian reminded us that when we trust in the Lord, everything will be ok. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, practiced reading r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear and r-controlled syllable words, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice counting a collection of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. 

In Science class, we started our unit on plants. We learned that young plants have some of the same characteristics as adult plants. We looked at pictures of seedlings and adult plants and matched them up. 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we created our very own beach scene using real sand and seashells. We are getting ready for summer! 

Here are pictures from this week's art project along with last week's. 

Have a great weekend! 

American Symbols!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a nice day. 

In Religion class, we talked about how Jesus stayed with his Apostles for 40 days preparing them to be leaders once he went up to heaven. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading words with r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear and words with r-controlled syllables, and practiced reading our sight words. To help us build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction story about the Fourth of July, Happy Birthday USA. After reading that story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing Companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced finding adverbs that tell how in sentences. 

In Math class today, we used our coins to practice counting quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. We are slowly getting the hang of it. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about various American symbols. 

Have a great night!

Learning about Baptism!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone enjoyed their day! 

For Religion class today, we headed over to church where Fr. Brian talked to us about the sacrament of Baptism. He guided us through a mock baptism. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We answered questions using our oral vocabulary words. Then, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear. After that, we practiced reading words with r-controlled syllables. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Next, we learned our vocabulary words (nation and unite) and practiced writing sentences using the words. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread Share the Harvest and Give Thanks. Then, we wrote examples of how people celebrate the harvest and wrote about the author's purpose. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using adverbs that tell how in sentences. We also did some creative writing. We pretended we were bugs and wrote about what we would do. 

In Math class today, we introduced the quarter. We learned that the quarter is worth 25 cents. We then spent time making 25 cents using just dimes, nickels, and pennies. Tomorrow we will begin learning how to count all 4 coins. 

Have a great night! 

Writers We Are!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Today was back to learning in the classroom. We really enjoyed our day of learning outside the classroom yesterday! 

We began our day by attending Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying and asking Jesus to help us have a good day of learning. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about holidays. We began by learning our oral vocabulary words (display, pride, represent, design, purpose). We then worked on retelling as we read a story about the American flag. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with r-controlled -air, -are, and -ear, words like chair, care, and bear. Next, we learned our new sight words (favorite, few, gone, surprise, wonder, young). We ended our morning by reading Share the Harvest and Give Thanks which helped us practice our new words we learned. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced finding adverbs that tell how in sentences. We also wrote a narrative paragraph about our field trip. I couldn't help but smile as I read the paragraphs. The students have come so far as writers this year. 

In Math class today, we reviewed counting a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. We also reviewed using the coins to show various amounts. Tomorrow we will add the quarter. 

Have a great night! 

Field Trip Day!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Happy Field Trip Day! I'm sure the children were excited this morning to get up for our field trip! They were excited when they made it to the classroom this morning!

We boarded our bus first thing this morning for our trip to State College. The students were very excited to be riding a school bus. 

Once we got to Discovery Space, we entered their giant classroom for our Chemistry lessons. We learned about chemical and physical reactions. The students created a density tube using water and oil. They also filled a balloon with baking soda then stretched the balloon over a bottle filled with vinegar. They loved seeing the balloon inflate when the baking soda was mixed with the vinegar. Finally, we made slime! 

After our Chemistry lesson, it was time to explore the exhibit floor. We had fun digging for dinosaur bones, creating a tornado, reporting on the weather, creating a roller coaster, and so much more. 

The children had a blast. A lot fell asleep on our way home! 

Have a great night! 

Fiesta Day!

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

At Mass this morning, we continued to pray for our new pope. 

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. 

After all of that, we had our fiesta. We had fun breaking open a pinata and cracking open the confetti eggs. 

In Math class today, we continued to use our coins to show various amounts. We are doing very well with counting dimes, nickels, and pennies. 

Because of the election of a new pope yesterday, we were not able to get in our Social Studies class. So, we had it today. We talked about how government officials pass laws to keep us safe. 

In Science class, we talked about how the North Star can help guide us at night. We also talked about how to find the North Star. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today we created a cool sun. The students enjoyed designed sunglasses for our sun to wear. We then used forks to paint the sun's rays. 

Have a great weekend! 

White Smoke!

 Greetings on this historic day! We had a great day in first grade. 

We were quite excited to hear about the white smoke. The kids were asking all morning about it. We did our best to watch a live feed from the Vatican. Unfortunately, we were not able to see it live, but we did watch videos of the new pope. We pray for Pope Leo XIV that he may guide the church following the Gospel values. 

Aside from a new pope, it was a usual day of learning in first grade. 

In Religion class today, we reviewed the 7 sacraments and were reminded that we receive God's grace in each one of them. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading and spelling words with three letter blends and words with inflectional endings. To build our fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about origami. After completing pages in our Reading/Writing Companion that corresponded to the origami story, we made a folded shape of our own. We turned a square into a dog! Finally, we practiced using pronouns in sentences. 

In Math class today, we used our coins to show a given money amount. The students did a great job with this! 

This afternoon, we attended our annual May Crowning. On this historic day, it was appropriate to honor Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. 

Have a great night! 

Papal Conclave!

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

The children have been very interested about the papal conclave. It probably helps that we are learning about Apostolic succession in Religion class. All day, they kept asking me if there was any smoke. I love their excitement! 

In Religion class today, we learned the four marks of the church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. One is for the one church, Holy because Jesus found it; catholic because it is for everyone; apostolic because we continue the church today! 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading words with three letter blends, and practiced spelling and reading words with inflectional endings. We also practiced reading our sight words and vocabulary words. To help build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable readers. We also read Lissy's Friends. After reading that story, we talked about its theme and completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on characterization. 

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

In Math class today, we practiced counting a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. We are getting very good with this! 

This afternoon we were treated to the 8th grade talent show. We really enjoyed watching the various skits. 

Have a good night! 

Counting Money!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice day. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how priests, bishops, and the pope celebrate the sacraments. By celebrating the sacraments, we receive grace in a special way. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by answering questions using our oral vocabulary words. Then we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with three letter blends. Following that, we reviewed adding inflectional endings onto words; we practiced spelling and reading words with inflectional endings. Next, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. After that, we learned our vocabulary words for the week (difficult and nobody) and wrote sentences using those words. Finally, we focused on our comprehension skills. We reread A Spring Birthday and wrote about what happens in the story that could really happen and wrote about the story's theme. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using pronouns in sentences. We also wrote a narrative paragraph about our Hawk Walk. 

In Math class today, we practiced counting a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. We used our coins to help us count. 

Have a great night! 

The First Week of May!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a marvelous day to start this first full week of May. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Jesus gave Peter the keys to heaven and how Peter became the first pope. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about traditions. We began by learning our new oral vocabulary words (effort, tradition, ancient, drama, and movement). We then worked on retelling as we read about different cultural dances. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with three letter blends, words like scrape, splash, shred, three, and sprint. After that, we learned our new sight words (before, front, heard, push, tomorrow, your). We ended our morning by reading A Spring Birthday which helped us practice our new skills. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned how to use the pronouns I and me in sentences. We also learned about narrative paragraphs. We read Owl Moon and used the story as we wrote a narrative paragraph. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on money. We learned the value of a penny, nickel, and dime. We practiced counting each coin separately. Tomorrow, we will count a collection of coins. 

Have a good night! 

Hawk Walk Day!

 Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Friday was a fun, tiring day to end the week. 

We began our day with Mass. We welcomed Fr. David from St. Francis. He talked to us about how Jesus can always satisfy our hunger when we receive him in the Eucharist. 

After Mass, it was time for our Hawk Walk. Thankfully, the rain held off and we were able to enjoy a nice walk around town. When we returned to the school, we went to the cafeteria for some games. We enjoyed golfing, playing cornhole, participating in sack races, and getting a tattoo. 

After lunch, we headed to the gym for some more activities. We tried knocking bottles over without using our hands, popped balloons, and played volleyball. 

Then we returned to the cafeteria for our snack of popcorn and an ice push up. 

We had a blast today! The children were tired by the end of the day. The room was silent as we watched a Wild Kratts video on polar bears. 

Enjoy your Sunday! 

Resurrection Scenes!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully, everyone's power is back on. 

In Religion class, we wrapped up our chapter on Easter. We reviewed how Jesus rose from the dead both body and soul on Easter, how grace was restored, and how we will one day be with him in Heaven. We also created our own Resurrection scene. I always love the creativity the children show when doing this project. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences and read words with silent letters and compound words. Then, we wrote sentences using our sight words. To build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about stormy weather and completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on main idea and key details from the story. Finally, we took our weekly assessment and identified special pronouns in sentences. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on graphs. Next week, we will begin our chapter on money. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about how goods get to market. 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is our Hawk Walk. Have a great night! 

A Wacky, Wonderful Wednesday!

 Greetings! Today was sure a wacky Wednesday. But it was still a wonderful day of learning. I hope everyone is safe. 

Our day began with no lights, but the lights were quickly restored. I think the students were bummed about that. They were looking forward to learning by sunlight. We completed our Math Meeting, Spelling, and Penmanship lessons using the sunlight. 

After an early lunch and extended recess, it was time to get to work. We began with Math class. We reviewed how to interpret data from picture graphs and tally charts. We are ready for our Math test tomorrow. 

We spent the rest of the day in Language Arts. We began by reviewing our oral vocabulary words. Next, we practiced reading words with silent letters and compound words. Then, we reviewed our vocabulary words, similes, and our sight words. After that, it was time to build our fluency and comprehension. We read Rain School, a realistic fiction story about a school in Africa. Then we completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on cause and effect. Finally, we practiced using special pronouns in sentences. 

Even though our day started late and a bit unusual, it turned out to be a great learning day! Have a great night! 

Sun and Storms!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine today before the storms came. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how our grace was restored when Jesus rose to new life. We also talked about how we need to take care of this gift by praying and going to Mass. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We answered questions using our oral vocabulary words. We then used our letter tiles to spell and read words with silent letters. After that, we reviewed how to blend and read compound words. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Next, we learned our vocabulary words for the week: country and gathers; we practiced writing sentences using those words. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread Wrapped in Ice. Then, we talked about what certain dialogues mean and found cause and effect examples in the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using special pronouns in sentences. We also talked about similes and wrote a rainbow of similes. Finally, the students wrote their very own persuasive paragraph! 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems with graphs. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Book Fair Day!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how we celebrate Easter every time we celebrate Mass. We also looked at the four parts of the Mass. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about how the weather affects us. We began by learning our new oral vocabulary words (cycle, predict, creative, frigid, and scorching). We then worked on visualizing as we read a story about Paul Bunyan. After that, we learned how to blend and read words with the silent letters kn, wr, and gn. We ended our morning by learning our new sight words (been, children, month, question, their, and year). 

After learning our sight words, we headed to the Book Fair. The children had lots of fun shopping for books! 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we read Wrapped in Ice which helped us practice reading words with silent letters and our sight words in sentences. We also talked about special pronouns, words like anything and everybody. Finally, we wrote a persuasive paragraph on why we love the zoo. 

In Math class today, we continued our look at tally graphs. We began by reviewing how to make tally marks. We then looked at a spread of data and organized it in a tally chart. Next, we took that data to make a picture graph. Finally, we answered questions using the graph. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Monet and Lily Pads!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a nice day to end the last full week of April. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian led us in praying for Pope Francis. May he rest in the gentle arms of the Lord. 

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. To help us practice reading words with au and aw, we played memory. The students matched a word to its picture. 

In Math class, we talked about tally charts. First, we learned how to make tally marks. Then, we looked at data and organized it by making tally marks. Using those tally marks, we made a picture graph and answered questions based on the graph. We will continue to work with tally charts on Monday. 

In Science class today, we talked about why we can only see stars at night. We made a star finder using a Dixie cup and a push pin. We then used our flashlights to shine light through the star finder to show the Big Dipper. Working with partner, that person shone light like the sun which blocked out the Big Dipper. This showed us that the sun makes it hard for us to see stars in the day sky. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we learned about Monet and how he liked to paint things in nature. We then recreated one of his lily pads using paper plates. They turned out awesome! 

And here is a picture from yesterday's Easter resurrection scene. 

Have a great weekend! 

Oh! The Sunshine!

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

In Religion class today, we continued our learning of the Easter story. We reviewed the events of the morning of that first Easter and created an Easter morning scene to remind us that Jesus is risen! 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read words with the vowels au and aw and vowel team syllable words. We also worked on building our fluency and comprehension skills. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a poem and completed pages in our Reading/Writing workbook that focused on the details in the poem. Finally, we practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we finished our persuasive paragraph on why we love the beach. We also played memory. We matched antonyms together. 

In Math class today, we looked at various picture graphs and answered questions about them. 

And in Social Studies class, we talked about how people work to earn money. 

Have a great night! 

Earth Day!

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

In Religion class, we began to take a close look at the Easter story. We reviewed the events of Holy Week and talked about what happened on that first Easter Sunday. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words and practiced reading words with the vowel variant au and aw and vowel team syllable words. We also practiced reading our vocabulary words and our sight words. To help build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction story in our literature anthologies called Meet Rosina. After reading the story we talked about the author's purpose and completed pages in our Reading/Writing anthology that focused on main idea and key details. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. We also began writing a persuasive paragraph. 

In Math class today, we continued to look at picture graphs. Our other first grade friends joined us for class today. Working together, pairs of students created a picture graph showing the results of selecting a linking cube. They really did a nice job of working together. 

Here is a picture of our finished Earth Day project from yesterday. 

Have a great night! 

Happy Easter!

 Greetings! Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday. I can tell the children enjoyed the nice weather. Many came back looking like they spent time in the sun! 

We began our day by attending Eucharistic Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying to Jesus. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We answered questions using our oral vocabulary words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell words with au, augh, aw, a, and al. Then, we learned how to blend and read vowel team syllable words, words like drawing and rainbow. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Following that, we learned our new vocabulary words: accept and often and wrote sentences using those words. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread All Kinds of Helpers. Then we wrote what certain describing words were describing and what the author's purpose for writing the story was. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using possessive pronouns in sentences. We also talked about Earth Day. We talked and wrote about ways to help the Earth. 

In Math class, we began our chapter on graphs. Today, we focused on picture graphs. We looked at a picture graph and answered questions about it. Then, we created a picture graph showing our favorite fruits. 

Have a great night! 

A Surprise Visitor!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Well, did we walk into a surprise today! The Easter Bunny visited our classroom last night and left baskets for the children. It did not take them long to start to explore those baskets. Their joy and excitement was contagious!

 Once we got settled down from our big surprise, we started with our day of learning. In Religion class, we reviewed the events of Holy Week and created a picture cross to help us remember them. 

Next, we created an Easter chick popping out of a basket. We then wrote about what Easter is. Aren't they cute? 

After that, we had some fun in Math as we used jelly beans for various activities. We began by reviewing the colors of the jelly beans and how those colors can help remind us of the Easter story. We then used jelly beans to create a graph. Finally, we used the jelly beans to measure various objects. 

After lunch, we watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. The children really enjoyed it! 

Here are pictures from our Easter egg writing project and our Good Friday pictures. 

May you and your family have a blessed Easter. See you all on Tuesday! 

An Egg-cellent Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! Today was an egg-cellent day in first grade! 

We began our day by talking about the events of Good Friday. We talked about how Jesus loves us so much that he died on the cross for us. We created a cross scene to help us remember this. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed the vowel sounds for a, aw, au, augh, and al. We practiced reading words with these vowels. We also partner read All Kinds of Helpers. After that, we learned the possessive pronouns (my, his, her, its, their, our) and practiced using them in sentences. Finally, we wrote a persuasive paragraph on why we love Easter. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on adding and subtracting to 100. The students did very well with this. They are ready to tackle second grade math. 

This afternoon we did Easter activities centered around Easter eggs. We did our "What's in My Egg" activity. The students did an excellent job at writing their clues. We then participated in Easter egg centers. The students unscrambled sight words, identified the number of syllables in words, built compound words, and solved math problems. Finally, the students wrote about where they would hide Easter eggs. Fun was had by all! 

Have a great night! 

Peep-Tastic Day!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Today was a Peep-Tastic Day in first grade! 

In Religion class today, we talked about the Last Supper. Today we focused on the meal shared between Jesus and the Apostles. We reviewed how Jesus blessed and shared bread and wine and how that bread and wine became Jesus' Body and Blood. We created a poster to help us remember this. 

Then, because the students did so well on their STAR assessments, they were rewarded with a Peep Day. They began by selecting a peep to adopt. They named their peep, weighed their peep, and created a nest for it. The students then worked in peep-themed centers. They used base ten blocks to show various numbers, identified whether a word had a short or long vowel sound, and matched synonyms. Finally, pairs where given a basket of peeps. They tallied each color, made a graph, and answered questions about their graph. I just loved seeing their smiles today! 

In Math class today, we practiced adding and subtracting. We are ready for our chapter test tomorrow. 

This afternoon we prayed the Stations of the Cross. The students were excited to bring home their Station booklets today. 

And, after Stations, the students were treated to a peep. That was the highlight of the day! 

Here are some pictures from the day! 

Have a great night!