Happy Valentine's Day!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Happy Valentine's Day! We had a lovely day in first grade! 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian reminded to turn to Jesus, our Divine Healer. 

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 also did some fun Valentine's Day writing. We wrote about someone we love a lot. 

In Math class, we continued to practice adding a single digit number with renaming. We are doing very well knowing when we need to rename and when we don't. 

After all of that work, it was time to celebrate Valentine's Day. We began by using candy hearts to measure arrows. We also sorted our hearts by color, graphed them, and then answered questions about our graph. After that, we played some games. We tossed arrows (Q-tips) onto plates to see who could earn the most points. We also did some relay races. We passed a heart down the line using clothespins and walked a love bug across the room without dropping it. Finally, we passed out our Valentines. 

Here is a picture of the Lenten writing we did yesterday. 

Have a great weekend! Happy Valentine's Day! 

Reward Day!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Wow! The excitement and energy was high in first grade today. We loved wearing our pajamas to school and especially loved our pizza and ice cream lunch. Thank you to all who attended the meeting to make this day possible. 

In Religion class, we continued our discussion about Lent. We talked about people we can pray for, something we can fast from, and something we can do to shoe kindness. We added our ideas to a cute craft. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading vowel team o words, open syllable words, and our sight words. To build our fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. After that, we practiced using go, went, do, did in sentences. Finally, we wrote about a favorite Olympic sport and added it to a winter athlete. 

In Math class today, we learned how to add with regrouping, our its new name renaming. We learned that when we add the ones and get a sum of 10 or more, we need to rename (or regroup) 10 of those ones and add a ten to the tens. We will continue to practice this tomorrow. 

In Social Studies class, we learned about Abraham Lincoln. We learned that he liked to read and kept his papers in his top hat. 

Have a great night! 

Winter Olympics in First Grade!

 Greetings! Today was an exciting day in first grade! But, before we got to the exciting part, we had work to do. 

In Religion class, we began learning about the season on Lent. We talked about how Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and how Lent is a time to draw closer to Jesus. We also talked about how we pray, fast, and help people during Lent. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading vowel team o words, open syllable words, and our sight words. To help build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Vulture View. After reading the story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing Companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced writing proper nouns correctly. 

In Math class today, we learned how to add by first adding the ones and then the tens. We enjoyed solving these problems and found it easier this way then counting on. 

After working hard all day, it was finally time for the First Grade Winter Olympics. We began by taking our Olympic oath promising to try our best, have fun, and shoe good sportsmanship. Then, it was time for the games. We bobsledded using scooters, ice skated on paper plates, speed skated by running down and back, and tried our best at ice hockey. Because everyone tried their best and showed good sportsmanship, all received a gold medal. We ended our Olympics by playing the national anthem. Fun was had by all! 

Have a great night! 

Go Team USA!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone got outside and enjoyed the sunshine today! I just wish it would last. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on Jesus beginning his public ministry. He talked about how he went from town to town telling the people about God's love. 

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 vowel team o words. Next, we learned how to blend and read open syllable words, words like locate and robot. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Following that, we learned our two vocabulary words (search and seek) and wrote sentences using the words. We ended our morning working on our comprehension skills. We reread Go Wild and wrote about its main idea and key details. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using go, went, do, and did in sentences. 

In Math class, we practiced solving addition problems by first making a ten and then counting on. As I told the children, some strategies will excite them and some will not. They are to pick the one that they like best. 

We ended our day with some Olympic fun. Today, we learned about some of the different events athletes compete in during the Olympics. We are very excited for our very own Olympics tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

The Cold That Won't Leave!

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

This cold will leave eventually. Until then, we can just snuggle and bundle. 

After our delayed start, we got to work right away. We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about how animals survive in nature. We began by learning our five new oral vocabulary words (survive, provide, communicate, superior, and wilderness). Then, we worked on retelling as we read about how different animals survive in the winter. Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with the long o vowel teams (o, oa, oe, and ow), words like go, boat, toe, and snow. 

After lunch, we learned our new sight words (find, food, more, over, start, warm). Then, we read Go Wild, a nonfiction story about how different animals survive in the wild. Following that, we learned when to use the verbs go, went, do, and did in sentences. 

In Math class today, we began learning how to add with sums greater than 20. Today, we practiced counting on to find the sums. 

We ended our day learning about the Winter Olympics. Today, we learned that athletes from all over the world are in Italy to compete in snow and ice events. Tomorrow we will learn more about the events. 

Here are pictures from last week's writing and art project. 

Have a great night! 

Stained Glass Hearts!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great day to end this first full week of February! 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian reminded us of our call to go out and tell others about Jesus. 

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 test. 

In Math class, we began our chapter on adding and subtracting to 100. We began by working with a partner to discover what 12 + 38 is. I loved how the pairs used linking cubes to solve this problem. We will be learning other strategies to help us. 

In Science class, we talked about how shadows move because the sun is moving. We had fun using our flashlights to show how shadows move. 

We ended our day with not 1 but with 2 art projects. We made our Valentine bags. They are ready to be filled with our Valentines next Friday. We also used watercolor paints to paint a stained glass heart. The students worked so diligently on those hearts. 

Have a great weekend! Stay warm! 

Being Apostles!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how we can be Apostles. We talked about how we can learn about Jesus and then tell others about what we have learned! 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read long e vowel team words, and read and defined words with prefixes. To build our fluency skills and comprehension skills, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a short nonfiction piece about bees. In addition to that, we practiced using has and have in sentences. Finally, we wrote about when we see love and added it to a craft. I forgot to snap a picture of them today. I'll post a picture tomorrow. 

In Math class today, we took our test on the numbers to 120 and money. Tomorrow we will begin our chapter on adding and subtracting with and without regrouping. 

In Social Studies today, we learned about natural resources. 

Thank you to all who came out tonight to the EITC meeting. I can't wait to share in the excitement next Thursday! 

Have a great night! 

Call and Response!

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

In Religion class today, we talked about how Jesus called the 12 Apostles. We talked about how Jesus chose these men and how these men listened closely to what Jesus taught them. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading long vowel team e words and words with prefixes, 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 Animal Teams, a nonfiction story about how animals work together. After reading this story, we wrote about the details in it. Finally, we practiced writing sentences correctly. 

In Math class today, we reviewed counting money and patterns. We are ready for our chapter test tomorrow. 

We ended our day with Music class. Today, we did some call and response songs. We really enjoyed them especially when we added movement to them. 

Have a great night! 

Hot Chocolate and Cookies!

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

Our Catholic School's Week celebration officially wrapped up today. We held our annual vocations program where we honored Fr. Brian, Deacon Condor, Deacon Connor, Sr. Margie, and Sr. Raphael Marie. The highlight came after the program. The children were treated to hot chocolate and Oreo cookies.

In Religion class, we talked about Jesus welcomed the children. We talked about how Jesus gave a special blessing to the children. 

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 long e vowel team words. After that, we learned how to read words with the prefixes re, un, and pre; we also learned what those prefixes mean. We ended our morning by practicing using our sight words in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned our two vocabulary words (danger and partner) and wrote sentences using those words. Next, we reread A Team of Fish. Afterwards, we wrote about the main idea and key details from the story. Finally, we practiced using has and have in sentences. 

In Math class, we continued our review on the numbers to 120 and money. 

Here is a picture of our Art project from Friday. 

Have a great night! 

Happy 100th Day of School!

 Greetings! Happy 100th Day of School! We had a fantastic time celebrating this milestone today. 

In Religion class, we talked about why we call Jesus rabbi, because he teaches us about God. We know that Jesus is the best teacher. 

We had lots of fun celebrating the 100th Day of School. We worked in groups to create designs using 100 of some object. We made creations using 100 plastic cups, 100 pattern blocks, 100 gears, and 100 wooden planks. Next, we worked with partners to reassemble 100 number charts that had been cut into small pieces. After that, we flipped a penny 100 times and observed whether we got more heads or more tails. Finally, we made self portraits of ourselves at 100 years old and wrote about something we would be doing. 

This afternoon we got together with our 8th grade friends to color and assemble a poster. We had lots of fun with them. 

Have a great night! 

All About Groundhogs!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! We have made it! I don't know about you, but it has been a long week. 

We began our day with Religion. Today, we reviewed things Jesus did as a young boy. We read the story of Jesus teaching in the Temple. 

Our Language Arts class centered around groundhogs. We learned all about groundhogs by watching a video, reading a Scholastic News magazine, and by reading a short decodable reader. Then, we wrote facts about what we learned. We added those facts to a cute craft. 

Then, we talked about Groundhog Day. We wrote our prediction about what we think Phil will see on Monday. Most think he will see his shadow. We added our predictions to a craft. 

We laid all of these projects on the floor to dry. Here they all are! 

In Math class, we began our chapter review of the numbers to 120 and money. We will be taking our chapter test next week. 

In Science class, we learned how we can use sound to communicate. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we glued strips of construction paper across paper and then glued an outline of a heart on top. I'll post pictures next week. 

Have a good weekend! 

Catholic School's Week!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is staying warm! 

Today was another late start but still a fun day in first grade. We are doing our best to celebrate Catholic's Schools Week. Today was teacher appreciation day. The students were treated to an afternoon movie. They really enjoyed The Peanuts Movie. 

Before our movie, we wrapped up our Religion chapter on young Jesus. We reviewed were Jesus lived and what he did as a young boy. 

We also worked on things for our 100th Day of School celebration which will be on Monday. We made our necklaces of 100 beads. We also made our crowns. We are getting excited for Monday. 

Have a great night! 

Snow and Cold!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! What a week it has been! It did feel good to be back in the classroom today. I am sure hoping that Phil sees his shadow on Monday and we get an early spring! 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about how animals help each other. We began by learning our five oral vocabulary words (behavior, beneficial, dominant, endangered, and instinct). Next, we learned how to blend and read words with the vowel team long e, spelled with e, ee, ea, ie, words like she, tree, meat, and field. After that, we practiced our sight words (because, blue, into, or, other, small). Finally, we read A Team of Fish which helped us practice our new skills. 

In Math class, we used our coins to show various money amounts. The students are getting better and recognizing each coin. 

We ended our day with a game of winter BINGO to celebrate Student Appreciation Day. The students loved their robots they won! 

Have a great night! 

Snowy Mittens!

 Greetings! I hope everyone's weekend is off to a calm start. Looks like the fun will begin tomorrow. 

At Mass yesterday morning, we celebrated the feast of St. Vincent, a martyr of the church. Fr. Brian reminded us to keep persevering even when times get tough. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, practiced reading long a words with the vowel teams ai and ay, put words into ABC order, wrote sentences using our sight words, took our weekly assessment, and practiced using was and were in sentences. In addition to that, we worked on our fluency by partner reading a story from our decodable reader booklets. Finally, we did some winter writing. We wrote about why our snowman melted. 

In Math class, we used our coins to show various money amounts. We had fun coming up with a variety of ways to show the amounts. 

In Social Studies class, we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about what his dream was. We wrote about what our dream for the world is. Here, our Friday sillies came out as most wrote about saying six seven. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we created a mitten using pieces of tissue paper. We added snow falling around our mitten. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Enjoy the snow! 

Adding Vocabulary Words!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is doing well tonight. It is amazing how we can go from sunny skies this morning to snowy skies this afternoon. I'm sure the children loved the snow. 

In Religion class today, we talked about what life was like for young Jesus. We talked about how we would have helped Mary and Joseph, how he would have prayed, and how he would have played with his neighbors. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We reviewed our oral vocabulary words by answering questions with the words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read words with ai and ay. Following that we learned how to put words into ABC order by looking at the second letter when all the words begin with the first letter. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. 

Then, we began a new section of learning. Beginning this week, the students will be introduced to two vocabulary words. We will practice reading these words, learn their meaning, and write sentences using them. Our first vocabulary words are special and splendid. 

We ended our morning focusing on our comprehension skills. We reread Frog and Snail Race. We then sequenced the events from the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned when to use was and were in sentences. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice counting money. Today, we added the quarter to our coins. We are slowly getting the hang of it. 

Have a wonderful night! 

March of the Penguins!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. 

After a late start today, we jumped into our day of learning. In Language Arts class, we began a new week of learning; this week we will be reading about how animal bodies help them. The highlight of class today was getting our books. The students were so excited to finally have their reading workbook and storybook. They loved the color pictures! 

We began by learning our oral vocabulary words (feature, appearance, determined, predicament, relief). Then we worked on retelling and making predictions as we read about why elephants have long trunks. After that, we learned how to blend and read long a words spelled with the vowel teams ai and ay, words like main and day. Following that, we learned our new sight words for the week (about, animal, carry, eight, give, our). Finally, we read Snail and Frog Race which helped us practice our new skills. 

In Math class today, we practiced counting coins. We focused on counting a collection of dimes, nickels, and pennies. 

Here is a picture of our penguins from Friday's Art class. 

Have a great night! 

Quarters!

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

We celebrated Mass with our Faith Families this morning. 

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. 

In Math class, we learned about the quarter. We explored all the ways that we can make 25 cents using the quarter, dimes, nickels, and pennies. 

We wrapped up our week of penguin learning. We learned how penguins stay warm. We also looked at videos showing how penguins are good swimmers. Finally, we wrote about something we would do if we were a penguin. 

Our Art class was penguin themed as well. Today, we made a penguin using an empty water bottle. We stuffed the water bottle full of cotton. Then, we added a top hat, eyes, beak, bowtie, wings and feet. I'll post pictures next week once all of the glue has dried. 

Here is a picture of our snowflake art. They look awesome. 

Have a great weekend! 

Counting Money!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is doing well and is surviving the return of old man winter. I don't know about you but that cold goes right through you. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how Joseph was the protector of Mary and Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read words with oo and u and words with inflectional endings. To build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about the five food groups. Finally, we practiced writing contractions with not. 

In Math class today, we started counting coins. We identified the value of a penny, nickel, and dime. The we practiced counting a group of pennies, a group of nickels, and a group of dimes. 

We continued with our penguin week fun. Today, we identified different penguins and where they live. We enjoyed seeing the pictures of the different penguins. 

Have a great night! 

Awesome Learners!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! We had another awesome day of learning in first grade. 

In Religion class, we talked about how Joseph and Mary presented Jesus in the Temple and how Simeon and Anna were there. We also talked about how Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with baby Jesus. 

In Language Arts, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading words with oo and u, words with inflectional endings, and our sight words. To help us build our fluency, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read From Cows to You. After reading that story, we sequenced how we get milk. Finally, we practiced writing contractions with not. 

In Math class, we worked with number patterns today. We practiced counting forwards and backwards by ones, twos, and tens. 

Have a great night! 

A Happy Week!

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

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on the wise men visiting Jesus. We reviewed the Christmas story and even illustrated a part of it. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began class by reviewing our oral vocabulary words and learning three new words (enormous, responsibility, delighted). Then, we used our letter tiles to spell words with oo and u. Next, we learned how to blend and spell words with inflected endings when the final letter is doubled. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread A Look at Breakfast. Then, we wrote about things we learned from the captions. We also sequenced the steps in making bread. 

This afternoon, we practiced writing sentences with contractions. 

In Math class today, we learned how to identify 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, and 10 less than a given number. We used our base ten blocks to help learn this skill before transitioning to mental math. 

We ended our day with some penguin learning. Today, we learned about the life cycle of a penguin. We enjoyed learning how the father penguin balances the egg on his feet. 

Have a good night! 

Penguin Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Today was a happy day to begin a new week of learning in first grade. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how we can turn our joys and hard work as gifts to Jesus. We talked about thanking him for all that we have. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about how we get our food. We began by learning two oral vocabulary words (delicious and nutritious). Then we worked on retelling as we read about how we get food. After that, we learned how to blend and read words with oo and u, words like book and put. Following that, we learned our new sight words (afraid, buy, done, every, soon, work). We ended our morning by reading A Look at Breakfast which helped us practice our new phonics skills. 

This afternoon we reviewed how to write contraction with not. 

In Math class, we practiced ordering numbers. We identified which number was greater by using the comparison symbols > and <. We also practiced writing numbers in order from least to greatest and from greatest to least. 

Today began our Penguin Week in first grade. All week we will be learning about penguins. Today we learned that penguins are birds because they have wings, feathers, and a beak. We also looked at the different parts of a penguin. 

Have a great night! Go Steelers! 

Snowflake Art!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great first full week of 2026. 

At Mass this morning, we welcomed Fr. Nale. He talked to us about turning to Jesus when we need help. 

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 also practiced reading words with long vowels and CVCe syllable words. 

In Math class today, we talked about place value. We used our base ten blocks to identify the number of tens and ones for a given number. 

In Art class today, we painted a snowflake. Using purple, light blue, and dark blue paint, the students painted around a snowflake made from painter's tape. Once the paint dries, the tape will be lifted revealing a snowflake. I'll post pictures next week. 

Have a great weekend! 

Flashlight Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is doing well. We are almost through the first full week of 2026. 

In Religion class today, we talked about gifts we could bring baby Jesus. We talked about physical things like coins and diamonds. We also talked about things we could do like sing a song, being kind to others, and loving others. 

In Language Arts, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, spelled and read words with long vowels, read CVCe syllable words, and read our sight words. To help build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a short nonfiction piece about the history of transportation. After that, we practiced using is and are in sentences. Finally, we wrote about what we can do to stay warm in the winter. 

In Math class today, we practiced identifying the numbers from 40-120. We used our base ten blocks to show the numbers. And, we practiced spelling the numbers. 

In Science class today, we used our flashlights to send messages to a friend. We shone the light on a color. The friend had to do the action associated with that color like wave or hop on one foot. We really enjoyed using our flashlights. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about different landforms. We created a shape book to help us remember them. 

Don't forget we have Gym tomorrow. Have a great night! 

Long and Short Beats

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is enjoying this winter thaw. 

In Religion class today, we talked about how we can worship Jesus like the wise men did long ago. We talked about how we can go to church and Adoration and how we can even worship Jesus at home. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, practiced reading long o, long u, and long e words, practiced reading multiple syllable words, and practiced reading our sight words. We also worked on our fluency and comprehension skills. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Life Long Ago and Now. After reading that story we compared and contrasted life long ago to life today. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing dates. We also wrote the steps in building a snowman. 

In Math class today, we reviewed counting to 40. The students completed a write the room activity where they counted tens and ones to identify the number. 

In Music class today, we talked about short and long beats. We created our own patterns and then performed them. 

Have a great night! 

Comparing Life to Long Ago!

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

We began our day by going over to church for Adoration. It was great to begin the new year spending some quiet time with Jesus. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday and them learned three new words (entertainment, future, present). Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read long o, long u, and long e words. After that, we learned how to blend and read CVCe words, words like awake and explode. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended our morning by focusing on our comprehension skills. We reread our story from yesterday. Then we wrote about what we learned in the story and compared and contrasted life today to life long ago. 

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

In Math class today, we practiced counting to 40. We counted by tens and then ones.

Have a great night! 

Happy New Year!

 Greetings! Happy New Year! 2026 is off to a great start in first grade. 

In Religion class, we reviewed the Christmas story and focused on the wise men. We reviewed how they brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

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

This afternoon we learned when to use the verbs is and are in sentences. We also wrote about goals we have for 2026. 

In Math class, we began our chapter on the numbers to 120. Today, we reviewed concepts we learned with the numbers to 20 like comparing numbers, ordering numbers, and counting. 

Have a great night!