Happy Spring!

 Greetings! Happy Spring! We have made it through winter! We had a great first day of spring in first grade. 

At Mass this morning, we welcomed Jadin O'Brien. She talked to us about turning our suffering into prayers for others. 

We wrapped up another week of Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. We also worked on our comprehension skills as we read poems and answered questions about them. In addition to that, we wrote about what we like to do on a rainy day and added our writing to a craft. 

In Math class today, we continued to work with tally marks and picture graphs. We created our own tally chart based on favorite sports in the class. We used that data to make a picture graph. Then we wrote about something we learned from the graph. 

In Science class today, we talked about how the sun changes position during the day. We learned that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. 

We ended our day with Art class where we worked on two projects. We created an Easter bunny on a colorful background. We also made an Easter basket filled with Easter eggs. I'll post pictures on Monday. 

Have a great weekend! 

Book Fair Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great week! And, not only is tomorrow Friday, but also the first day of spring!! 

In Religion class today we wrapped up our chapter on the miracles of Jesus. We reviewed some of the miracles Jesus did and reviewed that he did them because he is the Son of God. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read r-controlled words, and practiced writing abbreviations. To help build our fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also practiced finding adjectives that compare in sentences and wrote sentences using adjectives that compare. In addition to all of that, we finished our Lucky Charms St. Patrick's Day writing. 

Since we ran out of time yesterday, we moved our Music class to today. Today we talked about how music can be fast or slow and loud or soft. We listened to various pieces of music and did different motions to show if the music was fast or slow or loud or soft. 

In Math class today, we learned about tally marks. We gathered data from a picture and drew tally marks to show that data. Then, we created a picture graph using that same data. We are really enjoying graphs. 

In Social Studies today, we continued our talk about seasons. Today, we talked about different things we do in each season. 

The highlight of the day was visiting the Book Fair. We all came away with new books to read. It is always fun to shop for books! 

Have a great night! 

Picture Graph Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week. Spring begins in two days!!

In Religion class today, we reviewed the stories of Jesus healing people. We created a tiny booklet to remind us of all the people Jesus helped. We also created a poster reminding us that Jesus is our healer. The students loved adding band-aids around it! 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read r-controlled words, abbreviations, and our sight words. To build our fluency and comprehension, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Thomas Edison, Inventor. After reading this story we completed pages in our Reading/Writing Companion that focused on problem and solution and cause and effect. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced writing sentences with adjectives that compare. We also worked on some special projects. 

Our Math class today centered on picture graphs. We made a picture graph showing the fruit in a basket and then answered questions about it. We really enjoyed making the graph! 

Have a great night! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Greetings! Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone had a fantastic day! It's the luck of the Irish day! 

After a delayed start, we got to work. We answered questions using our oral vocabulary words. We also used our letter tiles to spell and read r-controlled -or words. We ended our morning learning how to write abbreviations for titles, months of the year, and days of the week. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We also learned our new vocabulary words: idea and unusual and wrote sentences using the words. Finally, we worked on our comprehension skills. We reread The Story of a Robot Inventor. Afterwards, we wrote facts about his life and wrote about a problem he had and how he solved it. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on data and graphs. We used our linking cubes to show the data in a more organized way. Tomorrow we will transition to graphs. 

We ended our day with some St. Patrick's Day fun. We reviewed the colors of the rainbow and used food dye to show a rainbow. We put the dye in cups of vinegar. Then, we added baking soda to the cups and watched our rainbow erupt. We loved this! 

Have a great night! 

Leprechaun Writing!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed the weekend. I think the children really enjoyed the break on Friday; it was much needed. 

In Religion class today, we continued to learn about the miracles of Jesus. Today, we read about Jesus helping the paralyzed man. First, Jesus forgave his sins, and then, Jesus helped him walk. We talked about how Jesus can forgive sins because he is the Son of God. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about inventions. We began by learning our new oral vocabulary words (curious, improve, device, imagine, and complicated). Then we worked on retelling as we read about inventions. Following that, we learned how to blend and read r-controlled -or words, words like corn, more, and soar. Next, we learned our new sight words (began, better, guess, learn, right, sure). We ended our morning focusing on fluency. We read The Story of a Robot Inventor which helped us practice our new phonics skills. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned about adjectives that compare. We add -er to an adjective when we compare two things, and we add -est to an adjective to compare three or more objects. We also did some St. Patrick's Day writing; we wrote about what we would do if we were a leprechaun. 

In Math class today, we learned how to solve a problem by creating a chart. We enjoyed looking for patterns as we made our charts. 

We ended our day over at church praying the Stations of the Cross. 

Have a great night! 

Cotton Ball Clouds!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! It looks like winter has returned. The children were so excited to see the snow on the grass this morning. I'm hoping that this return does not stick around that long. 

In Religion class today, we read about more of the miracles Jesus did. Today, we learned how Jesus raised a girl from the dead, helped blind people see, and helped deaf people hear. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read r-controlled er, ir, or, and ur words and words that end in -er, and wrote sentences using our sight words. We took our weekly assessment and practiced finding adjectives in sentences. In addition to that, we worked on our fluency and comprehension. We partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read about the moon. Did you know that people once thought that the moon was made of cheese? 

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

We ended our day with some Science and Social Studies fun. In Language Arts this week, our stories centered on what we observe in the sky. Today, we learned about different types of clouds. We used cotton balls to show each one. 

Then, we talked about the seasons of the year. The students used paint to show how trees look in each season. 

Here is a picture from our Art class last week. 

Have a fabulous weekend! 

Trusting in Jesus!

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

In Religion class today, we continued learning about the miracles of Jesus. We read about how Jesus calmed the storm. We talked about how Jesus can calm storms in our lives and how we need to trust him. We made a small poster to help us remember this. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read r-controlled words, words ending in -er, and our sight words. To help us build our fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read Kitten's First Full Moon. After reading this story, we answered questions that focused on cause and effect examples from the story. Finally, we practiced finding adjectives in sentences and wrote sentences using adjectives. 

In Math class today, we reviewed adding and subtracting with and without regrouping. We will be taking our chapter test tomorrow. 

We ended our day in church praying the Stations of the Cross. 

Have a great night! 

Blossoming Writers!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone was able to get outside and enjoy the warm weather before it disappears tomorrow. 

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

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 r-controlled er, ir, or, and ur words. Then, we learned how to read words that end in -er. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. After that, we learned our vocabulary words (leaped and stretched) and wrote sentences using them. We ended our morning focusing on comprehension. We reread A Bird Named Fern and wrote cause and effect examples from the story. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we wrote sentences using adjectives. We also wrote our very own how-to paper. I'm so pleased with how their writing skills have grown this year. 

In Math class today, we continued to practiced solving subtraction problems with regrouping. We did very well today paying attention to see whether or not we needed to regroup. 

Have a great night! 

Being Feed by Jesus!

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

In Religion class today, we reviewed the story of Jesus feeding the crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. We talked about how Jesus still feeds us in the Eucharist today. To help us remember all of this we made a poster. Have a look: 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about things we see in the sky. We began by learning our oral vocabulary words: observe, vast, remained, certain, and thoughtful. Next, we worked on making predictions as we read a folktale about why the sun and moon are in the sky. Then, we learned how to blend and read r-controlled er, ir, or, and ur words, words like her, bird, word, and turn. Following that, we learned our new sight words for the week: another, climb, full, great, poor, through. We ended the morning working on our fluency by reading A Bird Named Fern. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned about cause and effect. We matched causes to their effects. Then, we learned about adjectives. We described an apple. Finally, we illustrated the steps in a process. Tomorrow we will write the steps. 

In Math class today, we learned how to subtract a two-digit number by a two-digit number with regrouping. The students did well with this. Again, the key is to look at the ones and decide where the bigger number is. 

Today, we welcomed Johnstown Tomahawk Evan Kensey to our classroom. He read us a story and talked with us about hockey. 

Have a great night! 

Brushing Our Teeth!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! We have made it through the first week of March. It is hard to believe that it was 60 degrees today when the other day we had ice. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian reminded us how special Mary is. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in first grade. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read r-controlled -ar words, and spelled plurals when we need to change the y to an i and add -es. We also wrote sentences using our sight words and took our weekly assessment. Finally, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets to help us build our fluency. 

We wrapped up our Dr. Seuss week fun today. We read The Sneetches and wrote about what makes us special. We are going to miss our special friends we had with us this week! 

In Math class today, we learned how to subtract a two-digit number from a two-digit number without regrouping. The students did very well with this. 

Our Science class today was devoted to learning about how teeth and how to take care of them. We learned that germs are on our teeth. We also talked about how sugary foods stick to our teeth. To keep our teeth healthy we need to brush them twice a day, floss, and eat healthy food. Our lesson did include practice in brushing teeth. Pairs of students were given a hard-boiled egg soaked in Coke-Cola. Working together the students brushed their tooth to make it white again. They loved getting messy today. 

We ended our day with Art class. Today, we decorated a shamrock using pieces of green scrapbook paper. We will mount our shamrock to construction paper on Monday. 

Here are pictures from last Friday's Art project along with the President's Day writing we did. 

Have a great weekend! 

Opposite Feet!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a great day as we inch closer to the weekend! 

In Religion class today, we started to learn some of the miracles Jesus did. Today, we focused on Jesus feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. We talked about how Jesus still feeds us today in the Eucharist. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read r-controlled -ar words, spelled and read plurals where the y is changed to an i and add -es, and read our sight words. To help build our fluency, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a classic Frog and Toad story A Lost Button. We really enjoy those characters. After reading the story we wrote the answers to cause and effect questions. Finally, we practiced combining sentences. 

In Math class today, we subtracted using mental math. We found it easy to subtract the tens and just add the ones. 

For our Dr. Seuss fun today, we read The Foot Book. After reading the story, we listed antonyms on the board. Then, each student took a pair of words and illustrated them. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. We are wrapping up our celebration of presidents. We are in the process of writing what we would do if we were president. 

Have a wonderful evening! 

Return from the Ice!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone did well with the ice yesterday. I was glad I didn't have to venture out into it yesterday. 

In Religion class today, we wrapped up our chapter on Jesus sharing the Good News. We talked about how Jesus and his Apostles went from town to town telling people that God loves them and teaching them how to pray. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by answering questions using our oral vocabulary words. We then used our letter tiles to spell and read r-controlled -ar words. Then, we learned about plurals that end in a y; we need to change the y to an i and add -es. After that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended the morning by learning our vocabulary words (trouble and whole); we wrote sentences using our vocabulary words. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we reread A Barn Full of Hats. We wrote about the characters and who is telling the story. Then, we practiced combining sentences using so and because. Finally, we wrote the steps in making a pizza. 

In Math class today, we continued to practice subtraction with regrouping. We are doing better at recognizing when to regroup and how to regroup. 

We ended our day with some Dr. Seuss fun. Today we read There's a Wocket in My Pocket. After reading the story, we got in the style of Dr. Seuss and made up a word to rhyme with pocket. We also wrote about what our creature likes to do. 

Have a great night! 

Talking Like a Pirate!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Happy March! It is hard to believe that another month is upon us! 

In Religion class today, we learned the Great Commandment: to love God, love others, and love ourselves. We talked about various ways we can love God, others, and ourselves. We also created a giant heart to help us remember this commandment. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week, we are reading about ways to sort and classify things. We began by learning our oral vocabulary words (classify, distinguish, entire, organize, startled). Then, we worked on making predictions as we read the classic fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Following that, we learned how to blend and read r-controlled -ar words; we really enjoyed talking like a pirate as we read them. We ended our morning by learning our new sight words (four, large, none, only, put, round). 

This afternoon we read A Barn Full of Hats. I just love seeing their fluency grow and become more expressive. After that, we talked about how to combine sentences using and, but, and or. 

In Math class today, we learned how to subtract with regrouping. We did great taking one away from the tens. We want to take one away from the ones as well. We are working on adding a ten to the given ones already. We will continue to practice tomorrow. 

We ended our day with some Dr. Seuss fun. I just love celebrating this week with the students. Each day, we will read a story and do an activity associated with the book. Today, we read Horton Hears a Who. We wrote about how we can be kind like Horton. We are working on adding our writing to a craft. 

Have a wonderful night!