Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year! Today was an exciting day as we kicked off the year 2025. The children were eager to tell me all about their break and eager to learn new things. It was a great day to start a new year. 

In Religion class, we talked about the three kings and the gifts that they brought to Jesus. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about life long ago. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (century and past). We then worked on retelling as we read The Last Train. Following that, we learned how to blend and read long o, long u, and long e words. After that, we learned our new sight words (ago, boy, girl, how, old, people). Finally, we got to practice all of our new skills as we read Life Long Ago. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on the numbers to 40. We practiced counting a collection of objects by grouping them into 10s and then counting on. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today we talked about natural resources. 

Have a great night! 

Merry Christmas!

 Greetings! Today was the day that the students have been waiting for: the last day of school before Christmas. They are so excited for Santa to come! 

We began our day with Mass. Today Fr. Brian reminded us to continue to be joyful as we wait for Christ.

After Mass, we sat around our Christmas tree and opened presents. It did not take the students long to tear into theirs. It was so fun to watch! 

After that, we played BINGO. Then it was time for lunch. Then it was time to go home. 

I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year! May your holidays be filled with joy and laughter! I'll see you in January! 

'Twas the Day Before Christmas Vacation!

 Greetings! Today was another day filled with excitement, singing, and fun in first grade. It truly is the best time of the year! 

In Religion class today, we talked about what gift we could give Jesus this Christmas. We talked about being nice to others, helping others, and doing extra chores. We wrote about what we could do and added it to a gift craft. Following that, the students created their own Nativity scene using stickers. They turned out awesome! 

Our Language Arts and Math classes' activities were based on favorite Christmas books. We began by reading The Polar Express. After reading the story, we wrote about what we would like our first gift of Christmas to be. We then used pictures of jingle bells to measure various pictures. 

Next, we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The students then completed a write the room activity where they wrote various math problems and solved them. Then, they created a Grinch and wrote or drew what they would do to make the Grinch grin. 

We ended our morning by singing Christmas songs. We thank Mr. Neff for coming in to sing with us. 

This afternoon we headed over to church to listen to our choir perform the songs they will be singing Christmas Eve. They sounded so beautiful. The highlight for us was the disco lights! 

We ended our day by watching the end of The Polar Express. After the movie, we read the book Jingles brought to us today. 

Have a great night! 

Holidays Around the World!

 Greetings! We sure had fun today traveling around the world! We loved wearing our pajamas and traveling in comfort. It was a great day! 

Before departing on our trip, we had some things to do in our classroom. In Religion we watched Brother Francis remind us of the importance of preparing for Jesus. In Math class, we took our chapter test on adding and subtracting within 20. In January, we will begin looking closely at the numbers to 40. 

Then, it was time to buckle our seat belts and travel the world. We went to India, Sweden, Italy, Egypt, and Australia. We learned how these countries celebrate the holidays. We had so much fun! 

This afternoon, we traveled to the North Pole as we watched The Polar Express and enjoyed hot chocolate and popcorn. We will need to finish the movie tomorrow. 

Also, this afternoon, members of the St. Francis band stopped by and played some Christmas carols for us. We really enjoyed the music! 

Here is a picture of the gingerbread men we created yesterday. They turned out great! 

Have a great night! 

Gingerbread Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! The excitement grew in first grade today. Santa came for a visit! The children were so excited to see Santa and tell him one last thing that they would like for Christmas! 

In Religion class today, we sequenced the Nativity story. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, read soft c, soft g, and inflected ending words, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we reviewed adding and subtracting within 20. We will take our chapter test tomorrow. 

Throughout our day, we had fun centered around gingerbread men. We "baked" words by adding a magic e to them to create a long vowel word. We practiced identifying the number of syllables in words and using correct punctuation for sentences. We also played BINGO and created our own gingerbread person using glitter glue. It was an extra fun day in first grade! 

Have a great night! 

Christmas Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! Welcome to Christmas Week in first grade! The children are getting excited for the holiday. They were singing any chance they could get today! 

In Religion class, we started to learn the Nativity story. We colored a booklet as we read the story. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read words with soft c and soft g, spelled and read words with inflectional endings when the final e is dropped, and read our word wall to review all of our sight words. We ended the morning by reviewing past and future tense verbs. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we read a folktale called "Drakestail". After reading it we discussed the moral of the story. Next, we wrote a how-to paragraph describing how to decorate a Christmas tree. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving word problems. We also used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. 

We ended our day with some Christmas fun. Today we read Mooseletoe. After reading the story, we wrote about its problem and how the characters solved it. We then made our own Moose and decorated his mustache with sequins. 

Here are pictures from Friday's Art and from what Jingles built over the weekend! 

Have a great night! 

Messy Glue Day!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was a good day in first grade. The children really had a good time yesterday; they were quieter today than usual. I'm sure they will sleep well tonight. 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to us about how Advent is a joyful time as we prepare for Christmas. 

In Language Arts today, we read Santa's Stuck. After reading the story, we talked about what we would do if we found Santa stuck in our chimney. We then wrote about what we would do and added our writing to a craft. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving word problems by either adding or subtracting. The students did quite well recognizing whether or not they needed to add or subtract to solve the problem. 

For Art class today, we made a Santa Claus. We used our messy glue to add cotton balls for the beard. Once they dry, I will post pictures. 

For a job well done yesterday, the children were treated to an afternoon movie today. We watched The Star. 

Today, Jingles brought the students stickers for doing such a nice job yesterday. 

And, here are pictures from last Friday's Art class and from our reindeer writing we did earlier this week. 

Have a wonderful weekend!