The End of November!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great week. I don't know about you, but this week is flying by. 

In Religion class today, we made an Advent wreath for the students to use at home. We reviewed the colors of the candles and the order that they are lit. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words, read long a words, wrote contractions using the word not, and read our sight words. We also worked on our fluency. We partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about time and completed pages in our close reading companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced finding action verbs in sentences. 

In Math class today, we took our chapter test on the numbers to 20. Tomorrow we will begin learning addition strategies to solve problems to 20. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we reviewed the continent names and oceans. We also talked about landforms we see on each continent including river, plain, and mountain. 

Have a great night! 

Christmas Writing Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is finding a way to stay warm with this burst of wintry weather. I will say that the children are loving this weather. They were so excited to see the snow yesterday. I wish I could say the same. 

In Religion class today, we began our discussion on the season of Advent. Today, we talked about how Advent is a time for waiting and preparing for Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary, read long a words and contractions with the word not, and read our sight words. We also worked on our fluency and comprehension skills as we read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read On My Way to School, a fantasy story about a boy who exaggerates why he is late for school. After reading this story we sequenced the events in it. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we practiced using verbs in sentences. We also wrote a descriptive sentence for a picture we drew. Finally, we did some fun Christmas writing. The children wrote about why they should be a reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. We added this writing to a craft. 

In Math class, we reviewed the concepts we learned with the numbers to 20. We will be taking our chapter test tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful night! 

The Return of Jingles!

 Greetings! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break. I enjoyed hearing what the children did over the holiday. I also enjoyed hearing stories about their elves. 

In Religion class today, we talked more about Moses. Today, we learned that God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. We also learned about how God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. 

We picked up where we left off last week in Language Arts class. We reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned last week and then learned three new words (weekend, occasion, and calendar). After that, we worked on making predictions as we read a nonfiction piece about different ways to tell time. Following that, we used our letter tiles to spell and read long a words. Next, we learned how to write contractions with the word not. Then, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. We ended the morning focusing on our comprehension skills; this week we are focusing on sequencing. We reread Nate the Snake is Late and sequenced the events in the story. We did the same as we read our decodable reader. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we reviewed action verbs. We practiced using action verbs in sentences. We also wrote action words to describe what a superhero does. 

In Math class today, we used our critical thinking skills to solve problems. We worked at explaining our reasoning when comparing numbers. 

I'm sure the students told you that we had a special visitor today. Jingles, our classroom elf, has returned. The students loved seeing him. 

Have a great night! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Greetings! Today was a fun day in first grade celebrating Thanksgiving. 

We began by having our annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving feast. We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special and then partook in a feast consisting of toast, popcorn, jelly beans, and pretzels. As much as we liked this feast, we will enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. 

Then, we created a thankful turkey using an applesauce cup. We wrote about things we are thankful on each of its feathers. 

Before we knew it, it was time to go home. Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy time with family and friends. See you on Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Balloons Over First Grade!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone made it home safely in the rain and fog. I told the students that today was a perfect snuggle on the couch with a good book kind of day. 

In Religion class today, we began our study on Moses. Today, we talked about how God had a special plan for Moses even when he was a baby. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed long a words by sorting and reading short a and long a words. We then learned our new sight words for the week. Finally, we read Nate the Snake is Late which helped us practice our phonics and sight words skills. 

The highlight of the morning was having Tony Martin from WJAC come and talk to us about the weather. We learned about clouds, radar, and how a forecast is made. The students even got to use shaving cream to make clouds. We really enjoyed his visit. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving number patterns. The students were great and continuing the number patterns by either adding 1 or 2 more or subtracting 1 or 2. 

We ended our day with some Thanksgiving fun. Today, we listened to Balloons Over Broadway, the true story of Tony Sarg who created the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The students then designed their own balloons for a parade. They turned out great! 

Have a wonderful night! 

Magic E Words!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone's Thanksgiving week is off to a great start. 

In Religion class today we learned that prophets were holy men sent by God to prepare the people for Jesus' coming. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about time. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (immediately and schedule). We then worked on making predictions as we read A Second is a Hiccup. Following that, we learned how to blend and read long a words, words like bake and made. We say that the e is magic as it pinches the a to make the a say its name. 

Then, it was time for some Thanksgiving learning. Today, we learned about the Wampanoag tribe and their daily life. We also talked about how they helped the Pilgrims when they first landed in the New World. Finally, we learned about the first Thanksgiving feast. 

In Math class today, we learned how to find 1 more, 2 more, 1 less, and 2 less of a number. We used our linking cubes to help us before switching to mental math. 

We ended our day with a pep rally to recognize our fall sport athletes. 

Have a great night! 

Art Fun!

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

At Mass today, Fr. Roman talked to us about our goal of one day being with Jesus in heaven. 

We wrapped up another week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences, played memory to practice reading words with digraphs and with the inflected ending -es, wrote sentences using our sight words, and took our weekly assessment. 

In Math class today, we reviewed comparing and ordering numbers. First, each student was given a stack of number cards. They were then put into groups. Each student turned over a card and together they had to put the correct comparison symbol between the numbers. Next, we reviewed ordering numbers. The students flipped over three numbers and then put them into order from least to greatest and greatest to least. 

In Science class, we talked about how sounds are made. We learned that sounds come from vibrations. We took string and made it vibrate and heard the different sounds we get depending on where we struck the string. 

We ended our day doing several Art projects. First, we made a Pilgrim and wrote about what we would do if we were a Pilgrim. 

Next, we made a Pilgrim Pete the Cat. 

Finally, we started an Indian or flint corn project which we will finish on Monday. The students really enjoyed all of the projects today. Have a wonderful weekend!