Always Trust in God!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We had a great day to start our first full week of learning in October. 

We began our day by going over to church and listening to Jessica Cox. Wow! What an inspirational story. We heard about how she never says I can't but says I will try. She shows us that with faith and trust in God all things are possible. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we are reading about community helpers. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (community and occupation). We then worked on making predictions as we read Millie Waits for the Mail. We ended our morning by learning how to blend and read short e words. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned our new sight words (again, help, new, there, use). We then read Good Job, Ben which helped us practice reading short e words and our sight words in a story. We ended our day by learning about nouns. We created a foldable to help us remember that nouns name a person, place, thing, or animal. 

In Math class today, we practiced telling whether a number sentence was true or false. 

Have a great night! 

Reptiles 'R Us!

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

At Mass today, we welcomed Fr. Crowe, the diocesan priest in charge of vocations. He talked to us about listening to what God is calling us to do with our life. 

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 used our knowledge of fact families to help us solve problems. When given either an addition or subtraction sentence, we wrote the related fact to help us solve the problem. 

Our Science class was great fun today. Thanks to the Home and School Association for bringing in the Pittsburgh Zoo and their reptile program. We learned characteristics of reptiles and the four groups of reptiles. We got to see a turtle, lizard, and snake. The students loved that part. 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we made a paper bat with colored wiggly eyes. 

Have a great weekend!    

Fact Family Fun!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a good day. 

In Religion class today we talked about how our guardian angels help us throughout the day. They help us to know, love, and serve God. We also prayed the fourth decade of the Joyful Mysteries. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read words with blends, and finished sentences using possessives. To help us build our fluency and comprehension skills, we partner read a story from our decodable reader booklets. We also read a short fiction piece about a family hike. After reading that story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on main idea. Finally, we practiced writing sentences making sure that they started with a capital letter, made sense, and had an end mark. 

In Math class today, we learned how to write a fact family. When given a number bond, we wrote the two addition sentences and two subtraction sentences for it. We had lots of fun writing fact families today. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we talked about why people might move to a new country: to get a job or to be near family. 

Have a great night! 

Smiles in Gym Class!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a great day. It was so nice seeing the sun shining on my drive home! 

In Religion class today, we talked about what it means to know, love, and serve God. We also prayed the third decade of the Joyful Mysteries. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary, practiced reading words with blends, used possessives in sentences, and read our sight words. To help us build our fluency skills, we partner read a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read Move It!, a nonfiction story about how people move. After reading that story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on main idea and key details. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we worked on our sentence writing skills. We unscrambled sentences to put the words into correct word order. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving subtraction problems. Tomorrow we revisit addition to help us write fact families. 

In Gym class today, we played "I Want a Home." Hula hoops were spread across the gym floor. The students had to run from hoop to hoop. The one not in a hoop shouted "I want a home" and then everyone was off again. Smiles and laughter were abound. 

Have a great night! 

Welcome October!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great start to the month of October. 

We began our day by going over to church for Eucharistic Adoration. We spent some quiet time praying to Jesus. We asked him to help people and thanked him for all that he has done for us. 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We began by reviewing the oral vocabulary words we learned yesterday, and then we learned three new words: exhausted, difficult, and agree. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read r-blend and s-blend words. Then, we learned about possessives. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we worked on our comprehension skills. We reread Move and Grin. After doing that, we talked about what makes this story nonfiction by finding facts in the story. We also talked about the story's main idea and found details to support it. We also worked on sentence writing. 

In Math class, we practiced solving real world subtraction problems. As we listened to the problem, we identified the whole and a part which then helped us solve the problem. 

Here is a picture from Friday's Art class. Enjoy! 

Have a great night! 

Learning the Rosary!

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

In Religion class today, we learned about the rosary. We talked about the prayers we pray, the various mysteries, and how to use the rosary. Then, each student was given a rosary. Throughout the month of October, we will be praying a decade of the rosary each day. Today, we prayed the first decade of the Joyful Mysteries. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading stories about how our bodies move. We began by learning two new oral vocabulary words (exercise and physical). We then worked on answering questions about a text as we read Move! Following that, we learned how to blend and read words with s blends and r blends, words like snack and grass. 

This afternoon in Language Arts, we learned our new sight words (jump, move, two, run). We then read Move and Grin which helped us practice our new skills. Next, we reviewed what makes a sentence great and practiced finding great sentences. Finally, we practiced writing sentences. 

In Math class today, we practiced solving subtraction stories. We found the whole and part in the story, and then worked on finding the other part by subtracting. 

Have a great night! 

A is for Applesauce!

Greetings! Today was an exciting day in first grade. To conclude our Apple Wek fun, we made applesauce! Before church, we added apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon to a crock pot, turned it on, and let it cook. Boy, did our room smell good today! 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian talked to us about living like the saints did. 

As we enjoyed the aroma of homemade applesauce, we did do learning. We wrapped up our week of learning in Language Arts. We used our oral vocabulary words in sentences and wrote sentences using our sight words. We also took our weekly assessment. Finally, we wrote the steps we did to make applesauce. 

In Math class today, we worked on solving and creating subtraction problems. Using a given subtraction sentence, we practice drawing and telling a story for it. For example, if the problem was 7-3, the students said that there were 7 butterflies and 3 flew away. I did love how creative the students got with their drawings! 

Science class today centered around apples. This morning, we talked about how when exposed to air, the flesh of the apple turns brown. We did an experiment to see which liquid would stop the apple from turning brown. We put slices into water, vinegar, and lemon juice. All day we kept watching. This afternoon we saw that lemon juice worked the best. 

Even Art class was centered around apples. The students used their thumbprints to create apples in a basket. We need to add stems once the paint dries. I'll post pictures on Monday. 

And, after waiting all day, it was finally time to try our homemade applesauce. The students enjoyed it and said it tasted better than what they buy in the store! I love their honesty! 

Have a great weekend!