On the 99th Day Of School!

 Greetings! Today was another great day in first grade. The excitement is building for tomorrow as we get ready to celebrate the 100th day of school. As one student said, he was not going to be able to sleep tonight! 

In Religion today, we wrapped up our chapter on the life of young Jesus. Next week, we will begin to learn about Jesus' public ministry. 

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 today, we learned how to add two two-digit numbers without regrouping. We learned to add the ones first and then the tens. We will continue to practice this tomorrow. 

This afternoon was tons of fun. We made crowns and necklaces for tomorrow. We also watched The Peanuts Movie. It was a great celebration today. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Student Appreciation Day!

 Greetings! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a great day! The students really enjoyed their day! 

In Religion class, we talked about how Jesus obeyed his parents. We talked about how we can obey our parents as well. 

In Language Arts class, we answered questions using our oral vocabulary words, read long a words, put words into ABC order, and reviewed all of the sight words we learned this year. We also spent time working on our fluency and comprehension. We partner read our story from yesterday along with reading a story in our decodable reader booklets. We also read a nonfiction piece about animals moving fast. After reading that story we completed pages in our Reading/Writing Companion that focused on main idea and key details. Finally, we practiced using was and were in sentences. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we focused on writing. We wrote about why our snowman melted and added it to a craft. 

In Math class today we took our test on the calendar and time. Tomorrow we will begin adding two digit numbers without regrouping. 

Have a wonderful night! 

Let's Go Bucs!

 Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Today was an exciting day at Holy Name as we welcomed Neil Walker to the school. We were able to take a class picture with him and receive an autograph. We were very excited to meet this former Pittsburgh Pirate and see how his faith helped him in his career. 

Despite all of the excitement surrounding the day, we were able to focus and had a great day of learning. 

We began our day by attending Adoration. We spent some quiet time talking and praying to Jesus. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed our oral vocabulary words. We also read long a words spelled with ai and ay. In addition, we practiced putting words into ABC order. We worked on our fluency as we read a story in our decodable reader booklets. Along with that, we practiced reading our sight words and practiced using our vocabulary words in sentences. 

This afternoon we read Little Rabbit. After reading the story, we completed pages in our Reading/Writing companion that focused on sequencing the events in the story. 

In Math class today, we reviewed what we learned about the calendar and time. We will be taking our chapter test tomorrow. 

Have a great night! 

Happy Catholic School's Week!

 Greetings! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Our Catholic School's Week Celebration is off to a great start! 

This morning we gathered for a prayer service honoring Fr. Brian, Deacon Condor, Deacon Conner, and Sr. Margie. We thank God for their call to serve and for all they do for us. We pray that we may be open to what God is calling us to do in our lives. 

In Language Arts class, we reviewed the oral vocabulary words we learned last week by answering questions using the words. Next, we used our letter tiles to spell and read vowel team words spelled with ai and ay. Then, we learned how to put words into ABC order when they all start with the same letter; we learned that we focus on the second letter to help us put them in order. Following that, we practiced using our sight words in sentences. Beginning this week, we will be learning two vocabulary words. This week we are focusing on the words special and splendid. Today we wrote sentences using these words. We ended our morning by focusing on our comprehension; this week we are practicing sequencing. We reread Snail and Frog Race. After reading the story, we sequenced the events in it. 

This afternoon in Language Arts we practiced using the verbs was and were in sentences. We also wrote the steps in brushing our teeth. 

In Math class today, we practiced telling time to the half hour. The students worked with a partner to match the time on a clock to the digital time. 

Have a great night! 

Polar Bear Art!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! It is hard to believe that the week is over. We were just getting started! 

At Mass this morning, Fr. Brian reminded us to love one another. He also reminded us to show our love to our greatest friend, Jesus! 

We continued with our week of learning in Language Arts. We practiced reading long a words with the vowel teams ai and ay. We also learned our new sight words for the week (about, animal, carry, eight, give, our). In addition, we practiced our new skills as we read Frog and Snail Race. Finally, we learned how to use was and were in sentences. 

In Math class, we learned how to tell time to the half hour. We know that we must pay attention to where the minute hand is pointing. We must also look carefully to see which hour has past in telling time. The students really enjoyed using the small clocks to show time. 

In Science class, we talked about how light helps us. We did an experiment trying to read a message in a dark box. We realized that we needed light to help us read it. We then spent time identifying all things that give us light. 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we made a picture of a polar bear. Yesterday, we painted the background. Today, we added the polar bear and painted snowflakes. They turned out great! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

We're Back!

 Greetings! Happy Thursday! Boy, it was nice to be back in the classroom today. I missed seeing the children and working with them. Thank you again for everything these past two days. 

It was a crazy day back. We helped film the upcoming Proclaim episode about Catholic School's Week. The children were so good at being quiet for so long. Although we had that interruption, we were able to resume our learning. 

In Religion class we talked about what life was like for the Holy Family in Nazareth. 

We began a new week of learning in Language Arts; this week we will be reading about how animals use different body parts to help them survive. We began by learning our new oral vocabulary words (feature, appearance, determined, predicament, relief). We then worked on rereading for details as we heard the folktale of how elephant's got their trunks. Next, we learned about the vowel teams ai and ay. We learned that both make the long a sound. We practiced reading words and phrases with ai and ay. 

In Math class today, we reviewed telling time to the hour. The students did very well with this. 

We ended our day with Social Studies. Today, we reviewed the seasons. The students illustrated pictures showing something they do in each season. 

Have a great night! 

March of the Penguins!

 Greetings! Happy Friday! Today was a great day to end another week of learning in first grade! 

At Mass this morning, we heard the story of Jesus healing the paralytic man. Fr. Brian reminded us that he can always turn to Jesus when we need healing. 

We finished 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. Yesterday, we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, we talked about our dreams for the world. We wrote about our dreams and added it to a craft. 

We also wrapped up our week of penguin learning. Today, we wrote about something we would do if we were a penguin. We added that writing to a craft as well. 

In Math class today, we began our chapter on calendar and time. Today we reviewed the days of the week, months of the year, and practiced finding a date from a given date. 

In Science class we talked about light. We learned the words opaque (can't see through), translucent (can kind of see through), and transparent (can see through). We sorted objects based on these words. We also created a picture using tissue paper. We hung them on the window to see if light could easily pass through it). 

We ended our day with Art. Today, we made penguins. Thank you for sending in the bottles. We had lots of fun making these adorable penguins. 

Have a great weekend! Stay warm!