1 Timothy 4:12

These first weeks of school, the first graders from 1-D have been spending a lot of time learning about the word of God through the bible, songs, prayer, and discussions. I believe very much that when we plant God’s truths deep into the hearts children when they are young, the Lord will bring those truths to mind over and over again as they grow.

This is the verse we’ve been memorizing, singing, and talking about over the past 3 weeks... Enjoy!

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers, in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

I memorized this verse when I was about ten years old and it’s taken on new meaning with each phase of my life - just more proof that the word of God is living and active! We are never too young or too old to be transformed by His truth. 

Reading Stations

This week we’ve been getting into the swing of stations and I thought you may like to see just what that looks like in 1-D.  =)

{With all our practice investigating newspapers, we decided to go ahead and make it a station. Last week we hunted for vowels. This week we’ve been on the hunt for capital letters and punctuation.}

{In spelling station, first graders have an opportunity to practice their weekly spelling words. This week we used a technique called “rainbow writing” to learn our words.}

{In listening station students listen to a story then summarize what happened in the beginning, middle and end with pictures and sentences.}

{In computer station we had a few technical difficulties earlier on in the week, so students had to share a computer and practice some real team work. This team worked so well together!}

{In this station students had an opportunity for some independent reading time. They could choose any book from our class library that looked interesting to them, then rated the book after they were finished reading it.}

{PS. Have you seen our classroom library lately? Our class has been doing a wonderful job of keeping our books organized.}

{In writing station this week students wrote a nonfiction story about themselves. We have some rather talented authors in this bunch!}

{And while I was occupied helping people work out stations last week, Harry Garry - our class mascot - sat in for me and students got acquainted with this furry fella. This week Harry moved to the reading station and students read him their favorite books.}

Parts of a Sentence

Last week we began talking about the parts of a sentence. We learned that every sentence always starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. We even became detectives and went hunting for some capital letters and punctuation marks in the newspaper. 

Check out our super detectives at work!

Newspapers aren’t just for adults anymore! =)

Skittles Patterns

Today we learned that math can be quite tasty! 

Check out our skittle graphs and patterns:

{first we lined up our skittles on our graphs in their correct color categories}

{then filled them in}

{Ta-Daaaaa!}

{some students even double checked for correctness}

{so proud of her work}

{some Skittles patterns}

.  .  .  .  .

Today we also had a student bring one of her favorite books to read to the class... we enjoyed it very much!

Launching Morning Routines

In the first grade, it’s extremely important that students get their morning routine down and are confident about what to do. Not only does it get the day started right, but it also helps us make the most of our time together. So, today we spent a lot of time practicing our morning routine. Spending this time on the front end will save us hours upon hours as the year goes on. We learned that when they get to school they should take the following steps to complete our morning procedure:

1. Put backpack in locker and take out green folder.

2. Turn in homework to me to check - then put green folder in desk.

3. Roll for homeworkopoly (more on that in the info packet you received from me on parent night)

4. Go to breakfast

5. Get started on 4-Squares (critical thinking seat work)

If you get a chance tonight, or even on the way to school in the morning, please go over these steps with your child. We acted them out a little today, but the more confident and familiar your child is with these steps, the more smoothly his/her morning will go. 

PS. Homework begins tonight!!!! In order to play “Homeoworkopoly” (the homework game) your child needs to complete both sheets that are due tomorrow and have you sign their conduct sheet verifying that you’ve seen it. Thank you so much for your support - you play an absolutely essential role in your child’s continued education! We couldn’t do what we do without you. 

Day 1

It may have been yucky and rainy out, but energy was high in 1D. (And speaking of the rainy day, thank you for your patience as we all adjust to the new car line for afternoon pick-up.) We had a lot of fun getting to know each other today with a little Hip-Hop Hokey Pokey, The Name Game, and a Freestyle Dance Circle. I’ll tell you what, these first-graders have some moves!

We also learned today about our classroom jobs and our 3 BIG GOALS this year:

{Goal 1} Do Our Best

{Goal 2} Show Kindness

{Goal 3} Listen then Lead

Some of you may have noticed the basketball goal on the wall in my classroom during parent night. I use the analogy of making a goal in sports to help the children understand our classroom goals. I explained to them that, even though basketball players may not always make their goal, they keep practicing until they can make shot after shot. In the same way, we may not always make our goals, but we have to keep practicing if we want to grow. And growth is our primary goal.

Leadership is a huge focus of ours this year in the first grade. We talked a lot today about what it looks like to be a good a leader/set an example, the kind of choices that good leaders make, and how we cannot be good leaders without being good listeners. If you have a chance, I’d love for you to continue this conversation with your child over the weekend.

Welcome to First

Hello, 1st grade parents and family!

Thank you all for taking the time to come to family night - and all it entails (parking, 120 degree temps, etc.)! Your commitment to your child’s education is noticed and very much appreciated! This year is going to be a great one, and I’m looking forward to getting to know each of your children and their unique talents and gifts.

I was always that child who needed to experience something to learn it. Reading or hearing about it wasn’t enough. As it turns out, research confirms what I experienced as a 6 year old... the more our senses are engaged (think: movements, songs, experiments, pictures and video clips) the more we remember. So, as you may already have guessed, we will be doing ALL of these things and many more in our learning this year! You can expect a lot of in-class projects, experiments and hands-on learning this year (and the picture proof will be found right here). However, before we get into first grade content, we have some other very important things to learn: procedures. Procedures are the way we do routine tasks such as morning routines, moving around the classroom, lining up and walking in the hall. The better we learn our procedures, the more time we will have to learn content.

Thank you all for entrusting your most precious gift to us, allowing us to come alongside you to guide and show them the love of Christ. Much prayer and planning has gone into this year, and I can’t wait for all the exciting things it will bring!