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!

Can you believe it’s summer already!? For me this past year has flown by and I’ve enjoyed this group more than words can say. In preparing for the upcoming year I’ve been thinking quite a lot about this past one... reflecting on the things I taught and even more, the innumerable things I’ve learned from our first graders. Here are just a few that I’d like to share:

:: Happiness may be determined by our circumstances, but JOY is determined by our outlook. 

:: Imagination is not frivolous, but essential - we become old when we stop dreaming.  

:: It’s never too late to learn something new... and in learning something new, it’s not talent that counts so much as our perseverance.

There is no way to express in words alone what a great joy is has been to learn along side our fabulous and bright group of youngsters this year. I hope you and your family have a wonderful summer and I’ll see you back in the fall!

It’s been a long week of testing and by Friday we were ready for a change of pace. Well, what better way to celebrate the end of a test and the beginning of a summer than with a visit to the Botanic Gardens? Better yet, we were able to visit during the “World of Plants” event where guests get to travel around the gardens experiencing cultural tid-bits from places around the world - from Asia to Africa - making a souvenir at each stop. We had a blast (and beautiful weather to make things even better)! See for yourself...

{cooling off in the fountain}

{"strike a pose!”}

{making lotions in Europe}

{making butterflies in South America}

{modeling their pieces of art}

{“dress up” in India}

{hat-making in Asia}

Before we headed back to the bus, I took 1A on a little detour. 

As a kid, my family used to take frequent trips to the Botanic Gardens for picnics - and my personal favorite - feeding the fish. It’s a little known secret that the fish in the Japanese gardens go nuts for bread! (shhh) I brought our class their own loaf, and without telling any of our 1st graders the purpose of all this, had them lay down on their bellies on the dock. On the count of 3 I told them to drop a crumb of bread in the water. I wish you could have seen their faces!!! The fish came out of nowhere and were so thick you could reach down and touch them =)  I can’t begin to describe how exciting it was to able to share one of my favorite childhood experiences with your children... and I have a feeling it’s one they’ll never forget! 

{check out those lips!}

What an adventurous day... And don’t worry, for all 1st graders brave enough to touch the fish, we thoroughly washed those hands upon our return to New Hope! =)