Things have been going very well in first grade. We had a pet toad this week, which the students named Lizzy. We went outside and found some of God's wonderful creations and discussed why some of them are so important to us. In phonics, we are learning blends and suffix "s". In science, we are learning about our solar system.
In math, we are working on addition using manipulatives (two-color counters, drawings, ten-frames, and connecting blocks). We use visuals most of the first half of the year because math is so abstract. (If you use the online math textbook, you will find all the manipulatives under the manipulative menu and the ten frames under the background menu.) Even though it is not required for testing at the beginning of the year, the earlier you start practicing math facts under ten with your first grader, the easier it will be for them when we stop using manipulatives later in the year.
All the students returned their first reading log with more than enough minutes for the week! This is the most successful first week of reading log I've had as a teacher, so wonderful job!
We started learning about poems today. We read Shel Silverstein's One Inch Tall poem, which motivated us to write a poem about if we were one inch tall. While I helped moderate the writing, the first graders wrote this poem as a class, first picking a story line about what they'd do if they were so small, then listing words that could be used to rhyme with their line, and then ideas for lines that would use that rhyme. They did an amazing job, working as a team!
If I Were One Inch Tall
By: First Grade (borrowing the idea from Shel Silverstein)
If I were one inch tall
I’d be very, very, very small
I could use a French fry for a diving board
For my small size, I would praise the Lord
I would follow a worm underground
I would weigh less than a pound
When I’d shower, I’d be careful not to fall in the drain
I could use a fly as my very own airplane
I would be full from one little pizza crumb
I’d be stuck forever if I stepped in gum
I would use a grasshopper to get to school
I could use a bowl as a swimming pool
I would have an ant for a pet
I could ride my pet, I bet
I hope to never see
A man step on me
Little old, Pee Wee
Thank you so much for attending the Home and School meeting on Wednesday evening! First grade won the attendance award for having the most parents at the primary level, so I get to go out and buy something new and fun for the class this week! I love buying things for my classroom!
Over the past year, I have been using some of my class money to buy several awesome sets of nonfiction books to build a more diverse, fascinating nonfiction section of our class library. I also purchased a fiction set of leveled readers for our guided reading, so I'm very excited about all the great new books to help the students learn to read! This is going to be the best year yet!
Welcome to First Grade!
Hello! I am Stacey Biggins, the first grade teacher at St. Joseph School. I am so excited to be teaching first grade! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by e-mail or by sending a note with your child. I can also be reached at the school office by calling 717-632-0118. By working together, we will all have a blessed school year!
Email Mrs. Biggins
First Grade Specials
Tuesday: Computer and Spanish