Our first graders are definitely counting down the days until summer. Our classroom is continuing to stay busy, though. We have been doing a lot of writing this week. We are putting science and writing together. Today, they had to write about how they have grown. They had to compare what they are doing now to what they did as a baby. We read a poem about growing up and all of the new things they can accomplish now. They were surprised they could do so many new things.

In math this week, we will be introducing quarters. Most of them already know what quarters are, but now we will be counting them with all of the other coins we have learned about so far. They are also learning how to subtract two-digit numbers. They have also been working hard to learn all of the new math facts and it really shows.

We do have a spelling test this week. The words are

school, teacher, student, lunchroom, recess

The challenge words are

playground, library, principal, secretary, janitor, sacred

A lot of these words are hard. We wanted to give them a challenge on our second to last spelling test. We also chose these words because they have been writing about school a lot and they like to know these types of words. Next week will be the last list of the schoolyear. Thank you for working so hard with your child at home. It is greatly appreciated!

Have a great rest of the week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

This feels more like spring! We are getting into a really busy time of year. After-school activities seem to take up a lot of time, but please don't forget to practice the spelling words. We have a full month of school left and we will be busy through the last week. We are already in our last unit of reading and we will be finishing up our math in the next few weeks, too. I sent home a phonics story from our reading curriculum. It focuses on a lot of the sounds we have been working on in the classroom. It really reinforces their reading skills, so if you see one of the stories come home, please encourage them to read through it a few times.

The spelling words for this week are:

store, corn, more, for, morning

The challenge words are:

afford, before, laugh, afternoon, second, sunrise

Our challenge words are getting a little harder. It is fine if you would only like your child to practice a few of them

This Wednesday is our May Crowning Prayer Service. It begins at 8:45 in the church. All 1st graders will have a part during the prayer service. The will be reading or crowning the statue of Mary. They will also bring up a flower to put in a vase at the base of Mary. The first graders do not need to bring a flower because Mrs. Anderson and I will be bringing in flowers for our classes. However, if you would like to send an extra flower that is absolutely fine with us. Please join us if you can. We have been practicing and we are excited to share our prayer service. Thanks!