The final days of school have arrived.  Unbelievable!  We have learned many things this year that have helped us grow into furture second graders.  This year we became published authors, illustrators and biographers.  We prepared two all school Masses and one Holy Thursday prayer service.  We participated in many fund raisers that benefited several different charities such as the sarcoma foundation.  We bid Mrs. Hillgoth a fond farewell and prepare to welcome a new principal at the beginning of our Second Grade year.

We celebrated Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Dr. Seuss’s birthdays.  Each of us have been featured as the student of the week.  We all celebrated our bitrthdays and received birthday letters from our friends in class.   

 We marked the 100th day of school as we created projects with 100 items.  We brought in our favorite stuffed bear or moose to celebrate the end of our bear unit.  Our guest had a wonderful time and did not cause much confusion through the day. 

Reading:  This week we will be reading in small literature groups.  Each group will be assigned a different story to read, and they are responsible for completeing a a corresponding project.  All skills learned this year will be strenthened next year.  PLEASE remember to READ with you child throughout the summer so that these skills are not rusty when the children return as second graders.  Encourage your child to continue with their story writing as well.  Ms. Delaney is always looking to add student written stories to our library.

Grammar:  In first grade we covered many aspects of grammar through out the year.  The students learned about nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, antonyms and synonyms.  We have also reviewed all  letter sounds and have learned actions that help us to rememebr these sounds. 

Spelling:  This year the first grade class hit the floor running with spelling.  In the past we started spelling tests in November but with the new curriculum in place we were encouraged to begin in September.  Along with the ten words the students were also given three dictation sentences that they had to write, spell all words correctly, and use proper punctuation to get all points.  Both classes did fantastically on this part as well.

Writing:  Imaginations were set on fire as the students wrote their original stories.  Topics of stories ranged from pets, best friends, vacations, to retelling of movies.  Thanks to all the parents for attending the Author’s Tea; we are so glad  you were able to join us.  Keep your child writing this summer.  Their story writing ability can only get stronger!

Religion:  We became more aware of  our Catholic faith this year.  We took a closer look at the Church year and the different seasons within it, our faith families, saints, Stations of the Cross and many other topics.  In the coming week we will review the lessons that we learned during “Second Steps.”  Some lessons include learning to wait our turn while another person is talking.  We learned some techniques to help us stay calm instead of getting mad and into a fight.  These along with other lessons, will be reviewed.

Math:  Many skills were reviewed, or introduced this year.  Skills covered this year were; adding and subtracting one and two digit numbers with this skill we learned to carry and barrow when necessary.    To strengthen their addition skills the first graders began taking timed math test.  These timed tests will follow them to second grade so please take time over the summer to practice the facts.  A great website to use is www.mathfactcafe.com.

Science:    During the year we covered many topics in Physical, life, and earth sciences.  Mrs. Pauly helped us with many experiments and we did a few in our classrooms as well.

Social Studies:  Our Social Studies curriculum was new to us this year.  We covered many topics with this new series.  Some topics were School, Community, Work, Earth and it’s resources, Our Country, and finally this week we will be learning about the different states and their capitals.     

Mrs. Schaefer and I would like to thank all of you for your support this year as we have grown to know and love your children.  We’ve had many enjoyable experiences throughout the year and hope that all of our students and their families have a safe and exciting summer.