First grade is back in session! The new year is underway and everyone is adjusting to all of the new routines very well. This year I am implementing new reading and math strategies to better individualize my teaching for each student - I am so excited! I will be incorporating math groups and reading groups, along with the fun (and effective) activities that will push each student to excel in, and above, their level.

Math and reading groups move in the same way. I meet with one math group (circles, triangles, or squares) while the other two groups are in stations. Currently, stations consist of math games, counting a variety of items in a collection, completing the daily problem set, and pattern blocks. The math games are adjusted daily - new ones added and others saved for different concepts. For reading groups, I have a group (red, yellow, blue, or green) while the other groups are in stations. These stations hit on phonics, sight words, writing, spelling practice, and reading with a partner or by yourself. What is most exciting to me about teaching these critical subjects in small groups is all of the possibilities I have to use that will cater to their learning style. I am more able to meet them where they are and move forward with them.

It is going to be a reat year!

Claire

Every year, first through eighth grade students take a standardized achievement test. Odd-numbered grade levels also take an ability test. When testing was over, to celebrate, the class had an ice cream sundae party! These kids made the most interesting ice cream sundaes. There were ten different topping choices and four ice cream flavors available - no one child had the same combination. 

 An activity the class always seems to enjoy is playing with shaving cream. I love using shaving cream to have children practice spelling words, math facts, sight words, digraphs, shapes, diphthongs, and the list goes on. On this day, the kids just played with the shaving cream. I let them get in small groups and they had some fun! It was used for sensory exploration.  

The middle school students are terrific mentors to the younger elementary students. One of the things that makes St. James a close community is the relationships between the grade levels. The amount of support these children demonstrate to one another is exemplifying.  The middle school invited the lower school to the “Trajeggtory” Challenge. To this challenge, we could bring six items from the classroom that would keep an egg from cracking as it was being thrown over a volleyball net. The further the egg went without cracking the better. The first graders were so excited to be a part of the challenge. I split them into two groups and they came up with their design and gathered the materials. We did not win, but it was a great experience and fun lessons were learned. 

 Roman carnival is an annual event that the middle school students put on for the entire school. The students dress as Roman mythological characters and educate us all about who they are dressed as. They also have booths set up for the students to visit to play games while learning. It was so nice to be outside and see all of the children interacting and learning together. 

The next two weeks will bring this year to a close. It definitely started off atypical, and we aren’t back to “normal”, but it has been a great year with this tremendously sweet class!!

Mrs. Gordon

The past several weeks the weather has produced some beautiful spring days. One of these amazing weather days was on Earth Day, so very fitting. One of the activities the class did was take a nature walk scavenger hunt around campus. The children enjoyed this so much. Getting to investigate and closely look for items on the list made them giddy. Being with nature brings out the natural scientist in children. Hearing all of the facts they know about insects and weather warms my heart, you can see their passion and excitement when they are connecting other experiences they’ve had in nature with this one.

We were able to take a field trip! I feel so blessed that my class was able to go to Historic Washington State Park near Hope, AR. We were outside the entire time and had a lovely picnic. This year was understandably different, we weren’t able to go inside the building for tours. However, we made the most of it and read the information that was available. I saw, and took many pictures with, the largest magnolia tree in the state! There was also the moon tree. When it was just a seed it orbited the moon and then was planted in Washington, AR. The class thought that was pretty cool! It was so comforting to do something fun and safe while off-campus. It was a great way to slide into the last month of school. It’s hard to believe my precious first graders are about to be second graders! Soaking up all of my time with them.

Claire

One of the joys of working at a Christian school is that we can dive into the true meaning of the holidays. It is so meaningful to teach about Jesus’ death and resurrection. To help teach the class, I used resurrection eggs. Many of the students were familiar with these and were able to review the story of Jesus dying on the cross and the events that lead up to that with me. I think it is important to teach children that the reason for Easter is Jesus choosing to die on the cross for our sins and coming back to life to fulfill God’s Word. The class enjoyed painting beautiful crosses and a yummy snack.

Every year the first through eighth-grade students take part in the Spring Musical. This year the first and second graders were Oompa Loompas. All of them agreed that the music was fun to learn, they were all nervous but had fun, and none of them liked the wigs! It was a big production and the students knocked it out of the park!! The spring musical not only allows the student's musical talents to shine but also how responsible and hardworking they are. They needed to wear shields to be safe, but the shields didn’t take anything away from the musical. I can’t wait to see what next year's musical will be! 

Time is winding down this school year. To help learn about telling time the class made their own clock! It helped reinforce which hand is the minute hand and hour hand, that we can count by fives to know how many minutes have passed, and that when the minute hand is on the six you can say half-past or thirty. This group of students has always been interested in telling time and they enjoyed making their clocks and using them for several lessons.

Mrs. Gordon

St. Patrick’s day was this week. To celebrate, the students drew shamrocks. They listened while I gave them step-by-step directions to draw the shamrocks. Once the children finish their shamrocks, they painted them green. Before the shamrock art project, we discussed and learned information about St. Patrick. One thing that we discovered is that St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach others about the Holy Trinity. The Shamrock is the national flower of Ireland, and they grow in abundance there. So it’s not surprising that St. Patrick had access to the flower and it was a great tool in his endeavor to teach others about Christianity. The children enjoyed drawing, painting, and learning about shamrocks. 

We ended the week with math games and reading! The National Junior Honor Society and the math club visited first grade for some mentoring and fun learning. Such a great way to wrap up the week! I love that we can safely partner up with the middle school students for learning opportunities. 

Mrs. Gordon