Fire Safety, Pink Out Day, and Temples

Every year the Texarkana Texas firefighters come to St. James and present a fire safety program. There is always a theme to help the children remember fire safety rules. This year has been one of my favorites. Some of the Texas High drama students acted skits out and wrote new lyrics to a catchy song that all of the students were familiar with, “Baby Shark”. My first graders loved getting to sing and do the motions for the revised version of the song. Being able to sing and dance out the motions helps the children store the information better and enables them to recall it when needed. 

Another annual tradition that is always enjoyable for teachers and students is Pink Out Day. This is a city-wide event where schools, businesses, and citizens all wear pink to bring awareness and show support for those who are fighting breast cancer or who have lost their battle with breast cancer. I love it when we can support our community. 

In social studies, the class has been learning about early American civilizations, such as the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. To reinforce their learning I assigned a family group project. The children and a member of their family were to build a Mayan or Aztec temple. I collaborate with our Spanish teacher to maximize the children’s learning experience. Mrs. Perri, the Spanish teacher, taught the children how to write and say, “This is my temple.”, “My temple is in Central America.”, and “This is my favorite thing about my temple.”  The children also colored a map to show where the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations were located. It was a very fun and educational experience for first grade, the first of many!

Mrs. Gordon