With cooler temperatures in the forecast, it has finally starting to feel like fall around campus. First grade partners with a parent, or a loved one, to build a Mayan or Aztec style temple. This hands on project concludes our study of these early American civilizations. It’s a great way to have a shared learning experience and bring to life some of the concepts we discussed in social studies. It also helps teach children at a very young age what history is and how different cultures have shaped our current culture. My goal is to teach children to respect others no matter what they believe and what their background is. At St. James it is part of our mission statement to include project-based learning and hands-on experiences for our students. Research has proven that this is the best way for children to learn. So, any opportunity we get to enrich the child’s learning we take it! These temple projects are the first of many project based experiences these children will have while attending St. James. While, at the first grade level there is more teacher and parent support, as they grow each year they have more projects that they are responsible for completing independently. I will frequently say that this event or that project is my favorite. The truth is, I love them all for different reasons. My favorite aspect of the temple project is that it’s the children’s first time to participate in a school project on campus. This is their first year in lower school and, like a grade level states, it’s the first for so many things. Getting to experience these milestones with every group of first graders has been so fulfilling and brings me so much joy. I hope you enjoy these amazing replicas of Mayan and Aztec temples!

Science is a subject first grade gets really excited about. Last week we had a class pet for a day. Beardie the bearded dragon visited first grade for the day. Cooper, Beardie’s owner and Mrs. Kandice’s son, brought Beardie to school to enrich the Prek students’ Pet Study and to teach first grade about this unique reptile. Cooper let, if they wanted, the children pet Beardie and answered all of the fabulous first grade questions. Cooper taught us that bearded dragons come from Australia and require a desert like environment. Cooper shared stories about Beardie, the students loved those. The class had so much fun watching Beardie and having a class pet for a day!

One of the best experiences that I see regularly take place amongst students on campus is mentoring one another. The “big” kids frequently reach out to the “little” kids and involve them in a shared learning experience. The fourth graders read to the preschool students, the older middle school student teach the younger middle school students the traditions of chapel, and many times the middle school students teach and reinforce lessons to the lower school students. The most recent example of this mutually beneficial relationship between the “big” and “little” kids was last week. The seventh grade students put together five stations, a worksheet, and a digital wrap up game to teach the science topic living and non living to the first graders. Both classes learned lessons by working with one another. First grade learned characteristics for living and non living, along with seeing examples of both living creatures and non living items. It is so amazing to see these kids working together and problem solving. I say this often, and it is true every time, this is one of my favorite parts of St. James - having the flexibility and opportunity for the children to work and learn with each other. 

Mrs. Gordon

A new activity has been added to the writing/journal station. A couple of days a week the groups will get to write the room. Each student has a clipboard and they have to walk around to the numbered pictures and fill in their page. The awesome part of write the room is how easy it is to differentiate. For students working on CVC words, they fill in the vowel. Some students are writing the entire word. Others have to write it in a sentence. It’s so captivating for them and they love having the freedom of being in the commons to work.

Shaving cream plus sight words equal very excited first graders! The station that focuses on sight and spelling words was switched around on Thursday. Typically the children scribble write, build, rainbow write, or practice flashcards with a partner while in the sight/spelling word station. On Thursday they used shaving cream to write their words - and they loved it! Using shaving cream is such a fun tool to use to help meet those tactile needs that students have. Learning while using multiple senses is cognitively beneficial. The sight words are growing in difficulty and giving the students a new way to practice is just what they needed. Each group had so much fun and handled the change in the routine so well.

Mrs. Gordon

In my last blog I described math groups in detail, mentioning that reading groups operate in a similar way. Now that we have been in school for four weeks, both math and reading groups are running smooth and everyone understands the stations and transitions. Reading groups have four stations: small group with me, seat work, writing journals, and sight/spelling words. Once we have these four stations down even better, more can be incorporated within the stations and tweaked to accomplish more practice with different reading, writing, and language skills. I am excited for the students to use shaving cream in the sight/spelling word station! They will love it and I love every time they are having fun while learning!! Until next time!

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