Last week the kindergarten classes came over to visit and see what it was like in first grade. My first graders did a fantastic job of being leaders and coaches. They were so kind to their kindergarten partner and taught them several games that we play and how we rotate and behave in stations. It was exciting for me to see my future students. It was a great opportunity for kindergartners to make a connection with a student that will be in lower school with them next year. This is one of aspects I love about St. James. The older students mentoring the younger students, even if there isn’t a huge age gap in between.

Field day was a huge success! I know all of the students loved beginning the morning with class relay races and spending the rest of the time working through all of the fun stations Coach Nicole set up all around campus.

It has been a remarkable year full of growth and fun times learning. I’m so excited to watch these kids grow and continue to be the awesome humans they are!

An integral component in St. James culture is teaching kindness. Several times a week the trash is collected by waste management. Every single time the driver obliges the children and honks the horn in response to their arm pumping. To show our appreciation kindergarten-4th grade students signed a thank you poster and gave him cookies in the shape of his truck and smiley faces. The drivers kindness regularly brightens the students’ day. Hopefully we were able to brighten his day too.

First grade had had a lot of fun activities keeping them busy lately! Spring has spring around campus and we took the opportunity to check out the tadpoles in the preschool building. The three year olds loved having the big kids come visit, and the first graders loved being the big kids. It was a fantastic way to wrap up our mini study about the lifecycle of a frog. Later in the week a student found a frog on the playground and we were able to see another living stage of the life cycle.

Earlier in the semester I incorporated the game boom, boom, clap into class to help with counting syllables and phonemes. I saw a variation of the game using the vowels A,E, I, O, and U. It was a lot of fun having the students listen to a word and try to be the first to grab the vowel they heard. It could be tricky because many words have a silent vowel in them, and some students went for the vowels they knew to be in the word, but the instructions were to listen for the vowel sound. I’ve got a highly competitive class and these games are always stir up a lot of excitement!

First grade made the annual trip to Historic Washington State Park. It did not disappoint! It is the best trip. Students get to be outside for almost the entire tour, learn about how people lived on the frontier of America about 150 years ago, visited the oldest magnolia tree in the state of Arkansa, made candles, and learned some interesting facts about the art of blacksmithing. The picnic lunch is always a good time too! Our weather wasn’t perfect, but it did not slow us down or keep us from leaning in a fun way!

I last left you with the class preparing for cereal box presentations. The students randomly drew an animal from the unit we were covering in reading, research the animal, and in class prepare a cereal box with specific guidelines to tell all about the animal. Once the projects were completed, the children’s families came to watch as the they shared information about animals and their cereal box designs. The day arrived and the class was nervously excited about presenting all of their own. Of course, they had rehearsed at school and home, but public speaking is hard at any age. The students did an excellent job of communicating what they learned.

A new module has been started in math and it covers 2D and 3D shapes. Introducing young children to geometry is fun and intriguing. The children have seen and learned about these shapes their entire lives. Now, they can see the mathematical qualities and purposes they can be used for. The first lesson discussed 2D shapes and the attributes (how many straight lines and corners). While in math groups, the students had to build a shape when only given its attributes (3 straight lines, 3 corners). The next few lessons progressed to 3D shapes. To reinforce the differences between 2D and 3D shapes the students built models with marshmallows and toothpicks. It was a good way to see and feel the difference between 2D and 3D shapes, and it was an opportunity for the students to work in groups and practice their communication skills.

It’s hard to imagine that the end of first grade is just around the corner. We’ve got some big first coming up - spring musical and the Historic Washington State Park field trip to name a couple!

The class has been busy preparing their cereal box presentations. The children will present to their parents next week. I have introduced two new reading centers to class: alphabet arcs and a sentence reading game. The alphabet arch is used to build words, count sounds and syllables, and practice spelling patterns. I love these because they can be used in small group or as a center where the children work independently. The sentence reading game was fun and the students read 16 sentences while doing it! I wrote seven sentences that specifically covered the diphthongs we’ve been learning in class. I put the sentences in a large circle and had each student stand behind one. When I said go, the students walk around the circle. When I said stop the students had to read the sentence as fast and accurately as possible then raise their hand. I’d walk around the circle and call on students to read their sentence. Adding new centers and playing learning games are always fun to add to reading groups. I love seeing the students be excited about learning with a new tool!