First grade is back in action and off to an excellent start. The first week of school is full of review, learning the rules and procedures of a new class and building, and seeing old friends while making new ones.

To make the review fun, the class practiced letter formation with shaving cream.

One tradition I started a couple years ago was reading Freckle Juice by Judy Blume the first week of school. It’s a short book about a boy who wants freckles and is tricked into concocting and drinking a juice. The story touches on the fact that we are all different and being different from one another is a good thing. On the first Friday of school, the book is finished and the class has a little activity and get freckles! Some choose not to have the freckles and that’s okay too. It’s a fun way to end the first week back.

It is going to be a fantastic year in first grade with this crew!

Mrs. Claire

Testing week is typically a week everyone involved in hates, but not at St. James. At St. James we use the Stanford 10 and the OLSAT for measuring our students knowledge and abilities. It also is used to keep us accountable for what and how we are teaching. Yes, the mornings are full of testing, but the students have frequent breaks and special snacks all week. Our afternoons are filled with extra recess and fun science experiments. Every afternoon a parent volunteer had the option of visiting first grade and leading an experiment with the class or to send the materials. The class got to see how cold and warm water changed skittles, they made elephant toothpaste, constructed a marshmallow catapult, mixed and played with fluffy slime, and even made colors explode in milk. It was such a fun week!! Being able to ease the tension of standardized testing by balancing fun educational activities and utilizing beautiful weather is amazing. It’s the perfect way to wrap up another fantastic year at St. James Day School.

To celebrate Earth Day this year all of lower school planted 5 milkweed plants. We were able to do this thanks to a very generous donation of the plants by Ellis Home and Garden, in Texarkana. Each grade level planted one plant, with the exception of third grade who planted two because it was there connection to the local store and because they have the most students in their class. We’re so excited to have these plants on our campus to help encourage the monarch butterflies to make a pitstop during their migration and also encourage other beneficial insects to the surrounding habitat. Students helped clean up weeds, dig the hole, put the plant in its proper place, and then cover up the roots. It was such a gorgeous day to do something that benefited the Earth.

Every year first grade takes a trip to Historic Washington State Park, which is very near Hope, AR. In our history lessons we discuss American pioneers. Historic Washington has persevered homes, courthouses, farmsteads, schools, as well as a blacksmith and candle shop. There’s a printing press museum that has a printing press that was used during the civil war. A favorite stop is the weapons museum, which holds hundreds of guns that vary from ones that can fit in the palm of your hand to some that was used to hunt while riding a camel. Historic Washington educates visitors in the ways of the early to mid 1800. It is a fascinating place to visit and a terrific way to bring history to life, giving the students hands on experiences. The students saw the largest Magnolia tree in the state, made a candle, rode a horse drawn surrey, saw chicken, pet a horse, and watched Mr. Jerry make a iron hook in the blacksmith shop. To top off the amazing trip - we had gorgeous weather and a fun picnic. I love taking first grade to Historic Washington every year, I learn new things and see new areas every time. They say pictures are worth a thousand words, and these pictures of the field trip certainly prove that true.

In first grade, one way to help a concept stick is to have a memorable experience with it, like a project or incorporating art, food, and/or physical movement. A few weeks ago the class used shaving cream to tackle a hard math strategy. This week the class used smarties when I was introducing a new strategy to solve word problems. I drew the tape diagram and the students built the word problem with smarties then they drew it and wrote the number sentences. There was another time recently when the students used candy during reading groups. Each student was given 5 m&ms and used them to segment and blend the spelling words for the week, which cover the spelling patterns that we are focusing on. They had fun learning and had a sweet treat too!

St. James Day School has an annual gala put on by the board of directors. Each class makes an item, or two, to be auctioned off to raise funds for the school. It’s a great fundraising opportunity for the school. First grade submitted two items: an American flag hanging art and the class mission statement poster. The students loved making the flag and we’ve enjoyed our mission all year. I’m happy they both will be enjoyed by two of the first grade families!