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First Grade Language Arts Curriculum
First Grade offers a reading program that balances literature with phonics. It begins with emerging literacy, and through a strong multi-sensory phonics foundation program empowers students to become independent readers, writers, and learners. Literature is balanced with direct instruction that connects sounds and spellings, integrates reading and writing, develops fluency and comprehension, encourages independence and builds a solid foundation of decoding skills. Phonics instruction throughout the year is cumulative and emphasizes repeated practice with easy to read textbooks, leveled readers, and literature that build skills, develop confidence and ensures success. Our core curriculum revolves around a reading series, however the students are offered opportunities for independent reading in a variety of genres. During the year children respond to reading, communicate ideas, strengthen connections between reading and writing skills and develop control over language. Social studies and science are integrated with reading in the context of thematic units. The introduction of non-fiction literature helps children develop essential reading techniques such as using context, summarizing, and beginning research skills.
Our balanced reading program includes these elements:
Reading Aloud
Reading aloud is a powerful technique for promoting literature appreciation. Listening to stories helps children become aware of story development so that students can model the writing process more effectively in their own work. Reading aloud is the single most important factor in learning to read. Hearing stories helps children to improve their listening skills, to build vocabulary, to aid reading comprehension, to increase fluency, and to help develop sight work recognition.
Shared Reading
When children share reading they begin to identify reading as a relaxed and social endeavor. Young children naturally enjoy hearing and telling stories, singing songs, using rhymes, and listening to and creating poems. These elements are incorporated into the reading program and used in conjunction with the reading series and teacher created activities. Reading is incorporated into the program in many ways throughout the day. Children use charts, poems and choral reading to improve their reading skills. In addition the children are exposed to reading through the use of “Morning Message”. This provides opportunity to reinforce basic print concepts such as one-to-one correspondence, left to right progression and text awareness. When introduced to reading through these comfortable and exciting activities, students strengthen their skills and develop a true enjoyment of reading.
Teacher Guided Reading Instruction- Small Groups
The focus of our Guided Reading instruction includes the following:
• Utilizing reading strategies (pictorial, phonetic and contextual clues)
• Making logical predictions
• Reinforcing phonetic awareness
• Recognizing miscues and self-correcting
• Expanding vocabulary
• Developing confidence
• Promoting independence
• Developing fluency
• Reading with expression
• Understanding story structure
• Improving comprehension skills
Our primary reading series is Scott Foresman Reading, copyright 2002
Phonics Skills
• initial consonants
• final consonants
• y as a consonant and as a vowel
• long and short vowels sounds
• consonant digraphs (initial and final)
• medial consonants
• vowel rules
• silent "e" rule
• similar sounds spelled differently
• r-controlled vowel sounds
• double vowel sounds
• plurals (-s)
• inflected endings
• double final consonants
• initial blends
• short vowel patterns
• final consonant blends
• suffixes
• comparative endings
• diphthongs
• multi-syllabic words
Grammar
• Subjects
• Predicates
• Antonyms
• Homonyms
• Synonyms
• Singular/plural nouns
• Proper nouns
• Contractions
• Verbs
• Present/past tenses
• Compound words
• Adjectives
• Possessives
• Pronouns
• Exclamations
Writing
The First Grade students are encouraged to develop their understanding of written language through journal writing and responses to assigned or independent topics. Children use approximate spelling, however conventional spelling is an expectation for appropriate words throughout the year. Students write in class for the teacher available for guidance. Students extend their understanding of writing through:
• whole group instruction
• small group instruction
• individual instruction
• story writing
• journal writing
• content area writing
• letter writing
• research projects
The focus of our writing instruction includes the following:
• Establishing the concept of writing as a process
• Building confidence
• Encouraging self expression
• Developing creativity
• Making personal connections
• Exploring meanings
• Promoting critical thinking
• Providing opportunities to reinforce learned skills
Spelling
Our spelling instruction focuses on teaching and applying spelling strategies and recognizing and correcting misspellings. Students at this level utilize two distinct types of spelling: approximate and conventional. Approximate spelling is used in order to allow students to express themselves creatively and to maintain a flow of ideas. Children are expected to incorporate the conventional spelling of appropriate words. First grade introduces a list of high frequency words that students are expected to learn during the course of the year through repetition, both oral and written. These words will be assessed at periodic intervals both formally and informally. In addition,
students are taught dictionary skills.
Handwriting
Beginning manuscript handwriting teaches the children basic letter formation size, slant, and spacing techniques that they will need to write independently. We include these elements:
• proper pencil grip
• proper posture and positioning of paper
• proper formation of lowercase and uppercase letters on lined paper
We provide opportunities for practicing letter formation, far point copying and handwriting applications.
Handwriting text: Scott Foresman Addison Wesley copyright 1999
First Grade Mathematics Curriculum
The first grade math program provides a hands on approach to learning through the use of manipulatives, games, and activities. Students acquire problem solving strategies as well as critical thinking skills as they learn to apply basic math concepts in the world in which they live. Math is incorporated into the daily class routine as well as through the use of literature.
Numeration
• Count and compare numbers from 0-100
• Count by 2s, 5s and 10s
• Read and write numbers from 0-100 (100 chart)
• Count backwards from 10
• Identify odd and even numbers using manipulatives
• Understand place value: ones, tens, hundreds
• Exhibit one-to-one correspondence
• Develop estimation skills
• Identify ordinal numbers from first to twentieth
• Use symbols for greater than, less than, and equal to
• Identify numbers which come “before,” “between,” and “after”
• Learn symbols: +, -, =
• Explore addition and subtraction facts to 12 using manipulatives and number lines
• Create number sentences
Patterns and Sequences
• Identify, extend and create patterns
• Apply concepts of patterning to numbers
• Identify numbers before, after and between
Addition and Subtraction
• Understand the meanings of addition and subtraction
• Learn basic facts of addition and subtraction
• Learn related facts (1-12)
• Identify missing addends
• Add three numbers
• Add and subtract two-digit numbers
Add and subtract money
• Use mental math strategies
• Choose appropriate operations when problem solving
• Recognize, form and understand math symbols
• Add doubles
• Recognize patterns when adding and subtracting
Money
• Identify coins penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar
• Identify the value of a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar
• Exchange coins
• Estimate and compute coin values
• Add and subtract coins
• Understand money symbols
• Use decimal notation for money and parts of a dollar
Measurement
• Explore non-standard units of measure
• Estimate length, weight and capacity
• Use standard units of measure for length, weight and capacity
• Estimate weight
• Explore measurement using the metric system
• Measure temperature
Time
• Identify time on both a digital and analog clock
• Tell time to the hour and half-hour
• Understand and use a.m. and p.m.
• Begin to understand the relationship between the minute hand and hour hand
• Determine intervals between two times
• Exhibits appropriate calendar skills
• Understand sequential order of time
Fractions
• Understand fractions as equal parts of a whole
• Explore parts of a set
• Identify 12 , 13 , 14
Geometry
• Explore and identify three dimensional shapes including sphere, cone, cylinder, cube and rectangular prism
• Explore flat surfaces and vertices
• Identify and draw shapes: triangle, rectangle, square, trapezoid, hexagon, circle, pentagon, octagon
• Introduce line symmetry
Probability and Statistics
• Use tally marks when collecting data
• Make observations about bar and pictorial graphs
• Determine least and most
• Determine certain or impossible odds
• Differentiate between least and most likely
Textbook: Charles, et. al. First Grade Math. Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley,
2005.
First Grade Science Curriculum
First Grade science strives to expand the students learning and natural curiosity, while providing them with an opportunity to become a more independent thinker. Opportunities to explore, observe, compare and experiment are offered through units in life science, earth science, and physical science. Students will be asked to question the world around them, seek answers, and draw conclusions based upon their observations. Scientific thinking and curiosity are key skills to be developed during the year. Focus will be placed on making connections to mathematics and technology. Areas of study include habitats, food chains, characteristics of the Earth, temperature and precipitation, observing matter, and uses of technology.
Habitats
•Describe the outside world
•Meaning of precipitation and temperature
•Record temperatures
•Role of a habitat
•Discuss wet and dry habitats
•Discuss hot and cold habitats
•Indicate which animals live where
•Adaptations animals need to live in their habitats
•Build habitats
Food Chains
•Plants produce oxygen
•Plants can make their own food
•Animals require oxygen
•Animals need to obtain food
•Create a food chain
Land, Water, and Air
•Obtain a sample of Earth
•Analyze the sample
•Identify differences between soil, sand, humus, and water
•Illustrate hills, plains, lakes, and rivers
•Locate oceans on a map
•Identify cause and effect of weathering and erosion
•Uses of water
•Uses of land
•Importance of recycling
•Make recycled paper
Weather
•Define weather
•Measure temperature
•Observe different types of clouds
•Illustrate types of precipitation
•Graph rainfall quantities
•Align seasons with the months of the year
2
Observing Matter
•Describe matter
•Use magnifying lenses to observe matter
•Measure mass
•Phase changes of matter
•Create a solution
•Discuss density
Science in Our World
•Examples of technology
•Tools used in everyday life
•Types of simple machines
•Build a simple machine
First Grade Social Studies Curriculum
The focus of the Social Studies program is to make students more aware of the world around them. The goal is to increase students’ awareness of the differences that exist among people and to create respect for themselves and others. This is accomplished through the following discussion, literature (fiction/nonfiction), student magazines, newspaper articles, charts/posters, video/DVD’s and Internet research.
• Current events
• Holidays
• Awareness of self, school and community
• Respect for and appreciation of the differences of others
• Community service
• Introduction to mapping skills
• Time For Kids student magazine