First Grade Language
Arts
- Reading - Our First Grade
reading program has three main facets: word study, shared reading,
and guided reading.
- Word Study
involves McCracken Phonics. The children learn the consonant and
vowel sounds, move into constructing chunks, and words. Word Study
also includes our word wall. The word wall is posted in each
classroom. It is simply the alphabet with high frequency words under
each letter. Each week six new words are focused on. The
children use the word wall to assist them in their writing. The
third part of word study is Making Words. The students will receive
manipulative letter squares (usually four or five consonants and a vowel
or two). They use these letters to make words. For example,
students may receive the letters c, k, n, s, a. The students begin
by making two letter words like "an"; move into three letter words like
"can" and "ask"; and so on. Students end with trying to use all the
letters to create a mystery word (snack). This activity shows
children how to build words using their sounds and encourages them to try
so on their own.
- Shared reading
teaches the children specific reading strategies and behaviors whole
group. Big books, poems, rhymes, and chants increase the students
enjoyment and appreciation of many genre of literature. Both fiction
and non-fiction are used.
- Guided reading
teaches the children specific reading strategies and supports the students
at their instructional level. Small group instruction is used for
modeling reading behaviors in comprehension, building fluency, and
improving decoding skills.
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- Writing - Children will
work on constructing good, complete sentences through modeling and lots of
repetition using the D'Nealian handwriting. These sentences will be joined with others to create longer
pieces.
- Journal writing
is completed daily. Students have a journal in which they record
their own thoughts and feelings. They also have a journal that will
ask them to do some listing, reflecting, describing, responding, and
supporting of their ideas.
- Learning logs are
used in the content areas.
- More formalized
writing instruction comes during Writing Workshop. Students learn
the steps of the writing process - Pre-writing, Drafting, Revising and
Editing, Publishing, and Sharing. Students are also introduced to
the six traits of writing and are encourages to incorporate them into
their writing. The six traits of writing are ideas, voice,
organization, word choice, fluency, and conventions.
- Spelling
- We use the Word Wall words for an informal spelling curriculum.
Packets to review and study the words are sent home weekly.
Read the word study portion under Reading for further information.
- Speaking and
Listening- Students are encouraged to carry discussion
forward by building on the talk of others and retell effectively.
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First Grade Math
-
Number
and Operation -
Students will understand number
relationships and computational strategies.
-
Algebra
- Students will understand algebraic concepts.
-
Geometry -
Students will understand geometric concepts
-
First Trimester -
Click
here
for the first trimester district math information.
- Second
Trimester - Click
here
for the second trimester district math information.
-
Third Trimester
- Click
here for the third trimester district math information.
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First Grade Science
* Our Science units in First Grade are: Rocks, Sand, and
Soil, Constructions, and Animal Families.
* The skills used are Inquiry, Communication, Discovery, Record
keeping, Exploration, Relationships, and Observation.
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First Grade Social Science
- First
Trimester - Relationships - During Trimester one the children
examine the relationships between themselves and their family.
Students learn about needs and wants. Students discover the past
while corresponding with special elders to find out what First Grade
was like long ago.
- Second
Trimester - Change - During Trimester two we look at how and
why families change.
- Third
Trimester - Place - During Trimester
three we examine how the environment affects families. We
explore the rainforest and learn about the country of Brazil.
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First Grade Health
Our
Health curriculum focuses on friendship, dental health and teaching the
children the four Is It's. The children learn to ask themselves if
their behaviors are safe, kind, responsible, and respectful. Our
classroom mascot is Koala Roo Can Do, who always tries until he succeeds.
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