Curriculum

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

Dr Seuss


Reading is a HUGE part of our day and first grade curriculum!  My first and most important reading goal for your child is for them to develop a love for reading.  

Your child will be receiving reading instruction in both a large group and small group setting.  I have found that this is the best way to blend the learning of reading skills and strategies with actual reading practice time.  In addition to our Wonders reading series I will be using a variety of children's literature, poems, big books, and songs to reach our district standard: Reading with Fluency.  We also will be using strategies such as repeated reading, paired partner reading, and reader's theater as activities to practice their skills and increase their fluency and comprehension.

Sight Words play a big part in an early readers development.  We will be spending a lot of time practicing and mastering our first grade sight words.  Your child will be brining home monthly words for them to master, until they have worked through all six first/second grade lists.  

Reading fluency contains four main components that we will focus on in first grade.

1.  Expression:  when your voice is used to show emotion.

2.  Phrasing:  when you read a group of words like they are connected.  You need to take notice of punctuation.

3.  Smoothness:  when you are reading, you read smooth and not choppy.

4.  Rate:  The speed at which we read; not to fast and not to slow.


Your child's reading will be assessed using FAST, STAR, sight words, and our Accelerated Reader program.  These will be explained further to you at conferences.

Please give your child the opportunity to celebrate their reading accomplishments by letting them read to you each night.  As usual, continue to read to your child also!

When reading with your child, and they come to a word they don't know, encourage them to use the following strategies.  These are the strategies that I teach in the classroom also.

Reading Strategies

1.  Look at the beginning sound.  Are there other sounds that I know.

2.  What makes sense:  Skip the unknown word and read on.  Come back to the word, check the beginning sound again, and what word would make sense in the sentence.

3.  Are there word parts I know?  Look for a small word that you can read, inside the larger unknown word.

4.  Is there a picture?  Look at the picture.  Look at the first letter again.  Does the word go with the picture?

5.  I think the word is______________________.

6.  Read the sentence again, with the new word.  Does that word make sense:


Helpful Reading Hints 

1.  When reading with your child, praise them when they want to read out loud. 

2.  When planning a time to read together, make it late afternoon or EARLY evening.  This is a difficult task and very difficult when you are       tired.  As adults, we would not do the most strenuous part of our job laying in bed where we are conditioned to sleep.

3.  Show your child that reading is fun by using "voices", singing the words, playing games, and taking turns reading or reading together in         unison. Let them see you read for fun too.

4.  Encourage them to read different types of materials:  books, magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, game directions, computer letters,  signs, maps, etc..

5.   Choose a book to be a family read aloud.  Have you read all of the classics like Charlotte's Web?

6.  Take your child to the library once a month and make it a fun outing.  Public libraries have different selections than school libraries.          They also get excited to have their own library card.

7.  Buy books as gifts for any child!


You're off to Great Places!   Today is your day!   Your mountain is waiting,  So... get on your way!

This will be an exciting year for your child in the area of writing.  We will begin the year with journal writing and handwriting practice.  As their skills develop we will incorporate writer's workshop.  During writer's workshop the children will be taking their written story through a six step writing process.

This will include the following:

    1.  Prewriting

    2.  First Draft

    3.  Peer Conference

    4.  Teacher Conference

    5.  Editing

    6.  Publishing

Writing is a developmental skill.  Through instruction and experience, you will notice that their writing skills become more accurate and refined.  Please be patient as their writing continues to improve.

In first grade we will be focusing on the following math concepts this year:

When working on these skill I will be incorporating problem solving, mental math, estimation, graphing, probability, and logic.  I want to ensure that mathematics makes sense, it is logical, and it is enjoyable for all my first grade students!


We will be using the online IXL, Math Seeds, and Xtra Math programs again this year.  


Helpful Math Hints

1.  Tell your child you like math (remember, without it we wouldn't be able to have a paycheck!)

2.  Make math at home fun, not something to whine about.

3.  Buy some clocks with faces for your house, not all digital.  Have your child tell you the time, or watch the time if you are needing to go somewhere and let you know when it is time to leave.

4.  Start a money jar for a family trip and allow your child to count the money every so often, take it to the bank and deposit it in a vacation savings         account.  Have them keep track of how much money there is and how close you are to your goal.

5.  Have friendly competitions with flash cards and award prizes.  You can always play "Beat the Clock."

         You hold up the card and they have to say the answer in 3 seconds or you give them the answer, they repeat it and move on. Keep points for how many they said and work for so many points.

6.  Add and subtract with playing cards, dice, coins, or other household item.

7.  Let your child shop with their own money.  Help them figure out and decide if they have enough money to buy what they want to buy.