First Grade
The purpose of this website is to provide parents with information in regard to curriculum, instruction and assessment so they can understand the specific grade levels expectations in which their child should be able to demonstrate mastery by the end of this academic year.
Each content page (reading, writing, math, language arts, science, social studies, and social emotional learning standards) can be accessed by clicking on the underlined words below. Specific information is added to each content page.
Each grade level has developed kid friendly “I can” statements for each Illinois Learning Standard to help students and parents understand exactly what students “should know and be able to do” on lessons and assessments by the end of the school year.
Academic standards are important because they help ensure that all students, no matter where they live, are prepared for success in college and the workforce. Standards provide an important first step--a clear roadmap for learning for teachers, students, and parents. Having clearly defined goals helps families and teacher work together to ensure that students succeed. They also help your child develop critical thinking skills that will prepare him or her for college and career. Children who meet grade level standards at the end of one grade level will be prepared for the rigors of the next grade level and will ,therefore, be more successful.
All assessments are measured against a set of grade level standards. Two questions a parent should always ask a teacher include the following:
1. Is my child reading and writing at grade level?
2. Is my child able to complete grade level math work without assistance?
Welcome to First Grade
This is an important year in your child’s growth and development. The faculty and staff in Mendota Elementary CUSD#289 are working very hard to provide higher quality instruction to all students. The goal is to to prepare students to be successful for more challenging work at the next grade level so all students will be “college ready” after high school graduation.
Mastering early learning skills and concepts in reading and math are critical to your child’s success in school. The research is clear and consistent: “By third grade, students are expected to know the fundamentals of reading and be able to apply their reading skills across the curriculum. Students are not being taught how to read anymore in third grade. Instead, teachers use written text to teach other material, such as science, history, literature,etc. This shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” is extremely difficult for children who have not mastered basic reading skills. As they get older, struggling readers find themselves with less and less access to texts that are getting more and more complicated (Musen, 2010).
The New Illinois Learning Standards provide a framework and define “what students should know and be able to do” by the end of the school year. In order to help students meet or exceed these standards, we have had to make instructional shifts. Teachers concentrate on a more focused set of concepts and skills. This allows students more time to master fewer standards. Teachers use rich and challenging content and engage students in activities that require students to apply knowledge to real-life problem-solving situation, explain how they got the answer and use models to explain their thinking, and explain where they found the evidence to support their thinking. Formally known as the Common Core State Standards, these grade-level standards help us all think “higher, clearer and deeper” for each learning standard.
Additional information:
http://www.ilclassroomsinaction.org/standardsbooks.html
http://www.isbe.net/ils/pdf/ils_introduction.pdf
http://www.isbe.net/common_core/pls/level1/pdf/ela-standards.pdf
http://www.isbe.net/common_core/pdf/ccs-faq-0813.pdf
http://www.isbe.net/common_core/htmls/news.htm
http://s3.amazonaws.com/rdcms-pta/files/production/public/K%20June20.pdf