1st Grade
Math
First graders will begin the year focusing on the mathematical practices. These practices will guide students to become mathematicians as they move through the units and skills taught. Units taught in first grade include counting, reading and writing to 120, representing numbers using tens and ones, greater than, less than and equal to, adding and subtracting within 10, fact families, word problems, fractions and adding and subtracting ten more/ten less within 100. Students are encouraged to share their thinking during daily number talk routines.
English Language Arts
Schoolwide is the writing curriculum. In first grade, the writing units include: how writers work, narrative, opinion and informational. On top of the modes of writing, the goal for students is to use appropriate grade-level conventions for spacing, capitalization and punctuation within their writing.
Fountas and Pinnell is the curriculum used for reading. The curriculum includes shared reading, guided reading, interactive read aloud, word study and phonics. These pieces of the curriculum are used within the whole group, small group and independent settings. Key reading skills covered in first grade include decoding, reading first grade high frequency words, comprehending texts at grade level and reading orally with fluency.
Science
First graders start off the year learning how to be a scientist, discussing science tools and how to use them safely. The light and sound unit allows students to make observations about sounds and vibrations, using lights and sound to communicate over a distance and light and illumination. Students will be able to answer the question “What happens when there is no light?” For the sun and moon unit, students will make and use observations of the sun, moon and start to describe daily and seasonal patterns. Students will be able to answer the question “What objects are in the sky and how do they seem to move?” The last unit focuses on answering questions such as “What are some ways plants and animals meet their needs so they can survive and grow?” and “How are parents and their children similar and different?” Mystery Science lessons are used to help facilitate conversations within the classroom surrounding these 3 units.
Social Studies
First grade social studies theme is living, learning and working together. The purpose of the first grade curriculum is to bring awareness to the impact that civics, geography, and economics have on a community. Specifically, we will focus on local communities, but will also explore communities that differ from our own. The four units that will be focused on this year include rules and responsibilities, people in our community, our diverse world and needs and wants.