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Curriculum

Welcome to first grade!  This will be an exciting year of learning for your child.  Our goals are to help each child develop a solid academic foundation, a love of learning, and a feeling of success.  We will strive to meet the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of each child by planning appropriate activities and using a variety of methods and materials.  Information about curriculum is outlined below.  We are looking forward to working with you and your child this year.

   -- The First Grade Team

First Grade Curriculum

In first grade we explore language in many ways.  Reading, writing, speaking and listening opportunities are presented each day.

Reading

Developing literacy and fostering a love of reading occupy a large part of the first grade day.  We use a variety of materials, strategies, and methods in developing literacy, including: quality children’s literature and grouping based on needs and interests, as well as the adopted district reading series.

We currently use the Harcourt reading program.  This reading program provides activities and skills to go along with each story.  Your child will enjoy participating in various stories and activities while he/she will be enhancing and learning new skills.

Setting up the Atmosphere for Reading Success

Help your child find a quiet, comfortable place to read.  Have your child see you as a reading model.  Read aloud to your child.  Reread favorite stories.  Read with your child.  Discuss the stories you read together.  Recognize the value of silent reading.  Keep reading times enjoyable and relaxed.  While phonics is an important part of reading, reading for meaning is the primary goal.  To produce independent readers who monitor and correct themselves as they read, the following prompts are recommended before saying “sound it out.”

1.      Give your child wait time of 5 to 10 seconds.  See what he/she attempts to do to help him/her.

2.      “What would make sense there?”

3.      “What do you think the word could be?”

4.      “Go back to the beginning and try again.”

5.      “Skip over the word and read to the end of the sentence or paragraph.  Now what do you think it is?”

6.      “Put in a word that makes sense there.”

7.      “You read the word on another page.  See if you can find it.”

8.      “Look at how the word begins.  Start it out and keep reading.”

9.      Tell your child the word.

Most important, focus on what your child is doing well and attempting to do.  When your child is having difficulty and trying to work out the trouble spots, comments such as the following are suggested:

1.      “Good for you.  I like the way you tried to work that out.”

2.      “That was a good try.  Yes, that word would make sense there.”

3.      “I liked the way you looked at the picture to help yourself.”

4.      “I like the way you went back to the beginning of the sentence and tried that again.  That’s what good readers do.”

5.      “You are becoming a good reader.  I am proud of you.”

Taken from “Ways to Help Your Child with Reading at Home” excerpt from Invitations by Regie Routman.

Spelling

The first graders will be learning phonics and spelling patterns.  The students will be exposed to:

·        Consonants

·        Short Vowels

·        Consonant Blends

·        Consonant Digraphs

·        Long Vowels

·        Word Endings

·        Spelling of Multi-Syllable words

Handwriting

At the first grade level, your child will be learning to form letters using the D’Nealian method of handwriting. The D’Nealian method is manuscript print, in which the letters are formed separately. The letters of D’Nealian slant and may have ending strokes.  These ending strokes will make it easy for the letters to be joined later when the students learn cursive handwriting in second grade. 

Writing

School wide students are learning about the 6+1 Traits of Writing.  In first grade, students will receive the foundation for which instruction in writing will be built on over the next several years.  The six traits students will be learning in conjunction with the writing process are:  ideas, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, organization, and conventions.  The goal for first grade is for students to become familiar with the terminology and build their enthusiasm for writing, as well as becoming familiar with the writing process (brainstorming, pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, final draft, publication, and sharing).

Here is what the traits look like at a first grade level:

·     Ideas:  the writing has a main idea that is maintained           throughout the piece.

·     Word Choice:  adjectives like color and size and descriptive verbs are used when appropriate.

·     Voice:  a student begins to create a personality as an author.

·     Sentence Fluency:  sentences do not all start the same way and they vary in length.

·     Organization:  the piece has a beginning, middle and end.

·     Conventions:  Sentences begin with capital letters and end with punctuation marks.  Spelling is correct or phonetic and can be understood by the reader.

Mathematics

Everyday Mathematics, the elementary school mathematics curriculum developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, is the adopted district math curriculum.  In first grade the Everyday Mathematics content emphasizes the following content strands, skills and concepts:

·        Numeration 

·        Operations and Computation

·        Data and Chance

·        Geometry

·        Measurement and Reference Frames

·        Patterns, Functions and Algebra

Within the content of Everyday Mathematics, emphasis is placed on:

·     A problem-solving approach based on everyday situations that develops critical thinking.

·     Frequent practice of basic skills through ongoing program routines and mathematical games.

·     An instructional approach that revisits topics regularly to ensure full concept development.

·     Activities that explore a wide variety of mathematical content and offer opportunities for students to apply their basic fact skills to geometry, measurement and algebra.

Starting the second semester, First Grade will introduce the Otter Creek Math Program.  This program focuses on math facts in a timed setting.  Our focus will be addition facts with sums from 1-20.

Social Studies

Topics in these areas are integrated with language arts to provide meaningful learning.  Areas may include:

·        Decision making

·        Social Skills

·        Map Skills

·        Our Country’s History including Famous Americans

·        Holidays Around the World

·        Self-Awareness and Families

Science and Health

The district provides first grade with hands-on science kits.  The included kits are:

·        Air and Weather

·        Human Body

·        Solar System (includes a trip to WVHS planetarium)

·        Earth and Rocks

·        “Going Buggy”

Patterson First Grade Handwriting Directions

Aa Bb Cc Dd

Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz