First Grade is a very busy and active year for your child. We learn all sorts of fun and interesting things! This year your child will grow by leaps and bounds. Here is a closer look at the curriculum in First Grade.
Reading: The largest growth your child will make this year is in the area of reading. We use the Daily 5 to teach reading. The students receive a whole group mini-lesson, independent reading practice time where they are given the options to choose the order of tasks: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, word work and work on writing. We also use whole group sharing and strategy reading groups to enhance their skills. We learn to read words and talk about our books in a variety of ways. In First Grade, your child will learn to use decoding strategies, recognize familiar letter patterns, retell stories, make connections, ask questions, and visualize while they are reading. Your child will also learn to become great at holding conversations about their books. We utilize post it notes throughout the year to “track” our thinking through books. Your child will bring home a WEB book to read every night as their nightly homework. This book will always be at your child’s “Independent” level, meaning that it should be easy for them to read. This promotes a positive attitude about reading.
Writing: This is my favorite part of First Grade because I LOVE to help children learn to convey the wonderful everyday experiences they have through writing. We use the Lucy Calkins Units of Study to learn how to write. Each day, the students participate in a Writing Workshop that consists of a whole group lesson, independent writing time, and whole group sharing. We will learn to write small moment personal narratives, nonfiction pieces including How to’s and All About Books, and Poetry. We will also work with partners, revise, and edit our stories.
Spelling: We use the Rebecca Sitton Spelling program. This is a program that introduces 2-3 new spelling words a week. We learn to recognize them in every day reading, as well as build upon our words to spell even larger words. We look for patterns and chunks within spelling words and use them in the context of sentences. Homework is sent home every week, except during assessment weeks.
Math: Our Math program is called Math Expressions. It focuses on learning core skills such as number recognition and counting. We also learn to visualize numbers in terms of 5′s and 10′s. Math Expressions will help us to learn how to explain our thinking in Math, rather than simply “doing” it. We do a lot of discussions about the endless ways to solve equations. Homework is sent home on a weekly basis to reinforce the concepts that are learned in school. Each day, we will also have a block of time designated to math interventions. During this block, tricky concepts will be reinforced, and students who have mastered concepts taught will be asked to go beyond the concept through verbal discussions and a variety of activities.
Handwriting: Good penmanship is very important in First Grade. We are still learning to keep our b’s and d’s straight, as well as to write legibly so that others can read what we have written. We use the Handwriting Without Tears program. It focuses on 4 main strokes: big line, little line, big curve, little curve. With these four strokes, we can make every letter in the alphabet!
Science: We have so much fun with science experiements in First Grade! We will be learning about Properties of Matter, Weather, The Sun, and Life Cycles. One of the field trips we will take in First Grade is to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens to learn more about Life Cycles. We also will use our technology skills to create a slideshow of the life cycle of an animal of our choosing.
Social Studies: First Grade focus is on ourselves and our family. We learn about being a good Citizen, Families, Economics, Geography (and learning to write our address), and Schools Past and Present. We will learn about many interesting terms like: wants, needs, producers, consumers, scarcity, and more. We also take a blast to the past to look at One Room Schoolhouses!
There will be lots of learning and many new changes happening during this First Grade year for your child. You are your child’s first and best teacher, so please continue to support your child’s learning at home too!
