First Grade

Our goals are to help each child develop a solid academic foundation, a love of learning, and a feeling of success. We 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 the curriculum is outlined below.

Curriculum

Language Arts:

Developing literacy and fostering a love of reading and writing occupy a large part of the first grade day. We explore language in many ways. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening opportunities are presented each day. We use a variety of materials, strategies, and methods in developing literacy, including: quality children’s literature, opportunities for writing and sharing, flexible grouping based on needs and interests, as well as the adopted district reading series.

The adopted district reading series is the Macmillan McGraw reading program. It is an anthology of quality, authentic children’s literature. Through the stories, learning concepts are naturally integrated into the curriculum. In addition, the district spelling and phonics program is McCracken Spelling Through Phonics. The students reinforce their knowledge of letters and sounds through a developmental approach. The D’Nealian Handwriting curriculum is taught in conjunction with the spelling and phonics program. Developing students who love to read and write is the ultimate goal of our first grade curriculum.

Mathematics:

Our mathematics program is an activity-based, "hands-on, minds-on" program, which uses many different concrete materials to explore important mathematical concepts. Our mathematics curriculum includes the following topics: number sense, patterns, sorting and classifying, operations and computation, geometry and spatial sense, measurement, and estimation. The primary focus of mathematics instruction is on problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Our program is based on the adopted district curriculum and the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics produced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Our goal is for each child to develop a solid understanding of mathematical concepts, appropriate thinking and reasoning skills, and problem solving skills.

Science and Health:

The science and health units include topics such as: earth and rocks, air and weather, the human body, planets, and insects. These units are also taught through a " hands-on," child centered approach. The students explore these topics with experiments and activities that are integrated across the curriculum.

Social Studies:

Building upon the self awareness developed in kindergarten, the first grade social studies curriculum examines the roles of people working together in homes, schools, communities, states, and countries. Decision making skills and social skills are essential components that students need to learn to function in these environments. Our country’s holidays, symbols, and special Americans are studied throughout the year. Children’s literature and supplemental activities support the instruction of the first grade social studies curriculum.