First Grade

“First graders are eager learners who are wide-eyed and enthusiastic about the miracle of ‘learning to read’. Unique in their own learning style and timetable for growth, first grade students use their rapidly growing skills to independently and collaboratively explore their world. Parental support and encouragement are imperative for first grade success.” ~~ Lynne Corle, Culbertson Elementary School

Language Arts

Themes: Together Again: Look at Me Now Just for Fun, Join In: It’s My Turn Now, Special Times: I Think I Can, Welcome Home: Hello Neighbor, Set Sail: Going Places

• Learning to read independently
• Use pictures and text to make predictions about content
• Use pictures and text to help decode unknown words
• Use beginning and ending sounds to help decode unknown words
• Use short and long vowel sounds to decode words
• Understands fiction and non-fiction
• Reread for understanding
• Develop fluency (speed and accuracy)
• Reading Critically
• Distinguish between essential and nonessential text
• Make predictions and draw conclusions based on text
• Formulate questions related to text
• Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
• Identify different types of literature (i.e., poetry, nursery rhymes, folktales)
• Retell story including literary elements (events, characters, setting, problem, solution)
• Identify literary devices (repetition, rhyme, etc.)
• Read and respond to fiction, nonfiction and poetry
• Relate text to similar experiences
• Types and Quality of Writing
• Retell story by drawing, then writing
• Compose narrative and information writing using relevant illustrations
• Compose fact and opinion on given topic
• Write and illustrate with focus and for a purpose
• Write using whole sentences
• Write in sequence with a beginning, middle and end
• Use correct letter formation and spacing
• Use nouns, verbs and descriptive words correctly
• Learning to Learn
• Discuss and locate topics of interest for research
• Use table of contents and glossary
• Locate information using provided resources
• Describe appropriate listening, speaking and turn-taking behaviors
• Exhibit persistence in completing tasks
• Follow classroom rules

Social Studies

“Through the Year” First graders are introduced to Civics and Government, Economics, Geography and History through calendar based themes. Big Books are used to introduce basic Social Studies concepts. Students go on to explore these concepts through Language Arts and Literature connections. The family, school and neighborhood are explored from the perspective of the four basic areas of the Social Studies.

The following Social Studies units are included in the first grade program:

• We are Family
• We Work Together
• We Celebrate
• We Explore
• We Care
• We Discover

Science

“Changes” In this unit, students expand their understanding of solids, liquids, and gases and how they change. Through their experiences, students are introduced to the following concepts:

• Changes occur all the time in the world around us.
• Some changes happen quickly, and others take place over a period of time.
• Substances can be classified as solids, liquids, or gases.
• Solids, liquids, and gases can be described by their properties. These properties include color, size, shape, odor, texture, and weight.
• Water can freeze into a solid and then melt into a liquid again.
• Water can evaporate into a gas and then condense into a liquid again.
• Mixtures can be made by combining solids, liquids, or gases, or a combination of these.
• A substance can change in appearance yet remain the same substance.
• Some mixtures can be separated using a sieve, a filter, or the processes of evaporation and chromatography.
• When some solids --- such as salt and sugar --- are added to water, they dissolve and seem to disappear.
• Some dissolved solids can be recovered as crystals through evaporation.
• When a solid is dissolving in a liquid, the size of the solid particles, the temperature of the liquid, and stirring can affect the speed at which the solid dissolves.
• When two or more substances are mixed, a chemical reaction may occur. Indicators of a chemical reaction can include a change in color, a change in temperature, or the production of a new substance, such as rust or gas.

“Organisms” In this unit, students explore the similarities and differences between plants and animals. Through experiences, students are introduced to the following concepts:

• We use our senses to observe the world around us.

• Organisms have basic needs, such as food, water, air, space, and shelter.
• Each type of organism has specific needs, such as type of food, amount of water, amount of light, amount of space, and type of shelter.
• There is a wide diversity of living things on earth.
• Organisms grow, change, and die over time.
• Some plants grow from seeds. The roots grow first and then the stem.
• Plants have similarities, such as the ability to grow and the need for water, light, space, and air.
• Animals have similarities, such as the ability to grow and the need for food, water, space, and shelter
• Plants and animals have similarities, such as basic needs, ability to grow and change, and death.
• Humans are similar to other organisms. Humans have basic needs and also grow, change, and die.

Mathematics

The focus of Level 1 Mathematics is the development of number sense, the mastery of addition and subtraction concepts up to eighteen. Other important topics studied are

• Place value
• Patterns
• Time
• Money
• Geometry
• Measurement