First Grade

Integration of the arts into all subject areas is important and promoted. Students work with a school specialist in Art and Music. Students will also gain experience in drama and the creative arts through classroom-based projects as well as visiting artists.

Literacy is the primary focus of the first grade curriculum. Children are actively engaged in reading and writing everyday in a variety of ways.

Components of the reading curriculum include “Shared Reading” of big books, poems, and charts. Children read independently during “Quiet Reading” and are read aloud to everyday. Direct instruction takes place in small groups with children who are at a similar point in their reading development. Reading materials used include trace books, multiple copies of leveled texts, as well as teacher and student made materials.

In grade 1, instructional time should focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of addition, subtraction, and strategies for addition and subtraction within 20; (2) developing understanding of whole number relationships and place value, including grouping in tens and ones; (3) developing understanding of linear measurement and measuring lengths as iterating length units; and (4) reasoning about attributes of, and composing and decomposing geometric shapes. Visit the District Math Department web page to learn more >>

The overarching theme for Grade One Science is patterns, which are used to predict future events. Students explore patterns in 1) the ways that animals and plants use their parts to get what they need to survive and grow, 2) how light and sound behave, and 3) the apparent motion of the Sun, Moon, and stars in relation to the Earth. Learn more >>

We begin our year with the theme of “Community” as we get to know one another. We extend our understanding of community beyond the classroom in a variety of ways. We will be exploring Folk Tales from other cultures and will also do a study of specific country and/or continent sometime during the year.