Let’s jump into academics feet first and know that learning and having fun go hand in hand! Learning to read and write will be your child’s focus this year and we want this to be a fun process. If your child has anxiety and is nervous about reading or/and writing, it will be more of a struggle for everyone involved. So let’s start out by being positive and knowing that each child develops differently, and we will pace ourselves accordingly! Your child will read in a whole group setting daily during our shared reading block. They will also have daily small group and one-on-one instruction during our guided reading block to ensure that we are differentiating effectively for each of our students. We will use our word study block to focus on expanding vocabulary and understanding how the sounds of letters can be applied to read and spell words. Your child will have a take home reader at least once a week to read to you and be expected to read 10 minutes each night. Reading the same book each night is a great way to build fluency and confidence. Please do not feel like you have to have a lot of books for your child to be successful. A few great books can go a long way. Trips to the library are also a great way for your child to get excited about reading!
Your child will be developing number sense, adding and subtracting, measuring length/weight/volume, telling time to the hour and half, and counting money. Again, these concepts will be introduced, and staying positive and encouraging your child to develop a love for math is far more important than the individual topics that we cover. We will have math homework weekly to help keep a home-school connection. We hope the homework sparks conversation and helps keep parents involved in the learning process!
As with most lessons in first grade, we take a hands on approach with all of our science concepts. We will cover weather, seasons, natural resources, motion, sound, plants, and animals. To cover all of our history and science concepts we will rotate the two subject areas over the course of the year. We usually take a week to cover a topic and then test. Your child will have a study guide for each unit and be expected to know the material listed. The test date will be located at the top of the study guide. Also, note that each test will be read aloud whole group for your child. Listening and following directions really come into play here!
Our history lessons will include traits of a good citizen, patriotic symbols, traditions in the United States, developing map skills, American leaders and their contributions, and an introduction to basic economics.
The first grade team is a happy, devoted group of teachers that love our little ones. We know that a nurturing environment is the best place for learning to take place, and we are committed to that 100%! Looking forward to an amazing year!