First Grade

Units of Study:

• Building Good Reading Habits

• Word Detective Use all they Know to Solve Words
• Learning About the World: Reading Nonfiction
• Readers Get to Know Characters by Performing Their Books
• Readers Have Big Jobs to Do: Fluency, Phonics, and Comprehension
• Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons: A Study of Story Elements
• Reading Nonfiction Cover to Cover: Nonfiction Book Clubs

Children will be learning strategies to help them decode words.  In addition, they will learn strategies to THINK about books to increase their understanding and comprehension of the topics they are reading about.  Students will participate in readers workshop in which they are introduced to a reading/thinking strategy in a mini-lesson and then have the opportunity to independently practice the new strategy.  During individual and partner reading, I will conference with students support and teach based on students' learning needs.

Children will be encouraged to speak often in class.  We will have oral sharing opportunities on different subjects throughout the year.  These activities are designed to give children practice talking in front of a group.  They will be given specific instructions a couple weeks prior to the due date.  Children will also have the opportunity to share stories they have written in Writer’s Workshop.

All first graders will rotate to Mrs. Tom's class for drama this year. We will participate in drama activities and musicals - stay tuned for dates and times throughout the year!

WRITERS WORKSHOP UNITS OF STUDY

Our units of study may include:  

• Personal Narrative Small Moment Stories: Writing with Focus, Detail, and Dialogue

• Writing How-To Books

• Nonfiction Chapter Books

• Writing Reviews

• From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

• Poetry and Songs

Students will be writing every day in class during writers workshop.  Students will self-select their topics being inspired by their own individual experiences.  In addition, children will participate in shared and interactive writing to allow for immersion in writing.  Children will engage in storytelling to enhance their writing details.  They will have their own writing folders that will hold their writing pieces.

First-grade writers will learn the craft of revision by learning to re-read their writing and grow their piece by adding detail to enhance their story.  They will learn to edit their pieces by re-reading their writing and checking that their story makes sense.  With the use of self-assessment checklists, they will edit their work looking for things like proper spacing, capitalization, punctuation, neatness, and high-frequency and sight word correct spelling.  As children are writing we will conference individually with students and in small strategy groups to support and teach based on students' writing needs. They will have the opportunity to share their writing with their peers through partner work and whole class shares.  At the end of each writing cycle children will choose one story to publish, celebrate, and add to our library. 

Our science units of study will include:

• Earth Science
• Physical Science
• Life Science

*  In earth science kids will study patterns in nature, like night and day, the seasons, and the way the moon changes in the sky. We'll be making lots of observations…some that will need to be done at home. We will also learn about tools for measuring weather.

* In physical science children will learn about light and sound waves.  They will design and build a device using sound to send a signal.  They will study how light travels and how light produces heat.  We will cover matter – solids, liquids and gases.

* In life science, students will learn how animal and plant adaptations help them meet their needs. They will study beaks, claws, teeth, roots, and leaves. Your scientists will create a problem in an environment and design a body or plant part to help fix the problem. They will look at things plants and animals have in common and their differences. We will study how plants and animals change as they grow.  They will learn about how parents help offspring survive. 

Here are our units of study:

Citizenship

• How do we make rules?
• How do we show respect?

Changes Over Time

• What was life like long ago?
• How has travel changed over time?

Traditions and Cultures

• How are we alike? 
• Who came before us? 
• How do we learn about others?

Our Country

• How do we honor our country? 
• How do we honor heroes? 
• What are symbols of America?

Maps and Globes

• How do we use maps and globes? 
• What does a model show? 
• How can you make a map? 
• Where do you live?

Research has shown that children learn best when given the opportunity to manipulate objects.  Throughout the year, we will be doing a variety of math activities that involve critical thinking.  The children will be taught various ways to approach mathematical equations. Paper and pencil, as well as hands-on activities, will be used. We use Houghton Mifflin Harcourt math textbooks. 

Our units of study will include:

• Sums and differences to 10
• Introduction to place value with addition and subtraction within 20
• Ordering and comparing length measurement as numbers
• Place value, comparison, & addition and subtraction to 40
• Identifying, composing, and partitioning shapes
• Place value, comparison, & addition and subtraction to 100

Word study and phonics are important in your child's English language arts development.  We will be working with words each day to develop knowledge in...

• Phonics

• Vocabulary

• “Trick Words”

• Fluency

• Automaticity of handwriting

• Spelling