First Grade Curriculum

RELIGION

We strive to provide and nurture an environment that reflects our Catholic identity, in which the teachings of Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel can be learned and lived.

Your child will be introduced to:

• God is our Creator
• We belong to the family of God
• We serve God by loving others
• Baptism will be introduced.  Readiness will be established for Eucharist and Reconciliation which are introduced and received in 2nd Grade.
• Church is a place where Christians celebrate
• The Bible is God's special Word to us
• Family Life

Prayers taught are:

• Sign of the Cross
• Lord's Prayer
• Hail Mary
• Grace before and after meals

Liturgical Feasts:

• Advent
• Christmas
• Epiphany
• Lent
• Holy Week
• Easter

MATHEMATICS

Number Theory; your child will:

• read and write numbers i the hundreds
• recognize place value (hundreds, tens & ones)
• use symbols <, >, and = in comparisons
• count by twos, fives, and tens

Addition/Subtraction; you child will:

• learn basic facts through 18
• recognize fact families
• add and subtract 3-digit numbers
• estimate sums and differences
• write addition and subtraction sentences
• solve story problems

Time, money, and Measurement; you child will:

• tell time on the hour, to the half hour, and to the quarter hour
• identify coins and their value
• measure using inches and centimeters
• recognize units of capacity

Geometry; you child will:

• identify shapes and figures
• identify symmetrical figures
• identify fractions

LANGUAGE ARTS

Students will learn to read classic and contemporary literature and acquire the language arts tools in writing development.  By achieving this goal, students will experience the life-long rewards of both reading and writing.

Reading; you child will:

• recall information read
• identify and understand story characters
• recall the sequence of events
• draw conclusions or predict outcomes
• distinguish between fact and fantasy
• identify the main idea
• use context clues
• read for information and for pleasure

Reading; your child will learn to:

• identify beginning and ending sounds
• identify consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, wh
• identify short and long vowel sounds
• recognize compound words
• recognize word endings: -ed, -ing, -s
• apply skills to sound out words

English; your child will:

• distinguish between complete and incomplete sentences
• use capital letters correctly
• punctuate sentences
• recognize nouns, pronouns, and adjectives
• use correct verb forms
• write in his/her journal
• use the writing process steps 9pre-writing, writing, revising, and presenting)

Spelling; your child will:

• spell words taken from their reading book and words that reinforce the first grade phonetic rules
• print sentence dictation

Handwriting; your child will:

• print upper and lower case D'Nealian letters
• print legibly

SOCIAL STUDIES

The social studies program helps students gain new insights into their communities and allows them to make connections to the larger world.

Your child will:

• recognize family histories
• recognize changes in the community
• recognize diversity of people presented
• read and make simple timelines
• learn about home, school and community
• read maps
• use directional terms
• recognize how individual needs are met
• identify and discuss community jobs
• recognize distribution of goods
• identify and compare cultures
• listen and respond to folktales
• recognize membership in groups
• recognize and observe the need for rules
• recognize nation identity
• recognize diversity of U.S. citizens
• recognize national symbols and pledge

SCIENCE

The First grade uses the text Harcourt Science.  Students are able to explore, discover, create, and design using this science book.

Topics introduced and covered are:

Life Science

• Living and nonliving
• Learning about plants and animals
• Ecosystems

Physical Science

• Describing matter
• Light, heat and sound
• Moving and working

Earth Science

• Weather
• Seasons

The student will learn to:

• Solve science problems by observing, measuring, classifying, experimenting, predicting and interpreting information
• Work carefully and safely
• Work cooperatively with other students

Study material include the student workbook, quiz sheets, videotapes and posters.