First Grade

FUN: 

• Reader’s Theatre: Students act out mini plays for each other in the classroom
• Mystery Readers: Favorite people come to our classroom and share their favorite stories and authors
• Math Open House: Parents learn math skills with us through Everyday Math games
• Breakfast of Excellence: Students are honored along with their families with a breakfast feast
• Nature Focus: Classroom is devoted to learning by exploring the natural world
• Cross-curricular learning in reading, math, social studies, and science
• Monthly hands-on book reports
• Learn skills through song and poetry
• Use manipulatives and games to cement learning and make it fun
• Smart Board activities and individual classroom Netbooks used to foster our technology skills
• Weekly opportunities to hear special stories with our librarians
• Multicultural lessons in Spanish and Chinese
• Being able to go to school on a historical multi-acre campus
• Being part of a larger, whole school community with students from around the world

LIFE LESSONS:

• Learn individualized curriculum inside and outside the classroom
• Ready our students to read and build on an existing strong Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
• foundation in reading and math
• S.L.A.N.T. for success, keys to maximizing student behavior:
  • Sit tall
  • Listen big with our brains
  • Ask and answer questions,
  • Nod - give feedback
  • Track the person talking and target all learning modalities
• Grow positive attitudes toward being a quality citizen in the community
• Realize our potential by being goal oriented
• Accommodate varying learning styles
• Develop a lifelong passion and commitment to learning
• Engage in partnership learning with multiple grade levels

BASICS:

• Integrate reading strategies by studying various literature genres
• Compare and contrast stories to our own lives
• Learn about our immediate world, home, state, country, and the world beyond
• Practice how to be respectful citizens of our planet
• Discuss the natural resources of our planet and understand how to protect them
• Integrate new vocabulary
• Write stories about the science topics we explore - animals and plant life, the seasons, and the weather
• Learn the language of math: understand graphs, numbers (how to use them and what they mean to us), and measurement (in our daily lives)
• Build individual character and become a “Quality First Grader”
• Learn important responsibilities
• Try everyday to make a positive difference