CURRICULUM LANGUAGE ARTS: Students will learn to proficiently read with fluency and comprehension of grade-level literature and informational text with scaffolding as needed. Students will also learn to independently identify and retell the details/facts (characters, topic, setting, place, character's problem, etc.) of the stories they read.
To build their reading fluency and comprehension we will use our phonics/ELA program "Wonders" and "Heggerty". Through this children will learn the letter names, letter sounds and how to read and write each letter the First Grade way. They will be reading and making words using dictation and letter magnets. Vocabulary building is an important element that will be incorporated into all our learning standards. While students work on independent activities in groups, I will meet with students for small group instruction. They will also meet with a "para" and/or the reading specialist or reading interventionists for guided reading. During guided reading, students are instructed using leveled books to teach reading strategies and skills. At this time, students blend sounds together to read fluently and answer questions about what they are reading. SCIENCE - In Science this year, we will learn about: Seasons and Space Patterns The Needs of Living Things and their Offspring Light and Sound Science is also incorporated into everyday activities through our observations using our 5 senses to experiment and explore the world around us along with reading about nature and our environment.
MATH: i-Ready is our mathematics program--This complete program supports the goals of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Research-based pedagogy focusing the classroom learning on student discourse anchored to hands-on practice to build the students conceptual understanding with visual learning and problem solving. Math Overview: Our instructional time will 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. SOCIAL STUDIES OVERVIEW: Students will recognize and describe how schools and neighborhoods are both similar and different. Students will recognize their roles and responsibilities in the school and in the neighborhood. Students will use geographic tools to demonstrate how symbols and models are used to represent features of the school, the neighborhood, and the real world. WRITING: Students will learn to write for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences using appropriate grammar/conventions, syntax, and style. Students learn to write progressing from writing letters that match sounds to form words, to sentences and then to stories. Instruction in writing involves modeling how to write and provides daily experiences using writing. We use "kid invented spelling" that teaches children to use sounds to write words and sentences that describe a picture that they draw with their writing. Our writing goals include working on Opinion writing, informational writing and narrative writing. HANDWRITING: We will practice our writing daily to focus on proper letter formation (letters within the lines) and writing conventions (capitals, upper/lowercase, finger spaces between words, punctuation, etc.). SPEAKING & LISTENING: Students participate in a variety of speaking and listening experiences in which they learn to sustain attention to the speaker, to follow a series of directions, to memorize a poem or song, to listen to others, and to participate in-group discussions. In all areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening, students learn at their developmental level and are guided through each learning experience to achieve success, according to Utah State Standards. OTHER: The First Grade program provides many opportunities for students to learn behaviors such as listening, sharing and taking turns, playing cooperatively with others, completing activities without teacher assistance and taking responsibility for belongings (to name the most significant behaviors). Motor Skills Development Students have many opportunities to learn important motor skills. Examples are scissor handling, pencil grip, jumping and skipping, etc. For learning behaviors and social and motor skills, students learn according to their developmental level and are guided through each learning experience to achieve success. LANGUAGE ARTS: In addition to literature selections, which are taught along with units, students hear stories and poems read aloud. Students learn that reading is to make "meaning from text," . Students also learn the emergent (beginning) reader skills such as correct book holding, directional reading (left to right), using pictures to tell the story, identifying story elements of characters, setting and character’s problem, retelling the story from memory and read independently at the emergent reader level. Students learn to recognize the letters of the alphabet, (both lowercase and capital), the sounds of the letters, as well as initial and final consonant sounds in words, medial vowel sounds and rhyming patterns in words.
Our phonics/ELA program is "Wonders". Through this children will learn the letter names, letter sounds and how to read and write each letter. They will be making words using magnets and other manipulatives. Each letter goes with a key word. Vocabulary building is an important element of this program. While students work on independent activities in groups, I will meet with students for small group instruction. They also meet with a "para" for guided reading. During guided reading, students are instructed using leveled books to teach reading strategies and skills. At this time, students blend sounds together to read fluently and answer questions about what they are reading. We also use poems. listening centers, computer programs and leveled books so students can practice their reading skills, sounds and fluency. SCIENCE: In Science this year, we will learn about: Seasons Trees Weather Rocks Living Things (plants and animals)
Science is also incorporated everyday through our observations and reading about nature, our environment, our 5 senses and changes we see while experimenting.
MATH: Go-Math is our mathematics program —highlighting problem solving as the focus of mathematical learning. This complete program teaches concepts using a concrete–pictorial–abstract learning progression to anchor learning in real-world, hands-on experiences. Supports the goals of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Research-based pedagogy focuses on classroom learning, discussion, and practice Balances conceptual understanding, visual learning, and problem solving Grade K Overview Counting and Cardinality Identify numbers by name and the counting sequence. (Counting to 100 by 1's and 10's and counting up from any given number) Count to tell the number of objects. (one-to-one counting) Compare numbers (Greater than/less than and equal to) Add and Subtract (Compose and decompose) Form number sentences Operations and Algebraic Thinking Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from. Solve word problems and missing numbers example 7=3 +?; 6- ? =3 Number and Operations in Base Ten Work with numbers 11-19 to gain foundations for place value. Measurement and Data Describe and compare measurable attributes. Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category Geometry Identify and describe shapes. 2-D and 3-D shapes. Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes. Mathematical Practices Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Model with mathematics. Use appropriate tools strategically. Attend to precision. Look for and make use of structure. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. SOCIAL STUDIES: We use the Granite School District "Interconnections" program to teach Social Studies. WRITING: Students learn to write progressing from writing random letters for words to writing letters that match sounds in words. Instruction in writing involves modeling how to write and provides daily experiences using writing. We use "kid invented spelling" that teaches children to use sounds to write words and sentences that describe a picture that they draw with their writing. In combination with "kid-invented spelling" . We make many class books or “journals” in class using dictation to teacher (these “journals” are class books that are sent home to share with your family and then returned to school). We also work on Opinion writing, informational writing and narrative writing in our class. HANDWRITING: We will be using the "Wonders" program this year to teach letter formation and practice kindergarten handwriting. SPEAKING & LISTENING: Students participate in a variety of speaking and listening experiences in which they learn to sustain attention to the speaker, to follow a series of directions, to memorize a poem or song, to listen to others, and to participate in-group discussions.In all areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening, students learn at their developmental level and are guided through each learning experience to achieve success, according to Utah State Standards. OTHER: The kindergarten program provides many opportunities for students to learn behaviors such as listening, sharing and taking turns, playing cooperatively with others, completing activities without teacher assistance and taking responsibility for belongings (to name the most significant behaviors). Motor Skills Development Students have many opportunities to learn important motor skills. Examples are scissor handling, pencil grip, jumping and skipping. For learning behaviors and social and motor skills, students learn according to their developmental level and are guided through each learning experience to achieve success.