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Lower School
Grade one Program Overview The first-grade curriculum builds on the developmentally focused program of the pre-kindergarten/kindergarten and is based on an interdisciplinary approach to learning. The curriculum, both academic and social, strives to reflect and affirm the children and the world in which they live. Children develop language to describe race, religion, and family structure and learn to honor each other’s stories. They share power in work and play situations and recognize and speak up about injustice, both that which directly affects them and that which affects other peers. Language Arts The first-grade year is a critical time for the development of reading and writing skills. Our teaching methods individualize instruction to include phonics, sight vocabulary, spelling, handwriting, and the foundations of creative and expository writing. In the first grade, teachers adapt the instruction of reading and writing skills to the needs of each child, mindful of the fact that each student learns in a unique manner and has a profile of strengths and challenges in the domains of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. Children learn the components of stories through listening to and reading books. In first grade a strong emphasis is placed on comprehension and connecting literature to life experiences. Writing is required across the subject areas and includes labeling pictures, writing stories, science and math recording, and response journals. Mathematics The subject areas of the first-grade mathematical study include number, data, and space. Students extend and deepen their understanding of counting with numbers up to 100 and develop an understanding of how numbers relate to quantities. Teachers use manipulatives to model concepts and investigate different ways to represent numbers with objects. Children are encouraged to develop their own strategies for problem solving and are taught to communicate their ideas to each other in pictures, numbers, and words. In geometry, students look at shapes and learn to describe them and to discover geometric relationships, using pattern blocks and other materials. |
Social Studies The first-grade social studies program is responsive to the needs and interests of the individual and the community. Children work in a cooperative environment on meaningful projects in an effort to understand the definition of community and the role they play in that community. In addition, children identify similarities and differences amongst themselves and others and recognize the Quaker principles of sharing, speaking, and silence. The foundation of social studies in first grade is planned through the lens of self-identity, families, community, Quaker life, and the Open Circle curriculum. Resources TERC Investigations in Number, Data, and Space First-Grade Curriculum A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 1 – 3, by Marilyn Burns Units of Study For Teaching Writing K-2, by Lucy Calkins Fundations, Wilson Language Basics for First-Grade Curriculum Primary Phonics, Educators Publishing Services Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing Classroom, Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell The Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Book List K-8, by Irene c. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell Guiding Readers and Writers, by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell Growing Readers: Units Of Study In The Primary Classroom, by Kathy Collins Phonics They Use, Patricia Cunningham Open Circle Curriculum, Stone Center, Wellesley College
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