First Grade Curriculum Guide

Religion

  • God’s love and forgiveness
  • The life and teachings of Jesus
  • The Holy Spirit
  • The Blessed Trinity
  • The Church as our family
  • Sacraments
  • Mary and the Saints
  • Understanding of the Mass
  • The Mysteries of the Rosary
  • Moral development
  • Prayers
  • Church seasons
  • Community outreach
  • Weekly participation in Mass
  • Grade level Mass presentations

Social Studies

  • Maps and direction
  • Famous people
  • American history and holidays
  • Communities
  • Building Citizenship

Science

  • Life Cycles
  • Plant and animal classification
  • Weather and seasons
  • Magnetic force
  • Earth’s land and water
  • Recycling

Mathematics

  • Addition and subtraction facts to 20
  • Word problem solving strategies
  • Graphing
  • Place Value to 100
  • Inequalities
  • Estimating
  • Ordinal Numbers
  • Counting by 2, 5, and 10
  • Solid figures and plane shapes
  • Addition of 3 addends
  • Fractions
  • Money: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars
  • Time to the hour and half hour
  • Calendars
  • Metric and standard measurement
  • Adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers without regrouping
  • Algebraic equations
  • Probability

Language Arts

Phonics

  • Short and long vowels
  • Consonant blends and digraphs
  • Suffixes
  • Contractions

Writing

  • Story mapping
  • Creative and narrative writing
  • Writing a letter
  • Book reports
  • Capitalization and punctuation
  • Proofreading
  • Poetry
  • Daily Journal writing

Reading

  • High frequency words
  • Reinforcement of phonetic skills
  • Predicting
  • Sequencing
  • Story elements- setting, plot, characters, problems
  • Identify main ideas and supporting details
  • Compare and Contrast
  • Draw conclusions
  • Cause/Effect
  • Fact/Fantasy
  • Alphabetical order
  • Author’s purpose
  • Oral reading
  • Accelerated Reader Program

Spelling

  • Inventive spelling
  • Phonetic spelling
  • High frequency words

English

  • Sentence structure
  • Types of sentences
  • Parts of speech: common and proper nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives
  • Verb tense
  • Compound words
  • Oral reports
  • Synonyms and antonyms
  • Following directions

Handwriting

  • Letter formation using the Zaner-Bloser method

Art

  • The art program will encompass all five standards building on each with different grade level expectations (using age appropriate vocabulary).
  • Skills and Techniques – The student understands and applies media, techniques and processes.
  • Creation and Communications – The students creates and communicates using elements of art and the principles of design.
  • Cultural and Historical Connections – The student understands the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
  • Aesthetic and Critical Analysis – The student evaluates various works of art
  • Application to Life – The student makes connections between art and the real world

Spanish

  • Daily conversation
  • Introduction to Hispanic culture
  • Benefits of knowing Spanish
  • Pronunciations, writing and grammar
  • Spanish songs
  • Vocabulary and expressions per monthly theme

Music

  • Students participate in weekly classes with liturgical music as the vehicle for expression and appreciation of music

Library

  • Introduce students to a diverse collection of children’s literature and authors
  • Foster working knowledge of library resources

Physical Education

  • Focus on cooperative learning, enhanced fitness and refinement of basic movement
  • Knows various techniques for throwing, catching, and striking different objects
  • Understands that games consist of people, boundaries, equipment, purpose, and rules

Computer

  • Keyboarding skills
  • Mouse and CD-ROM operations
  • Cross curricular games including math, language arts and science. Software examples include Jump Start, Kid Keys, Clifford, and School Zone.