First Grade Curriculum
RELIGION
- Learn that the Church is God’s family
- Name their parish, their pastor, and the Pope
- Realize that God created the world and is always with us
- Learn that Jesus is the Son of God who saved us and is a model for us
- Learn that the Holy Spirit was sent by God on Pentecost
- Be familiar with the symbols of Baptism and what they mean
- Realize that Baptism gives us new life in Christ
- Learn that the Bible is the Word of God speaking to us today
- Be familiar with some stories and people from the Bible
- Learn that God speaks through His word read at Mass
- Learn that the second part of the Mass prepares us to receive Jesus in Holy Communion
- Be familiar with the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter
- Pray the Our Father and Hail May, know what the rosary looks like, and experience praying the Stations of the Cross
- Realize and practice proper mannerisms at weekly Mass
- Discuss and model life skills/character traits and conflict resolution
ENGLISH
- Understand what a sentence is
- Write simple sentences using spacing, left-to-right directionality, capital and lower case letters
- Write and draw stories and self-assess work
- Learn simple parts of speech and punctuation – naming part (nouns), action part (verbs), pronouns, special nouns (proper nouns), period (telling sentences), question mark (questions), and exclamation mark
- Use capital letters for proper nouns and first words in sentence
- Follow two to three step directions
- Correctly form all letters and numbers, capital and lower case, using vertical manuscript
- Discover and practice word play (homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, compound words, hinky-pinks)
- Learn to spell and read new, weekly high-frequency words (15 words)
READING
- Use cueing systems (decoding methods) to read unknown words
- Increase sight vocabulary
- Phonics instruction
- Summarize and retell stories, discuss main idea
- Express own thoughts about a story
- Read simple stories in small (homogeneous) and large (heterogeneous) groups
- Compare stories
- Discuss author/illustrator purposes
MATHEMATICS
- Use 100’s chart and daily sticks/numbers to show understanding of place value
- Recognize geometric (plane and solid) shapes and symmetry
- Represent data using objects, pictures, and graphs
- Sort and classify objects by size, number and other properties
- Recognize, describe, and extend patterns
- Understand general principles and strategies (count on/back, number line, 100’s chart, pictures/manipulatives) of addition and subtraction
- Create bar graphs, pictographs, tally charts
- Represent fractions including ½ and ¼
- Use probability including spinner activities
- Use/compare standard units of measure for length, weight, and capacity
- Tell time to the half hour
- Two digit subtraction and addition
- Add and subtract money
SCIENCE
- Understand basics of magnetism
- Learn basic things about earth materials, such as water, rocks, soils, gases
- Explore living and non-living things
- Understand importance of a healthy diet, proper exercise, dental hygiene
- Understand our weather changes and simply discuss current weather conditions
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Emphasize community, country, and world neighbors
- Begin to use a map and globe to find the oceans and continents
- Learn about the roles of people in government
- Recognize some of the national symbols of the United States
- Describe jobs in the community that involve community service
