1st Grade Curriculum Information:RELIGION
The most important goal of the religion curriculum is to assist families in the growth and nurturing of their child’s faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This includes school chapel services, devotions, prayer, and ate-appropriate Bible stories with take-home materials for students in the classroom. It is also the first experience with assigned memory work that is chosen for the ability level. This is sent home for them to learn and then recited at school with help as needed.
READING-PHONICS-SPELLING-ENGLISH
In first grade the goal is that all students will reach a level of independent reading by the end of the school year. This is done with a variety of teaching methods. These include the use of Saxon Phonics and Spelling that enables them to decode words with the use of symbols. The phonics lessons include spelling word lists to practice which are later assessed. This is balanced with children’s literature selections in the Open Court Reading series. Students read decodable books that are sent home for additional reading practice. The Shurley Method English program is used to learn parts of speech that are taught with jingles and sentence labeling to better prepare them for writing skills. Comprehension of what they read or hear is evaluated with the Accelerated Reader computer program. All of these are intended to give them a strong foundation to build on and a love for reading.
MATH
Math skills are very sequential and continually reviewed using the Saxon Math series. Students enjoy using a variety of manipulatives, working with a partner or in a small group. They have a daily math meeting that involves parts of the calendar, patterning, reading graphs, and counting money. A different person is chosen daily to be the Student of the Day and lead the class. Worksheets are done on one side at school and the other side at home to review and return as homework.
SCIENCE
The science program offers a variety of units that all recognize God as the creator of all things. We use the Scholastic Science Place suitcases for units on weather and matter. The five senses, animals in winter, magnets, and dinosaurs are some of the other areas explored. Hands on experiences are offered as often as possible. For Health, we are usinig ABeka's Health, Safety, and Manners.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Our student textbook, My World, was developed with help of the National Geographic Society. Students are given opportunities to broaden their knowledge of our world through the study of families, jobs, maps, and holidays. Current events are covered through the Scholastic News and God’s World magazines. A favorite activity is tracing each student’s body and sending it through the mail after reading the book Flat Stanley. They share their visit and then mark where they went on a map in our classroom.
SPANISH
Students have an opportunity to be exposed to a second language through Elementary Spanish produced by Northern Arizona University. They learn words and customs with units on families, homes, foods, the calendar, etc. The video teacher presents the ideas in a fun and interactive format. First graders love being able to say words in a different language. This will give them a great advantage if they choose to study languages after elementary school!
ART
First graders are given opportunities to be creative and learn some basic art forms by doing projects using a variety of media. These include crayon, paint, dough, chalk, etc. in both two and three-dimensional projects. In addition, volunteers come in once a month to teach about well-known artists and their work. The students then do a project that ties in to the artist for that month.
MUSIC
The students have musical opportunities throughout the school day. This includes singing, moving to rhythms, playing instruments, listening, and group singing. They also sing at some of the worship services and in the community for the local care centers. They also participate in a school musical every two or three years.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
A physical education period is scheduled daily. Activities are planned to promote large motor skills, coordination, and an active lifestyle. Students play a variety of games that involve the use of balls, scooters, ropes, and a parachute. Roller rink style skates are rented for a week in March for all grades. In May, the first grade has a swimming orientation at an area pool to encourage students to take lessons and learn water safety.
HANDWRITING
D’Nealian handwriting is taught beginning in pre-kindergarten and lends itself will to moving into cursive in the middle grades. The primary emphasis in first grade is on letter formation, letter placement within the lines, legibility, and neatness. There are two writing samples that go into a writing folder that they add to at each grade level. They keep the writing folder whenever they leave St. Paul’s School.
AREAS OF INTEREST
A hamster for a classroom pet, computers that focus on using a mouse, letter placement on the keyboard, and programs that teach or entertain such as Puzzlemania and Kid Pix Studio are among the additional activities for first graders. We take field trips and have a Show and Tell time once a month. Students choose what they want to show or there is teacher-guided topic for them to discuss.
The First Grade curriculum incorporates components of the SMART/Boostup program.
