First Grade Survival Skills!

1. First Grade Survival Skills! …or how your child learns that “once a pond a time” has nothing to do with fish.

2. Reading • California Treasures Curriculum ( McGraw-Hill) • Research-based reading program • Reading, spelling, grammar, writing coordinated

3. What if your student can read? • Every year, each first grade class has a group of students who are reading…so what happens to them? • All children review phonics rules and are assessed for the first month. • Comprehension and vocabulary skills are developed through class discussions. • Each child should be selecting books and projects that are at their level.

4. Writing • What we expect in the beginning: • Writing the alphabet – lower and upper case • Writing kindergarten high-frequency words • Writing simple sentences • Drawing a picture to go with their sentences expressing character, setting and plot or purpose.

5. Writing • How we get there: • Thinking maps • Writing together as a class • Modeling, modeling, modeling • Simple sentence writing with a picture. Teddy Bear hasfeelsis a bow tiehappybrown Teddy Bear has a bow tie. Teddy Bear feels happy. Teddy Bear is brown.

6. What it looks like at the end! Really! • One paragraph essays about a single topic, such as where a particular animal lives, why it lives there, and what their home is made of. • Topic sentences to introduce the paragraph • Lots of description, such as sensory details/adjectives • We look for words mostly spelled correctly, sentences beginning with capitals and ending with an appropriate end mark.

7. Assessments • 1st semester students are assessed on word reading and comprehension. • 2nd semester students are assessed on comprehension, retelling, and inference. • Oral reading fluency expectations: 10 words (minimum) per minute after 6 weeks. • 53 words (minimum) per minute by the end of year with retelling by student of what they read. • Writing and reading are periodically assessed.

8. Math • Numbers 1-100 by end of first grade • Math facts quiz each week – addition and subtraction facts to 18 • Number Sense – greater than, less than, equal • Understanding ones, tens, hundreds • Geometry (three dimensional shapes)

9. More Math! • Money – recognize and add coins including pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars • Time – hour and half-hour • Patterns – shapes and numerical • Word problems, including math vocabulary (sum, difference, add, subtract, join, etc.)

10. Science • Three units of study: • Solids, Liquids, and Gas • Air and Weather • Plants and Animals Foss Kits – Hands on science

11. Social Studies • Six units including • Citizenship • Goods and Services • People and Places (Geography) • Changes Over Time (History) • Our Country • Celebrate Cultures

12. Extras! • Computer lab once a week – keyboarding skills • Library visits • Art • Music • Social Skills • Getting along in the classroom and on the yard • Time for independence! Children need to solve simple problems without adult intervention!

13. Teacher Expectations • Volunteers are accepted on a teacher-by-teacher basis. We don’t all have the same needs in our classrooms. No volunteers at all until after norm day in September. • Homework needs to be completed each week. All classes send home Friday packets to be completed the following Friday. • Spelling and math tests are given each Friday in all classes.

14. How Can You Help? • Provide a stimulating environment for your child – go to museums, concerts, plays • Read books together , (take turns reading aloud) -- even if your child can already read, reading together gives extra stimulation and encourages vocabulary development and comprehension skills. • Do things together as a family – eat dinner together, go to the library. Turn off the TV and talk to each other!

15. Building Independence • Make sure to bring your child to school on time! • To help your child, say goodbye at the line-up area and let them enter the classroom without your help so they feel independent and proud of themselves.

16. A New Year – New Friends – New Experiences!