Curriculum:
Take a look at this website for inspiration:
wonderopolis.org
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Welcome to First Grade at Hilltop Primary School! The first grade curriculum is a developmentally appropriate program involving the whole child including physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth. Attention to each of these areas is important for children to enjoy and succeed in learning. Each day the students are involved in many different learning situations so that they may learn according to their individual needs and interests.
LANGUAGE ARTS: Our literacy program is balanced and provides the students with several kinds of reading and writing experiences. Teaching students to read is one of my favorite parts of first grade. I feel strongly about using a balanced literacy approach. Throughout the day, my students will enjoy being read aloud to several times, participate in shared reading of poems and stories, read independently during Reading Workshop, and participate in word study/phonics activities. Writing activities include interactive writing, guided writing and independent writing in Writer's Workshop. Extension activities include journal writing, Reader's Theater, and making class books together.
MATH: We use the Envisions math series in first grade. The Envisions approach seeks to help students develop an understanding of math concepts through problem-based instruction, small group interaction and visual learning with a focus on reasoning and modeling. It is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and makes connections across the curriculum. We also use a variety of interesting literature to enhance our math program and get the students involved and connected to learning math.
SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES and HEALTH: We study a wide variety of science and social studies topics. In science, our main focuses during the year are life sciences (we study the needs of living things and how they grow/change), physical sciences (we study balls and ramps including motion/force and also solids/liquids) and learning the scientific method (basically how to conduct an experiment). In social studies we start off the year learning about responsibility and citizenship in the classroom, in our community, and the world. Other topics focused on as the year progresses include cultures and cultural diversity (we travel around the world), map skills, past vs. the present (colonial times/pioneer times), U.S. symbols, and many other topics.