1st Grade

Welcome to First Grade!

First grade is an exciting time for our students! This is the first year that they will be wearing full uniforms, taking weekly tests, and writing notes while also having fun. It is an important year because it will be setting your child up for the rest of their academic career. In First Grade we will be using Superkids for ELA and Reading, Into Math for Math, Science Fusion for Science, and We Believe for Religion. We begin every day in the school gym allowing the children to socialize and pray as a school community. In addition to weekly technology class your child will have access to our school chromebooks to help them with Math, Reading, and typing skills.

This year in ELA and Reading your child will continue using the Superkids program. The Superkids program is a program that starts in Kindergarten and follows your child to Second Grade. The students become familiar with the Superkids characters and be able to view them as friends. You can expect your child to work on phonics and structural analysis, spelling, comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, writing, grammar usage and mechanics. As first graders move forward in the program they will continue to expand their letter-sound knowledge. They will be using patterns to help them decode and encode words. Handwriting will be practiced as a daily routine where the students will copy Superkids sentences from the SmartBoard in their blue notebooks. As we move through the program, their comprehension and fluency skills will increase as they read longer and more difficult texts. Your child will have access to Superkids on-line in school as well as at home. The class will be taking weekly spelling tests and Superkids unit tests. The Superkids unit tests will be given on student chromebooks. We are fortunate enough to have all Superkids materials accessible to all of our students in Kindergarten- Second Grade.

“The Superkids Reading Program provides a balance of highly engaging fiction and information texts for reading instruction and practice. The Reader stories, Superkids Library Books, and Super-Duper mini-magazines are all phonetically controlled to match the sequence of phonics and structural analysis skills taught in the program. Reading these decodable texts help children develop strong decoding skills- the most reliable strategy for unlocking written words- and experience great success as beginning readers. The program also includes Super Smart informational text read-alouds for instruction with complex text that’s above children’s independent reading levels.”

This year in Math your child will be using Into Math! Students in grades Kindergarten- 8th Grade use Into Math for their Math program. Into Math is a program that helps students develop math vocabulary by using Math Talk. It is important for students to learn the language of Math because it will help them build on concepts they will learn in the future. Into Math gives students many opportunities to work independently as well as in groups. Group work is very important to first graders because it gives them the opportunity to learn from each other while also learning from the teacher. Each day the class will have to solve word problems using mixed strategies such as counting on, doubles, doubles plus/minus 1, ten frames, or place value. Students will also learn how to use models to solve problems. Students will have access to Math on the Spot to help them with difficult concepts. They will use various types of manipulatives to help with concepts.  Using a QR reader parents will be able to access Math on the Spot videos from home. Each student will be given a chapter book that they will use throughout the unit. At the end of each unit the class will take an assessment. First Grade will work through twelve Chapters over the course of the year.

“Problem Solving is practiced daily in lesson practice sets that include real life application problems. You will notice the Real World problem solving logo used throughout the student book lessons. The problem solving skill or strategy lessons provide strong reading support, and problem solving practice moves from specific strategy practice to mixed strategy practice.”

In Science First Grade will use Science Fusion. Over the course of the year students will learn about How Scientists Work, Technology All Around Us, Animals, Plants, Environments, Earth’s Resources, Weather and Seasons, Objects in the Sky, Matter, and Forces and Energy. Science Fusion integrates traditional science with STEM projects. The class will also use Lab Learner in our STEM lab to further explore topics. Students will be asked to do projects such as creating habitats and research reports on Ocean Animals. After each unit the class will take a unit assessment.

In Social Studies the class will use teacher created materials. The class will learn about topics such as Families (now and long ago), Cultures, Communities, Economics, Land Forms, and Government. Each unit will be followed by a project such as Family History Books and Community Books. In June each student will be asked to create the American Flag using any material they like. These flags will be presented at our Annual Flag Day ceremony and sent to members of the Armed Forces.

In Religion First Grade uses  We Believe. The class will learn about how Jesus is our friend, God is Good, God is our Father, God Our Father is Holy, God shares His life with us, God speaks to us, and how to pray. We will also learn about the Sacrament of Baptism, Saints, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. The class will hear Bible Stories and learn Church Hymns. In October the students will be assigned a Saint Project that is due on All Saints Day. The students will dress up as their Saint and participate in the church’s All Saints Day Mass. By the end of the year the students will understand how to love others and Jesus; they will be familiar with the Paschal Mystery, and the story of God’s fulfillment of the promise of a Savior.

We look forward to a wonderful school year! Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions.