Developmental Description - First Grade

First Grade is an exciting time in the life of young children as they begin to make great strides in social and academic areas. First Grade children have a growing sense of independence in both of these areas with considerable variation in development among children. Teachers work closely with each child to help him/her reach individual and classroom goals.

Throughout the year children work on initiating and sustaining cooperative play. They are learning to take turns, to negotiate, and to peacefully resolve social conflicts independent of a teacher. Observing the use of "choice time" is an interesting study in first grade. Many children begin the year choosing to paint or to build with blocks during their free time. As they progress through the year, children begin to choose activities with more of an academic focus, such as writing stories, creating math projects, or reading books. The boundaries between work and play fade as children gain confidence in their academic abilities. In their play, as well as their work, children begin to sustain an activity for longer periods of time.

The academic life of a First Grade child is a fascinating combination of dramatic changes and subtle growth. They are developing a sense of academic responsibility and are becoming more articulate about their expanding depth of knowledge. They are, also, refining their work by adding careful details to make projects substantial and intriguing. They can return to interrupted activities with renewed investment in thoughtfully completing their work. Children pursue academic interests as a whole class, in small groups and on an individual basis.

First Graders are immersed in the process of becoming independent readers. The stories written by children or dictated to teachers are more complex and detailed. Children still use developmental spelling, but also begin to use conventional spelling, particularly when writing high frequency words. Children make progress in understanding mathematical concepts and develop their skills in problem solving.

By the end of the school year, first grade children have pursued a wide range of activities and are more confident in their abilities as thinkers and learners.

First Grade Language Arts

Reading

Reading is part of a continuum that begins with the earliest life experiences of discriminating between visual and auditory patterns. As children grow and mature they are exposed to and introduced to the graphic representations of these patterns, in the form of print, in numerous ways. One of the most important is being read to by caring adults. This process continues at school with children looking at books, reading to themselves, and sharing experiences that include being read to by teachers, teacher led reading groups, and partner reading. All of these experiences work in concert to lay a foundation for success in learning to read and for enriching students' understanding of the value of reading. Our goal is to foster in children a love of reading, along with an interest in books and their infinite variety.

We present children with a wide variety of reading materials and reading opportunities. Over the course of the year children become more aware of the different goals and purposes for reading. Our range of reading materials exposes students to new topics and types of literature and this variety affords them many opportunities to follow their own natural interests. Children enter their first grade year with an already wide range of reading skills. In our reading instruction, we assess each student's skills and work to build on and to extend them throughout the year.

Shared Experiences

* Many materials are used in reading instruction

non-fiction books fiction books

trade books environmental print

computer books written by the child

games books written by the classroom

thematic units workbooks

* Reading groups are formed for various reasons such as similar or mixed reading levels, learning profiles, and special interests or topics.

* Children use a variety of reading materials so that they can develop a depth of knowledge about different subjects.

Reading

Affective Approach

The appreciation of reading is visible in every classroom. We encourage literacy and foster the natural enthusiasm and interest that children bring to this learning process. Teachers also share their own interests and enthusiasm about reading and books. Reading is connected and intertwined amongst all curriculum areas. Children are taught reading skills in large groups, small reading groups and individually. Reading instruction is teacher directed as well as child selected. A primary objective of reading instruction is to give success to each child.

Shared Experiences

* Children are involved in teacher directed reading activities that seek to meet the individual needs of each student.

* Children have opportunities to select their own reading materials.

* Children dictate, write, illustrate and read their own stories and drawings.

* Classroom read-alouds create shared experiences.

* Children bring home books from classrooms that are at appropriate reading levels.

* Children are able to pursue their individual and group interests.

* Children have a weekly library checkout when all library books are available. In addition to this planned time, the library is open for children to use during the day. Children are encouraged to browse through the library as well as use it as a resource for specific information or projects.

* A large variety of reading materials are available for the children in the homerooms, such as magazines, books and newspaper articles.

Strategies

We introduce children to a variety of reading strategies to use in their reading. Students are presented with an array of strategies and then are encouraged to use them flexibly. When children have a medley of tools at their disposal, they are better able to approach reading, and other tasks, with a greater sense of comfort and confidence.

Shared Experiences

* Children are encouraged to use the following strategies to decode unknown words:

picture clues syntax

sentence structure context clues

sight word vocabulary decoding/phonics

* Children are encouraged to use multiple strategies in their reading.

* Children are encouraged to make predictions about stories that they are reading.

* Children continue to develop their knowledge of consonant letter sounds, blends and digraphs.

* Children work on short vowel sounds throughout the year and are introduced to some of the long vowel patterns

* Children practice these skills by reading phonetically correct words.

* Children practice blends sounds and word "chunks" together.

* Teachers provide a variety of reading materials that are designed to help children practice these various skills.

Comprehension

We help children develop a solid understanding of what they have read. Repetition and practice enable students to read with fluency and expression. Teachers often provide books which have a controlled vocabulary of words previously learned by the children. When students read books that consist of words they already know, they are then better able to switch their focus from decoding unknown words to comprehending the text. Re-reading stories is another way to concentrate on comprehension. Helping students use background information and prior knowledge prepares them for putting their reading into context. Self-correcting is an important sign of reading for comprehension and meaning.

Shared Experiences

* Discussion of stories helps children to understand the meaning behind the action or events of a story.

* Children are made aware of the implicit and explicit action and events of a story.

* Children retell and summarize stories.

Writing

The first grade writing curriculum is highly individualized to meet the needs of the wide range of developmental levels among our students. Writing is viewed as a form of communication. Students are encouraged to write frequently and as independently as they are able. Students write in different genres, in both fiction and non-fiction. In the process of writing, students generate topics, research when appropriate, record, reread, revise/edit, publish or share with others. This process becomes more refined as students move through the Lower School. Teachers support students as they write and instruct students individually and in groups. Some beginning students develop their writing skills by dictating stories. The connection between reading and writing is highlighted. Students learn to reread as they write and learn to view published literature as a model for writing. The understandings gained as students write support the process of learning to read. We look at students' independent writing to determine what concepts are being transferred and what concepts need focused instruction. Samples of students' written work are reviewed periodically throughout the school year and teachers analyze these samples to assess individual progress.

Spelling/Grammar/Mechanics

Students learn to write using developmental spelling in kindergarten. We continue to encourage this in first grade, but gradually introduce conventional spelling as well. This instruction is done through phonics activities and through "word banks" that include high-frequency words. Students are encouraged to use phonetic/developmental and conventional spelling in their independent writing. Students gradually progress from writing single words to phrases and eventually begin to write complete sentences (first grade or beyond).

* Beginning capitalization and basic punctuation (periods, questions marks, exclamation points) are introduced and modeled. Students gradually begin to incorporate these into their independent writing.

* Purposeful, motivated practice is provided through the many writing experiences built into the students' day.

* Periodic work samples and grade-level spelling inventories are reviewed to assess individual student progress throughout the year.

Penmanship

In general, most beginning first graders write using upper case letters and unlined paper. Students are taught handwriting using the D'Nealian alphabet (upper and lower case letters) and various types of lined paper. Gradually this knowledge becomes internalized and is transferred to their independent writing.

Shared Experiences

* writing for a variety of purposes

* personal writing (notes, lists, lunch invitations, etc.)

* writing on self-selected topics

* writing on teacher-assigned topics

* writing on topics integrated into science, social studies, and math curriculum

* writing both fiction and nonfiction

* writing in response to literature

* teacher modeled writing (students dictate/teacher writes on chart)

* teacher supported writing (students write/teacher models and instructs)

* teacher supported editing/revising/publishing or sharing

* revising/editing with peer collaboration

* "word study" instruction (dictated words/sentences)

* Explode the Code phonics workbooks

* print-rich classroom environment

* word games ("hangman", rhyming, etc.)

* worksheets for penmanship, phonics, literature study groups

* grade level spelling inventories (November, March, June/optional)

Characteristics observed in writing

* enthusiasm for writing

* independence when writing

* use of writing to communicate

* length and development of text

* beginning use of complete sentences

* skill in use of phonetic/developmental spelling

* conventional spelling of high-frequency words highlighted in classroom

* increasing use of conventional spelling

* comfort in combining phonetic/conventional spelling

* representation of consonants and consonant combinations

* representation of short vowel sounds and vowel combinations (long vowels, etc.)

* ability to reread written text

* use of spaces between words

* care in letter formation

* upper and lower case letter usage

* beginning capitalization and punctuation

Listening/Speaking

Our goal is to create an environment in which children have the opportunity, and feel safe, to share ideas, events and important things through speaking and listening to one another. We further hope that children leaving first grade are able to follow verbal instructions given to a group and are able to follow through on them. This would include recognizing and expressing their own questions and/or comments, in an appropriate manner, as they occur throughout an activity.

Shared Experiences

* In first grade a strong sense of community is built among the children and their teachers. An important part of this is meeting time. Meetings are used to discuss the upcoming day's schedule, to problem solve, to share experiences and to plan class activities. Children learn to express ideas and opinions, and to listen to other points of view.

* Teachers read aloud to their classes each day. Children are encouraged to think about the story through discussion of plot, character, setting and motivation. Children are also encouraged to ask questions if they are not familiar with a word. Children discuss the word meaning and their own background knowledge and experience regarding the new word, or an event in the story. Children listen to the ideas of others to make connections and learn new vocabulary.

* Children listen to books on tape at listening centers. This may be for enjoyment or to help them become familiar with a book they may encounter in formal reading instruction.

* Children are given an informal opportunity to share things that which is special to them. They may share information about a special event, project, or object as classmates listen and respond with questions and comments.

* Children have the opportunity to read stories they have written themselves. This gives them the opportunity to take risks in sharing their own work, and to speak in front of the whole group. Further, it gives listeners an opportunity to respond to their peers work. Children learn what it means to be a good listener or audience member.

* Children improve their abilities to understand and follow through on oral directions.

* Children listen to stories told in the library once a week. Stories are told by experienced story tellers/librarians.

Shared Activities and Experiences

In order to support our integrated approach to the teaching of language arts, we use common elements in our first grade classrooms. Common activities for first graders vary from year to year and may include guest appearances by speakers, authors, illustrators and grade level field trips. Emergent curriculum from special events, such as joint author studies and joint curricular activities, also encourages teacher collaboration. In general, common materials and shared experiences contribute to the construction of a common body of knowledge and skills is integral to a successful first grade language arts program. Other

activities and experiences include:

* classroom lending library of leveled books

* classrooms rich with environmental print

* use of phonics workbooks, such as Explode the Code

* common reading and spelling assessment tools

* common library story times

First Grade Math