Curriculum Grade 1

GRADE 1

CURRICULUM STANDARDS

Dear Parents;

This document is a brief overview of the curriculum taught at St. Patrick School. It is a combination of Diocesan and State of California Standards. It includes textbooks used at the school and special projects assigned by classroom teachers. This is a living document that will be updated each year. More detailed descriptions are available to parents in the school office and soon on the school’s website.

Mrs. Kelly Stevens

Principal

De

Developmental Characteristics

Children develop in a natural sequence, moving through similar, predictable stages of development. We must be careful, however, not to expect all children to move at the same pace. Children are unique individuals and will pass through the developmental stages at their own rates. Generally, children in kindergarten through third grade are similar in the ways that they learn. They tend to learn best by doing and experiencing and using their senses. Broad characteristics for first grade students include the following:

Physical

• Experiences rapid growth

• Has high activity level

• Is awkward, clumsy

• Has eye-hand control to be able to hit

• Reverses letters and numerals moving objects

• Shows stress through wiggling, nail biting

• Enjoys boisterous, adventuresome activities

Social/Emotional

• Is talkative

• Works best with only one peer

• Has good sense of humor

• Shows expansive, out-of-bounds behavior

• Desires to please; loves praise; is sensitive to failure, criticism

• Is insecure but wants to be independent

• Likes to experiment

• Sees self as center of the universe; feels important

Mental

• Has selective attention span

• Has greater control of oral language

• Is easily distracted

• Is interested in process rather than product

• Enjoys discovering new things

• Begins to understand past, future; fact, fantasy

• Is creative, imaginative

Religion and Family Life

The religious and family life education program for Saint Patrick School offers students a curriculum that intentionally strives from one grade level to the next to build on the cognitive foundations established in the previous years’ programs. Its content serves to inspire and to inform a way of life. The key learning objectives for each grade level have been grouped under the rubric of twelve basic expectations. Each of these expectations falls under four major thematic headings that convey the essential

philosophical underpinnings of the entire program.

Theme 1: We Remember

1. Demonstrate the ability to read and reflect on scripture and its meaning for life today

2. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the history of the church

Theme 2: We Believe

3. Demonstrate an understanding that we are drawn to God who, in creating us, has placed a desire for happiness in our hearts

4. Demonstrate a basic understanding and appreciation of doctrine and dogma found in the Creedal Statements

5. Demonstrate a basic understanding and appreciation of the Trinity as the central mystery of the Christian faith

6. Demonstrate knowledge of the Church as people of God, body of Christ and community of faith

Theme 3: We Celebrate and Pray

7. Demonstrate an understanding of the sacraments as important moments in the life of the community, with an emphasis on the Eucharist

8. Demonstrate an understanding that the Eucharistic Liturgy (the Mass) is the communal celebration of the Paschal Mystery in which each is called to full and active participation

9. Demonstrate a knowledge of and ability to participate in the Catholic tradition of prayer

Theme 4: We Live

10. Demonstrate an understanding of moral teaching, and an ability to make good moral decisions and act in a responsible, Christian manner

11. Demonstrate comprehension of seven key principles of Catholic social teaching and have the ability to apply them to personal and societal situations:

• The life and dignity of the human person

• The call to family, community and participation

• The rights and responsibilities of the human person

• Option for the poor and vulnerable

• The dignity of work and the rights of workers

• Solidarity of the human family

• Care for God’s creation

English Language Arts

Concepts About Print

• Match oral words to printed words

• Identify the title and author of a reading selection

• Identify letters, words, and sentences

Phonemic Awareness

• Distinguish between beginning, middle, and ending sounds in simple words

• Distinguish long and short vowel sounds (e.g., bit/bite)

• Create rhyming words

• Blend two to four phonemes (sounds) into recognizable words

Decoding and Word Recognition

• Recognize many high frequency words

• Use phonics to blend sounds into recognizable words

• Read compound words and contractions

• Read aloud with fluency in a manner that sounds like natural speech

Vocabulary and Concept Development

• Classify words into concrete categories (e.g., toys, animals, foods)

• Blend two to four phonemes (sounds) into recognizable words

Reading Comprehension

• Respond to who, what, when, where, and how questions

• Retell the central ideas of simple narrative and expository texts

• Relate prior knowledge to textual information

• Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a text

Literary Response and Analysis

• Read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children’s literature

• Identify character(s), plot, and setting in a story

• Describe the roles of authors and illustrators

• Recollect, talk, and write about books read during the school year

Writing

• Write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences

• Progress through stages of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and

publishing)

• Write clear and coherent sentences

• Compose a variety of products, like stories, letters, and journal entries

• Use basic punctuation and basic capitalization

• Use phonics knowledge and basic patterns to spell correctly three- and four-letter words

Listening and Speaking

• Listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication

• Speak in a manner that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper

phrasing, pitch and modulation

• Ask questions for clarification and understanding

• Give, restate, and follow simple two-step directions

• Stay on topic when speaking

• Use descriptive words when speaking about people, places, things, and events

• Recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories

• Retell stories using basic story grammar and relating the sequence of the story events by

answering who, what, when, where, why, and how questions

• Relate an important event or personal experience in simple sequence

• Provide descriptions with careful attention to sensory detail

Stages of Spelling and Writing Development

Children move through stages as they develop spelling and writing skills. Learning to spell correctly happens over time and progresses through stages somewhat like learning to talk. First graders typically move through the following stages:

Emergent Stage

• May write one or two bare ideas (typically kindergarten)

• Begins to use visual memory to spell some words correctly

• Uses one, two or three letters to represent a word

• Often begins words with initial consonants

• Begins to write left-to-right

•Can focus on theme/topic

Developing Stage

• Uses temporary spelling that others can generally read

• Uses some detail that may be presented in list like form

• May use short, patterned or repetitive sentences

• Grasps letter/sound correspondences

• May represent essential sounds in words

Early Independent Stage

• Uses varied sentence patterns (typically 2nd grade)

• Shows evidence of detail and elaboration

• Uses some elements of expressive and descriptive language

• Uses correct capitalization and end punctuation most of the time

• Uses vowels in every syllable

• Uses sentences in a logical order

• Attempts to use rulers

Mathematics

Students understand and use the concept of ones and tens in the place value number system. Students

add and subtract small numbers with ease. They measure with simple units and locate objects in space.

They describe data and analyze and solve simple problems.

Number Sense

• Understand and use numbers up to 100

• Demonstrate the meaning of addition and subtraction and use these operations to solve problems

• Use estimation strategies in computation and problem solving , using numbers in ones, tens,

hundreds places

Algebra and Functions

• Use number sentences with operational symbols and expressions to solve problems (+,-,=)

Measurement and Geometry

• Use direct comparison and nonstandard units to describe the measurements of objects

• Identify common geometric features, classify the by common attributes, and describe their relative

position or their location in space

Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability

• Organize, represent, and compare data by category on simple graphs and charts

• Sort objects and create and describe patterns by numbers, shapes, sizes, rhythms, or colors

Mathematical Reasoning

• Make decisions about how to set up a problem

• Solve problems and justify their reasoning

• Note connections between one problem and another

Sc

Science

Physical Science

• Materials come in different forms (states), including solids, liquids, and gases.

Life Science

• Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways.

Earth Science

• Weather can be observed, measured, and described.

Investigation and Experimentation

Students will:

• Draw pictures that portray some features of the thing being described.

• Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.

• Record observations on a bar graph.

• Describe the relative position of objects by using two references (e.g., above and next to).

• Make new observations when discrepancies exist between two descriptions of the same object or

phenomenon.

Physical Education

Physical Education

1) Student will be competent in many movement activities.

- Travel and change directions quickly and in response to a signal.

- Toss and catch a ball alone or with a partner.

- Kick a ball rolled to them

2) Student will understand how and why they move in a variety of situations and use this information to enhance their own skills.

- Place the body and limbs in different positions, demonstrating high, middle, and low levels.

- Move backwards and change directions safely without falling.

- Balance on a variety of body parts.

3) Student will achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

- Begin to recognize changes in their bodies, such as changes in height or weight.

- Identify oxygen and food as fuel to supply the body with energy.

- Engage in sustained physical activity that causes an increased heart rate and heavy breathing.

4) Student will exhibit a physically active lifestyle and will understand that physical activity provides opportunities for enjoyment, challenge and self-expression.

- Participate in a wide variety of physical activities outside their physical education class

- Show interest in trying new movement activities and skills.

- Identify how the body feels during different kinds of physical activity.

5) Student will demonstrate responsible personal behavior while participating in movement activities.

- Use equipment safely and responsibly.

- Develop responsibility for expected behaviors on the playground and in the classroom.

- Stop activity immediately at the signal to do so.

6) Student will demonstrate responsible social behavior while participating in movement activities. The student will understand the importance of respect for all others.

- Work in a group setting without interfering with others.

- Take turns using a piece of equipment.

- Interact positively with others without regard to personal differences.

7) Student will understand the interrelationship between history and culture and games, sports, play and dance.

- Identify variations in games and activities played in classmates’ homes and neighborhoods.

History/Social Studies

Theme: A Child’s Place in Time and Space

Students in grade one continue a more detailed treatment of the broad concepts of rights and responsibilities in the contemporary world. The classroom serves as a microcosm of society in which decisions are made with respect for individual responsibility, for other people, and for rules by which we all must live: fair play, good sportsmanship, and respect for the rights and opinions of others.

Students examine the geographic and economic aspects of life in their own neighborhoods and compare them to those of people long ago. Students explore the varied backgrounds of American citizens and learn about the symbols, icons, and songs that reflect our common heritage.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students describe the rights and individual responsibilities of citizenship

• Students compare and contrast the absolute and relative locations of places and people and describe the physical and/or human characteristics of places

• Students know and understand the symbols, icons, and traditions of the United States that provide continuity and a sense of community across time

• Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places and things change over time while others stay the same

• Students describe the human characteristics of familiar places and the varied backgrounds of American citizens and residents in those places

• Students understand basic economic concepts and the role of individual choice in a free-market economy

International Day: Celebrating cultural diversity within the class

Neighborhood and Community Projects

Spanish

The Spanish curriculum for Grades K-1 addresses the developmental characteristics of children age 4 1/2 to 6 who best learn foreign language through the use of songs and mimicking.

Focus Areas:

• Introduction to vocabulary related to colors, numbers, body parts, the home, family and transportation.

• Introduction and use of simple classrooms commands.

• Introduction and performing through physical mimicking of emotional body conditions and feelings.

• Use of the basic verbs to communicate, such as to have and to be.

Objectives:

• To introduce the gradual immersion and physical response process.

• To introduce phonetics through vowels.

• To promote communication through physical and one-word responses.

Music

Rhythm

• Beat--steady beat, no steady beat • Rhythm Patterns--patterns of long

• Meter--strong and weak beats in 2 and short sounds, repeated patterns, and 3, meter in 2 even and uneven patterns

• Duration--long and short sounds

Melody

• Pitch--high and low sounds

• Melodic Patterns--melodic patterns,

• Melodic Contour--upward and melodic repetition, melodic rhythm, downward movement (explore melodic ostinato high/low, fast/slow, long/short

• Phrases--phrase ending, repeated movements) phrases

• Intervals--melodic movement by leaps and repeats

Harmony

• Texture--accompaniment and no accompaniment

Tone Color

• Environmental Sounds--sounds of nature, sounds of machines

• Body sounds to accompany chants and songs, rhymes sounds

• Vocal Sounds--various tone qualities produced by individuals and group

• Instrumental Sounds--classroom small percussion instruments

Form

• Introduction

• Solo Chorus

• Phrase (alike and different)

• Verse/Refrain

• Repetition and Contrast

• Same/Different

Expressive Qualities

• Style-music from a variety of styles

• Dynamics--loud/soft, and cultures-songs in different moods, crescendo/decrescendo songs chants and rhymes

• Tempo--fast/slow, getting faster or slower

Technology

• The student will know how to turn on, turn off, and print from the computer.

• The students will use KidPix to illustrate concepts taught in class.

• The students will use Microsoft Word to type paragraphs.

• The internet may be used but only with a specific site in mind that would be facilitated by the instructor.

• The student will learn how to navigate a web site as guided by the teacher.

First Grade	Textbooks	Supplemental Literature	Major Projects/Assignments	Field Trips
English/Language Arts	Open Court Publishing Company – Collections for Young Scholars		Book Projects Writing Projects	To see Theatre Work production of Junie B. Jones
Math	Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Mathematics	Marilyn Burns’ Teaching Mathematics in Grades K-8		Bay Area Discovery Museum
Science		Janice Cleaver’s Teaching the Fun of Science Evan/Moore Experiments for Young Learners	Super Seeds Charting Plants Insects Habitat Poster	Bay Area Discovery Museum
Social Studies	Houghton Mifflen *The World I See*			Neighbor- hood walk
Religion	Harcourt Brace *Walking By Faith* Peace Works Peace Making Skills for Little Kids		Memorization and recitation of the Hail Mary, Our Father, Angel of God, Glory Be, and The Apostle’s Creed