First Grade Expectancies
Religion
Text: We Believe,Sadlier
Course content in First Grade strives to foster in students the recognition that God really cares and has a loving presence in the everyday life of God’s people. Students will gain an appreciation of the value of prayer and ritual in deepening their relationship with God. We Believe teaches the foundations of faith based on the word of God, lived in community and grounded in the service to others. Integrated into each grade level are age appropriate materials related to the Catholic way of life, and Christian prayer in the format of What Catholics Believe, What Catholics Worship, How Catholics Live, and How Catholics Pray.
Students will learn of God as present in all creation, the Holy Family as the ideal of Christian living, the Mass, how Jesus’ death and resurrection are celebrated at every Eucharist, prayer as listening and talking to God, the Trinity as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and how the Church is God’s family. Students will experience everyone as innately good and loved by God, how to recognize Gospel values and celebrate differences among God’s people, responsibility, self-discipline, and the security of belonging to a faith community, Jesus and his teachings, celebrations of the reign of God, and a sense of belonging in the Church. Students will learn about the revelation of God in Creation and the Nativity, the childhood of Jesus, the Ministry of Jesus including his parables, death and resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit. Students will be introduced to the various sacraments as practiced in the Catholic faith.
Students will learn a multitude of songs and prayers such as The Lord’s Prayer.
Reading
Text: Houghton Mifflin Reading: California
Supplemental: SRA, McGraw-Hill
Learning to Read
Students will understand the basic features of reading, select letter patterns, and know how to translate them into spoken language by acquiring phonemic awareness and phonics/decoding of consonants, short and long vowel sounds, and blends. Students will build their vocabulary to include rhyming words, compound words, possessives and contractions, understand singular and plurals, alphabetizing, and readily read grade level appropriate high frequency words.
Reading Comprehension
Students will read and understand grade-level appropriate material, drawing upon a variety of comprehension skills and strategies as needed through comprehension skills and strategies such as: Story Structure, Topic/Main Idea, Text Organization, Sequence of Events, Cause and Effect, Compare and Contrast, Note Details/Predict outcomes, Fact and Opinion, Draw Conclusions, Predict/Infer, and Summarize.
Literary Strategies
Students will read and respond to a variety of significant works of children's literature by understanding the format of a book, retell familiar stories, recognize story elements: setting, character, problem and solution.
Language Arts
Text: Houghton Mifflin English Sitton Spelling,EPS
D'Nealian Handwriting, Scott Foresman
Mechanics of Writing
Students will begin to write with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. Skills introduced include: writing and speaking in complete, coherent sentences, identifying and correctly using singular and plural nouns, contractions, and singular possessive pronouns in writing and speaking. Students will distinguish between declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences, and use knowledge of the basic rules of punctuation and capitalization when writing. Students will be able to spell phonetically based and high frequency words, use inventive spelling, write legibly in D'Nealian Handwriting and reread own writing.
Writing Process
Students will begin to write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Students are introduced to the stages of the writing process appropriate to this grade level such as select a focus when writing, use descriptive words when writing, write brief narratives (e.g., fictional, autobiographical) describing an experience, and write brief expository descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details.
Listening/Speaking
Students will practice speaking with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. Students will listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication using the strategies of: listening for a purpose, responding to what is heard by making judgments, following directions, predicting, and classifying, give, restate, and follow simple two-step directions.
Oral Communication
Students will share ideas and experiences, participate in discussions, recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories. Students will retell stories using basic story grammar and relating the sequence of story events by answering who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. Students will relate an important life event or personal experience in a simple sequence.
Mathematics
Text: Everyday Math,The Wright Group, McGraw/Hill
Marcy Cook Math, Marcy Cook
MIND Institute, MIND Research
Everyday Mathematics, in conjunction with the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, is a rigorous scientifically research-based math curriculum that builds students' mathematical knowledge from the basics to higher-order thinking and critical problem solving.
Number and Numeration lessons incorporate students’ understanding of the meanings, uses and representations of numbers by counting on by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s, past 100 and back from any number less than100 with and without number grids, number lines, and calculators. Students will count collections of objects accurately and reliably; estimate the numbers of objects in a collection, read, write and model with manipulatives whole numbers up to 1000; identify places in such numbers and the values of the digits in those places. Students will use manipulatives and drawings to model halves, thirds and fourths as equal parts of a region or collection, and describe the models, as well as use manipulatives to identify and model even and odd numbers.Students will understand equivalent names for numbers by using manipulatives, drawings, tally marks, and numerical expressions involving addition and subtraction of 1 or 2-digit numbers to give equivalent names for whole numbers up to 100. Students will have an understanding of common numerical relations by comparing and ordering whole numbers up to 1,000.
Operations and Computation lessons introduces accurate computation by demonstrating proficiency with +/- 0, +/- 1, doubles, and sum-equals-ten addition and subtraction facts such as 6+4=10 and 10-3=7, using manipulatives, number grids, tally marks, mental arithmetic and calculations to solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of 1-digit whole numbers with 1-or 2-digit whole numbers.; calculate and compare values of coins combinations. Students learn to make reasonable estimates and understand the meanings of operations. Students will make reasonable estimates of answers to basic fact problems and understand meanings of operations by identifying change-to-more, change-to-less, comparison, and parts-and total situations.
Data and Chance lessons allow for students to select and create appropriate graphical representations of collected or given data by collecting and organizing data or use given data to create charts, tables, bar graphs, and line plots. Students will analyze and interpret data with the use of graphs to ask and answer simple questions and draw conclusions; find the maximum and minimum of a data set. Students will understand and apply basic concepts of probability by describing events using certain, likely, unlikely, impossible and other basic probability terms.
Measurement and Reference Frames lessons include understanding of the systems and processes of measurement; using appropriate techniques, tools, units, and formulas in making measurements using nonstandard tools and techniques to estimate and compare weight and length; measure length with standard measuring tools, and know and compare the value of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills. Students use and understand reference frames by identifying a thermometer as a tool for measuring, reading temperatures on Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometers to the nearest 10 degrees.
Geometry lessons include investigating characteristics and properties of 2- and 3-dimensional geometric shapes by having students identify and describe plane and solid figures and applying transformation and symmetry in geometric situations such as identifying shapes having line symmetry; complete line-symmetry shapes or designs.
Patterns, Functions, and Algebra lessons involve students understanding patterns and functions that extend, describe, and create numeric, visual, concrete patterns; solve problems involving function machines, “What’s My Rule?” tables Frames-and-Arrows diagrams. Students use algebraic notation to represent and analyze situations and structures by reading, writing, and explaining number sentences using the symbols +, -, and =.and the symbols less-than and greater-than with cues; solve equations involving addition and subtraction; apply the Commutative Property of Addition and the Additive Identity to basic addition fact problems.
History-Social Science
Text: I Know a Place, Houghton Mifflin
Students will begin to 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.
Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship includes understanding the rule-making process in a direct democracy (everyone votes on the rules) and in a representative democracy (an elected group of people make the rules), giving examples of both systems in their classroom, school, and community. Understanding the elements of fair play and good sportsmanship, respect for the rights and opinions of others, and respect for rules by which we live, including the meaning of the "Golden Rule," and developing social responsibility and decision-making skills, demonstrate ways in which people show friendship and respect for each other.
Geography and Map Skills incorporate locating on maps and globes: their local community, the state of California, the United States, the seven continents, and the four oceans. The students will compare information that can be derived from a three-dimensional model to the information that can be derived from a picture of the same location, construct a simple map, use cardinal directions and map symbols, describe how location, weather, physical environment affect the way people live, including the effects on their food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and recreation.
Symbols, Icons, and Traditions of the United States includes reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing songs that express American ideals, understanding the significance of our national holidays and the heroism and achievements of the people associated with them, identifying American symbols, landmarks, and essential documents such as the flag, bald eagle, Statue of Liberty, U.S. Constitution, and Declaration of Independence, and know the people and events associated with them.
Communities and Diversity affords opportunities for students to recognize the ways in which students are all part of the same community, sharing principles, goals, and traditions despite their varied ancestry, to recognize the forms of diversity in their school and community; and the benefits and challenges of a diverse population, understand the ways in which American Indians and immigrants have helped define Californian and American culture, compare the beliefs, customs, ceremonies, traditions, and social practices of the varied cultures, drawing from folklore, examine the structure of schools and communities in the past, study transportation methods of earlier days, and recognize similarities and differences of earlier generations in such areas as work (inside and outside the home), dress, manners, stories, games, and festivals, drawing from biographies, oral histories, and folklore.
Economics includes understanding the concept of exchange and the use of money to purchase goods and services, and identifying the specialized work that people do to manufacture, transport, and market goods and services and the contributions of those who work in the home.
Science
Text: California Science, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
Supplemental: FOSS Kits
Life Science is based on Plants and Animals and Their Needs. Students will be able to: identify the roots and stem of a plant, describe the functions of the root and the stem, sort leaves based on their characteristics, identify the basic needs of plants, describe how a seed grows into a new plant, describe how a flower grows into a fruit, identify roots, stems, leaves, seeds, and fruits that people eat, compare and contrast animals according to size, shape, and other characteristics, compare and contrast animals according to how they move, compare and contrast animals according to body coverings, describe characteristics of insects, identify the basic needs of animals, identify and compare living and nonliving things, define a habitat, identify characteristics that determine if an object is living or nonliving, identify and classify living and nonliving things, describe a forest habitat, and explain how some animals adapt to an ocean habitat.
Earth Science focuses on Weather and Seasons. Students will be able to: identify air, land and water as features of the earth, describe different kinds of weather, use a thermometer to measure weather, identify how weather changes from season to season, compare day and night skies, understand that heat and light from the sun are necessary for life on Earth, classify objects used during day and at night, understand that the moon shines with light from the sun, understand that the moon's appearance changes in different phases, and identify four phases of the moon.
Physical Science is based on Solids, Liquids, and Gases, and Changing Matter. Students will be able to: group objects according to various properties, describe and identify the properties of solids, liquids, and gases, describe how water can change from a solid to a liquid to a gas, describe how ice can change into water and that water can evaporate, describe how sound travels differently through a solid, a liquid, and a gas, identify sources of heat, explain how the position and shape of a shadow cast by the sun can change, identify pushes and pulls as ways to move objects, explain how pushes and pulls can change the speed and direction of motion, identify objects that are attracted by magnets, and demonstrate that magnets attract and repel other magnets.
Physical Education
Course content strives to help students develop motor skills while expanding their familiarity of games and activities that build self-confidence and prepare them for an active adulthood while promoting cardiovascular development. Emphasis is placed on safety, sportsmanship, motor development, physical fitness, self and team discipline and commitment. The focus of this curriculum is to apply learning skills to life’s social, emotional, physical and academic challenges.
Technology
Students will extend their awareness of skills through formal instruction with guided and independent practice on Computer Basics, Working with Files, Folders, the Network, Keyboarding, Paint, Draw, and Graphics and the Introduction to Word Processing.
Music
MIND Institute Keyboarding
Students have weekly opportunities to learn to play the keyboard based on the progressive lessons of MIND Research.
Creative Expression
Students will learn and apply vocal and instrumental skills in performing a varied repertoire of music. They will compose and arrange music and improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
Artistic Perception
Students will read, notate, listen to, analyze, and describe music and other aural information, using the terminology of music.
Aesthetic Valuing
Students will assess and derive meaning from works of music and the performance of musicians according to the elements of music, aesthetic qualities, and human responses.
Historical and Cultural Context
Students will study the role of music in the past and present cultures throughout the world, noting cultural diversity as it relates to music, musicians, and composers perform on pitch, and maintain a steady beat while developing correct playing technique.
Connections, Relationship, Applications
Students will apply what they learn in music to other subject areas.
Art
Artistic Perception
Students will perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use appropriate grade-level vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
Creative Expression
Students will apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
Historical and Cultural Context
Students will analyze the role and development of the visual arts noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.
Aesthetic Valuing
Students will analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
Connections, Relationships, Applications
Students will apply what they learned in the visual arts across subject areas.
Foreign Language
Spanish
Students will develop an awareness of the Hispanic culture. The students will learn a variety of vocabulary words, mimic oral spoken language, engage in simple conversations, and learn to sing songs in Spanish. Integrated into each grade level curriculum are age-appropriate materials that will enhance student cultural awareness in the area of geography, religion, traditions and holidays, ethnic foods, and the arts. The course content enables students to have an awareness of the Spanish language and culture.
Chinese
Students will develop an awareness of the Chinese culture. The students will learn a variety of vocabulary words, mimic oral spoken language, engage in simple conversations, and learn to sing songs in Chinese. Integrated into each grade level curriculum are age-appropriate materials that will enhance student cultural awareness in the area of geography, religion, traditions and holidays, ethnic foods, and the arts. The course content enables students to have an awareness of the Chinese language and culture.
Global Citizen
The students will develop a set of common skills and knowledge that will help prepare them to live in a world where the opportunities for success require the ability to compete and cooperate on a global scale. The core courses will offer effective ways to welcome the world into the classroom to insure that all students readily acknowledge, respect and appreciate the similarities and differences that exist among people of the world. The students will develop a sense of respect for the global and local communities, develop a sense of respect for ethnic and cultural diversity, understand their own culture within the global context, appreciate the culture, language, art, religion and commerce of different countries, demonstrate knowledge of other cultures including beliefs, values, practices, products and geographic locations, connect with people in other language communities in a range of settings for a variety of purposes that may include developing speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.