First Grade Virtual Curriculum Night

1. First Grade Virtual Curriculum Night If you have any questions, please feel free to email your child’s teacher or post on the 1st Grade blog.

2. Reading In first grade, students are surrounded with a language rich environment. Our goal at Bolin is to help children develop an understanding of letters and their sounds, how putting letters together in certain patterns can make words, and how using words together can form sentences that convey meaning. Understanding the meaning of what is read is one of our strongest focuses for our students. Reading without understanding the meaning is just word calling. Unit 1 – Readers Grow Good Habits Students will develop comprehension using a flexible range of metacognitive (thinking) and reading skills/strategies to become a self-directed, critical reader. Students will be taught many strategies such as: *Check for understanding *Monitor and fix-up *Back up and reread *Cross Checking(Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right?) *Do the words and picture match?

3. Unit 2 – Becoming Fluent Readers and Building Schema Students will build a strong foundation for developing comprehension. The above strategies will be carried over and new strategies and vocabulary will be learned such as: * building schema (background knowledge) and connections *Previewing and predicting from pictures *Distinguishing between different types of genres : Folktales, Fiction, Non-fiction *Retelling a story's beginning, middle and end with attention to sequence of events. *Connecting the meaning of a well known story to personal experience (text to self, text to text, text to world connections) Reading Strategies: *Set a purpose for reading *Emphasize high frequency words *Skip a word and come back *trade a word/guess a word that makes sense Fluency and Vocabulary: *Use punctuation to aide in fluency *Recognize the distinguishing features of sentence. • Unit 6 – Synthesizing All We’ve Learned Light Energy, Heat Energy, Sound Energy

4. *Use pictures, illustrations, diagrams to gain meaning of words in text. • *Recognize interesting words in text. • Unit 3 – Story Elements • Character, setting, plot, problem, solution, beginning, middle, end. As the story elements are taught they will be tied into: • Comprehension: • *Continue to build on skills and strategies previously modeled and practiced (text to self, text to text, text to world connections, purpose, and retelling a story) • *In Literary Fiction, recognize story elements and make character to self connections. • *Identify sensory details in Literary Fiction to create a picture or mental image to help with comprehension. • *Use Main idea and supporting details to determine importance of story elements. • Reading Strategies: • *Revisit and practice reading and self monitoring strategies • *Set a purpose for reading

5. Fluency and Vocabulary: • *Voracious Reading • *Read and reread 'good fit' books • *Reflect syntax, meaning, and punctuation through appropriate phrasing and expression in oral reading • *Recognize and read compound words • *Retell or act out important events in a story • Unit 4 – Digging Deeper – Infer and Predict • Students will learn that some meaning isn’t said straight out but instead must be inferred by gathering meaning from the text. Students will also learn to predict by text and picture clues to help them develop ideas about what could be a possible occurrence as the story continues. These skills will be taught through: • Comprehension: • *Readers understand that asking questions deepens their own comprehension. • *Students will predict what will happen and use text to confirm. • *Student will learn to infer in a story and use text to confirm.

6. Reading Strategies: • *Read base words with inflectional endings -ed, -ing • *Read/understand meaning of contractions • *Use sounds related to consonant clusters/ diagraphs/ suffixes to monitor and self-correct reading • *Set a purpose for reading • Fluency and Vocabulary: • *Use base words and suffixes to determine meaning • *Use prior knowledge (schema) and context to predict and confirm meaning of synonyms and antonyms • Unit 5 – Non-Fiction • Students will become familiar with features of non-fiction text such as: headings, captions, table of contents, index, glossary, and labels. These things will be taught through: • Comprehension: • *Distinguish the features/purpose of fiction and non- fiction • *Use text features of non-fiction to locate information. • *Use previous comprehension strategies to determine important parts of text and to answer questions/ • synthesize text for themselves and others.

7. *Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusion to restate main idea, order of events in an informational text/expository text. • *Follow multi-step directions with picture clues and explain signs/symbols in informational text • Reading Strategies: • *Read/understand meaning of contractions with is and not • *Use sounds related to vowel diphthongs and r-controlled vowels to solve words while reading • * Homophones • *Set purpose for reading • Fluency and vocabulary: • *Reflect meaning through phrasing and expression • *Awareness of the function of punctuation • *Use multiple sources of information to support fluency and phrasing • *Use prior knowledge and context to predict/confirm meaning • *Ask someone to define a word for you • *Use resource tools to locate information

8. Unit 6 – Synthesizing All We’ve Learned • Students will learn that synthesizing is a deeper understanding of information by using many strategies at a time and in a repeated way so that they can adjust their thinking and understanding about what they are reading as they obtain new information from the text. This will be taught through: • Comprehension: • *Readers monitor overall meaning, important concepts, and themes in texts as they read, understanding that their thinking evolves in the process (synthesis). • *Author studies • *Media Literacy • Reading Strategies: • *Review and reteach earlier lessons as needed. • Fluency/Vocabulary: • *Review and reteach earlier lessons as needed.

9. Word Work • In first grade, students are expected to identify, read, and spell commonly used word families (word chunks). We will also learn to identify, read, and spell first grade sight words. • Unit 1 – Attending to the Basics and Short Vowels • focus on phonemic awareness review and handwriting • Unit 2 – Blends • blend sounds to form syllables and words • Unit 3 – Consonant Digraphs and Contractions • consonant digraphs including ch, sh, etc. • contractions include can’t, don’t, etc. • Unit 4 - Long Vowels and Plurals • Unit 5 – Vowel Digraphs and R Controlled Vowels • vowel Digraphs - ow (bow), oo (moon), etc. • R Controlled Vowels – er (butter), ir (shirt), etc. • Unit 6 - Compound Words and Vowel Diphthongs • identify and read common compound words (e.g., football) vowel diphthongs including oy, ou, etc.

10. Writing In first grade, students will engage in the writing process, communicate ideas in writing, focus on grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and penmanship. Unit 1 – We Are All Writers Setting up a Writer’s Workshop *building independent writing behaviors Unit 2 – Capturing Small Moments Tell, draw, and write personal stories focused on small moment ideas *sequencing, preparing for publication, revise by changing leads and headings Unit 3 – Expanding on Personal Narratives Expand stories from personal and small moments *revise by inserting details, prepare for publication Unit 4 – Intros to Genres and Non-Fiction Write how-to text from own experiences, functional writing, writing letters, writing for a purpose

11. Unit 5 – Teaching Skills and Strategies All Writers Need • Writing and speaking for a varieties of audiences • *recording words for decoding, focus on high • frequency words • Unit 6 – Poetry and Authors as Mentors Finding writing mentors in all authors *character development, setting/plot, dialogue, putting powerful though in tiny packages • Writing Samples for Allen ISD are taken at three times during the course of a school year. *We will collect the samples during Unit 1, Unit 4, and Unit 6. These samples follow your child throughout their entire school career. Writing with your child at home helps improve print awareness. If a child is writing, they are also reading. Any chance your child has to write at home will help improve their writing endurance, spelling, and will also encourage them to read more.

12. Spelling • In first grade, students will begin having spelling homework and a spelling test on Fridays starting the week of September 16th. Each week we will have a spelling rule that your child will be responsible for working with to create words. We will be modeling and using the rules in school and teaching many strategies that your child will be able to use at home for this. They will need to know the rule for their spelling assessment on Friday. They will be given a list of words to write using that spelling rule. We will not send home a list of words to be memorized. • On Friday, the teacher will say a word with the spelling rule. The students will repeat the word, break the word apart sound by sound, and then write it on their paper. As the year progresses, we may have your child come up with their own words on the part of the test. • In addition to the words for the chunks there will be 3 – 5 sight words for your child to learn each week. • Please see the link below for additional information about our new spelling program. • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzBt85RPefpfNQrpjX944uw

13. Science In first grade, students observe and describe the natural world using their five senses. Students do science as inquiry in order to develop and enrich their abilities to understand the world around them in the context of scientific concepts and processes. Students develop vocabulary through their experiences investigating properties of common objects, earth materials, and organisms. STEMSCOPES: new online curriculum – The students will receive logins. Stemscopes will be used in class, as well as for flipped curriculum lessons (lessons viewed at home). It will provide additional resources for extended learning at home. Unit 1 – Scientists and their Investigations Science Journals, Science Safety *science tools lab, experiments: magic capsule, sink or float Unit 2 – Force & Motion Ways Objects Move, Magnets *experiment: Margie Magnet Unit 3 – Weather Watchers Observing Weather, Air Moving, Seasons *experiment: moving air

14. Unit 4 – Space • Objects in the Sky, Day & Night • Unit 5 – Changes in Matter Classifying Matter, Heat Changes *experiments: hot chocolate , popsicle • Unit 6 – Energy Light Energy, Heat Energy, Sound Energy • Unit 7 – Living and Nonliving • Unit 8 – Environment Interdependence in Terrariums & Aquariums, Pet/Care Giver, Interdependence through animals using plants for shelter, Interdependence through food chains • Unit 9 – Animals Where Animals Live, How Animals Move, What & How Animals Eat • Unit 10 – Life Cycles Life Cycle of a Frog and a Fish, Parent / Offspring Resemblance • Unit 11 – Conservation • Unit 12 – Parts of a Plant *experiments: growing bean seeds • Unit 13 – Rocks, Soil & Natural Resources Soil, Sources of Water, Rocks and Usefulness of Resources

15. Social Studies In first grade, students will learn about different aspects of society and their role in the world around them. Students will develop vocabulary that pertains to the social aspects of our world. Social studies will be incorporated into our ELA units. • Unit 1: Maps, Citizenship, Authority Figures, Basic Human Needs • Unit 2: Folktales and Legends, Public Officials, and Voting • Unit 3: Goods and Services and Celebration of Holiday Customs • Unit 4: Inventors and Historical Figures • Unit 5: Texas and Patriotic Symbols • Unit 6: Landforms and Natural Resources

16. In first grade, students are expected to become problem solvers and use mathematics efficiently and effectively in their daily lives. Math fluency is the key to success in your child’s math development. • enVisionMATH: new online curriculum – The students will receive logins. EnVisionMATHwill be used in class, with student consumable workbooks, as well as for flipped curriculum lessons (lessons viewed at home). It will provide additional resources for extended learning at home. • Unit 1 – Calendar • Practice on a routine basis • Unit 2 – Number Sense • Instantly identify numbers up to ten and show a number in • many ways, compose (put numbers together, up to 10) • Unit 3 – Number Pattern • Recite numbers forward and backward between 1 and 120 • Skip count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s up to 120. • Unit 4 - Money • Identify U.S. coins, including pennies, nickels, dimes and • quarters Math

17. Math • Unit 5 – Place value to 99 • Unit 6 - Comparing and Ordering Using Place Value to 99 • Unit 7 – Estimation • Unit 8 – Add and subtract to 10, Concrete and Pictorial • Unit 9 - Add/Subtract to 10, Number Sentences and Equations • Use objects and pictorial models to solve word • problems involving joining, separating, and comparing sets • Unit 10 – 2D Figures • Unit 11 – 3D Figures • Unit 12 – Fractions • Unit 13 - Add and subtract to 20, Concrete and Pictorial • Unit 14 - Add/Subtract to 20, Number Sentences and Equations • Unit 15 – Data/Graphs • Collect, sort, and organize data • Use data to create picture and bar type graphs • Unit 16 – Place Value to 120 • Unit 17 - Comparing and Ordering using Place Value to 120 • Unit 18 - Number Patterns with Larger Numbers up to 99 • Unit 19 – Measuring Length • Unit 20 – Time • Unit 21 – Personal Finance