Curriculum
| Readers Workshop |
Reader's Workshop: During this time, the teacher meets with small guided reading groups. In Guided Reading, children read texts that are at their instructional level and practice reading strategies. The rest of the students are working independently on one of several literacy centers: Listening Center/Response Journal, Poetry, Shared Reading, I-Pod, Art, Work on Writing, Read to Self, Work at Desk (catch up on any work in their "To-Do" folder), Browsing Baskets, Book Exchange, and Meet with the Teacher (Guided Reading groups and Individual Reading Conferences). Read to Self (Independent Reading): Each child has his/her own colored bag of "just right" books to read during this time. The children will bring these books home every night so that they have material that is at their independent level to practice from. There is a strategy poster that is included in the reading bag to assist readers with tricky words. When choosing "just right" books I ask the children to use a "5-Finger Test" to determine whether the text is "Too Easy", "Just Right", or "Too Hard". Students may also read from the "Seasonal" books in our "Free Reading" baskets.Especially in the early stages of learning to read, I ask my students to read with an adult or older sibling each evening. This helps promote progress with fluency. Please remember that these reading bags MUST be returned daily! We use these bags EACH day during Reader's Workshop. Click on this link to see what readers do at the various levels of learning to read: Reading Level Strategies (If any of the linked pages above are too small to read, click on page in the menu bar, then zoom.) Shared Reading: Shared reading is a relaxing and fun way for the teacher to demonstrate and support what good readers do. During this time, we enjoy Big Books that have been written for this specific purpose. These books have natural rhythm and rhyme flowing throughout. As the children become familiar with the story, they join in to read the text collaboratively. These repeated readings build confidence, fluency, and word familiarity, as well as provide practice in phonemic awareness, phonics and vocabulary. This is also a powerful context for demonstrating and practicing all aspects of the reading process. Poetry: One to three poems will be introduced each week. This provides another shared reading experience for the class. Also, the children will place a copy of each poem in their own poetry journals so that they will have their own treasury of poetry at the end of the year. The Poetry Journals are kept in the students' Reading Bags so that they can be read from daily. This provides fun practice of reading fluently. CAFE': The Cafe' board in our classroom displays the strategies that remind us of what Good Readers do. C=Comprehension ~ I understand what I read. A=Accuracy ~ I can read the words. F=Fluency ~ I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read. E=Extended Vocabulary ~ I know, find, and use interesting words. (The Daily Cafe' Website) |
| Writers Workshop |
Writer's Workshop is a writing technique which can build students' fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing. It is a teaching technique that invites students to write by making the process a meaningful part of the classroom curriculum. Writer's Workshop exposes students to the organization and thought required to create a story or write about a favorite topic. Students choose their own topics to write about. There is a direct connection between the reading and writing processes. First Graders enjoy the independence of early independent writing, the power of their words to express thoughts, and the opportunity to describe experiences. Writing and Conferencing:The Writing and Conferencing Time is ideally a 20 - 30 minute session. In the beginning of the year these sessions are shorter, but as writers become more comfortable with the process the time is lengthened. This is a "quiet work time". Usually we have classical music playing softly in the background. In the early stages we are not concerned with conventional spelling. When we focus too intently on conventional spelling the fluency that we want our writers to develop is interrupted. Students may use "inventive spelling" for those unknown words. As students are exposed to a growing high frequency collection and more and more strategies are learned in reading, writing, and word work, a natural progression in spelling begins to evolve. As the students settle into their writing routine the teacher will meet either individually with students for conferences or with a small group of writers for a guided writing lesson. During a conference with an individual writer my goal is to understand what the child is already doing, is trying to do, and what he/she can almost but not quite do so that I may choose the most important lesson to move the author forward. Mini-Lesson: A Mini- Lesson is usually a 5-10 minute whole class or small group activity. During the mini-lesson, we teach children a strategy they can use often as they write. These strategies are multilevel, pertaining to all writers, and are ones that can be used again and again during the writing workshop and during children's lives as writers. (Lucy Calkins - The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Writing, 2003) Sharing: Another important piece of the Writer's Workshop is the time for "Sharing." This usually takes about 5 minutes and can be done either by having the students or teacher read to the class a "published piece" or by children sharing their work in pairs. Students do not meet in pairs until I have taught the process known as "Peer Coaching". During peer coaching, student writers are taught to listen and look for key elements of writing. They sometimes will take turns sharing what is called "TAG": TAG stands for - Tell one thing you liked about the story, Ask one question, and Give one suggestion. Materials: Writing Folders - Each child has a writing folder which holds all of their writing materials. Writing Journals - Each child has a writing journal where their planning and writing occurs. It will have several pieces of writing that cover various topics that are chosen and written by the child. Authors as Mentors/Mentor Text: A mentor text is one that is written by a famous author and is shared with the class so that we can study that author's "craft", or style of writing. The students in our classroom often will model their writing after one of these mentors. Some authors we study in first grade are: Jan Brett, Lester Laminack, Jill Eggleton, Gail Gibbons, Angela Johnson, Eve Bunting, and many more. |
| Word Study |
Word Study in relationship to Reading and Writing:
When we read and come to an unknown word we "break it apart" looking for
patterns, chunks we know, blends, endings, etc. In writing when we come
to an unknown word we "build it up" - again thinking of the same things
listed above. Any known high frequency words assist the student in both
their fluency of both reading and writing. High Frequency Words: There are 75 high frequency words that first graders should know that will help them in their reading and writing development. The words on this list are in order according to how often they appear in an average first graders reading and writing. At the end of each quarter we pretest these 75 words. Any words that are spelled correctly are highlighted on a master list and are stapled into the student's individual spelling folder. It is from the remaining words that a student's individualized spelling list is formed each week. The 75 HF words are re-assessed each quarter and the highlighted list is updated. Word Study: In first grade we are learning about "how words work." There is a natural correlation between how words work and the levels that students learn to read at according to the Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Levels. (Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Reading Website.) At the beginning of the year our focus is more on beginning and ending consonant sounds, short vowel sounds, rhyming and word families and work with onsets/rimes. As the majority of our readers progress to higher reading levels our word study moves toward digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh), consonant blends, and endings (s, ed, ing.) By the end of the year we are working with multisyllabic words, compound words, and long vowel rimes. |
| Handwriting | Handwriting Materials: Our district
uses the Zaner-Blozer handwriting program. Each student has a practice
workbook that focuses on individual letter formation. The letters are
organized by similar stroke qualities. For example, the letters o, a,
and d have similarities in how they are formed, ("circle back, all the
way around, push up straight, pull down straight.) Keys to Legibility: Zaner-Blozer refers to legibility as "easy to read," There are 4 keys to legibility that are practiced throughout the year: Shape, Size, Space, and Slant. |
| Math |
Investigations: The district adopted series is called Investigations. (Website) The first grade curriculum is organized into 9 units that build on each other throughout the school year. The 9 first grade units are titled:
Common Core State Standards: Investigations is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. (Correlation Charts for Grade 1) (South Dakota CCSS) The biggest change for math standards is the introduction of the 8 Standards of Mathematical Practice. (8 SMP Poster) Investigations naturally lends to these practices. |
| Science/Social Studies |
In first grade our Science and Social Studies units are intertwined within the seasonal events of the year, as well as within our literacy and math content areas. Some of the areas we focus on are as follows: Science
Social Studies
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