Grade 1

Welcome to Grade 1!

Highlights of First Grade! 

 * Fall Field Trip: Action Wildlife in Goshen.  

* All Saints Day Program-November 1st                                                        

* Mystery Reader Mondays- Family members read to the class. They secretly send in 5 clues. First Grade enjoys solving the mystery and seeing our special guest. 

* Service Project: Assemble Slime Kits for Connecticut Children's Hospital 

* Spring Field Trip: Theater Performance                                                

* Author Celebration/End of the Year Celebration: Students read their creative writing trhoughout the year to their families. 

Learning Corner:

-Religion: Students get to know God, Mary, Jesus and the saints. On November 1st, First Grade does a Saints Day Program. We work with our 8th buddies to prepare. They help us to research our saints.  The children dress up as their saint and tell facts about their lives. It is a SMS tradition. Students visit the church and learn about the sacrament of Baptism with Father Detrich, our pastor. Each day, we pray the Hail Mary, Our Father and a class prayer. Each student are given an opportunity to voice their intentions. God truly hears the prayers of little children.  

-Spelling/Phonics  is the short and long vowels, digraphs and blends. 

-Math: Students begin with number sense and writing numbers. We continue with addition and subtraction. We work throughout the year to know our Math facts to 20. The class is introduced to the various types of graphs. Next, children learn about time by the hour and half hour. Then the value of coins and counting money.  Later, First Grade discovers fractions and probability. Finally, our focus is measurement and geometry. 

-Reading: Superkids is our Reading Series. It concentrates on phonemic awareness, memory and pattern words.  Students grow so much during the year!         Also, each student is assigned a book envelope to read a story on their level. Our goal is for students to learn the Dolch Sight Words and read fluently. 

-Handwriting: Students practice letter formation. It is important to identify the various kinds of letters (tall, short, or tail letters) to help in understanding where the letter goes on the line. We practice writing with our Reading Series and Handwriting book. 

-Written Language: The parts of speech are introduced. Students are presented the 4 types of sentences and end marks.  Creative Writing is always a favorite! The class is given a writing prompt and they use their imagination to share their ideas in the sentences. 

-Social Studies/Science: Our school follows the Archdiocese of Hartford standards.  Scholastic News magazine presents these concepts in their videos, magazine, and educational games/activities. 

-Technology: First Grade uses Kids A-Z to play games to practice their weekly Spelling and Reading Vocab words. IXL is a website our school utilizes for individual skills and growth in Reading, Math Science, Language and Writing.