Curriculum and Learning
Our big focus in First Grade is to become readers. To do this, we will be learning and practicing letter sounds and how they work together to make words. We will take an individualized approach to this and will practice these sounds in a small group setting (4-6 students).
Spelling Words
Every week we will have a new sound(s) that we focus on. This skill will guide some of our Whole Group Reading instruction, as well as our Spelling work. Students will have daily classwork with these skills and we will do a weekly spelling check (test). There will not be spelling lists to study. Instead, example words using the weekly sound will be sent home to practice. However, these will not necessarily be the words on the weekly spelling check.
Read AloudsI read aloud everyday to the class. During this time, we will be reading the Magic Treehouse series throughout the entire school year (except for March --we will participate in the School Wide read aloud book).
While reading the Magic Treehouse books, students will be assigned activities that will explore vocabulary, geography, history, science, and comprehension skills. It truly becomes an interactive read aloud experience, not just listening to a book being read. The goal is to read one book a week. ComprehensionAlthough reading for understanding is not necessarily a First grade skill, we will be practicing our comprehension skills throughout the year. This will be done mostly through whole group activities.
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Sight WordsWe will have 10 sight words every week to study and learn. These will be different than the spelling words. Sight words are commonly seen words that all students need to know on sight. In order to be an efficient reader, students need to build their vocabularies so they can be fluent and comprehend what they are reading. Sight words typically can not be sounded out and need to be practiced and memorized.
Students will be assessed every week on 10 sight words. These words will be sent home for practice in Friday folders the week prior to being assessed. Sight word assessments will happen every Friday morning. We use the Fry sight words. In First grade, we want to master the first 200 sight words. The words for the entire school year can be viewed below (I posted the lists that students will use beyond first grade as well -- we will use the first and second lists): First 100 Sight Words Second 100 Sight Words Third 100 Sight Words Fourth 100 Sight words Fifth 100 Sight words FluencyTowards the middle of the school, fluency will start to become a big focus for us. Fluency is being able to read with very few mistakes. More specifically, it is being able to read smoothly, quickly, accurately, and with expression. We will do an initial baseline score of each student around the midpoint of the school year (earlier if time permits). The expectation is that students are reading at least 30 word per minute at the midpoint. By the end of first grade, the expectation is 50 words per minute.
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