CURRICULUM GUIDE

GRADE 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Language

1. Listening/Speaking Skills

· Contribute to class discussions, follow agreed upon rules.

· Make oral presentations with eye contact and clear speech.

2. New Vocabulary

· Identify/apply rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, contractions, compound words, nouns, verbs, adjectives, singulars and plurals.

Reading & Literature

3. Concepts of Letters, Words, Sentences

· Know a,b,c order.

· Recognize capitalization and punctuation in sentences.

4. Decoding

· Identify beginning, middle, end consonants, long/short vowels, blends, silent e, final y, digraphs.

5. Grade level texts

· Understand directionality, basic sight words and illustrations in text.

· Use reading strategies such as context clues, predictions, main idea, details, sequencing, cause and effect and retelling.

6. Characteristics of fiction, nonfiction and poetry

· Identify characters, setting and plot in stories.

· Distinguish between fact and fiction.

Composition

7. Story Writing

· Use LINKS program to develop writing skills.

· Write stories with a beginning, middle and end.

· Write 4-7 sequential sentences to form a story using a topic sentence, transition words, and a clincher. (by June)

8. Edit Writing

· Print upper/lower case letters legibly, using spaces to separate words.

· Apply correct capitalization and punctuation.

9. Spell priority words correctly.

MATHEMATICS

Number Sense and Operations

1. Number Facts

· Use manipulatives to understand numbers.

· Recognize, count and write numbers 0-100.

· Identify even and odd numbers.

· Count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.

· Understand when to use the operations of addition and subtraction.

· Addition/Subtraction facts to 12.

· Understand place value (ones and tens).

· Introduce two digit addition/subtraction.

· Solve one step word problems.

· Understand fraction concepts (1/2, 1/3, ¼).

Every Day Math

· Use correct math terms/symbols. (+, -, =, <, >)

· Identify U.S. coins by name.

· Practice using a calculator.

· Understand proper use of estimation.

Patterns, Relations and Algebra

2. Patterns

· Identify, create and extend a variety of patterns.

· Tell/write stories for real life math problems.

· Recognize fact families.

Geometry and Measurement

3. Shapes

· Draw, model, and describe two dimensional shapes.

· Identify and compare three dimensional shapes.

· Recognize symmetry.

4. Measurement methods

· Know calendar basics.

· Use nonstandard and standard units to measure.

· Tell time to the hour and half hour.

Data Analysis, Statistics, Probability

5. Data

· Collect, sort, organize and compare data using concrete objects, pictures, numbers, graphs and tally marks.

· Explore the concept of chance.

SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY

Inquiry

Scientific Method

· Classify objects and events for details, similarities and differences.

· Use simple tools.

· Observe, pose questions, make predictions.

· Conduct simple investigations.

· Communicate observations through discussions, drawings, simple graphs and writing.

Physical Science

· Shape is determined by the attributes of matter

· Position and Motion of Objects

Life Science

· Animal Habitats

· Plants/animals have varied life cycles

· Plant/animal structures are related to their function

Earth and Space Science

· The sun supplies heat & light to the earth

· Air is a mixture of gases

· Periodic Phenomena

Technology

· Explore technology and engineering concepts as related to topics of study.

· Identify the differences between natural and man-made.

· Explain how our bodies function like simple machines

HISTORY and SOCIAL SCIENCE

History

· Stories/holiday connections to historical figures: Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, King, Johnny Appleseed

· Differences in life now and long ago

· Gardner as a community

· Diversity in cultures (food, clothing, shelter, celebrations)

· Able to place events from students’ lives in chronological order

Geography

· Maps of classroom, school, town

· Features on a map, key, directions, cardinal directions

· Define continent, mountain, river, lake, and ocean

Economics

· Difference between wants and needs

· Goods and services

Civics and Government

· School and class rules

· Appropriate behavior

· Golden Rule

· Civic responsibilities of individual within family, school, and community

· American flag as a symbol

· Pledge of Allegiance

· Provide examples to demonstrate the meanings of the following: politeness, achievement, courage, honesty, and reliability.

The purpose of this guide is to identify the major topics, concepts, and skills that are considered essential for each grade level as identified by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.