All About First Grade

Snapshot of a Transition First Grader

Here are some general development milestones to help you understand your child's progress over the school year. Keep in mind that every child is different and may not fit perfectly into this framework.

Ages and Stages (Brought to you by the American School Counselor Association) The average six-year-old is extremely egocentric and wants to be the center of attention. She/He:

wants to be "best" and "first"
has boundless energy
may be oppositional, silly, brash and critical
cries easily; shows a variety of tension-releasing behavior
is attached to the teacher
has difficulty being flexible
often considers fantasy real

School isn't just about academics. Your child's teachers are also helping him grow socially. At six-years-old, your child is learning to understand himself. You can help by encouraging him as he:

Develops a positive, realistic self-concept.
Learns to respect himself.
Begins to understand his own uniqueness.
Gains awareness of his feelings.
Learns to express feelings.
Learns how to participate in groups.
Begins to learn from his mistakes.

Developmental Expectations

This year lays the foundation for future learning. Development of reading and writing skills are critical during first grade. Students learn the building blocks to reading through five components:

Phonemic Awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate spoken words)
Phonics (understanding the relationship between printed letters and spoken sounds)
Vocabulary
Fluency
Comprehension

Children develop writing skills by learning to write neatly and correctly and practicing putting their thoughts down on paper in a way that others can read them.

Mathematics is another priority. Students begin building the core to enable them to work more complicated math skills in the future.

In addition to aquiring these academic skills, students will also develop other classroom and learning skills such as listening and following directions, working independently at a desk, copying work off the board, working quietly without disrupting others in the class and taking responsibility for their actions and learning in the classroom.

Is Your Child Prepared for First Grade?

Students who come to first grade well prepared will have the best chance for success. Students should start first grade with the following skills:

recocognizes lower and uppercase letters
know the sounds that go with each letter
identify and genorate rhyming words
identify and write numbers 0 - 20
identify numbers in isolation
count by ones, fives, and tens to 100
name the days of the week and months of the year
identify the basic shapes and colors
identify color words
hold and use scissors, pencils and crayons correctly
know telephone number and address
know parents' names
spell and write their own first and last name

If your child has not mastered any of these skills, it is very important that you spend some time at home working on them. It will be time well spent and will have a significant effect on your child's ability to master new first grade skills.

Review and Assessments

At PES we begin by reviewing skills for the first 3 weeks. During this time students are evaluated to determine their mastery level and how individual needs can best be met. Also during this time, all students are given the AIMS test. This is a one-on-one test administered by Ms. Sandy, our Literacy Leader or a trained instructional assistant. This test evaluates progress and learning in the five domains of reading. This test is baseline. It is given in T-1 3 times a year. Students are also assessed in the classroom throughout the year in all academic areas to determine if students are learning necessary skills. Student progress is reported to parents via weekly work sent home, the mid-term progress reports and the end of the nine weeks report card.

What You Can Do to Help Your Child Succeed

As I state in my Heart to Heart letter to parents, the most fundmental thing you can do as a parent to help your child succeed is be involved at home. Most importantly, participate in your child's daily reading. A child who leaves T-1 with a solid beginning in reading skills has a significant advantage when he/she goes on to 1st grade. Read with your child each day. Read to them and have your child practice reading aloud to you. After we begin our reading series, your child well be bringing home a story to practice each night that can be used for read aloud practice. Read aloud to your child as well to let him/her know that you value reading. When you read aloud to your child you provide an example of good reading with inflection and fluency.

Transition First Grade Curriculum

Our current curriculum was written by our Literacy Leader, Sandy Fuchs and was established from standards set by the State of Tennessee Department of Education. Access actual curriculum objectives from the curriculum page on this site. Below is a brief overview of some of the content taught in T-1:

Reading/Language Arts (The learner will…) Use long and short vowels Identify parts of a book Note details in a story Choose the best title Alphabetize to the first letter Identify before/after Listen and follow directions Compare and contrast stories Identify rhyming words/sounds Identify story elements Comprehend reading material at grade level Express ideas orally Demonstrate good listening behavior Identify and read basic sight words and vocabulary words Demonstrate mastery of letters Use sound/symbol relationships Retell, dramatize, or dictate a story Demonstrate an awareness of classroom reference materials Begin learning the parts of speech Explain the difference between fiction and non-fiction stories		Mathematics (We will assist our learners in…) Rote counting to 100 from any number Identifying and writing numbers to 100 Problem solving Reproducing repeating patterns Classifying numbers: greater/lesser, even/odd Adding and subtracting facts up to twenty Understanding place value of: ones, tens, and hundreds Telling time to the hour and half hour Identifying money: penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, dollar Counting money in simple combinations Estimating and measuring in inches and centimeters Counting in multiples of 2, 5, and 10 to 100 from any number Beginning to use simple fractions Identifying days of the week, months of the year, number words, and color words Comparing, sorting, and classifying geometric shapes Making and reading a simple graph Organizing data using tally marks

Writing Skills (We will assist our learners in…) Printing first and last name Printing daily work legibly Using descriptive language Beginning journaling; expressing thoughts in written form Understanding plurals Beginning to write complete sentences Beginning to use appropriate punctuation (. , ? ! “) Recognizing action and naming words Developing characters Recognizing story patterns Becoming aware of multi-cultural literature and language		Science (The learner will…) Classify groups of living/nonliving things Show awareness of the five senses Investigate weather patterns Explore the earth's surface: land and water Begin to use the scientific method Identify the parts of a plant and an insect Develop an awareness of the water cycle Use scientific knowledge to ask questions and make observations

Social Studies (The learner will…) Describe the qualities of good citizenship in the home, school, and community Identify some important people in our history Interpret and use simple maps Explain the purpose of government Demonstrate the concepts of: goods and services; producers and consumers; wants and needs Distinguish between past, present, and future Explore diverse cultures Explore the origin of some of our traditions



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