First Grade Curriculum Connection
October
Reading Level
Students are formatively assessed throughout the quarter using running records aligned with the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Levels. The running records will be used to guide instruction and determine students reading levels. The summative assessment (end of quarter) for reading is the determination of a student’s F&P reading level.
Literacy Block
Reading:
Word Detectives Use All They Know to Solve Words
This unit will support first-grade students’ word-solving skills and their knowledge of high-frequency words. In this rich but playful unit, students will learn to monitor their reading, develop their word-solving skills, become more adept at using letter-sound correspondence to tackle tricky words, increase their bank of high-frequency words, become more confident at using the words they know “in a snap” to solve unknown words, and develop their fluency skills.
Writing:
Writing How-to-Books
This unit will frame students as experts, rallying them to teach their areas of expertise through writing. First students will learn the structure of a how to book. Then students will learn the importance of writing procedural texts with directions that readers can easily follow. Last, the children will aim to write clearer more elaborated texts.Esential Questions: Students will keep considering…
● What strategies do I use to read a text?
● What strategies do I use to understand what I have read?
● How do I share my learning with others?
● How do I communicate in writing so it makes sense to others?
How do I decide who will be reading my writing and why am I writing it?
Phonics
The phonics skills for second quarter in first grade are:
● Beginning blends scr, spr
● Beginning blends str, spl, tw
● Ending blends nk, nt
● Ending blends mp, nd, lf, lt
● Vowel R or
● Vowel R ar
● Vower R er
Mechanics/Grammar
Teacher will explain to students when we use a singular noun in a sentence, the verb is plural. Example: Sara hops. Sara is the noun (person) and hops is the verb, notice how it’s plural.
The teacher will explain to students when we use a plural noun in a sentence, the verb is singular. Example: The boys hop. Boys would be the noun and hop is the verb, notice the plural noun and singular sentence.
The teacher could have students notice this in the shared texts they are reading as a class.
Have students practice writing sentences on their whiteboards.
Handwriting
Teacher will pace students throughout the year through the Handwriting Without Tears Book. As needed teachers will provide practice time for students who need support in print handwriting.
Vocabulary:
Confirm- to check you were correct
Expression- convey emotion or feeling when reading
Preview- look at before
Retell- use details to tell about events that occurred, what happened or a story in order
Science
Unit 1: Where are We?
Students are able to observe, describe, and predict some patterns of the movement of objects in the sky. The crosscutting concepts of patterns are discovered through exploration of natural phenomena. Students will create models based on their understandings of the patterns created by the sun, moon, and stars. They will plan and carry out investigations based on their models. They will then apply their understandings to make predictions about how the sun, moon, and stars look at different times of the year.
Essential Questions: Students will keep considering…
● How can we use patterns to help us predict?
● Do objects in the sky have patterns?
● How does earth’s position in relation to the sun change the length of daylight?
Why can’t we see stars (other than the sun) in daylight?
Vocabulary:
pattern - repeated design or recurring sequence
investigate - to try to find out facts about something in order to learn how it happened
predict - to make a guess about something you think will happen
phenomena - a rare or significant fact or event
sunrise - the first light of day when the sun rises above the horizon
sunset - the last light of day as the sun descends/disappears below the horizon