First Grade

Name	Position	Room Number	Voice Mail
Miss Cardella	Teacher	8	208
Mrs. Lisa Burton	Teacher	9	209
Mrs. Beverly Peronace	Teacher	11	211

We would like to welcome you to the first grade web page. The grade one program is a developmental program, which promotes physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth through guided exploration and direct instruction. Educational experiences are presented in units and take place within a nurturing environment.

Students learn many new things in first grade. The most important is literacy. We use a balanced approach to teach reading and writing. There are many teaching strategies that are used throughout the day and during Reader’s Workshop to teach reading. These may include whole class read aloud and shared reading, small group guided reading, and independent reading. Writing is sometimes taught through whole group, shared writing and/or language experience. We also work with small groups for guided writing and Writer’s Workshop, as well as independent writing.

Learning to read and write are the most important things your child will learn in first grade. The more time your child spends reading and writing, the greater the likelihood that he/she will make continuous progress.

Math Trailblazers is the name of our math program. This program reflects the goals and ideas of the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics Standards. The content includes: computation, measurement, data collection, statistics, geometry, ratio, probability, graphing, estimation, mental arithmetic, and patterns and relationships. This program emphasizes that mathematics is best learned through active involvement in solving real problems using critical thinking skills. The students are asked to communicate their responses in a variety of ways, which include speaking, drawing a picture and writing. At times, students work independently, with a partner, and in cooperative groups in this balanced mathematics program.

Below is a table of the curriculum that we teach throughout first grade. We hope you find it helpful.

Field Trips	Language Arts	Math	Health	Science	Social Studies	Technology
Hungerford Nature Center	Develop word identification strategies through concepts about print and phonological awareness	Welcome to First Grade/Pennies, Pockets, and Parts	Making and Keeping Friends	Changing Seasons	Labor Day	Students will learn basic computer skills.
Apples	Use previewing and predicting strategies	Exploring Shapes/Adding to Solve Problems	Safety/ Fire Prevention/Halloween Safety	Estimating, measuring using various tools	Columbus Day/ Halloween	Type to Learn Jr.
Library	Use prior knowledge and experiences to interpret the text	Grouping and Counting/Measurement: Length	Disease and Germs	water/food and plants water/sun	Veteran’s Day/ Thanksgiving	Kid Pix Deluxe
Science Center	Use a variety of strategies to comprehend	Grouping by Tens/Measurement: Area	Healthy Teeth and Gums	Day/Night/Shadows	Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa	Microsoft Word
Lincoln Theater	Demonstrate comprehension through a variety of responses	Looking at 100/Cubes and Volume	Healthy Snacks	Metamorphosis/Butterflies and Frogs	Martin Luther King, Jr.	PowerPoint
	Develops a positive attitude towards reading and writing	Thinking About Addition and Subtraction/Exploring Multiplication and Division	Indoor and Outdoor Safety	Rocks	President’s Day/ Valentine’s Day/ Dr. Seuss’ Birthday	Amazing Animals
	Communicates a variety of purposes to inform, describe, entertain and persuade	Exploring 3-D Shapes/Collecting and Organizing Data			St. Patrick’s Day/ Heritage	Sammy’s Science House
	Write as a process for a variety of purposes	Moving Beyond 100/Pieces, Parts and Symmetry			Easter/ Earth Day	Bailey's Book House
	Researches topics by selecting, organizing, and analyzing information	Measurement and Mapping/Looking Back at First Grade			Mother’s Day/ Memorial Day	Millie's Math House
	Uses conventions of written and oral communication				Father’s Day/Lemonade Stand	Living Books