Welcome First Graders
Religion:
Students form an image of God from the important people in their lives. Students experience God’s love through prayer and interaction with others. The students also attend one morning Mass each week. Afterwards, students reflect on the Homily and Gospel in order to achieve a deeper connection to their faith.
Language Arts:
Students in First Grade practice comprehension and fluency when reading literature and informational text. Students learn how to find key details in the text, understand the central message and identify key characters in the story. We have adopted the Lucy Calkins' Writer’s Workshop writing program in order to develop their writing skills. In these workshops, students are encouraged to make personal connections to their writing and to use a variety of phonemic strategies in order to correctly spell unfamiliar words.
Math:
Students learn how to represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction. They will also apply their understanding of place value in order to add and subtract. Students extend their knowledge of the counting sequence. Measurement and data skills are further developed as students measure lengths and represent and interpret data.
Science:
The First Grade science curriculum explores life science and physical science. They study weather, states of matter, and living things. The students learn about the scientific method and work together with the teacher to perform hands-on experiments.
Social Studies:
Students learn about rights and responsibilities of citizens in the contemporary world. All concepts learned, especially the Golden Rule, are applied in the classroom. Students examine geographic and economic aspects of life as well as explore the varied backgrounds of American citizens while reflecting on a common heritage.
Fine Arts:
Students participate in a variety of projects that require students to use a different media. Students participate in guided drawing activities and origami projects. Every child is encouraged to create art that reflects his/her personality and personal preferences. There is a weekly music class taught by the school music teacher and two annual music concerts.
Technology:
Students learn and practice their typing skills in order to be more efficient with using computers. The students also use programs and apps such as Raz-Kids and Mathletics in order to routinely practice Reading and Math skills.