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First Grade

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  • First graders engage with picture books, shared stories, and class discussions, building confidence and excitement as readers and writers.

     

    Reading:
    First graders build on early literacy skills with a balance of whole-class lessons, small-group instruction, and independent reading. Using the Orton-Gillingham (OG)/Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) approach, students strengthen decoding and word recognition through phonics, spelling patterns, and high-frequency word study. Teachers model comprehension strategies such as predicting, visualizing and asking questions, while small-group work allows for targeted support. By revisiting favorite books, exploring new stories, and participating in discussions, first graders develop fluency, comprehension, and a growing love of reading.

     

    Writing:
    Students develop as writers by engaging in a variety of genres including personal narratives, opinion writing, nonfiction pieces, and poetry. Teachers model writing strategies such as adding details, revising for clarity, and organizing ideas into a logical sequence. The OG/IMSE approach supports handwriting, spelling, and sentence construction. By revising with guidance and sharing aloud in publishing celebrations, students discover how their words can communicate ideas, tell stories, and inform others.

  • First graders continue with the Bridges math program, strengthening number sense and extending their understanding of addition and subtraction within 20. Students practice place value concepts, explore equal shares and fractions, and measure length using standard units. They engage in math games, discussions, and real-world projects such as setting up a classroom store or creating pictographs to track school lunch choices. Students explain their reasoning and apply multiple strategies to solve a single problem. These experiences help them see that math is a dynamic tool for making sense of the world and that they are creative and capable problem-solvers.

  • First graders transition from observers to active investigators, diving into inquiry-based science that connects directly to their world. Students explore patterns in the seasons, traits of living things, sound, and light. They get hands-on with projects like designing weather journals, modeling how offspring resemble their parents, or experimenting with how light travels through different materials. Vocabulary such as inherit, vibrate, shadow, and predict helps them talk like scientists. Through collaborative investigations and engaging field trips, they build confidence in asking "how" and "why" and learn that science is a powerful tool for understanding everyday life.

  • First graders are full of curiosity! We build on this natural wonder by studying community, culture, and traditions. Units such as Our Community and Celebrations Around the World encourage students to explore the diversity that exists both in New Jersey and across the globe. Through exciting, hands-on projects and curriculum-related field trips, children see firsthand how communities celebrate, share, and work together. They practice cooperation, fairness, and making thoughtful choices as young citizens. This journey inspires children to value differences and see the importance of working together.

  • To view a detailed monthly curriculum click here. 

FIRST

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