We believe that first grade is a very important and exciting year both academically and socially. It’s a year of ‘firsts’ and feelings of accomplishment. We teach content through engaging thematic units that incorporate reading, writing, and technology standards. Good work habits and core skills form a strong foundation that will benefit our students in years to come. We see each child as an individual with unique qualities and strive to provide them with a multitude of successful, fun, learning experiences.
Our first grade team consists of six first grade teachers: five regular classroom teachers and one academic support teacher. This staffing gives us the flexibility to meet the academic needs of all of our students.
Reading:
Cottonwood first graders are exposed to a wide variety of reading materials including fiction and non-fiction genres. Students have access to a large selection of leveled reading books to challenge readers of all abilities. Children are also encouraged to read non-fiction magazines, children’s newspapers and are offered lots of opportunities to practice reading through the use of technology.
Writing:
Daily writing is part of our first grade day. The children write for a variety of purposes and audiences, such as friendly letters, personal narratives, journal entries.fiction stories, and research reports. English grammar, mechanics, and spelling are incorporated into these writing lessons.
Math:
Everyday Math is our District-wide math program. This program introduces a wide variety of math concepts that are practiced in the context of real life situations. Money, numeracy, measurement, graphing, geometry, computation, and fractions are just a sampling of the concepts introduced and practiced.
Social Studies and Science:
We integrate many social studies and science themes into our daily literacy activities. Our thematic units give us the opportunity to design engaging, hands-on experiences for our young learners. We have recently adopted FOSS Science units which are implemented district-wide.