Welcome to the 1st Grade!
At St. Francis of Assisi School, we are committed to quality Catholic education. The Early Childhood program begins by initiating the love of learning through literature, music, and fine arts. As a child progresses through our school and into the primary grades, age appropriate skills are emphasized. In the First Grade, children participate in a variety of group and independent learning experiences that help to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills that will assist them in the real world.
The First Grade English Language Arts curriculum includes the study of the alphabet and various phonics skills, such as consonant sounds and blends, and short and long vowel sounds. The students are taught to use these to sound out and write new words. Parts of speech like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns are taught and used in writing practice. We work on opposites, contractions, compound words, and alphabetical order. Students are submerged in literacy through our reading program, a classroom library, weekly visits to the school library, and independent reading. Good reading skills and habits are modeled and encouraged throughout the year. Daily writing begins with words, followed by sentences, paragraphs, and letter writing.
In math, we learn about number formation, value, and comparing numbers. This knowledge prepares the students for addition and subtraction skills and the connection between the two. We work on measurement, beginning time and money skills, graphing, probability, fractions, and geometry. These skills are taught, practiced, and then incorporated into problem solving where the students are asked to comprehend and use math language.
Our social studies curriculum introduces and familiarizes students with the world around them, globally by learning about our world, and then more intimately as we learn about our community. The students learn about their role in their family, as well as the roles of various community helpers. We discuss rules in all aspects of society and how these rules allow communities to run smoothly. We learn about leaders of our world and community and their contributions.
In science, hands-on activities are incorporated as we learn about the four seasons, the stages of water, animals and their habitats and their needs. We discuss plants and their parts and the life cycles of many living things including butterflies, which we host in our classroom and watch first hand as they transform. Continuing with living things, we learn about ourselves, our health, our nutrition, and how we grow and change.
The lessons and teachings of Jesus Christ are learned in and out of religion class. We attend Mass as a class at least three times a month and have classroom visits from a priest several times a month. A Christian attitude is modeled to the students in all that we do; it is expected in the way we treat ourselves and others and the students are reminded of this through words and actions. We learn prayers and pray together at the beginning and end of each school day as well as before and after meals. Through our text, the students learn about the parts of the Mass and the church, about how God made the world and us, and about the Church calendar. Students are encouraged to learn more about their faith each and every day.
In addition to the core subjects mentioned, learning is enhanced through weekly visits to Art, Music, Library/Resource, Italian, and Physical Education classes. Technology is used for whole group lessons and the students participate in the Breakthrough to Literacy program which allows them to work independently on the computer to enhance their Reading and Phonics skills.
It is our goal at St. Francis of Assisi School to instill a love of learning, good study and work habits, and a sense of responsibility in each student. We encourage them to grow and to become responsible adults.