Introduction

Our First Grade program brings new and different experiences to your child. When children are enthusiastic about what is being taught, they learn and become involved. Learning is most meaningful when it is relevant to a child’s life experiences. Therefore we use an integrated theme based approach to teach content and skills.

Although themes may vary from class to class and year to year according to the interests and abilities of the students, particular skills and content remain consistent. Themes allow children to explore skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, literature, math science, music and art, social studies, health and technology within a fun meaningful context.

Literacy

Reading/Writing

Successful reading and writing depends on the reader/writer’s ability to:

Use the visual features of words
Use the relationship between sounds, letters and letter groups
Use spelling patterns
Coordinate these skills with attention to meaning and the grammar of language.

Every child learns with his or her own learning styles. Literacy is taught using many different approaches and methods. Learning to read and write is an independent process. the following methods and techniques are used to encourage literacy learning.

Reading

Reading Aloud: The teacher selects and reads a book or other text to the children; may be used as a base for other activities.

Shared Reading: The teacher introduces and reads an enlarged or small text to the children; may be used as a base for other activities.

Guided Reading: The teacher brings together a small group of children who are similar in their reading development. the teacher selects and introduces the text, and then the children read it aloud, simultaneously.

Independent Reading: Children read to themselves.

Buddy Reading: Children read with a partner.

Writing

Interactive Writing: The teacher and the children share the pen in the construction of text, word by word. As they make their own contributions to the construction of words, children learn important techniques, such as saying words slowly to help with letter sound relationships, using known words to construct new words and using resources such as word wall and charts.

Writing Workshop: Writing Workshop usually begins with a mini lesson on any aspect of writing. Children solve their own problems in writing with individual conferencing and feedback.

Independent Writing: Children write their own messages and stories, sometimes helping each other.

Mathematics

The Baldwin Primary Team is using the Investigations in Number, Data, and Space Curriculum developed by TERC of Cambridge, MA. This curriculum compliments our belief that students learn best by experiencing concepts. Investigations provide many hands- on experiences for children.

The topics are:

• How Many of Each?
• Making Shapes and Designing Quilts
• Solving Story Problems
• What Would You Rather Be?
• Fish Lengths and Animal Jumps
• Number Games and Crayon Puzzles
• Color, Shape, and Number Patterns
• Twos, Fives, and Tens
• Blocks and Boxes

In all investigations, children spend time exploring, in depth, finding more that one solution to many solutions of the problem that they work on. They also spend time inventing their own strategies rather that relying on memorized procedures. The children choose a variety of materials and appropriate technology, including calculators as a part of their everyday mathematical work. They also express their mathematical thinking through writing, drawing and talking. In addition, the children work in a variety of groupings, whole class, pairs, small groups, and individually. Students have many opportunities to learn and practice skills.

Children use many different mathematical tools and materials such as interlocking cubes (multilinks), pattern blocks, and geoblocks. In addition, children play mathematical games, solve problems, investigate problems; chart survey results and create their own designs, buildings and constructions. They also engage in critical thinking by explaining their strategies and using pictures, numbers and words to show their work and process.

Science

The science department provides the following kits:

Weather
Children observe, record and predict the weather. They learn to read a thermometer, and how to record and compare temperatures. They experiment with different kinds of fabrics and decide which are best for different kinds of weather. Children make rain/snow gauges, measure wind speed and observe puddles and evaporation. Children observe clouds and classify them.

Balls and Ramps
Children classify,compare, describe and sketch different balls. Children observe how balls roll, how fast, how far and when and why they bounce. During this unit, children create their own balls and predict their performance on ramps. Children build ramps and roadways as well as discover how and incline affects speed and distance of rolling balls.

Living Things
Children use their senses to explore the world around them. Children discover what a living thing needs in order to survive in its environment. Children plant seeds and predict what will happen. Predictions are logged in a science notebook.

In addition to the science kits, science centers around the curiosity of the children in the class. They are encouraged to investigate, experiment, explore, guess and ask questions. They will observe the changes in everyday life such as seasonal tree changes.  The CitySprouts garden and field trips will supplement the in-class Science learning opportunities.

Social Studies

In January the first through fourth grades will launch the Discovering Justice program at The Baldwin.  This program was designed specifically to meet the Massachusetts Frameworks for Social Studies using a literacy-based curriculum delivery method. The theme for first grade is What is a Rule?  This is perfect to introduce in January as we go back over classroom agreements that were established in September but may have been forgotten over the winter vacation.

What is a Rule? teaches students to work together by thinking about laws and rules. The curriculum focuses on four central questions:  What is a rule?  Why do we need rules?  Who makes the rules?  What is a good reason to challenge a rule? Through literature such as Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, and King of the Playground by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, students develop literacy skills while tackling questions relevant to their lives, their classrooms, and their country.

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