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First Grade

First Grade

First Grade

FIRST GRADE STANDARDS

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Well-communicated standards provide you with the information you need to have a better understanding of what your child is to learn in a specific grade level and in a specific subject. Your knowledge of the standards will help you frame your questions for parent-teacher conferences; select reading and writing materials for the home; and shape your visits to public libraries and other places of interest.
 

English-Language Arts

READING
 
Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development
  • Students understand the basic features of reading. They select letter patterns and know how to translate them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication, and word parts. They apply this knowledge to achieve fluent oral and silent reading.
Reading Comprehension
  • Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed (e.g., generating and responding to essential questions, making predictions, comparing information from several sources). The selection in Recommended Readings in Literature, Kindergarten Through Eight illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students. In addition to their regular school reading, by grade four, students read one-million words annually, including a good representation of grade-level-appropriate narrative and expository text (e.g., classic and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, online information). In grade one, students begin to make progress toward this goal.
Literary Response and Analysis
  • Students read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children's literature. They distinguish between the structural features of the text and the literary terms or elements (e.g., theme, plot, setting, characters). The selections in Recommended Readings in Literature, Kindergarten Through Eight illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students.
 
WRITING
Writing Strategies
 
  • Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, successive versions).
Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
  • Students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences. Students writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.
WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
  • Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.
 
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Listening and Speaking Strategies
 
  • Students listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication. They speak in a manner that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch and modulation.
 
Speaking Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
  • Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar
 
History-Social Science
 
Students in kindergarten are introduced to basic spatial, temporal, and causal relationships, emphasizing the geographic and historical connections between the world today and  the world long ago. The stories of ordinary and extraordinary people help describe the range and continuity of human experience and introduce the concepts of courage, self-control, justice, heroism, leadership, deliberation, and individual responsibility. Historical empathy for how people lived and worked long ago reinforces the concept of civic behavior: how we interact respectfully with each other, following rules, and respecting the rights of others.

Students:
  • Understand that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways.
  • Recognize national and state symbols and icons such as the national and state flags, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty.
  • Match simple descriptions of work that people do and the names of related jobs at the school, in the local community, and from historical accounts.
  • Compare and contrast the locations of people, places, and environments and describe their characteristics.
  • Put events in temporal order using a calendar, placing days, weeks, and months in proper order.
  • Understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times.

Mathematics
Students:
  • Understand the concept of time and units to measure it; they understand that objects have properties , such as length, weight, and capacity, and that comparisons may be made by referring to those properties.
  • Identify common objects in their environment and describe the geometric features.
 
Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability
  • Students collect information about objects and events in their environment.
 
Mathematical Reasoning
Students:
  • Make decisions about how to set up a problem.
  • Solve problems in reasonable ways and justify their reasoning.

Science
Physical Sciences
  • Properties of materials can be observed, measured, and predicted.
Life Sciences
  • Different types of plants and animals inhabit the earth.
Earth Sciences
  • Earth is composed of land, air, and water.
 
Investigation and Experimentation
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. To understand this concept and to address the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.