First Grade Curriculum

Religion

Students understand that Jesus, their Savior, died to take away their sins. They learn how important the Bible is to them and that it contains the knowledge of what Jesus has done for them, how they should live, and how they can be in heaven. Enjoying Bible stories, these students ask to hear them and have favorites. Learning to ask for forgiveness for specific sins is a big step for them. As the students begin to learn more about the Lord and what He expects of us, they recognize differences in other people who are non-Christians. Realizing that everything they have comes from God is a major step for these students. Beginning to gain an appreciation for Martin Luther and his teachings as well as recognizing the liturgical seasons help in their understanding of the church body. Selected passages of Scripture and the catechism are learned.

Math

Students learn basic facts and understand place value as they begin to explore the concepts of simple addition and subtraction. Manipulatives that enhance the students’ understanding of word problems, patterns, and fractions are used. Objects are ordered by measurements including metrics. Calendar skills are refined as well as skills involving time and money.

Language Arts

Incorporating reading, listening, writing, speaking, and thinking skills provides a broad foundational base upon which students can build each year. Word attack skills strengthened by phonetic decoding enable the students to be successful. They continue to develop their oral language and communication skills and move to becoming independent readers and writers. Distinguishing features of stories, poems, and informational texts is introduced. They regularly read (both orally and silently) in texts of appropriate difficulty with fluency and understanding. The use of the writing process enables students to work independently and cooperatively in achieving success.

Handwriting

First graders will continue to use proper formation in writing manuscript letters and numerals paying attention to correct placement of letters on the line. An awareness of the effects of posture on writing skills is developed as they continue to self-evaluate their work.

Social Studies

God places special responsibilities on families and the members of each family. As these students progress through this grade, the emphasis is on helping them grow as members of both their school and biological families. They look at changes in the family and what causes these changes, choices that people make and how those choices affect their family, and the placement of individuals in a family and how special and unique each individual really is. Maps of school and neighborhoods begin to be more significant to the students as they see how they personally relate to these maps and understand where they belong. Following and participating in examples of good citizenship help them understand the importance of individual and collective participation.

Science

Survival and protection of God’s creations are relevant topics as the students study about habitats, plant and animal life and what is required for many plants and animals to survive as well as what is needed for their daily existence. Learning about the properties of water, rocks and air provides them with a beginning basis for earth science. With hands-on investigations, studies such as magnets, the interaction of objects, and pivot points in the constructing of mobiles enable the students to form a basis of understanding in the realm of physical science. They learn what is needed for a healthy body such as nutrition and safety issues. Identifying how the body works aids their understanding of disease control and health habits.

Computer Science

Students at this level begin to concentrate on expanding their keyboarding skills by recognizing additional keys and the proper fingering for using the keyboard effectively. In addition to the word processing skills, students begin basic desktop publishing as they learn how to use graphics. They also have the opportunity to strengthen classroom objectives by using educational software.

Art

Students experiment with colors as they mix them together and find out what results from their actions. This experimentation encourages the students to recognize God’s creation as a source of beauty and variety. Through different mediums, they express themselves individually yet in an artistic way. Blending of patterns such as geometric designs and differing line types and qualities allows the students to be creative with their projects. Understanding realistic art, like in a photograph, versus drawings or sketches give students a chance to be aware of concepts such as similarities and differences.

Music

Students become more involved in response to musical pieces and can display their involvement in moving, clapping, echoing, and distinguishing beats and rhythms. They become more aware of the melody and pitch of musical pieces and can respond in a variety of ways. As they relate to music and what is around them, they have the opportunity to be creatively involved in learning.

Spanish

Sequentially taught, students expand their understanding of the Spanish language, including the use of greetings, commands, phrases, numbers, colors, and other daily-use vocabulary. This well-rounded approach to acquiring another language includes singing Spanish traditional, popular, and Christian songs; learning about traditions and holidays of Spanish speaking countries; hearing Hispanic folk tales; and playing Hispanic games.

Physical Education

Learning to follow the rules of a game can be a challenge at this age, but students work on this idea occurs as they interact with others and learn to cooperate to accomplish the sport of a game. Activities such as jumping rope, bouncing a ball, and hopping on one foot challenge their physical development. At the same time, students learn to respect the differences of one another. From their activities, both individually and collectively, a positive self-concept begins to evolve.