First- and Second-Grade Curriculum

It is amazing to walk into first- and second-grade classrooms throughout the district and observe learners in action. Reading advances as students read a wide variety of stories, books, and award-winning literature. Children are surrounded by books and are also expected to read books beyond the school day. Reading instruction builds on important comprehension skills to help children experience the fact that reading is not just saying the words, but understanding what they read. Phonics, spelling, and word-building skills progress as students apply these skills when they read and write. Students write often throughout the day, choosing their own topics and writing for different purposes and audiences. Looking at pieces of writing from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year in these grades show how ideas develop and organization and convention skills improve.

The math and science programs focus on hands-on learning to help students apply scientific and math reasoning skills. Concrete math models and manipulatives help students learn to solve problems used each day in real-life situations. Math skills develop rapidly as students increase their abilities to compute, estimate, and analyze. Regardless of the scientific concept studied in the classroom, a hands-on approach involves students in observing, exploring, classifying, recording, and communicating understanding of the concepts.

The Library Media Center excites students and keeps interests peaked in the vast array of choices of books and topics for investigation through technology.

Children love the time they spend in music, physical education, and art instruction. Active learning of the goals and objectives in each curricular area enrich learning for all students and promote an emphasis on the development of the whole child.