First Grade at Friends

    • First Grade at Friends



    

First Grade At-A-Glance

At WFS, first grade is a time to solidify and build on foundational skills, especially in language arts and math, and to provide opportunities for students to apply their understanding in authentic and exciting ways. The transition from kindergarten is also a time to celebrate a child's growing independence and their ability to see themselves as part of a larger community. We want each student to understand and celebrate their own unique gifts, and we encourage risk-taking in an environment of care and support. Here is a some information about the curriculum:

Math 
Using a “Singapore Math” curriculum, teachers utilize concrete, pictorial, and abstract techniques with problem solving and critical thinking at the core of their instruction. Students:
  • Focus on adding and subtracting numbers to 100. 
  • Build an understanding of the relationships between whole numbers and place value, with practice grouping into tens and ones. 
  • Study linear measurement using non-traditional units; and exploring geometric shapes and their attributes. 
  • Use ten frames, number bonds, and other pictorial tools to strengthen mental math skills.

Language Arts
Using a combination of Fundations, Reader’s and Writer’s workshop, differentiation and book choice, students are challenged to think critically and creatively. Students:
  • Develop comprehension of written text through the use of strategies such as: setting a purpose for reading, using schema and context clues, and identifying common story elements.  
  • Continue to develop their decoding ability, reading fluency, and sight word recognition.
  • Are introduced to various genres, both through reading and writing. 
  • Participate in their first research study, using library resources and preparing a final project.
  • Improve their use of punctuation, grammar, editing skills, as well as phonetic spelling and handwriting. 

Social Studies 
Focusing on a theme of “Wants vs. Needs” and the Quaker testimony of simplicity, students: 
  • Consider how wants and needs shape our lives.
  • Learn about the services that enable neighborhoods and cities to function.
  • Through the study of cities in the United States, including Wilmington, and in Spanish-speaking countries, the students are able to recognize how cities are organized to meet the wants and needs of their citizens. 
  • Explore the roles and responsibilities of individuals in a diverse community.
  • Develop basic map skills.

Science 
Using the Next Generation Science Standards as a guide, students apply science and engineering practices as they:
  • Study monarch butterflies, their life-cycle and migration, as part of a cross-curricular unit with Spanish, art, and the homebase classroom. 
  • Investigate the structures of living things and how they help the organism to obtain their needs for survival.  
  • Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.    
  • Build, and test parachute based on observations of falling seeds in nature.

Computer Science
Students continue to build and transfer their programming knowledge using both physical and graphical programming environments. Math applications are also used to reinforce concepts taught in the homebase classroom.


Library & Technology
First graders become increasingly sophisticated in their approach to information sources as they investigate their own wonderings. Students pair in “construction teams,” learn how to use 3D drawing software to create buildings for their integrated Social Studies city unit. They also have the opportunity to select and check out materials.


Spanish  
Students build their Spanish language skills by practicing familiar vocabulary through games involving increased recognition and recall as well as activities that incorporate beginning reading in Spanish. Students also explore Mexico through Aztec history, music, art, food, and holiday traditions.


Art  
Students explore concepts and topics that include the elements of design and ways that artists use and organize them. They engage collaboratively to generate ideas and discover ways of using various tools and techniques.


Music 
Students expand their music vocabulary and experiences and now begin applying labels and symbols to these concepts. All students take part in winter and spring concerts.  


Physical Education 
First graders are introduced to multi-step directions, while becoming more sophisticated in their knowledge and use of shuttle, relay, and line formations. Lead-up and tag games, utilizing concepts and skills that underlie team sports, are also introduced. Students develop an understanding of fair play, safety, and cooperation through group play.




    

First Graders learned about the job application process and all about community, combining reading, writing, math, and social studies. First, they did an audit of classroom jobs and determined that a few more roles were needed. Next, they filled out applications for classroom jobs; interviewed one another; discussed their peers' qualifications; and gave feedback to the candidates. They are now fulfilling their roles!

During the study of light, first graders investigated what would happen if they placed different objects in front of a beam of light. They discovered that some objects block light creating shadows and others let light through. Students also created their own shadow puppets to explore how to create and change shadows.
 

First grade students studied peacemakers, researching notable figures in history and society.  After learning about the individuals and taking notes in a journal, they decided which peacemaker to highlight on a cereal box to illustrate the impact the peacemaker has had on the world. 

For the first grade writing unit about opinion writing, students learned about making a strong argument with words.  They brought in a collection from home and shared with the class, and then had time to analyze each other's collections. Next they wrote opinion pieces on which item was best and three reasons why. They were very convincing!


    
101 School Road, Wilmington, DE 19803
302.576.2900   |   info@wilmingtonfriends.org
Preschool - 12th Grade
Statement of Nondiscrimination as to Student Enrollment
Wilmington Friends School admits students of any race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of these schools. Wilmington Friends School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin in administration of their educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.