Academics by Grade

First Grade is an important and exciting milestone for every child! Here, for the first time, one of the most important lessons of life is applied and begins to have meaning for these young students — responsibility. Through class assignments and appropriate homework, first grade students develop pride, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment in their ability to succeed.

Language Arts — The Language Arts program in first grade uses the Harcourt Trophies Series to integrate reading, phonics, spelling, grammar and writing. The series teaches the children how to decode words by making common vowel patterns and letter clusters, which helps them identify the sound of each letter/letter cluster and thus read the word. This method gives children the ability to approach new words confidently. The Spelling program goes hand in hand with the phonics lesson for the week. Ideally, if the student has grasped the phonics lesson, the spelling of the weekly word list should come automatically. To interest students in reading and to enlarge their specific knowledge, the series uses a wide array of quality factual and fictional selections. The children also begin using the Accelerated Reading program second semester. The first grade writing program follows the writing procedure: pre-writing, brainstorming, rough draft, proof-reading and a final draft. Students progress from writing sentences to paragraphs and essays. They master all content-area writing through fluency-building exercises, proofreading, and revising practice.

Handwriting — First grade uses the Writing Our Catholic Faith series to teach basic handwriting skills, including proper pencil grip, and correct letter formation.

Mathematics — The Saxon Math program enables all children to develop a solid foundation in the language and basic concepts of mathematics. It utilizes a multi-sensory approach to teaching and builds on prior learning. Each lesson is accompanied by in-class guided practice and independent homework practice which mirrors the problems completed in class. The subject matter consists of addition and subtraction facts through 20, graphing, word problems, place values through 100, tallying, time and money, geometry, fractions, and measurement. The children meet daily for "calendar time" to become knowledgeable about the elements of a calendar and to report the number of school days and the weather.

Religion — The children begin their day in the all-school Morning prayer. The children recite prayers before and after they eat their lunch. The children study the Catholic faith focusing on the mass, the seasons of the Catholic church , and the 3 Rs — respect, reverence ,and responsibility.

First grade is also responsible for the All Saints program in November and the crowning of the Blessed Mother in May.

Science — Students study science using the Scott Foresman textbook. The children learn Life Science (classifying and comparing living and non-living things, animals, habitats, parts and functions of plants, growth); Earth Science (conservation of resources, weather, minerals, rocks, soil samples); Physical Science (physical properties of solids, liquids, gases, light, shadows, colors, rainbows, sounds heat); Human Body (five senses, growing and changing, healthy eating). Hands-on experiments and projects are conducted throughout the course.

Social Studies — The children learn about many themes such as American symbols, holidays, communities, and geography skills. The Nystrom series is used to provide children with a hands on approach to maps and globes.

Music, Creative Expression, Physical Education, Spanish, Library — Classes in each area are attended weekly. Specialists in each field of study instruct the students.