First Grade

Ms. Kate Casey
Years Teaching: 5 At SJB: 5
Education: B.A. Elementary Ed., Language Arts and Early Childhood Ed. Aquinas College.
Favorite thing about teaching:
My favorite part of teaching is seeing my students’ excitement for learning. Their eyes are so bright and ready to try new things.

 
Classroom Site

Program Description

First Grade is an exciting and important transition. The student’s desire for independence is fostered through individualized instruction. Students work on social skills, teamwork, and classroom responsibility.

Main Themes/Skills

Religion
The students attend Mass every Friday with their Faith Partners. They learn about important prayers, songs, Church celebrations, and Holy Days. God as our Father and Jesus’ life is focused on in a special way in our Religion series. Students practice peaceful interaction with each other.

Language Arts
Language Arts includes: reading, speaking, spelling, writing, and grammar. Within these areas they practice developing sight vocabulary, decoding, fluency, comprehension, sentence mechanics, and public speaking. They also focus on creative writing in journal entries and reading aloud poems and plays.

Mathematics
Students count forward and backwards by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. They identify fractions and strengthen their estimation skills. Addition and subtraction of single and double-digit numbers is taught without regrouping. They also gain experience with measurement, time, basic charts and graphs and simple word problems. They experience counting money and learn place value.

Social Studies
Students are exposed to maps and globes in the study of our state, country, and world. They learn about holidays, different customs and traditions, and famous Americans.

Science
Students focus on the following units: Properties of objects, senses, weather, health, animals and their needs, rainforests, Arctic life, and rainbows. The students experience hands-on experiments as well as beginning approaches to research.

Instructional Methodologies
Students participate through classroom discussion, small/whole group work, projects, role-playing, writing, singing, experiments, and individual class work and homework.

Art
First Grade students encounter a variety of mediums including: crayon, chalk, paint, markers, clay, yarn, and paper. They have many experiences in drawing, painting and sculpting. A recognition and appreciation for artist’s and their works is fostered.