1st Grade

First grade is a growing year full of discovery as the students become involved and inquisitive. Each unit of study holds new challenges and a chance for the first grade student to interconnect their learning in experiential, hands-on ways. Students discover their strengths, talents, and passions and bring those into all they do and learn.

Highlights of the Grade-Year

Students in first grade thrive as they get to know their Chapel Buddies and become comfortable and confident on campus
Participating in the TK, K, and 1st grade play is always a fun production
Students participate in such events as the spelling bee, the speech meet, 100th day celebrations, a Christmas musical, field day, and many others
First grade students share and celebrate their writing together and often with other students from different grades

Key Learning Objectives

English Language Arts

1st-graders make a substantial leap in reading as they learn to read fluently and accurately. Phonics study and spelling work help students develop strong decoding skills in reading. Children enjoy reading with the whole class, small groups, a partner, and independently. Students become confident, successful writers creating informational and how-to pieces, persuasive and personal narrative pieces. Students work on penmanship to master all capital and lower-case letters using proper form.

Math

The hands-on math program in first grade builds a strong foundation. Students learn place value of numbers to 100, facts of addition and subtraction up to 20 along with strategies, compare and order numbers, are exposed to graphs and data, and will be introduced to time concepts. The curriculum also introduces double-digit addition and subtraction, geometry, and measurement.

Social Studies

In social studies students learn about being members of different groups, where we live, how we all work together, being a good citizen, and people who’ve influenced our nation. Geography is also introduced as students investigate continents, specifically the North American continent and where California is located.

Science

The science curriculum prompts 1st-grade students to investigate real world issues and includes hands-on inquiry and investigation. Three major units include animals and plants and their offspring and defenses, the spinning earth and the day and nighttime sky, and light and shadow.