This article is part of the following topics: 1st Grade Early Elementary Featured Learning & Achievement
1st Grade Academics: What To Expect
This year, kids will learn to read and will begin to have routine homework assignments.
Grade 1 is a year full of firsts. For some children, it’s their first experience with a long school day. It’s the year kids start writing stories, adding and subtracting, and even conducting small science experiments.
Most important, it’s the year they learn to read. Some children take to reading at a younger age and can read independently by the time they finish kindergarten. For others, it can be a struggle to learn to read by the time 1st grade ends. First-grade teachers work with students who have a range of reading skills, with a goal of getting everyone reading with confidence in time for 2nd grade.
“Reading comes almost naturally to kids if they get read to every day,” says Rhina Fernandes Williams, an assistant professor of multicultural education at Georgia State University. “Kids need to be motivated by the meaning of the story.”
Critical Thinking
Fernandes Williams, who taught 1st grade for seven years, encourages teachers and parents to impart a joy of reading to children by making reading together fun and choosing engaging stories. Students in 1st grade like to talk about the story before diving in. What’s on the book’s cover? What’s the title? What might this book be about?
Children in this age group also like to guess what’s coming next and how the story might end. Parents can seize on that to motivate their kids to read. “Talk about what they think is going to happen,” Fernandes Williams suggests.
Students also respond well to discussions about the type of story. Is it fiction? Is it an informational article? “Be explicit,” Fernandes Williams says. “It gets their young minds ready for the words.”
She says 1st graders like to make up new endings for stories and share their opinions about what characters should have done. After reading the classic fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, for example, Fernandes Williams would ask, “Should Goldilocks have gone into the house?” Such strategies help children learn to be critical thinkers, she says, noting that while it’s important to figure out the words on the paper, it’s even more important to process what they mean.
In 1st grade, teachers often assign short homework tasks to be completed with help from a parent. This is a great opportunity to work on critical thinking skills, and it helps the child get used to a homework routine and ready for the day when homework becomes a more solitary endeavor.
Phonics and Whole Language
The reading curriculum will vary depending on the state, school district, principal, and teacher, but most 1st graders will be taught to break down words by learning the sounds each letter and combination of letters makes. This method, known as phonics, enables kids to figure out a word when there are no context clues.
Students may also learn to look for clues in the illustrations and elsewhere in the passage to figure out unfamiliar words, a method called whole language. Many 1st graders will also be taught to recognize dozens of familiar words just by sight.
Today’s 1st grade students employ different strategies based on their learning style, but the goal is for them to become proud, confident, and happy readers. Writing is also important as students learn to put together complete sentences and even full paragraphs, though their handwriting may be sloppy and spelling may be...creative.
Science, Social Studies, and Recess
Kim Madison, a teacher at Oak Grove Elementary in Peachtree City, Ga., loves teaching 1st graders because they are so thrilled when they catch on to something abstract. “Those light bulbs just come on,” she says.
At Oak Grove, 1st grade teachers spend the bulk of the morning on intense reading instruction. But teachers also make time for math, science, and social studies. In math class, children learn symbols for addition and subtraction, and from there tackle a worksheet of problems in no time. Science lessons often center around nature and building observational skills, while social studies units may focus on maps, calendars, and simple timelines.
Despite a busy school day, Madison always makes time for recess as well as giving students time to move around in the classroom. “Kids at this age need to run around and get dirty and be healthy,” she says. “We make sure they’re not constantly sitting [at] a desk.”
It’s important for teachers to communicate their academic and behavioral expectations for 1st grade to both kids and parents, Madison says. “This is a big change from kindergarten.”
For more information, read “1st Grade Social Changes: What To Expect”
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Posted by - Gary Wingrove on Nov. 02, 2009
JUST CHECKING OUT TO SEE WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO HELP ADVANCE OUR GRANDCHILDRENS EDUCATION,Posted by SchoolFamily on Aug. 24, 2009
Hi Nancy-Check out our Print and Use Tools for lots of worksheets you can do with your child:
http://www.schoolfamily.com/print-and-use-tools/category/67-grades-1-2
Board games are also a great way to sharpen your son's math skills and have some fun!
~Lisa
Posted by - nancy on Aug. 23, 2009
my child is doing very good grades, and i would like to help him out with more homework since he really like school .i 'would like to have more sheet so i can print them at home so he can practice he really needs more advanced math he is only 6,he's going to first but i think he is ready for 2nd grade math can you send me some printable sheets please
thank you
mom nancy
Posted by - Faith on May. 18, 2009
I enjoyed learning from all the teachers and what they do because I have a child that I had to start homeschooling due to some hard times and the public school not accepting her after she had started a charter school. So I have taken on something that I am trying my hardest at but would rather just be a parent and help assist with the teachers. Definitely next year! I give all the credit to all those wonderful teachers in this world. I am disabled and have severe joint pain. And at times wish I could just give up but I won't for my daughter. I really enjoyed the lesson's they suggested and put forward to it will help me..Posted by - Daphne on Mar. 05, 2009
I am so thankful to hear someone talk about the positive things our kids do. Thank you Michelle. I pulled my daughter out of public schools and she is now taught privately. The whole school year was based on what kind of uniform she was wearing. I completely agree with the uniform idea. Hey, it does make dressing easier and take some stress off the kids. Puts more on the parents, but I get it. I just don't feel like the days should be centered around these things. What happened to Alphabets and fun in learning? It is not suppose to be a drudgery. My daughter was often frustrated and didn't really know what was expected of her. Lack of communication on the part of the school??? Not sure. Just recently a friend of mine had to put her son on medication because THE TEACHER couldn't handle children that learn differently. I have worked with many special needs children, and he is NOT one of them. I love the fact that God made us all to be individuals and to learn differently. I just wished that somehow all schools could learn from the Montessori program. I love their courage in teaching children in so many different ways. And to their success. The children and the teachers! And by all means in the words of Michelle Be Proactive in your child's most crucial learning years.!!Posted by - Michelle on Feb. 21, 2009
Sarah-talk to the principal, teacher and counselor. Curriculum has gotton rougher and the teachers are frustrated. They have forgotten that younger children learn best with Encouragement. We had similar problems, one thing and then the other--yes, it is about school money. Encourage your child every morning to "enjoy his day at school and try his best". Let the school know that you are on their side, you are doing everything at home to assist and you KNOW they want what is best for your child and there is NO real problem with your child--that you and they both know that. Ensure they understand that you send your child to school for an education and want him to have the same opportunities as everyone else. Taking a pro-active parent stance early in the year really helps. Another suggestion that I just did--buy reward stickers and send them to the teacher. I bought a bunch of them at the Dollar Store and sent a note that "rather than toss them, I thought perhaps they could use them in the classroom" - acting as if I had them at home for another project. Remember, our taxes pay their salaries, they work for you, and they have a responsibility to your child and you. Be firmly on their side in stating you KNOW they want what is best for your child, just as you do. It does make a difference.Posted by - sarah on Jan. 24, 2009
I don't understand the school. My son is in the first grade and he is wonderful in math. I know he stuggles with reading but when we had a confirence with the teacher she said he has been doing great and he keeps trying. also she said his small motor skill need help. I have been working with him in reading and his motor skills and he had improved quite a bit. he needs help with his social skills because he is an only child and has a friend that he only see's once in a while. all of the sudden I get a call and they want to pull him out for reading, which I am fine with then they said his large motor skills need help and he can't do a jumping jack.. I asked him to do a jumping jack and he was fine with that. but now they want to pull him out for social skills during lunch and recess. I think it is getting out of hand. I got a letter and they want to test him for child development classes. I know he struggles with reading but only sometimes. somedays he can pick a book up and read it on his own to me with out any help. so I want to know if this is for budget . I know january they schools have to plan their fiscal budget for next year can this be the case?Posted by - c. jones on Jan. 14, 2009
I am confuses my the grading system foe behovior at school. My grandchild attends school at Rural Hall, During the last report card, she did noy do so bad, according yo her paperwork . When she got her report card however she received a U. She sometimes would get a green when she was to get a red. On these times, I rewqrded her for good behavor. I should have punished her, because she had not been good that day. It is very confussing for a small child if they are not told the whole truth. She thionks she did well that day and repeats the behavior. This is misleading to any child. Please, Please don't sugar coat their behavior to make them feel better. They and their parents nedd the whole truth everyday, not just on report card day. It makes it hard on everyone. the truth will set you free, everyday. Thank you. Please the whoe truth everyday, report card day is a day late and a dollar short.Posted by - LaTasha Perkins on Dec. 01, 2008
nice job dudes